I foolishly started the formatting process at 8pm. It .. hasn’t gone well, I’m afraid. I’m so very tired, but I can’t sleep – something I did caused a BSOD, then .. nothingness. My machine wouldn’t boot at all. I’d get the HP welcome screen, then an inky blackness that seemed to pierce my very soul and mock me from its depths. I’ve started again from scratch, and am watching the progress bar slowly crawl along as setup copies files. I’ve done this a thousand times before, but tonight it is ominous. I do not know how much longer I can hold out, but I must go on. Dear Elsie, please think of me fondly and do not fret. I will return to you either in body or spirit – I am in god’s hands now, and only he holds the final chapter of my life. Does it end here on these endless sands? Will I be saved and return to you, my body and mind intact? I long to see you but once more to say so many words, but it will have to suffice that I close my eyes and dream of your sweet smile. Your voice echoes in my ears, and though I am tormented by these devil reboots I am comforted.

Yours truly,

Hans

PS: please send me LAN and sound drivers for an HP dv9824ca

I am getting pretty desperate to find drivers for Banjo, my home laptop. He came pre-loaded with Vista Home, which is just fucking awful. I want to format him seven ways to Sunday, then install XP. Is that so much to ask?

Apparently, it is. There are no drivers for anything in my machine for XP, meaning I have to go Vista or go repeatedly hit my head against the wall until the OS isn’t so terrible. These are not good options. Damn you, Vista. I hate you SO HARD.

I think I’m going to live life on the edge and install XP anyway. I have other machines that I can use to look up compatible drivers online and try to get it working. If it’s an epic fail, I can at least install Vista Pro and all the HP bloatware will still be gone. It’s all just a huge pain in the ass, but I do so love the crispness of a wiped machine. It’ll be awesome. I hope.

It looks like the gang is going snowboarding this weekend, so I’ll be on my own. What better time than to do some pre-holiday cleaning and hard drive formatting? We’re putting the tree up at some point this weekend, which will be an adventure because of Lemon. He’s adorable, but he’s a right bastard. I think we’re going to decorate the top half of the tree only, in an attempt to keep him from destroying all the ornaments. Should be incredibly frustrating. I can’t wait.

I’m starting to get a little excited about the holiday season, even if the various Grinches in my life are making the usual noises. It’s hard to be cheerful about things sometimes when all you hear is moaning and groaning (the bad kind, not the good kind) – I guess I just don’t understand the thrill of pissing on someone’s cornflake parade. Regardless, I am getting right jolly about things. I’m about halfway through my holiday shopping already, and super excited about giving presents to my peoples. Yay for giving!

Also, yay for 100% acrylic! I found a fantastic sweater over the weekend that has NO WOOL in it, so I am wearing it and looking sassy and am just generally full of glee and Diet Coke. I’m either high, or really excited about my robot butler.