No laptop for two weeks

The warranty for the laptop I bought 51 weeks ago will expire next week, so I figured it'd be a good idea for me to bring it in for some free servicing. There isn't really anything wrong with it, but I told them that it runs a bit more slowly than it used to, and that not all of the keys work anymore. Let's just hope that the grease monkeys at the service centre don't mess up my computer deliberately knowing that the next time I bring my computer in, I'll have to pay big bucks for repairs. I didn't really want to bring it in for that reason (and because I didn't want to give up my computer for 7-10 working days), but a friend of mine urged me to.

Not having a laptop means that I'm unable to use my computer in my bedroom. The first thing I do when I wake up is to turn on my computer, as is the last thing I do when I go to sleep. Well, the second, if you include me putting on and taking off my glasses. Fortunately, I have my own computer in my office. Unfortunately, HKU recently introduced energy saving policies in which air conditioning is shut off at 7pm Monday to Friday, at 12pm Saturdays, and is off on Sundays. If I turn on the air conditioning full-blast at 6pm, I can get the room cool enough to be comfortable until 8pm. I don't want to stay any later than that, at least not at this time of the year. I have to leave the office just before 11pm anyway; that's when the elevators and escalators on the way to my building are shut off.

Not having a computer in my room for just one day has revealed how much I have come to depend on instant messengers like MSN and ICQ. I feel like I depend on instant messengers to communicate with my friends. On the other hand, I consider this a good opportunity to do other things, e.g. exercise.

Oh yeah, there are four crappy public computers at my residence hall, but MSN Messenger isn't installed, so I assume we're not allowed to install it. Well, I'm trying now...