And the heavens mercifully opened

Cue angelic chorus. According to DHL, my new laptop is in Seattle and will be delivered to me sometime today.

RIP Compaq Presario, you ol' curmudgeon. It takes 2-7 attempts to start you up. You hibernate at the most inconvenient times. Your screen has a big blurry streak across the top, and tends to wobble unless I wack you Fonzie-style. And sometimes your USB ports don't work. I am fed up, Compaq Presario, so your replacement is imminent. Granted, you've been moderately decent these last 5 years, but I'm hoping the new machine is a lot less...feisty.

Ray: "So, I'm thinking you should password protect your new machine, since you'll be lugging it to and from school. Or will that bug you?"

Me: "Are you kidding?! I'll be able to boot up without crashing over and over! I think I can handle a password."