Yeah, definitely wanting a functional laptop right now. I'm off to an aikido seminar tomorrow and an overnight surprise for the girl on Sunday night, but hopefully early next week I will go blow some money on a working machine, unless it really looks like Apple will get my MacBook Pro done. But they won't.
Despite the impending doom of working again, and possible subsequent problems with taking vacation time when I'm already taking a week in June and 3 weeks in July--I'm sure it'll all be fine once I become productive and they see how useful I am--I'm looking forward to the social and intellectual engagement. There are some pretty easy problems for me to start out on, improvements that are obvious and should be pretty dramatic because so much of the code is bad.
Somehow, in addition to Mind of Clover and Old Path White Clouds, I've started reading The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, Uncommon Grounds, and The Picture of Dorian Gray (which only makes sense because I've seen Wilde and know that Oscar Wilde spent much of his time with flamboyantly gay or bisexual wealthy men in their early twenties). They're all remarkable books; I'm interested to see what I can finish before I start work on the 7th. It's dodgy, since the 4th-6th is a retreat. Still, we must try.
Curiously, since the new landlords bought the place and have been doing upscale remodeling on apartments, and presumably jacking the rents (they started charging for water/sewer/garbage too, and the manager seemed slightly disappointed that I"m still under a lease that covers it), the complex has been less well-maintained and gotten steadily noisier, with loud car stereos, people shouting in the parking lots, and more folks playing audible music. If I can get rid of enough stuff, I may consider moving before the lease is up, and I imagine they'll let me out of it. I also think there's a strong possibility they'll ask me to move when my lease ends in October, so they can remodel my apartment. It's one of those feelings supported by a strong preponderance of evidence, and I'm often right about those, so that will be an interesting thing to watch out for.