As great good luck would have it, several critically important items in my life made with plastic conked out and were replaced just before the Sept. 15 deadline.
First, my two old printers expired on the same day. I took them to Free Geek -- a local place that takes donations of second-hand electronics to be disassembled and reassembled with what's salvageable and that recycles what cannot be reused. I ordered a new printer the day we left for vacation, knowing there wouldn't be time to find one when we got back before The Experiment started.
Then, unbeknownst to me, my wonderful family conspired in our absence to get us a new computer. The old computer, which I'd bought when my nearly-20-year-old was in sixth grade, was like an ancient arthritic dog, struggling to get on its feet every morning and hobbling with every step. I was in despair: it really needed to be put down, humanely, but a new computer would be chockablock full of plastic.
But lo! The aforementioned child, who has discovered a passion for building computers, and my parents, who hate to see me suffer, slyly got together while Rick and I were in Yosemite. Sam contributed his time and expertise and my folks ponied up for those components that needed to be bought -- some parts of the computer were salvaged from other computers -- and together they made us a magnificent new computer that bounds through its tasks like an excited puppy.
And what is best (according to some cynics) is that a computer doesn't have to be walked, fed, and pottied (although it does have a few other annoying habits, like telling you you have mail:-) We all had the best time while you weren't here, working this conspiracy:-)
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