Peeking into the rock

I have Automated Updates turned off on my xp pro Svce Pack 3 desktop. However, this does not stop Microsoft from hanging my computer up on startup: it assaults my computer with a popup that nags me about Automatic Updates being turned off and won't I please! click the balloon to resolve the issue -- which evokes a panel  demanding that I upgrade to Windows 8. Which I don't want to do because Windows 8 does what I don't need and doesn't do what I do need. When I get a new computer that is willing to take on higher than xp, it will be Windows 7 or maybe 9 depending on how long I wait to do it and whether 9 follows the established trend of odd-number versions being usable while even-number ones are not. I don't know how long that will be. Forces pushing me in the direction of a new computer are that it is becoming increasingly unviable for me to work on a computer sitting at a desk; I'm constantly working on paring down my energy footprint; and if I had a really good laptop capable of graphics and gaming I wouldn't need two computers in order to work away from home or in other parts of the house. Forces pulling me away from it are: almost all of the programs I use for work and entertainment are about ten years old; and navigating the specs in order to buy a new computer is a tedious job I keep putting off. I got a step closer to it today when my barbie-pink ancient laptop started sparking at the AC cord because it is that frayed. I was concerned about the cord, and I have been keeping a watch on it, but apparently the leap from "I don't look so good" to "I am shorting and sparking" is a matter of a few hours only. The cord is fixable or replaceable but on the other hand, a new laptop is also attractive.

In the meantime, how do I stop the autmatic nag popup complaining about me not having automatic updates turned on? As I said earlier, turning automatic updates back on ony results in even more florid nagging. The popup is not a trivial thing. It causes my computer to hang when it is loading -- adding maybe five or ten minutes to the process normally, which is what? a few hundred percent longer. This morning was worse -- I don't know if it is a portent -- but it caused the computer to fail to finish booting altogether. It got to the phase when the popup arises, and then no farther, so that I was not able to dismiss the popup or start any other program. How do I make it stop? I tried contacting Microsoft but they don't recognize me as a person who has an account though I've done business with them before (I have no idea why, but when I tried for a single-use key I had to give them the number associated with the account, which is a landline and doesn't take texts so I was still screwed).

Don't tell me "Switch to Mac" or "Switch to Linux" because I have programs that don't function in those environments and people who run them in emulators complain all the time.

If you don't have a suggestion for taming the popup, do you have a suggestion for a gaming laptop that runs Windows 7? Preferably a couple-few years old: the graphics card should be high-end but not too new so that it is compatible with what I do.

On another front, sometimes a market announcement will suggest a solution for an old writing problem (as in, maybe that novel that never quite worked would work as a novella?).

edit: after looking at the work in question, I'm thinking: total rewrite. Oh my dear it is made of infodump.

I spent about an hour with Microsoft this morning. It took much longer than it needed to, because they had to keep shuttling me around to various call centers around the world, but each person I talked to was kind and helpful and none of them thought my frustration was unreasonable. You may remember that a few months ago the "genuine advantage" extortion scheme came to bear on us and we were forced to buy yet another new copy of windows. (It was our third for this exact computer: every copy had been legitimate, but I couldn't prove it because there were installation problems and we had ended up using a registration crack on completely legitimate copies of windows bought in perfectly legitimate circumstances)

So a few days ago we get the little shield exclamation point saying that "updates are available" and, come to check on it, it was the damned validation thing again. So today I spent the morning asking one person after another "how can I prevent this ever happening again?" because it also turns out that the backup disk Microsoft sent me had no serial number on it. But finally the nice customer service people walked me through a process to get the serial number, which he was able to find in their records, established on my computer. Supposedly (or supposably, as my students used to say) this means that it won't happen again.

So Frank went to court today, in what I sincerely hope is the last episode of the chicken lady. This was the hearing for the fine, which was in Frank's name for no reason. She came to testify against him in the hopes that the court would fine us $345 more dollars on top of the money she had already gotten from us -- this money wouldn't go to her at all, it's sheer vindictiveness on her part to pursue the matter. So he took the line that 1)everything she says changes everytime she talks so she's not a reliable witness and 2)the only way that he knows our dog went after her chicken is that she said so. Honestly, I believe the dog did what she said she did, but Frank was able to get the fine down to the minimum ($100).

If this is not the last episode of the chicken lady I don't know what to do.

I had my stitches taken out -- the thumb is doing really well. The doctor said the xrays of my neck show two bad discs -- I forget whether it's C2 and C3 or C1 and C2, and I do not know what difference it makes. I call the physical therapist tomorrow.

Mikey from KUSP says he thinks that the musicians that made the "En pais Vasco comemos bacalao" song were Orchestre Baobab, so I'm checking in to that.

( On yet another front, here's a picture )