Even my long-awaited Archy editor was slow as molasses on my old PC, and I finally decided I’d had it. I went to Fry’s Electronics to pick up a Father’s Day gift, and to learn about my options for computers.

My budget was virtually nonexistent, so most geeks would find the hardware I wound up with laughable, but I think I did pretty good for the price. I got a $40 Matsonic motherboard, a $60 AMD Sempron 2.5 Ghz, and a $40 case. My plan is to assemble everything, then steal the hard drive, optical drives, 3D card, and RAM from my old clunker.

If this works, I’ll get a three-fold increase in speed for $140, plus the beginnings of a basic system for Diana. And I my loved ones won’t have to hear me bitch about my computer any more.