(dc) beautiful confluence - unbelievable luck

kelly: 750, entropy: 0

i would think it would be more likely to find a tadpole in my perrier than for these things all to have happened yesterday. if i were better at probability and statistics, i might try to put hard numbers to it. you might have to know me well to understand just how unlikely the events were, but i'll try my best to outline it for you.

1) i woke up early and started working on my mixing/mastering homework [UNLIKELY EVENT #1]. usually, i find ways to procrastinate for at least a couple hours.
2) i decided after an hour of this that even though i'm way behind in my class and in my other mixing projects, i should spend a couple hours organizing my storage lockers [UNLIKELY EVENT #2], so as to avoid having to pay another month for a second unit ($200/mo!).
3) at 10am when the storage place opened, i headed next door and started sorting through stuff. my goal was to take pictures of all the stuff i want to get rid of and unpack the remaining boxes in the second storage unit. i was getting down and dirty into boxes [UNLIKELY EVENT #3] that i had schlepped around 3 states and stored for years.
4) in the bottom of one plastic container circa 2002 i found two ratty apple peripherals boxes. in the first one (laptop power adapter box) was a broken jade ashtray that i had kept for some reason. i opened the second one ("GeForce4 Titanium Graphics Card Upgrade") expecting it either to be empty or containing something random, but there was an actual graphics card in it [UNLIKELY EVENT #4]. i stood for a minute trying to bring dead brain cells to life. i couldn't remember anything about this card - the seal was broken so i had at least opened it. it looked new. it said NVIDIA Ge4 on it. i just made a mental note: "hmm, random graphics card. good to know."
5) after two hours of unpacking, i realized this was a more ambitious project than i had thought, and i needed a lunchbreak. i left everything where it was (spread out into adjacent empty storage spaces) and ran home for a burrito. as i was checking my email, my 17" flat screen monitor on my studio computer went black [UNLIKELY EVENT #5]. i've had this computer since 2002 and nothing except the initial hard drive crash in the first week has failed. i tried fiddling with all the cables and connectors. none more black. frustrated, i didn't know if it was the monitor, cables, or video card, and i'd just have to wait till after the storage project to troubleshoot.
6) i went back over to the storage locker and worked feverishly until closing time (3pm). i pushed it so close that i sorta had to cram everything back into the second unit and run downstairs so as not to be locked in for the rest of the weekend. at the last minute by the elevator in a moment of mental clarity [UNLIKELY EVENT #6], i realized i'd forgotten to grab the computer card, so i ran back and got it.
7) i then drove to work and retrieved two tiny apple screens (14") that i was relatively sure still worked so i could start troubleshooting my monitor problem. if i didn't get my computer working, i'd have no chance of finishing my homework, and this is finals week!
8) after trying various configurations of cables and monitors, it seemed as if the 17" monitor was dead, as was one of the ports (DVI) on the graphics card. the other port sort of worked with the little monitor, but was pink and blurry. i thought i was facing buying a new monitor and a new graphics card.
9) on a whim, i decided to try the graphics card i'd found in my storage locker. couldn't hurt, right? i popped it in, and suddenly my 17" monitor worked again [UNLIKELY EVENT #7]! et voila!! it flickered a little, but then after restart, it was good as new. what?
10) everything was working, but i decided to try and install the software from the disk included with the card. my computer informed me that the software wasn't compatible with my computer, so i decided i should call apple and find out if it was ok to use this card with my computer. i also thought i'd find out how much it would cost to replace the original card.
11) the nice guy at apple informed me first that my computer was purchased in 2002 (the early mesozoic, in mac years), and therefore was no longer under warranty, and that any agreement we made for technical support would cost me $49. so i said never mind and he asked me what the problem was. i told him, and asked him how much it might cost to replace the graphics card. he put me on hold for a long time and came back and told me $499. (plus the $49). he said the new card i had just installed was compatible and should work just fine.

so....sorry. this story goes up to 11. long winded, but i just had to document it.

in short, because i made the highly unusual decision to get organized, i saved $200 for another month's rent for the second storage space and another $550 for a new graphics card (or several K for a new computer). justin had called when i was just starting the storage project and asked what i was doing. when i said, "fighting entropy," he said, "you'll never win."

i think i did. who's the big winner now? HAHAHAHAHA i laugh in the face of entropy. you do not scare me.