Reasons Not to Upgrade

In the process of moving files from the old, now retired work machine to the new, upgraded computer, I had occasion to open a PDF that I created in Acrobat 5.0 with "fillable" fields. (It's a form for my healthcare savings account that I have to turn in periodically. I got tired of filling out the fields, so I made a copy that had most of the fields filled in already.) I needed to change one of the field's characteristics. This is when I learned that versions of Adobe Acrobat after 5.0 took the form-design tool and put it into the "Professional" version, while the "Standard" version that comes with our machines here at work is somewhere between "Professional" and "Reader" and does not contain the form tool, so I can't modify the previously-created form.

Boo, hiss! I used that same tool to make a "fillable" PDF of SFSFC's SMOFCon scholarship application form, and while SFSFC will be offering the scholarships again (details sometime soon), I'm not sure I'll be able to provide that fillable PDF. On the other hand, nobody used it -- all of the applications were either hand-written or submitted online through the web-form.

Fun (Not) With Hard Drives

...No, not the one on my own laptop, thank goodness, but the one currently installed in the "replacement Inspiron" -- the one we bought to replace the damaged one. Lisa asked me to buy another one of the plastic QuickSnap covers that came with the replacement. Besides her wanting the two machines to match, she says that she thinks the covers may slightly reinforce the screens, which (we hope) will make it less likely that we damage either of the working machines the way hers was broken.

( PC neepery, written while I watch CHKDSK run )

I wonder if Dell might be persuaded to replace the unreliable hard drive under the coverage of the replacement machine. Stranger things have happened with Dell support.

Lisa still wants us to get the older, broken machine repaired someday. I reckon it's a $500-$700 job, based on the cost of parts, mainly the replacement screen, but also the keyboard and cracked baseplate. The company that sold me the QuickSnap cover looks to me like they must have bought up a bunch of spare parts from Dell when Dell discontinued the Inspiron 600m line, and they offer repair service.

And before any of you say, "Why bother?" The answer is "because Lisa wants it, that's why," and it's not susceptible to the normal sort of logic, in my opinion. Lisa has some very strong opinions about some things, and I try to avoid arguing with her on those things. The only question will be if I have the money to afford the repairs, and right now, the answer to that question is, "No."