My little Journal

So my friends just bought a new house. It is much with the awesomeness. Three stories, I get a HUGE room with a closet big enough for me to sleep in. They got an inspection before they bought it, like all good new home owners do, and their realtor hired the inspectors for them. That's right, inspectors, the realtor hired a different one for everything. Everyone knew the plumbing was an issue. It worked okay, but they used some pipe that's not really made for plumbing so the pressure is shit if you use two things at once, They know a plumber, so it's all good, though.
Then they move in, and find out what an idiot that electric inspector was. They were told the electric is brand new, and it very well may be, but it was wired by a blind monkey. Some outlets have no power to them, the ones that do are so overloaded that if you look at the breaker box funny it flips. Their fridge will not get cold no matter how low they turn it. It's cold enough that nothing spoils, but it's rather obvious with drinks that they are not as cold as they should be. When I went up there, one of them was in the bathroom with me and we were getting ready to leave. Her husband decides he will be nice and vacuum while we were brushing our hair and stuff and turns on the hoover. The lights dimmed, noticably.
So, now they have the unexpected expense of having to possibly rewire the whole house. All three stories of it. I called another friend's dad, who is an electrician, and he said the house needs fixed ASAP. His exact words were 'if that house was next door, I'd be over there now working on it.' They are having a local electrician come out sometime this week and look at it to see what needs done. We kinda figure a lot of work is gonna be involved in fixing this issue, but could everyone please send good vibes to the house? We're hoping the wiring is done in such a way that they can fix it a floor at a time, which will be easier on them to afford. They're not made of money, and a full rewiring can be in the thousands.
I want to find this inspector and beat him with a big stick. If he would've done his f'ing JOB and told them about this, they could've planned for it. But no, he just looked at the breaker box and the new outlets and said 'yeah, it's good.' It obviously wasn't good, or the breaker wouldn't flip if you breathe on it.

Tonight, my TV watching interupted by a Barbara Walters special. I was a bit curious so I waited to see what it was about. The man that had a baby was pregnant again. -_-;; I'm sorry, but that is not news. This man is a pre-op transexual. He was born a woman and still has all his female reproductive organs. There is nothing special about that, he might be living as man or even be legally a man, but he still has overies and a womb. Show me someone without those organs that is pregnant, that is news worthy.

This week has been absolute HELL. More about that later, for now, clicky on my dragons so they'll hatch.

In my efforts to lose weight, I have finally seen some pay off. When I got on the scales yesterday, it finally said I was below 170 pounds!! This is a rather big deal to me, because I've been really struggling to get below that 170 mark for several months. I'd always get right at it, but never under it. My next goal is to get below 165 and down to 160 by the middle of June when my aunt arrives. I'd really LOVE to be down to 155 or so when she gets here, but 160 is my realistic goal. My aunt hasn't seen me in years and she's an... interesting person you might say. If my cousins come to stay with us for a month and gain 5 pounds while they're here, she mentions to my grandmother and mother for months how hard she has to push them to get them to lose it again. My cousins are both boys and aren't even teenagers yet. Needless to say, I would like to look as good as possible for her arrival. And be to the point where I can go running with the kids, since mom and grandma are on this kick where whenever they visit we send them home in better shape/as good a shape as we get them in. It's stupid to me, but I can understand why they do it.

Not a fox, but still cute. Do you think it's me? Vote peoples.

Last night as I was chatting with my friends, I noticed a new e-mail alert popped up. When I saw it I nearly screamed. It was from the House of Netjer, from the Rev. that had answered all my questions about the class so far and I'm thinking is in charge of the classes. I checked my e-mail and found out it was the one I'd been waiting for for days, the responce to my appilcation. I couldn't open it when I first saw it, I was WAY to nervous. My friend D-chan was going to sign into my hotmal account and open it for me but before I could give her my password another of my friends signed back on, just to hear what it said before she went to bed. Well, after that I had to click it. I think I was shaking slightly with nerves while it was opening and even once it was opened I had another window blocking the words. Once it was loaded I took a second or two to get my courage up again, then read it...




I GOT ACCEPTED!!!!!

