In the meantime, I was cleaning out a closet and found this. 
I temporarily plugged it in to see if it would work and called Mama to check it out. She looked from one to the other and back again and frowned and said, "I don't like it."
I said, "You haven't even tried it."
She said, "I don't like the way it looks. It doesn't look like a real computer."
The fact that it isn't pink and it's easy to see has convinced her. And the fact that if she had to buy a new one, it would be expensive and still wouldn't "look like a computer" to her.
Next the embroidery machine. I took it to the repair place (an hour's drive away), and they fixed the carriage and said it was sewing fine. Well, when I got it home, it was not sewing fine. I ruined 2 things trying to embroider a simple design. I looked again at the repair slip, and it said "Bobbin is popping while winding." That's not what I told them. I said the bobbin was popping while sewing.
So it was back to Opelika. It was really a nice experience once I showed Eddy what the problem really was. I got to sit there and watch them completely dismantle my machine and put it back together, but they found the problem. Something about tension making a loop underneath the needle, and the bobbin thread was getting caught up and sticking, therefore putting pressure on the carriage. I like to pretend I know what they're talking about.
I haven't tried it since I brought it home yesterday. I'm kind of scared to.
And lastly, my revived computer. My Computers and Beyond guys whom I thought were my friends installed VISTA on my computer. Vista Professional to make it worse. Not that I have time to play games, but Free Cell is not even there in case I'm ever on a boring conference call.
Nothing is familiar. I keep getting messages like, "This file is corrupted" when I try to transfer files from my external drive to the new computer. That's a scary thought. My embroidery software which I finally got installed is not compatible with Vista and is making me very unhappy.
I spend all my time doing searches on how to fix Vista bugs, but today I'm calling the guys and telling them I want to go back to Windows XP. Probably can't be done, but it's worth a try.
Meanwhile, my flower beds are getting weedy, and the containers need new plants, and I need to vacuum the floors.
Otherwise, life is good if I'll just let myself rise above my mechanical problems. I'll try not to be so negative next time.
I guess I can use the old expression - If it weren't for bad news, there would be no news at all. Something like that!
I have a feeling next time I write, I will have been able to dig in the warm dirt a little bit and work some more on my quilt. Fingers crossed.
UPDATE: I just talked to Sam at Computers and Beyond and told him how mean he was to me to put Vista on my computer. He said, "I don't like Vista, but you had a Vista CD in your drive." What!? Then I remembered I had tried to reformat it myself before taking it in, and it didn't work. Turns out Dell doesn't like you to do it yourself or something like that. So Sam thought I already had Vista and just was replacing it.
BIG sigh of relief. He immediately agreed to go back to Windows XP since my computer is licensed for that.
We're friends again - or will be once he does his magic stuff tomorrow.