Computer fun...like chewing foil.

I haven't posted here for a while, but I thought I'd let you know I still have a pulse and am chomping at the bit to finish Sexton Sand. I'm desperate enough that I actually used my fountain pen and scratched out a new chapter last night on...what do you call that stuff? Oh. Yes. ...Paper. The deal is that I'm not going to buy a new computer until I can pay cash for it. My wife and I are following the advice of that finance guru dude (one of us willingly, the other dragged kicking and screaming. Yes, I can type while kicking and screaming.) What I've been able to do one kicking, screaming step at a time is replace parts of the computer and do my own work on the computer. Unfortunately, one thing has led to another thing and here's what I've had to do: 1. Went to buy a new power supply...and discovered it was cheaper to buy a new case with power supply than to buy just the power supply. 2. Transferred the hardware to the new case 3. Discovered the motherboard was bad on the old computer (a Compaq from 1998) 4. Replaced the motherboard with a newer, but used motherboard with a Pentium 4 processor. 5. Needed to reinstall Windows, but don't have a copy of Windows because it always came with the computer. Restore CD's don't work when you add 100% new hardware. 6. Played around with different, free operating systems: ReactOS and Ubuntu...only to discover that you need to be in Windows to install them. 7. Last night I found that I am still in possession of the original hard drive from ye olde Compaq...and will now boot the old hard drive in the old machine, copy all the files to the new hard drive, remove the old 1 gig hard drive and commence adding all the bells and whistles I painstakingly downloaded and installed--like drivers for flash drives, DVD Drive, etc. 8. Enjoy the new machine. In case you're wondering...sure I would love to waltz into an electronics store and purchase a new computer. I'll do it someday soon. You know what will make that happen? You can help, easily and enjoyably... ...buy a book or two. Just click on the books on this page and your computer will take you to where you can do that.