A new laptop is needed

I got my laptop for Christmas in 2007. Jay purchased me a very nice, refurbished laptop. I really really liked my laptop. After about 6 months though, the battery stopped holding a charge. It was out of the warrenty so we bought a new one. That one worked for awhile (about 6 mo) and then stopped working as well. The newer battery had a 2 year warrenty, but getting Jay to do anything about it is difficult. So, for almost a year, I just used my laptop plugged into the wall. That would have been okay IF I had had it on a desk or table. I used it as a laptop on my lap though. It ruined the cord and the cord started to fray. When my computer finally stopped running any video or sound smoothly, I bought a new cord. It was not a Dell cord, but one that could be fitted to any computer. It fixed the video and sound problems, but still the battery didn't work. Jay finally got me a new battery and all has been well for about 6 months. Last week, I started having problems out of the blue. My computer would just die for no reason or it would start running on battery power, even though it was plugged in. Jay dismantled the whole computer into lots of little pieces and fixed what he thought the problem was. Well, he did fix one problem. He fixed the battery vs plug problem. My computer still dies for no reason if it shifted, vibrated, or moved at all. The reason is some sort of short or wiring problem in the screen assembly. Jay says he is just not going to be able to fix it. Ugh. Now, I need a new laptop as this one doesn't stay on for very long. Sometimes, just touching the keyboard is enough to kill it. Now I have to shop for a new laptop.

Of course all this had to come after we just spent over $900 on our cat. Yes, over $900 on our cat. We never found homes for Mash or Little Bit and had planned to give them to a cat rescue before we moved. The kids were okay with this until Little Bit passed. Then, the kids were upset about never seeing Mash again. They told this to my mom, who offered to take the cat...only if she was front declawed.
So, Jay and I talked and agreed that despite our personal feelings about declawing cats, it would be better for Mash to have a home than no home. She had to get her shots updated anyway so at the same appointment, we had her presurgery blood work done. She also had a little yeast infection in her ears so we got some medicine for that. Since she was scheduled for the surgery later in the week, the vet said she would wait to clean out Mash's ears until she was under for the surgery. The first appointment was a bill of $352. Mash went into surgery the last Wednesday in January and had to stay over an extra day because she kept chewing on her front toes. They put a cone on her head and Mash stayed until Friday. Cost $386. Mash couldn't walk very well when she was home that Friday which we sorta expected, but she also seemed a little dizzy. Well, that could be from the pain meds the vet said. Let us know how she is on Monday. On Monday, she was worse. She couldn't even move her head while sitting. She would fall over. So, I called and took her in. The vet said it was something with her inner ears and wanted $550+ to run tests and try to fix it. WHAT!!!???!!! I actually cried because I had spent almost $800 in a week and only had a really messed up cat to show for it. The vet tech felt really really bad for me. The vet herself didn't seem to feel any sympathy. This vet was not the usual one we saw in the practice and I didn't like her at all. We came up with a different plan for the cost of only $160. This vet said there was no way it was anything that they had done to her. So, 1 week later, Mash is still not quite herself. She can walk, eat and drink now, but she still falls over if she moves too quickly. No clue what is wrong with her though.