So I was still running the RC version of Windows Vista many, many months ago and I was getting frustrated. My wireless connection kept dropping, and repairing the connection would not work. Windows said that there were no wireless networks available, but the hardware diagnostics said that everything was functioning normally. I was frustrated and did something that I had always wanted to do … I right clicked on the C:\ and selected format. It was a great feeling. I threw the laptop in a cupboard and left it for several months.

I have been working way too much lately and decided that I needed to get my laptop in order instead of using my work laptop when I got home. (I used my work laptop for work, but I always seem to work more on that machine than on my own.) Knowing that my beta of Vista had expired, and not being all to thrilled with that OS anyways, I formatted and loaded ol’ XP Pro back onto my laptop. The laptop was dual boot with Ubuntu loaded onto the second partition, so I had to reinstall GRUB.

I hit the power button. Nothing.

I removed the power cord and battery for a couple of minutes and tried again. Surge-Pop.

I had just spent the last hour re-installing Windows and I hardly wanted to deal with this, so back in the cupboard it went, a project for another day.

Still wanting to stop using my work laptop at home, I mustered up all of my cuteness (not much, but I tried) and asked my wife if I could get another laptop.

She said, “No.”

I wasn’t surprised about her response. With the extra hours that I have been working we had the money, so I rationally explained my thought process and asked again.

I told her I would stop working so many hours.

She said, “Maybe.”

Yippee! I was getting somewhere! I asked what I could do to convince her to let me have my new toy. She said I had to get rid of all of my “project computers.” Ouch. I conceded that Franken-puter would have to wait. I quickly ran downstairs and savaged anything worth salvaging and packed it away and threw the rest out. Eight workstations in total.

I shopped around and found a decent deal on an HP and was off to the store.

I am glad to have “my” applications back. I am glad to sign in to non-work IM. I am glad to open Outlook and actually be happy to see a message in my Inbox. I am glad to sort and tag the six month backlog of photos. I am glad to update my financial software for the first time in almost six months. But mostly I am glad the I am using “my” computer and I can do whatever the hell heck I want on it.

I haven’t worked more than a ten hour day since I bought my new toy. I have played with the boys more in the last two days than I did all of last week.

Life is good.