Endings

I finished the pink bathmat, which my doggie likes very much, though not as much as he loves the air vent it's next to. I just can't explain such passion for a non-knitted thing.

My SP5-related activities are also coming to a close. I'm savorying every last minute of guilt-free shopping for my spoilee. I'm now on the prowl for some nice stitch markers. I sorta wish I knew how to make them, so I could have exactly the right style and size. But then again, I probably wouldn't have the time or manual dexterity anyway, so Ebay and Froogle to the rescue!

Speaking of dexterity, my right hand is killing me! The short story is that my laptop bit it. The (really very) long story is this: I decided to add an extra stick of RAM to my laptop, so I ordered the memory, which was waiting for me when I got home last Thursday. I've change laptop memory before so I thought it would be easy - 10 minutes, tops. But the screws on the underside of the machine were so incredibly, unbelievably tight, I couldn't undo them to expose the memory slot. After about an hour, I called the manufacturer to make sure I was using the right screwdriver (it's a philips size 0 - I love that there are sizes even smaller than this). Anyway, the Dell tech said it was the right size and advised me to "put more effort into it" (he said it politely, so I didn't get mad, despite my sore hand). Really, I literally stripped the philips head X off the screws trying to get them out. Luckily, the Dell tech called back and said he could dispatch a tech on a service call to replace all of the screws on the bottom of the laptop. The service tech did just that yesterday, so I tried adding the memory again after work. The first screw came out in two shakes (hooray!), but no-go for the second screw. It was pretty much stuck like before. I even had my parents in on the un-screwing fun, but they didn't have any luck either. I made another, much more agitated call to Dell and, though they pretty much think I'm a complete weakling, they're sending another tech (or possibly the same tech), who is supposed to replace the whole plastic underside of the computer, and leave a new set of screws, with all the compartments open, so I'll have to close them myself. I figure if I tightened it, I could probably loosen it. Today, the palm of my hand has bright red splotches from gripping the screwdriver and I had to ice it down :(

I'm not too happy about this whole thing. If it's not right by Monday, this will definately be the end of my Dell experience. I miss my old Fujitsu Lifebook (its screen died, alas). It was getting kinda pokey in performance after 5 years, but at least it was accessible.