Well....I have officially declared it. Time of Death: 10:02pm
My mouse, that has served me and my computer so well for over three years, has ceased to function. It will be greatly missed by my keyboard, for they were a pair. A matching set. Companions, even! They even shared the same cordless receiver. Now it will be a receiver for one. It is a sad day indeed.

I came to this conclusion only after careful testing. I took my mouse over to my parents house and hooked it up to their computer. No response. I took my parents mouse (well, they're vacationing in England! they don't need it right now) and brought it over to my house..... it worked on my computer just fine. So I did what any reational girl would; I took the mouse apart. I don't know what I was looking for exactly, but I figured I had nothing to lose. I unscrewed the back plate and had a look. Then I cleaned it thoroughly with my can of compressed air (ew. we won't even discuss the amount of hair that was in there). However all this was still not enough... I got no response from my mouse. The truth was painfully clear. The mouse was dead.

So I guess tomorrow I will go shopping for a new mouse. Truth be told, I took a quick look at them at Office Depot today thinking this might be the inevitable conclusion. What I did learn is that I have expensive taste when it comes to the mouse I want. And it looks like I'll have to get over my dislike for optical mice because that's all the high-end ones are now (and really, most of the low-end ones too). Ugh. I feel so old, stubborn by wanting to keep it "old school" (with the 'ball'). And this is money I *so* don't have to spend, but I consider this a need, not a want so I don't skimp. :-/

I'll let you guys know what I choose, and thanks for all your input. God willing, I won't walk out of the store with a whole new computer. *fingers crossed*