Crash On The Highway

My trusty home built steam computer had a bit of a sulk yesterday and refused to get out of bed. The little XP dots would merrily glide across the screen, then suddenly grind to a halt. I tried curses and entreaties, grovelling & pleading,even scanning and defragging. Still no joy. I tried Safe modes and system restoration, howls of abuse and sobbing, gallons of coffee and scheming.
Then as the horror of a week or so of talking to real people and no Doonesbury began to loom large, on the zillionth try the little dots marched on and here I am....
So I will back up the back ups to my back up, scrub & polish the rams, and then when I have the nerve to turn it on again, I'll tilt the screen so the dots can run downhill. I hope I don't have to buy new ones.