Laptop is a paperweight

Stardate 200577XP
I've been having issues with my laptop. It is old - in fact, it's not even really ours, it was one of Chris' work laptops that starting acting "funny" over a year ago, so he got annoyed with it, and requisitioned a new one, and they never asked for the old one back.
Not reliable enough to work on all day - but certainly good enough for logging in from time to time to my message boards, and the occasional game (ok 28 games) of Spider Solitaire. I even got over the fact that it wasn't a Mac because it was so darned convenient to sit in front of the TV, laptop ready, and look up anything on the net that tickled my fancy. All while keeping the kids within visual range, and still being available for hugs, a game of rough and tumble, and making Macaroni and cheese.
The laptop has been getting progressively worse though. First it would simply go into sleep mode without warning - not so bad - you just wake it up and continue on. Then it started shutting down. Also not so bad for me, as I just restarted it. It didn't save anything I was working on, thus the greatest thing I lost during one of those spontaneous shutdowns was 1/2 a blog. Then it would freeze up - more and more often (necessitating a restart)- starting to get annoying. Then it started having trouble restarting - the fan would blow but the CPU wouldn't fire up. After a cooling down period it would be fine.
This was good, as it actually limited the amount of time I was online - forcing me to spend quality time with the boys. Finally this week, another fine feature - the screen would go super fuzzy - to the point that I couldn't even see the curser and there was a mess of specks and lines on the screen. I got annoyed.
Before I hurled it at the wall - Chris suggested we just blow out the fan and the CPU with compressed air - maybe that would fix the overheating problem. But Chris cannot just stop at compressed air - No he has to take the whole thing apart.
Then try putting it back together from memory. So now the thing just doesn't work at all - The fan starts up, and we got the screen to come on once, but it was nothing more than a blank black screen.
So it looks like I may be offline for a while - I can always use my current trusty and reliable Mac - but not until the kids are safely tucked away in bed, or (like now) preoccupied with running Daddy ragged with their demands. I'd go and rescue him, but I rather enjoy being tucked away in my room, blogging away in peace and quiet. I never realized how much I liked having a laptop until I didn't have it anymore. I'm so restless when i go downstairs - I HATE daytime TV, and I don't want the kids turning into little vegetables in front of it anyway - they watch enough as it is. I guess I'll take them to the park, but I'm sure I'm going to suffer from withdrawal. My BZ girls understand, don't you? I guess I'll put my newfound time to good use. By the time we can afford another laptop, this better be the cleanest most clutterfree house on the planet!!
Picard out!