Computer Woes

You all don't know this, but I've been without a computer for a few weeks. For some reason, my trusty (well, I guess it's not-so-trusty) laptop started acting crazy out of nowhere one night. It was running slow. Not I've-got-too-many-files-on-my-hard-drive slow, but mouse-won't-move-any-quicker-than-a-turtle slow. I got mad at it, put it away for awhile, and used Cal's computer.

If any of you know Cal's habits, you may know that he's, um, well, got an addiction. He denies it, of course. Says that he can quit anytime, but we've all heard that before, right? What is his addiction, you say? The Internet.

Cal can't go for one hour without checking his email. Heck, he can't go for 1/2 an hour, or even 1/4 an hour. He loves his computer. I've asked him several times what exactly he does for hours on end, and he just says that he checks news sites, scores, blogs, etc. Nothing much, he says. What appeal do you see in the Food Network? he retaliates.

Point taken.

One time, he was so bored of his Internet, but couldn't bear the thought of putting it down. Therefore, merely for the sake of something to do, he Googled "cat sounds" and played them for about 30 minutes to see if any provoked a reaction out of Nick the Cat who was sitting on Cal's lap at the time. Several did, and he was once again entertained.

Anyway, all of this rambling background is to say that my lack of a laptop really left me with his laptop as the only option for checking email, blogs, and other such sites, and with his Internet habits, I therefore have done very little of anything computer-related lately.

This morning, as he replayed the movie that he posted on his blog over and over and over again (laughing loudly each time), I decided to take matters into my own hands. I pulled out my crippled laptop, took 2 painstaking hours to make 3 data cds (saving all of my old files and pictures), then popped in the System Recovery disc* that came with my laptop to start the operating system over from scratch. Hurrah! It worked!

So I'm back in full Internet-force, thank goodness. Heading off soon for Cal's second match in his tennis tournament. Wish him (and me...) luck!

*To give him credit, Cal helped in the 1-hour search for the recovery disc, which involved two trips up to our atrociously sweltering attic, and ended up being the one to find it (buried under piles of bills right next to my computer, of course). Thanks, babe!