So, starting next Tuesday, I will be taking beginner classes with the House of Netjer to learn about Kemetic Orthodoxy. Until then, I have two books on Egyptian Mythology I want to finish. Thankfully they are fairly short, so if I actually sit down and read it'll be no problem.

you always want more. -_-;;;

In an effort to be more healthy, I am drinking more water. I normally bring a bottle of water with me and drink on it while I'm at work. The last 2 days I forgot my bottle, though. It sucked, because by the time my shift was over I was totally parched. I used to be able to go a whole shift without getting anything to drink, now a six hour shift with no liquid leaves me feeling like I should drink a gallon of water. At least I have a nice bottle of water waiting for me when I work tomorrow.

Get your own valentinr

Gas prices are supposed to go up tonight and my grandmother (who is almost 70 and can't pump her own gas) asked me to get some gas for her. So, I hopped in her car and drove to the gas station, then started to fill up the tank. While I'm pumping the gas I'm chatting to my friend on the cell about html and chat board problems when this guy starts to walk toward me. I wasn't paying him too much attention, I was much more concerned with how close to ten dollars the pump was at than what some guy with a box was doing. So, he walks up and starts talking to me. At first, I honestly did not realise he was speaking to me, then I looked at him and he started to go on. He was talking so fast that I could barely understand him, but he was telling me about some christian based drug rehab in the town. Now, I'm all for drug rehabs, be them christian based, secular or what not, but the way this guy talked to me it sounded almost like he thought I was on drugs. So I looked at him and told him flat out "Sorry, I don't use drugs." Well, he changed his speach a little, telling me that it wasn't for me, but maybe someone I know. Yeah, he got told no one I know uses drugs. Again, his tactic changed and he tried to get me to donate to his rehab. I had no money and told him so. All I had on me was the money my grandmother had given me and I don't donate other people's money. Thankfully he left after that. It was downright odd though, because I'm not christian. I couldn't stop laughing once he left, it was so strange, it was funny.

Some has been leaving anonymous comments in my journal. Now, I don't mind that. I actually love all the comments I can get. I, however, would also like to know who in the world this person is. I have some thoughts, but don't know for sure, so anonymous poster, reply here with who you are, or e-mail me if you have my e-mail.

For several months my computer has had an issue with the sound. My desktop wouldn't recognize that it had a sound card. Made several efforts to fix the problem, all to no avail. I take the computer into a repair shop and the tech says that there's no video. My response... WTF??? I was just using it before I brought it here.
So, I take my poor Nanashi home, get some canned air, and spend about an hour messing with it. Well, after removing the video capture card (which never worked anyway), my desktop is working again. Take it into my room, hook everything up, boot it up, no sound AGAIN.
By this point I'm sitting back going what in the HELL is going on??? I checked the sound card, computer knows it's there. More confusion from me. Check the speakers, everything is plugged in correctly. Pull the computer out, plug in a set of headphones, low and behold, there is sound. My speakers are messed up and not working. -_-
All that crap, and I STILL can't have sound. Somewhere,  there is a god laughing at me, and I think it's Bes.

I'm making D&D character sheets for the boys in Schwarz from Weiss Kreuz, and I'm having some problems on a sheet for Crawford. I have an excess of skill points. I need at least one, if not two areas Brad would be very knowledgible in. For those familar with Dungeons and Dragons, the standard knowledge skills like religion and nobility really don't work in a modern setting, so I'm looking for any others. I just can't think of any off the top of my head. Can anyone PLEASE help me???? PLEASE?

So, over the last several weeks this guy I used to talk to frequently has been going through my journal, finding all the entries where I don't specifically name a person it's about and deciding it HAS to be about him. Once he does this, he uses as an excuse to rant about my country and basically say what a horrid person I am. To this I have to say
STOP USING MY JOURNAL AS EXCUSE TO RANT ABOUT AMERICA!!!!
I might not like everything about it, but it is my country and I do NOT appreiciate people bashing it for no fucking reason. Now that that's out of the way, a few more points.

• The first entry you ranted about happened almost 2 years ago. I was going through a rough time then, whyich you'd realise if you paid attention to all the shit in the journal entries around that same time. If that entry was about you, or not, it's my damn journal. I can put whatever the hell I want in it as long as I don't use your name or anything to identify you. So get the fuck over it!
  
• The second entry you posted in I KNOW wasn't about you. I wasn't even talking to you at the time. Your fiancee is fat? That's nice. Now ask me if I give a shit? I don't. She's losing weight? Good for her, I'm happy for her. I hope she loses whatever amount she's wanting to. Did this need to go in my journal? Hell fucking no! You wanna tell me about your fiancee, that's fine. IM me about it! Don't rant in my journal for no apperent reason about something that doesn't consern you anyway.
• Now, this all boils down to one simple thing: Keep the fuck out of my journal if all you're going to do is rant about America and bitch to me about shit that happened years ago! You wanna talk to me, great. I'll be more than happy to talk to you. However, using my journal to bitch and whine about my country and shit is not appreciated.

