Ok, first things first, the laptop has arrived. I had to pay $140 in customs fees *choke* but whatever, I was hardly going to dwell on it. I have opened it and plugged it and so far things seem to be ok. I have been trying to hook it up to the internet but I can't figure out why I can't get online. I totally forget how to set up a proper connection and I am especially dim when it comes to laptops. When I plugged it into my modem an XP bubble popped up and acknowledged that it had a net connection and gave the speed, but I couldn't get onto the net at all. My brain is fried from lack of sleep so for the life of me I can't troubleshoot the problem. Why must My Big Gay Daddy live so far away??

Also, not having a proper mouse is driving me MAD so I am about to pull on some shoes and go buy that and a wireless card though I am slightly frightened by the idea that I have no idea what I am buying. I'll be checking the return policy. Just how are people supposed to use these touch pads for a mouse?? So slow and awkward. Ick. New mouse and wireless card coming up. I'm gonna call a friend of mine to come help me. }:-)

So here's hoping I don't have a lemon.. hard to say until I get mucking with it. It's nice and thin, which I am way happy about in terms of traveling, but it only has a 20GB drive. Yikes, what good is that?? I'll be burning lots of my information off of it to store. And the guy didn't bother to reformat it so I have the settings for some guy named Damien. Whatever, I just want it to be up and running before I go. *fingers crossed*

UPDATE: Well, thanks to the help of a dear old friend of mine my laptop is up, running and wireless! I am so very thrilled that it's working and (so far) all seems to be well. I am going to spend the next few hours loading programs and fine tuning it to the way I like it. Finally!!!!