Computer Happiness

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back online. I am the proud new owner of a Dell Inspiron 1521, newly downgraded from Vista to XP (which unfortunately voided the warranty, but oh, well, I'll just have to be super nice to it). I got a great deal, too, because apparently this model has been discontinued so recently that Best Buy had only the display in stock. Usually I won't buy display models, but this one was in pretty decent shape. I may have to get a new battery--this one's about fried from being plugged in constantly for however long they had it on the shelf--but that's all. The computer was priced at $749, and they said I'd get a 10% open-box discount. Then when they rang it up, it rang up at $549, and they took the 10% off of that, so I got this puppy for a little over $450. That made having to buy the full version of XP ($199) more bearable. And the Geek Squad people were awesome; the guy who worked with me dug through the websites for every computer I was interested in to make sure the necessary drivers for XP were available before I bought the computer.

So after a little fighting last night, I got Vista off, XP on, all the necessary drivers installed, and most of the computer configured how I like it. I'll probably be tweaking the aesthetics for awhile, but setup-wise, I'm happy.

The reason I had to go through all this rigmarole was because HP informed me that production delays had pushed my shipping date back to February 4th. Annoying. But, hey, I got a computer for less than half what I was going to pay for the HP.

Now I can quit worrying about computer issues and just focus on my thesis. Today is research-while-watching-Buffy day, and the watching Buffy could count as research, since 1/3 of my thesis will deal with Buffy-related issues!

More later.

Cost-Effective?

Brand new computer (with tax and shipping): $908
Diagnostic on old computer: $85
Data retrieval from old computer: $99

TOTAL: $1092

Cost to replace motherboard on old computer: $1085
Diagnostic: $85

TOTAL: $1170

Having a new computer (which may be here by Thursday) . . . priceless?

Sigh.

More later.

Deer!

Oh my gosh, guys, do I have a story for you.

I'm sitting at work gabbing with one of the schedulers and another tutor, and suddenly there's this huge CRASH of breaking glass from the lobby. All three of us immediately jump up and ran for the noise, figuring someone was hurt (the other tutor told us later he was worried about a school shooter). But running through the lobby of the tutoring center is a DEER! Two of them, actually, a mommy deer and a fawn. They're slipping and sliding on the linoleum floor, bleeding all over from glass cuts, and the mom's foaming at the mouth.

Turns out she wasn't rabid, just stressed, but the cops (campus and town) came with animal control and chased her away, then cornered the fawn (it had gotten upstairs somehow) and tied it up and took it away.

It's the most exciting day at this job EVER and I'll be happy for it to stay that way.

More later.

UPDATE: We learned later that, while the doe got away, the fawn was killed by the police and animal control. Not sure why; probably to save them the trouble of releasing it into the wild.

School Starting and Stuff

School is now back in session, which means I have more regular access to a computer. My laptop's problem was apparently the motherboard (of course) which means I get a new computer, but unfortunately it won't be in my hot little hands until the middle of next week. I had to special order one because I REFUSE to use Vista and it's nearly impossible to get a computer pre-loaded with XP anymore. It severely limited my choices, but I managed to find a decent little Compaq at a reasonable price. I know I COULD have gotten one with Vista and then backloaded XP onto it, but I really didn't want to deal with that. I'm not that computer savvy.

So today has been very busy, what with scheduling all my major things: thesis deadlines, thesis defense, comp tests, and language exam. Parking is (of course) a nightmare.

More later.