Monday I got the new power supply (PSU) for my computer. First thing I did was take it out of the box and look it over. What can I say but DAMN!! This thing had more cords and cables than I knew what to do with. THat's what I get for going from a cheap PSU to a good one I guess. I have no idea how to manage all those cords. -_- That problem I'll save for another day.
Just finding a place to to install the thing was a pain in the ass. We have all the chirstmas shit on the table, which is my usual install/upgrade spot. I had to clean off the washing machine and do it there. That was fun... NOT. Mom's pain in the ass cat decided she wanted to see what I was doing and hopped up on the counter. SHe nearly got crushed by my computer case.
Got the old PSU out easily enough. Putting the new one in was a bitch, tough. I had to bend the platform that it's supposed to sit on down to fit it. Even then I had to stand the case up and hold it with one hand while trying to screw in place. I swear I nearly dropped it twice. Once I FINALLY got the thing screwed in to place I had to get the cords hooked up. The first one was easy, it went to the mother board. The rest took a little bit of figuring, but that was mostly cord placement.
Now, my computer turns on and off like it's supposed to and I don't have to worry about it crashing and burning. So all is good.

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart. In love, you feel the most alive when everything is uncertain, one moment heaven... the next moment hell. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is comforting. You crave a relationship where you always feel warmth and love. Your risk of cheating is 100%. You are not suited for a monogamous relationship. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

Kekewy took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Longs for tenderness and for a sensitivity of feel..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Okay, so I'm doing an RP with my happy friend D-chan. In it we decided to intro the Weiss boys. I can't remember HOW it got started, but somehow I wound up needed a timeline for Weiss to mesh with our current timeline. Hence me watching Weiss to determine how long the series lasted, ect. ect. D-chan said I should post the timeline here. So I am. ^_^
(Feel free to use it if you need to, but I want credit for my work!)
Weiss timeline:

Ep 1: Night 1, dude go smoosh.
Day 2: Weiss gets mission.
Day 3: Chicky meet psycho, psycho goes to chicky’s house
Day 4: Weiss gives Chicky letter
Day 5: Go to White Villa, everyone dies!!

Ep 2: Day six: Aya see Aya-chan. Persia give mission, mission end

Ep 3: Day 10: Chick found in bay
Day 11: Weiss get mission, Youji go to Hotel
Day 12: Youji wake up at hotel, get info.
Day 13: Maki call Omi, Maki gets bangity-death, Weiss do hit on pervy assholes.

Ep 4: Day 14: Weiss get Creeper mission.
Day 15: Ken fucking around with Kase, Ken get attacked.
Day 16: Ken tell Kase about hit on him, then have to kill him anyway.

Ep 5: Day 17: Ken meets Australia chick, fucks her.
Day 18: Ken hangs out with Australia chick. Ken gets LAID!
Day 19: Ken back at shop, spend evening with Australia chick, then get mission, Ken see chick, finish mission.
Day 20: Australia Chick fly away. Poor Ken.

Ep 6: Day 20: Sakura looses kidney.
Day 25: Aya sees Sakura, Weiss get mission.
Day 26: Aya save Sakura, Sakura strip for Aya.
Day 27: Youji has to work the shop alone. Aya be a bastard to Sakura, Sakura get kidnapped, again. Aya saves her.
Day 28: Weiss kill Fucked-up Doctor dude. Sakura go to shop after school. She rejoined the track team… Awww…

Ep 7: Day 29: Annoying kid escape.
Day 30: Omi find annoying kid. Take kid home, find out about dead kid. Do back to annoying kid’s house.
Day 31: Omi find out about dead kids, have freak out.
Day 32: Omi jump Manx, annoying kid kidnapped again. Everyone frees the kid!
Day 33: sad Omi on the pier.

Ep 8: Day 33(still): Monster thingy attacks muggers*
Day 34: Happy music means DEATH!! Beastie dude play with girlfriend and freak.
Day 35: Everyone learns about beastie boy! Aya go see him. Beastie boy dies.
Day 36: Weiss meet Schreint.

