It lives!
I am typing this on my computer again! I decided to replace what I felt was the most likely candidate first, so I went out and bought a beastly 700 watt PSU. I installed that thing (and cleaned my case while I was at it), and it powered right up.
The thing is, that is the second PSU I have had just fail for no apparent reason. I mean, I run this thing on a UPS unit, so it isn't power surges/brownouts/blackouts. The only thing I can figure is overheating. If you have ever been in my room, you know this is a distinct possibility (Its like 80 degrees in here right now). I wish I could keep it cooler, but the house's structural design seems to forbid that. Mostly I am just hoping that no other components were damaged in the process.
Oh, and as for work.... So, I did get the full-time position (and a raise). I also got a better opportunity to work more old PC....for a minute anyway. The higher up I spoke of leaving is one of the primary people that does old PC work, so with him away I worked a ton of it. It was great to say the least (not as much walking = less pain these days). However, he came back, right into his old position. On one hand it's good, he is very good at old PC, and it should give me a chance to learn more. On the other hand, it knocks me back out of a bunch of old PC time slots. Also, the company continues to place what I feel is unfair stresses upon us. Yes I am being vague, no I won't elaborate.
No programming is getting done, but I am planning things. The incredible lack of work is largely due to the following paragraphs.
I have been fairly sick for a bit shy of a month now. I hardly sleep, and when I do it is in short amounts, and not good sleep. I also haven't been drinking caffeine (largely to try and make sure that nothing keeps me from being able to sleep). It has made for an interesting time. I finally went to a doctor to see what is going on. He suspects that a good majority of what is going on is a result of insomnia, and a fun little vicious cycle. See, part of what has been keeping me from sleeping well is the pain I have been in. Lots of it, in various places (mostly legs and back). Unfortunately, not sleeping leads itself to pretty awful fatigue and body aches after awhile, and you can probably see where this is leading.
Anyhow, he was also wondering whether it could be linked to a thyroid problem, or perhaps sleep apnea (since it is in my family, and I am known to snore, which is a sign of it). He also decided to perscribe 2 medications for me.
The first is Meloxicam, which is an NSAID (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), or for those who are not familiar, it is an anti-inflammatory drug commonly used for treatment of arthritus. I'm not too happy about it since the only thing it has done to me after 3 or 4 days of taking it is mess up my apetite and cause stomach issues. I figure i'll give it more time, and see where it gets me.
The other is Trazodone, which is kind of an interesting one. You see, Trazodone was originally an anti-depression drug, but they noticed that people who take it were really tired. So they decreased the dosage, and now also use it as a sleep aid. In my instance it is for the sleep aid aspect (50mg dose at night). I didn't take it at first since I read that it is quite common for your first few days to be rough, and I have work. Then when I had an opportunity to take it, I pretty much chickened out. It's a bad idea to read the lists of side effects for medications. Now I can't again since I work. I may take it in about 2 days anyway (when I work later the next day). I'm not happy about this solution either because of it's side-effects, and the fact that many people believe it should be confined only to the anti-depressant aspects, and only used for that reason.
So, for now I get to just kinda deal with the current state of things. Which is lots of pain, extreme tiredness pretty much 24x7, a decent amount of difficulty concentrating, and the funnest one of all, unstable mental state. In other words, I get really mad about stupid crap that normally wouldn't bother me, and also have a really difficult time handling stress, which is why I don't feel like working with customers at work.
Things are okay though. I keep feeling like i'm just a good nights sleep away from feeling good, but it's a tougher situation then it seems. People that haven't had actual insomnia probably don't get it (I didn't either, I mean, how hard can it be to sleep). Oh, and I mean actual insomnia, not "sleeping poorly for a few days". Actual insomnia is actually incredibly bad for you.
Anyway, we'll see how things go. If I actually take me Trazodone, i'll probably report on how that goes.
