Computer glitches and other randomness

So I feel like there are so many anecdotes that just have not made it into my LJ - because, of course, when life gets interesting, it also tends to get busy.

Many new and interesting things have happened in the past few weeks.

For one thing, I discovered this evening that I can pick up a wireless network from the laundry room. Updating LJ certainly beats watching the dryer spin in circles, no?

For another, I discovered that a five-year-old computer can actually do pretty well as a substitute for the 3-year-old computer that is now out for repairs because - of course - I discovered on Friday that it was being flaky yet again. We think it is the logic board. Said logic board is now being replaced.

Conveniently, my sister just got a brand new computer, not because her old one stopped working, but because it was old, and also getting full. So now I have the old, full one. I can't save much on it, and the trackpad is broken (she has had an external mouse for it for years for just that reason) and the latch is broken but everything else works just fine. Would you believe her keyboard is even in better shape than mine? (I have three keys that are completely blank now, with one more on the way. Good thing I know where all the letters are.) I am rather impressed with how well her computer has held up.

I also learned that the people at the apple store are wonderfully helpful - like when they decided to cover my repairs even though they technically didn't have to, since my computer just barely passed its third birthday.

Twenty-four hour apple stores are handy things. So are boyfriends who can back up computers for me before they get sent out for repairs. (thank you, mbarr!)

And maybe this time, they will get my latch fixed properly so that it doesn't go the way of my sister's? (It went from being stubborn about opening to being stubborn about closing. Nice job, guys!)

And if the repairs are successful, it will have been worth the two trips to the apple store with a combined $20 of cab fares (first trip) and about an hour of time spent on busses and subways (second trip). Plus, when I bought an cord for my sister (and it was the right one! hooray!), I didn't have to wait in the crazy long line to check out, because a salesperson approached me and asked of I was paying by credit card ("I can...") and if the cord was all I was buying. Then, he asked me if I'd be okay with an e-mail receipt, and used a handheld machine to check me out on the spot! (and yes, the receipt did show up in my e-mail.)

In other news, I also ran (with much help) a successful weekend to bring people into our synagogue. And it took up tons of my time - hence the long time no update thing- and tons of my energy. But in the end, I felt so wonderful about it! Time will tell how successful it really was, of course - whether the new people come back and keep coming back and so on - but I felt successful and accomplished when it was over.

So, in general, things are good.

They are also really, really busy. But in a good sort of way.