A Bird in the Hand?

My newish laptop went kaput recently. It was made horribly, so the left hinge broke somehow and split the casing a bit further every time it moved. This meant that the power jack next to the left hinge got dislodged and became disconnected, so it wouldn't charge anymore.

I took it to a repair shop, and they want to completely replace the casing for about $300.

Is it worth it?

Considerations:

1. I need a working laptop for my life to function properly. I either need to pay to have it repaired, or will have to buy a new one in NZ very soon.
2. With a new laptop, I'd be looking to spend more to get one that will last me a while, taking in consideration new technologies (e.g. 3.1 or USB-C ports) and larger HD (1+ TB vs my old one's 500 GB HD). Other specs: 14 - 16", ideally 15.6", number keypad, 8+GB of RAM, ideally expandable to 16, weighs less than 5 lbs, ideally about 4, good (loud) speakers, great reviews, sturdily built, 3.1 USB ports, maybe a USB-C, DVD-ROM (optional), SD card slot (optional), Windows 7 (I hate the new touchscreens and overall organisation, & I HATE having to log in to get into my personal computer). 
3. NZ is crazy expensive, e.g. a $750 USD laptop is $2200 NZD here!! I'll next be in the US in May.
4. All my data is on my laptop. I made an .iso backup of the computer about a week before it had its major issues, but I don't know how to extract, say, picture files from an .iso. (I think this can be done, however.) I need my files and my life back in order soon.
5. I'm still not sure if they are going to repair the actual power jack and connect it back, or what the heck will happen with the hinge. If the hinge remains broken, the new casing will split in two and break the jack again. Not to mention the right hinge will have crazy pressure on it. 

What would you do?!

Never Buy Acer

After only a few years, my Acer Aspire laptop's left hinge completely decoupled from the rest of the bottom case. This caused my power jack to dislodge and consequently the power jack ground wire to detach from the motherboard. Hence, I can no longer charge my laptop. All I need is someone to solder the ground wire back into the power jack and I'd be back in business!

However, I have no such tools, so I had to take it into a repair shop because my attempts at fixing it were fruitless. I eked out an extra month out of it using DIY methods, but it was finally time to take it to the doctor today.

My old, first laptop lasted over 5 years and was still working when I replaced it with this one. I replaced it because it was running out of HD space and thought it was too heavy to use anymore. I had already replaced the HD in it once and didn't want to do it again, so just got a new laptop that was much lighter.

I didn't expect that getting a cheaper (sub-$500) laptop would make a big difference, but it clearly does!! I am planning on splurging a bit this time, and getting something that ticks all the boxes and hopefully will last as long as my first laptop did! I do hate the process of switching all the info, software, etc. over to a new machine and do not want to do it too often!

Jan 2017 budget

How are we here already? 2017 is 1/12th over. To be honest, I'm not sure how long I'll last if the rest of 2017 is like the last 10 days of January was. I. AM. EXHAUSTED. (but determined to keep fighting.) I've had to employ some mental health tactics already: ban twitter after 9 pm so I can sleep more soundly, and I'm planning to take 1 day breaks from all news each week.

In my personal life, I have much less important, yet very stressful issues going on: 1. I'm still in a disagreement with one of my PhD co-supervisors and 2) I'm still in friendship review mode in regards to my (previous) best friend. If you could ever call him that--I'm now doubting his genuineness and reviewing how good of a friend he actually was. I'm basically not speaking to him. This is very, very difficult as we were very close for over 3 years. I'm the type that doesn't trust easily or quickly, but once I do, I will trust and defend and ride-or-die that person no matter what they do. Loyal to a fault. It takes a LOT for me to break a friendship, so this is a very big deal--I've only had to do this once before in my life. While I am much more bored and lonely without the friendship, I am also feeling a lot more stable and secure emotionally. I guess that tells me that distancing myself is a good decision. Now, since he is very good friends with a lot of my other good friends, I need to learn to navigate a friendship breakup amicably. I normally give so many chances that by the time I'm at my wit's end, the relationship has to be fully and completely burned because it is so toxic. We'll see.

Anyway--I think the holiday plus the stress took a bit of a toll on my budget.

	Jan 2017 Budget
Category	Spent	Budgeted Amount
Rent	$900.00	$900.00
Groceries	$400.20	$430.00
Internet	$26.33	$26.33
Electricity	$43.57	$50.00
Eating Out	$111.98	$150.00
Charity	$40.00	$50.00
Cell phone	$17.00	$25.00
Medical	$58.39	$90.00
Misc	$823.19	$700.00
Savings	$500.00	$500.00
Total	$2,920.66	$2,921.33
Remainder	$0.50

MISC
alcohol	$               -
entertainment	$               -
exercise	$               -
fees	$               -
gifts	$          22.50
goods and wants	$        207.64
transportation	$        221.62
travel	$        371.43

Ah well, on to February.

Feb 2017 Goals :)

See Jan 2017 post to see how I did (not too bad).

Mainly, my Feb goals entail continuing to work on my two main goals for the year: wake up/go to bed earlier & incorporate more movement into my days. Update from Jan included below:

1. Restrict internet using LeechBlock in the wee hours, slowly moving the restricted times earlier and earlier (move by 15 min or 1/2 hour blocks each week). UPDATE: I started at 2 am--I'm at 1 am now. Slowly but surely? I seem to be getting tired a little bit earlier than normal, so I think this is working. I still slip up a lot, particularly on weekend nights. (Some nights I can't sleep at all til very late--but I blame the deteriorating state of the world for that.)
2. Set reminders on work computer to move around more during the work day/take breaks. Experiment with working in 45 min chunks. UPDATE: I use free Scirocco break software on my home laptop and work computers. I definitely still postpone breaks, often when I'm in the zone and working on something and want to finish it up before breaking, but I think my body is getting more used to taking a break after 45 mins. I catch myself at home getting up almost right as the breaktime warning pops up! Sometimes I sit and daydream or check my phone for the break, but most of the time I move around and do little errands. I haven't noticed a difference in how I feel, but science says this is better for me than sitting for 5 hours straight!

Other (extra) goals:

1. Plan May/June travel and book flights home.
2. Complete Routeburn backpacking trek; explore Queenstown more while there! I definitely need to have another Devil Burger, go luging, and maybe do the boat cruise while there?
3. Complete Happiness course.
4. Review and edit list of meetups that look interesting and fun things to do with friends.
5. Update my CV, LinkedIn, Twitter, blog, staff page, and Researchgate profiles for work.
6. Revamp work blog into personal research page. Next month: revamp About Me page into My Research page with link to latest CV. Add photos and OrCID to page, move text about me to My Research page. Fill in presentations page. Make short CV and load as pdf. Send url to academic friends for review and tips.
7. Check NZ credit reports.  
8. Plan $2K min spend on new cc.
9. Keep up with once a week cooking. 
10. Plan one social event per weekend (if I am keeping up with my weekly cooking). Weekend 1: tramping. Weekend 2: birthday Weekend 3: friend movie & dinner night Weekend 4: 
11. Log my daily habits (without judgment) to track moods/hormones/effects of behaviour experiments.
12. Make weekly goals.
13. Review monthly and yearly and lifetime goals. 
14. Monthly PhD treat: brows waxed, new rose gold jewelry
15. Floss every day.
16. Stretch every day.
17. Meditate every day. 
18. Check my self criticism.
19. Review therapy course materials.