HP sucks

So, my HP laptop of 2.5 years starts acting quirky. I wondered if it was a software issue, since the system continued to seize up and then give me either a black screen telling me that windows can't run normally, or a Blue Screen of Death. After a couple days of trying to run diagnostics to no avail, I find my OS disk, reformat the hard drive, and do a clean install of Windows XP. Upon installation, I endure the painful process of downloading and installing Service Pack 2 through an 802.11b wireless access.

After everything was done, I tried to use the computer. After about a day, I started getting more BSOD's. I then noticed that the hard drive light would stay solid when the computer would temporarily seize up. If I thumped the computer lightly, the light would then twitter normally and the computer would unseize. It really sounded like a hardware issue to me, with my first idea being a slowly dying hard drive, and second being a dying motherboard. So, I run several different diagnostic programs on the HD, and everything comes back normal. I then try to run a hard drive-intensive program, and get a BSOD.

This is what I'm leading up to, so don't leave yet!

I go on-line with HP Chat Support and get a supposed tech talking with me. I repeat to him my BSOD message, and the tech tells me it is a software issue, and I need to do a clean install of XP. I tell him that I have just done a clean install, and his technical expertise tells him to tell me that I need TO DO IT AGAIN!!! YGTBSM! He tells me that if it continues, then to get back up with him and he would treat it as a hardware issue.

This is on top of the fact that the HP All-In-One printer we bought in May won't feed paper automatically.

I'll never buy another HP product.

Well, I have just returned from a week in Greensboro at the Guilford Technical Community College for a school. It was a tough "train the trainer" type of school, and if you have ever attended one of these schools, then you understand the stress involved. In order to remain in the class, one had to score high on a written exam and perform the required motor skills at 100%. We lost several students on that day.

Here in Jacksonville, we have traffic and congestion, but what I like about the area is if you keep driving for about 10-15 minutes, you will see farm land and cow pastures. In the Greensboro area, it is built up like the typical urban environment. Traffic really, really sucked!

Right now, I'm relieved that I passed the course, and I'm happy that I can use this new certification to make some extra money (about $20-$25 per hour), but I'm also pissed, because I haven't seen my wife in a week and I was really looking forward to spending some quiet quality time with her. What did she do? She volunteered to go to work, which means that she was gone when I got home, and because of our shift schedules, I won't be able to see her until Tuesday night. I think she knows I'm miffed...

Anyway, I stayed in a Hampton Inn in Archdale. The hotel had just installed their new beds. OMFG! These beds are awesome! I need to get one. I was so comfortable...I've never layed in a more comfortable bed. Plus, they give you three down pillows...ahhhhh!