Ep 9: Day 36: Weiss and Schreint fight. Omi doesn’t get to sleep again!
Day 37: Weiss jack off while Omi works. Nagi meet Tot, Aya bitch to Manx about revenge.
Day 38: Kritiker agent gets turned into beastie,
Day 39: Weiss attack Schreint, one Takatori down.


Ep 10: Day 40: Poor sap get hunted and killed. Omi wake up in the early AM with scary dream
Day 41: Sleepy Omi in the shop. Youji tease about porn. Ouka “humbly” ask him out. Omi has no taste, and goes to club in BAD outfit. Omi and Ouka dance, then get kidnapped.
Day 42: Omi gets hunted, finds out he’s a Takatori.

Ep 11: Day 44: Omi is alone hanging by the pier, sees Ouka, Omi talks to Aya, Hirofumi talks to Takatori about Omi
Day 47: Weiss setting up flowers for party Schuldig see them, Omi in school go spend evening with Ouka, find out about Aya-chan.
Day 48: Omi go to party with Ouka. Get kidnapped by Schuldig, beat up by Hirofumi, kill brother.

Ep 12: Day 49: Ouka talk to Omi in shop, go on delivery with him, Ouka want Omi to go on date. Omi meet Schuldig and have nightmares.
Day 50: Schuldig meet Ouka, Ouka ask mother about Omi. They’re incestuous!! Omi run around town like an idiot looking for Ouka, find Persia instead. Omi try to meet Ouka at movie Schuldig beats him to it. Ouka dies.

Ep 13: Day 50: Golf club fun!
Day 51: Takatori start framing Weiss. Omi talk to Persia at Ouka’s grave.
Day 58: Fake Weiss blow up factory, Aya getting antsy.
Day 61: Persia meet with Takatori, Aya still antsy, confronts Omi, then Persia.
Day 62: New bombing, Persia FINALLY giving Weiss mission, Weiss get ambushed

Ep 14: Day 62: Weiss getting abused, Aya gets his ass kicked
Day 63: Takatori Prime minister. Weiss get framed, Momoe get to go to the mountains

Ep 15: Day 63: Takatori DIE!!!

Ep 16: Day 84: Omi E-mailing people, Youji meet “Asuka”
Day 85: Mika kidnapped, Youji take “Asuka” to Villa White get attacked by Neu, Aya-chan kidnapped.
Day 86: Ken get attacked, Weiss boys meet at the shop. Meet Birman and the Red Shirt! Everyone go free the kidnapped girls.

Ep 17: Day 89: Aya at family grave. Fucked up chicky burn up the kids. Shop reopens.
Day 91: Botan stalking Aya, everyone get to see Persia computer, get mission. Aya harassing nurses. Weiss working on mission, Aya beat poor nurse senseless. Red shirt dies. (MUCH overkill on Botan)
Day 92: Aya makes an airplane!

Ep 18: Day 92: Farfie hurting god.
Day 93: Ken meet Ruth. Farfarello kill priest.
Day 94: Ken go see Ruth.
Day 95: Weiss get EARLY mission, spend day at church, Ruth post messages to Jei, Farfie finish his punishment and see messages, Ken go see Ruth. KIDNAP the Nun!! Nun get stabity-death!

Ep 19: Day 96: People go nuts over shitty music.
Day 102: Aya and Omi taking flowers to stadium. See Sakura, Crawford meet Wunder X.
Day 103: Omi and Youji eating lunch, girl freaks out, Aya and Sakura go on a “date.”
Day 104: Dude go freak out in stadium, Aya’s stalking his sis-replacement. Ken, Youji and Omi steal dead kid’s CD, Ken and Youji freak out over it, Birman FINALLY give them mission. Wunder X dies!!! Sakura sees it.

Ep 20: Day 105: Aya over water flower, Omi go to court. Wheelchair chick die, killer get off. Omi have to baby sit freshman and cop.
Day 106: Omi go to lawyer’s office, Lawyer make Omi have doubts. Cop get beat to death, Weiss get mission, Weiss kill Lawyer.
Day 107: Freshman gets flowers!

