(no subject)

I have a new fucking desktop.

The facts were these: Several (six? eight? more?) weeks ago my screen started to flicker and eventually to go out. Two weeks after that, I noticed that my screen was unusually hot. Several days after that the screen extinguishing increased, and I began to notice a black spot creeping up from my start menu. A week or so after that I gave it up for a bad job entirely and went to using Guerrero (my netbook) exclusively, until I made a plan to finance and purchase a desktop.

Cut to today. I went to Best Buy, I found a sales associate who, I might add, was awesome. He listened to what I needed, evaluated my choices, wasn't too pushy, was conversational and friendly, offered honest feedback on the products, advised me on brands I hadn't used or heard much about before, and was generally a pleasure to work with. I got a Best Buy credit card pretty much solely for the 18 months no interest plan, so I could pay for the computer over time and not worry too too much about financing it immediately. I got a desktop with a hefty chunk of space (1 TB), an extra bay for another HD (maybe another TB, or maybe I'm just drunk on storage space), and an extra bay into which will go a Blu-Ray player because I'm getting sick of all the good stuff coming out on Blu-Ray and not DVD. Bastards.

I also got a headset for the Dragon and that reminds me that I should install that, too. Tomorrow. And a 1TB USB portable HD for the backing up of things, and since I was putting a ridiculous amount of money on a credit card anyway. I want another. And another. Mostly to put all the TV ever on, never mind that I don't even watch it that much.

So, yeah. I have a new computer. I have named it Simon, after a character from Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Inheritor and if anyone but me has read and remembers that book, they will know (probably) why I named it that. Also because I expect to demand copious things of Simon that will have him going "This must be what going mad feels like."

And now, for my own record-keeping:
* AVG in 60 days, along with:
-- Spybot
-- AdAware
* WinRar
* UltraEdit, license and install file are on the pocket ninja.
* GIMP
* Campaign Cartographer and sub programs. CD/DVDs are on the DVD shelf.
* MS Office Suite, if it is available for download so that I can use my current software license key for it. If it is not and I actually have to purchase the CD, since the thing came with my laptop and/or pocket ninja, I will be pissed. And then I will probably have to hunt down the install CDs, which may or may not work with this computer, and if they do not I will be more pissed. But, that's all assuming it's not available for download, which it might be.
* VLC
* Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Somewhere around here I have that damn disk and its key.

I also need to double check and make sure all the files I might need are on my backup drive, which is on my desk now and hooked up to Simon. Otherwise I will need to turn on Soren and send my file of licenses and keys and things to myself, not to mention tax things. And as soon as it arrives I will have a skull 4-port USB hub. And it will be awesome.

If there are any other new computer businesses that anyone thinks I should be doing, please let me know? It's been a little while.

I will now do the cabbage patch of victory.