Girl seeking Computer

So my computer has started to make whining noises whenever I turn in on. I took it to the computer guy we have around here, but all he could do was shake his head and say "old". Well tell me something I don't know....

This computer has been with me for the past 5 years, which means that in computer-land its about 85--a good long life for a computer these days. Recently, however, it has definitely begun showing its age. First it was the slow processing time, no matter how many times I defrag the hard drive or how much programs I remove. Then it was the errors. Every once in a while my screen has a seizure and I have to do a hard reboot to get it to work properly again. The battery threw a hissy fit at being plugged in to a Korean outlet and will now only hold a charge for 30 minutes. And now we have the whining noise that makes it very difficult to hold a conversation with anyone without getting strange background noises and is just generally very annoying.

In short, though I was trying to hold out for a new computer until next year when I (hopefully) head off to grad school), it looks like my ajuma computer is not going to make it that long. This worries me because I know the price of getting a computer in Korea (definitely not to my taste) and I know how much they will charge me to ship one in. This means that my only real hope of getting a new computer comes at the beginning of December, when I am home for my "holiday" vacation. Of course, this trip just had to come in December, right as I am trying to use my credit cards to pay for graduate school application fees and Christmas presents for people. I guess all I can do is hope that people send money for Christmas/my birthday and that it comes soon enough that I can fix this problem before it starts. Otherwise, you will definitely be seeing a lot less of me. :(

Official Business

Monday marked my one year anniversary in Korea. To celebrate, I went out with some coworkers to a Korean bar, drank Korean beer and soju, and woke up the next morning remembering why I don't do stuff like that anymore. Happy anniversary! ^_^

In related news, the visa process seems to be going okay the second time around. I have a stamp on my alien registration card to show that the paperwork is in process, just in case someone tries to deport me in the meantime. I even got to fill out the Korean census today to show that I am a working, tax-paying resident. Oddly enough, the whole process just made me feel bad again about not applying soon enough to get my mail in ballot. I wish that I had thought to do it sooner, but in reality I would have felt uncomfortable voting since I have not been paying attention to any of the races or the candidates. I guess that's one of the hazards of believing that its our job to make an INFORMED decision on election day. I'd rather exercise my right not to vote than to choose someone on the basis of political affiliation (or, as is the case in most local elections, on the basis of whose name sounds the most interesting).

Hope you are all much better citizens than I, and that you are all doing your civic duty and making a well-thought out selection on this election day.