Ep 21: Day 108: Youji sleeping nude. Schuldig talk to Schreint. Dude lose spine
Day 109: Weiss get mission. Schreint attack Youji and Ken, Neu hit by car
Day: 110: Youji take “Asuka” out on town. Get in fight with Weiss, Neu trick Youji, Youji kill her. Sad, sad Weiss

Ep: 22: Day 117: Estet wants Aya-chan, Schwarz go talk to Schreint, Hell send Weiss message, Weiss go to Schreint lab, Schreint die, Nagi bring down building

Ep 23: Day 118: Sakura obsessed over Aya
Day 119: 2 Kritiker agents die
Day 120: Sakura go talk to Omi, Schuldig kidnap
Day 121: Missing Sakura, Weiss mission, Weiss can’t kill old dudes, Sakura shoot Aya

Ep 24: Day 122: Momoe get to go to the countryside again, Estet get to see ritual room, Schwarz messing with Aya-chan’s DNA, Farfie try to kill Birman, Ran get to see Aya-chan!
Day 123: Everyone looking for Estet, Nagi show up on Weiss’s door early in the AM, Aya go to meet Crawford to “trade” girls, Schwarz rekidnap Aya-chan.

Ep 25: Day 124: Estet try to do ritual, Weiss stop it, building go BOOM, everybody dies.

I'm sure everyone has heard of the new South Beach diet fad going around, hell the even have comertials for special food now. WHen I first saw the commertials I thought "Hey, that might actually be a good diet." Don't cut out carbs and fats, just eat the right carbs and fats and lean meats. Sounded great to me, like on of these fad diets had done something right. Wrong.
I talked to someone that was on it and I nearly died laughing when I got the diet in detail. Like Atkin, which says nothing with carbs in it for 2 weeks to "boost your results", with the SBD you can't eat fruit for two weeks, anything with startches, pastes and breads. So it's like Atkins with the no carbs, only they just cut out those pesky fruits all together. I will quote Foamy the squirrel now "What the hell kinda diet lets you eat a ten pound steak, but you can't have a damn apple!" Last I checked the body needs fruit to survive, or at least the vitemins in it. And when I suggested to the person this moronic deit it might be healthier for them to lose weight if they tried getting off the computer and excerising a little bit and drinking water instead of coke, you know what they told me? "But this works, and I'm drinking deit soda now." News flash people Deit soda is less healthy for you than the real stuff. Compare the labels, it might not have all the sugar, but it's higher in everything else you don't need.

Speaking of deits and losing weight, I need too. I saw a picture of myself when I was in high school and gods do I look different. Not the good different either. I used to be able to fit into a size 30 guys pants, now I'm a 36 and trying on woman's pants just depresses me. So, there's a few things I can do about this. One is nothing, which I'm not going to do. Another is just wallow in the fact that I'm fat and it MIGHT be caused by some kinda medical thing because "1 in 4 women suffer from it and I have it you sound like you do too." As someone I no longer talk to so "wisely" (Yeah right) told me. To that I say, what-the-fuck-ever. I admit, I could have a medical problem they're common enough and I have a lot of other strikes against me health-wise. But no, that just ain't my style. Maybe it works for others, but not me. And lastly, I can try and actively do something about it. I'm taking the last option. I'm gonna drink more water and less soda, and I'm gonna make use of my DDR game. My goal is to drop down to a 28 or 26 guys pants. I know I'm never gonna be twiggy, model thin because of my frame. I'm built too much like a brick house to get THAT thin. But I think that's a nice goal for me. Wish me luck!

An entry of D-chan's and a conversation at work got me thinking about the whole deal with Terry Shiavo. Now, I'd like to post my take on it. But first, some facts Terry's parents don't want everyone to know.

Fact: That footage the keep playing of Terry being "responcive" on the news, ever notice that it's always the same shots? No news crew filmed that footage, it was all recorded by her parents. Those few seconds of footage are the ONLY footage that has ever and probably will ever be shot of Terry "responding" to things. Why? Because the parents had to film for 10 hours a day (or more) for 3 days straight to get it. Of all that footage, there's less than 10 MINUTES of footage showing her being responsive. Thirty PLUS hours of filming for ten minutes, not hours, of footage.

Fact: Back when the case wasn't so publisized, about 10 years ago or so, the Florida courts appointed a panel of doctors to examine Terry and determine her physical state. Two were chosen by her husband, two by her parents, and lastly two by the courts. These two doctors knew nothing of the case or Terry before they looked at her. Of those 6 doctors, five determened Terry was in a presistant vegitative state with almost no chance of recovery. The one that did say she had a chance of recovery was one of her parents doctors that had been involved with the case from get go and a close family friend.

