Endopolis

The other day I was all set to install 2GB of new RAM in my (old but still good) 17" PowerBook G4. I was excited about this, so after getting the RAM shipment in the mail I quickly flipped my Mac over, popped the battery out, and discovered that I needed a really small screwdriver that I didn't own. So, I clicked the battery back in, plugged in the computer and started it... up.  Wait a second... it didn't start. I get a blue screen with a cursor, but it won't do anything. It never boots. It's like the dreaded blue screen of death normally associated with PCs. Nothing. Not even a sad Mac face or a question mark looking for the system folder.

WTF?

After a lot of forum-reading with my dad who was in town, we couldn't get the thing going. We tried just about every diagnostic/repair trick in the book (short of sticking it in the freezer). Apparently this blue screen is somewhat notorious to PowerBooks, and I'm not the first person to encounter this sorry state. I don't have Apple Care, the computer is not under warranty, and I'm faced with taking it into an Apple store for advice, which no doubt will be packed with iPhone shoppers (or angry iPhone shoppers looking for support).

I'm afraid this problem, in the end, is going to cost me money. In short, I'm hosed.

Meanwhile, my HP laptop for work is dying -- it freezes and crashes, won't start sometimes, and is generally totally unstable. I cleared out a lot of temp folders and defragged the hard drive last night. That seems to have helped today, but who knows. Yahoo says they're out of replacement computers, so I'm stuck.

If you own a PC, probably best to stay away from me for awhile. I'm a walking blue screen of death.