Technical Difficulties

My computer screen, which has been persnickety from day one (and which has stumped tech support, even after they replaced the monitor), has been getting grouchier. I chalk it up to Florida humidity and have tried just about everything I can think of to make my screen happier. My computer is a reconditioned one that I bought 3 years ago (everything else about it is great), so maybe it's time for me to get a backup. Summers have been more problematic than our dry winters, and the screen's become more curmudgeonly over time in general. After Hurricane Frances and four days without power two years ago, it was downright ornery, taking about half a day to spring back to life.

I'm caught up on work for the moment and have printed out specs of a couple models -- so putting in an order now would be, well, prudent.

Once the internal screen light comes on, it's fine. Sometimes it comes on immediately, though that's getting more and more rare. Sometimes it comes on after a few minutes. Sometimes -- like lately -- it can literally take hours. Something doesn't catch. I can barely see my log-in screen, which appears as though through a dark haze. Light controls on the keyboard don't do anything. Tweaking the monitor doesn't do anything, or clearing space around the machine, or talking nicely to it, etc. etc. Fortunately, I have an external hard drive and have been backing up all my files, so data transfer shouldn't be a problem once I find the heir to this trusty workhorse.

After perusing online tech support I've got a couple more options to try. In the meantime I have much reading catch-up to do here, which I hope to accomplish at the library if all else fails. Please bear with me and with Ol' Sleepyhead.

Thanks.

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