Fact: The part of Terry's brain that controls all higher function is now spinal fluid, it no longer exsists. Brain cells grow back at a rate of ONE cell every 7 years. The longer someone is in a persistant vegitative state, the more their brain turns to fluid. Terry's brian is 2/3rds the size of a normal, healthy adult her age. Her brain will ever heal, only deteriorate more.

Fact: After three years of intense therapy, Terry showed no signs of inprovement at ALL. She has had several treatments in attempts to restore her to some level of functioning, all of them failed completely.

Now, to my personal take on the matter.
I think Terry's parents are the most selfish people on the planet. They claim to be christians and love their daughter so much, but instead of allowing their daughter to die and be with their god, they keep her locked in a living hell. The government should keep their asses out of the whole case. Leave it up to the courts if Terry's parents wanna sue, the LOCAL courts. I'm happy the federal government threw out the case, they did something right for once. The woman is laying in a bed, unresponcive and drooling on herself and her parents are exploiting her. Shame on them, they should be banned from her room until she's dead. This isn't about a woman that's diabled, this about a shell of a woman that died long ago. Everyone bashes the husband, well, I'm sure he's no saint, but what about what the parents are doing? They've turned this into a media nightmare, parading their daughter around like some freak show.
The saddest thing, though, is the way she has to die. Flordia outlaws euthanasia, so she has to starve. It's slow, but thankfully Terry has no higher brain functions. She can't feel pain, so maybe it won't be too bad for her. She's been without food or water for about 7 days now. As thin has she is she shouldn't have too much longer before she's finally dead. It's a shame to think that she has to starve, when murderers that commit hanious crimes are killed through lethal injection so they "don't suffer". That's the way our government works though. If someone did try to end her life any faster, they'd go to jail for murder.
It's a bigger shame that she didn't leave a living will, or tell anyone but her husband if she had a wish to die or not. If she had one piece of paper with her wishes on them, one recording, anything at all, this wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, she didn't. So her parents can pull anything out of left feild they want to keep her alive. They pull religion, sob stories, anything at all. If she just had one few cent peice of paper her parents wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on. That's the thing that sucks about word of mouth. People can say someone said anything, but if it's not written down or recorded, it don't mean shit.
Thankfully, I've talked to my Mom and Grandma. They both know my wishes. If I'm ever in Terry's condition I wanna die. All my friends know it and now it's written here. Let there be no mistake. I want to die. Put a pillow over my face and make it quick, but don't put me through that hell. Try the therapy, try whatever treatments you will, but if doesn't help, stop. I want to move on to my next life with an much dignity as I can. If I ever find out my last days were the same media nightmare as Terry's, I'm finding a way to fuck up someone's eternity.

When I first got my rebuilt computer, the guy that built it installed Norton Antivirus on it. My mistake, I asked him to. Then I changed jobs and got a better Antivirus, time to get rid of Nortons, right? Wrong. I tried unstalling it, I tried deleting the files manually, I even hunted in the BIOS for any signs of it to delete. All to no avail. I was gonna reformat my hard drive, but the guy that built my comp didn't have his disk with Windows XP on it. It was also a hacked copy, meaning I couldn't get all the updates, the service packs, ect. Well, Mom bought a new laptop so I sold my little mac. That was an adventure in and of itself. I had to move everything by e-mail, it took forever and my AOL bill is gonna be huge for it. But, I got 50 bucks for it, and 2 legal copies of Windows XP Pro, one for Mom's laptop, one for my desktop.
After picking up some CD-RWs and a RAM upgrade, I backed up my hard drive and popped in the CD and did what I thought was a reformat. Wrong. I reinstalled windows, but all the files were still there. So, I tried it again, and again. Somehow I wound up with 2 identical copies of XP Pro on my hard drive. All and all VERY fursterating. Oh, for the days when you could pop in the disk and type the run command C:format. Windows Technical Support was no help either. So, I left it sit until I got to work on Friday. Asked around and figured out a solution: Set the CD-drive to boot first in BIOS, then reboot the system. It worked and I got my system to reformat, finally. I kinda threw it into a tiny loop hitting a key while it was loading, but that worked itself out and I got Windows all set up and loaded. Installed Service pack 2 and got into a nice little fight with that, but all and all it worked out okay. Now, I'm setting everything back up how I like it. Need to reinstall Yahell, and all my games and files. Eventually, I'm going to get an upgrade to Office. I'm still running office 2000, and I like 2003 SO much better.