Child #1 is my computer acting up. For a few days it had BSOD'd a couple of times due to software/driver issues, which I think started after the latest Windows update, most likely. I pretty much ignored it until yesterday when...
Child #2: Odin, my gerbil. I'd had him for almost 3 years. Yesterday morning, he looked dull and sick, and I figured it was his time. (Gerbils live 2-4 years on average). He'd been getting slower with age. Not nearly as energetic and annoying as he used to be. I told Patrick that he was probably dying. I told him not to mess with him or his cage that day and I would check on him when I got home from work. When I got home yesterday evening, he was pressed up against the glass. His eyes were closed and he was barely breathing. I didn't want to move him or anything for fear of making it worse. He was still hanging in there, though, that little trouper.That's when Child #1 reared it's ugly head: I got a BSOD that was fatal. After backing up some of my files, my SSD finally went kaput. There was nothing more I could do but try to wipe the drive and start over with a fresh copy of windows.
In the meantime, Patrick and I watched as Odin took his final breath. He was gone. Knowing that I would be inheriting Patrick's cat in the coming months, I wasn't planning on replacing my gerbil with another, so Patrick got rid of his home and toys as we set up to go bury him at my parent's house, where the Pet Cemetery of my past animals resides. I set up my computer to install Windows, and we left for the burial.
When we got back, I decided to check my mail. Oh child #3, I thought you'd never come. While my surgery bill for my cholecystectomy was only $580, turns out the anesthesia bill is much more. $900. Damn. I'm looking at this bill while seeing PC death on my computer screen because the boot sectors of the drive have apparently been corrupted. And although I try a few fixes through Command Prompt, nothing was working. So I resign myself to spending $70 on another SSD in order to get my computer up and running again.
I called the anesthesia people today, and they accept Multicare's financial aid, so there is a silver lining to all of this, at least. My bill should be reduced greatly, and I'll find out within a week or two. The other bit of good news is that I purposely have my boot drive as pretty much just that - a boot drive. Nothing of value resides on it, so it's no big deal to lose it (although come on - it was only a year old!!) so, there's that. And regarding Odin... I knew for the last couple of months that it was coming. Isn't it strange how you know your animals so well that you can just tell when things change or don't seem right? Odin lived a long, healthy life and died of old age. That's the best any momma could hope for. So of course I'm sad that I lost him, but I'm also glad that he lived as long as he did.
I'm also so incredibly glad that I have Patrick's support and that he happened to be there that evening with me. I might have broken down without him. He's so amazing and I don't know what I'd do without him.
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