So, being less than wealthy, I could neither afford a new one, nor justify a repair at near new-laptop-costs. Taking advice from my local computer repair shop, I became a habitual eBay dweller. Often these motherboards can be picked up for the range of $200-$350 dollars. I managed to win an auction for one claimed to be in ?Perfect? condition for $255.00. Eventually it arrived, and enacted my crash course in laptop repair. Low and behold however, this board in ?perfect? condition had a severely broken power socket. (Comically, even cracked and resecurred with electritian?s tape!) And was totally DOA. The person I bought it off had a fabulous eBay record over 5 years, including Paypal enhanced protection. (Which guarentees up to $1250.00) The problem was compounded at this point by the seller deciding he?d no longer like to be an eBay seller, and deactivating his account. He was sympathetic to my problem though, and offered me $100 if I sent the motherboard/paperweight back to him...
Telling him where to stick that, I went through Paypal. They promised me a resolution within 2-3 weeks. 2 months later, I got my money back. However, I was back to square one. Stuck with a dead computer and no way to effectively mod or access my files. I was sad. 
Then the incredible happened. One of the forum dwellers with whom I?d met for ale (Yes, ale - not beer!) seeing he was in town pulled some strings with his company and I?m certain with his own wallet. In a savage act of kindness the likes of which I?ve never experienced, he presented me with a factory refurbished (Indistiguishable from bloody NEW!) laptop of the same damn model as my old one!!!
:w00t: 
Seeing as the models were the same, I was even able to successfully swap over my old hard drive (with all my irraplaceable files, settings, and other questionable materials) into the new one. In return, this demented soul merely asked for a donation of modding skills to his minor causes. (The unbelievable bastard actually attempted to pay for dinner when he handed the computer over! Such audacity!) Such is not enough by far, but I would like to take a moment and give my heartfelt thanks to MitchMC. A scholar, gentleman, and a great conversationalist to boot. 
So, to those folk to whom I have offerred help in the past, and to whom I have been unable to meet my obligations, I will shortly be modding again! If anyone wants to send me a reminder (Cam, I recall the fixpack, no reminder necassary.) feel free and I?ll get to it when I can. I?ll need some time to get back up to speed (Hell, even Weidu is up 20 versions since I last modded!) but am at least back in the game!
