Okay.
Some of you are aware that I haven't been on AIM at all for almost a week now, which is kinda odd considering I log in every day when things are normal. Well, there's been a long string of events associated with it. Let me start from the beginning of this mess.
Monday, November 7 - My larger computer refuses to turn on. At all. I call my parents, who bring my computer home. At this point a Linux laptop becomes my primary computer.
Tuesday, November 8 - I get my laptop registered with the network services on campus.
Thursday, November 10 - My laptop, still a Linux computer, suddenly starts having problems with its command line. For those who don't know, the command line is absolutely critical for Linux, even if there's a GUI in use.
Sunday, November 13 - Unable to fix the problem with my laptop, I finally get the nerve to go back and install Windows 98 on it (despite my father's attempts to convince me to put WinXP on it - I'm sorry, but this computer was not designed for WinXP. Besides, there are old games I want to play that are not playable on WinXP). To this day, there are still drivers and programs I'm missing, but I'm getting by. (I haven't bothered to install AIM on this computer either, because I didn't plan on staying online with this for very long.)
Wednesday, November 16 - I learn from my dad, who's skilled in fixing computers, that the power supply for the computer was fried. At this point, the two of us are thinking our problems are over.
Friday, November 18 - I learn from dad that, after he replaced the power supply, the hard drive had also stopped working. Which means I could have lost several years' worth of old essays and downloads, as well as half the programs installed on my computer. I say 'could have' because he's trying to salvage what he can from the hard drive.
I am waiting to see what can be done for the computer. As for AIM, I'm waiting to see if the hard drive on my larger computer can be salvaged before installing it on the laptop.
Expect me to stay in the shadows and off of AIM for a little longer.