I'm squeamish about needles, and have fairly lousy veins, but hey, plasma beats egg donation as a way to raise cash. (The craigslist "etc" work classifieds are... interesting.) The laptop should be relatively stationary in the future: if I need it at work, something is not right. Best-case plan is to do a couple of weeks of gainful employment, see what my personal computer usage patterns look like, and get what I need. My netbook "meh" may be modified by 1.) discovering SF cafes, 2.) a long commute, 3.) the power of cheap second hand netbooks and/or refurbs.

Worst case plan is the credit card. If the laptop clunks before I get employed, I'm queuing at the library or borrowing R's backup netbook just long enough to find something very cheap and reliable. My netbook "meh" may also evaporate in the face of internet withdrawal.