Seems this computer of mine is determined to breathe its last.  It groans and moans, it stutters and freezes.  I'd thought, after the last escapade when I'd had to completely restore the hard drive, and lost quite a bit in the process, having no option but to take that drastic step since I'm no whiz with a computer and when it refused to be normally activated I did what I could, with the result that an entirely new program was installed and I began the set-up for a new system. 

I thought I could live with it for awhile.  Trouble is, the computer doesn't seem to believe it can continue to live and produce service.

Regardless, the hard drive is too severely compromised.  It's about seven years old, and while there remains 60% free space, the drive wants a permanent retirement.  When I'm online and writing an entry in my blog the cursor will suddenly go amok, with a frenetic life of its own, eating up space at a tremendous rate, and eradicating as well whatever I've written.  It seems to overrule the 'save' function at times.

Yesterday, after our daily ravine walk we went out in the commercial neighbourhood to visit a few of our local electronic franchises to see what they had on offer.  There are sales but they're geared to the back-to-school crowd, with numberless makes and models of laptops and minis on sale.  Along with iPods, cellphones, and all the other paraphernalia so beloved of young people.

I want another desktop.  My husband looks at the speed and the storage capacity.  We're looking for a dual-core workhorse, nothing elaborate.  Those who stream video and download movies and play games look for the bells and whistles. 

Both places we went to were packed with young people, and sometimes really young people accompanied by their parents.  Too much activity ongoing for a serious talk with a salesperson.  If we want a salesperson to give advice, and that's questionable.

My computer is increasingly given to stalling and freezing, and it's inevitable that we make the leap to a fresh new model eager to go and perform its duties.  Built-in obsolescence, who knows?