I’m already psyching myself up to purchase a new Mac this year, what with the release of Boot Camp and all, and especially after seeing some guy show off Half-Life 2 on his Intel iMac. My intent has been to wait for whatever is going to replace the Power Mac G5 line and then make my final decision, but I might be buying a new system ahead of schedule. My trusty 1GHz G4 iMac may have bitten the big one. It no longer boots, just goes straight to a kernel panic, whether booting from its hard drive or a system CD. from the diagnostics I’ve run, I’m pretty sure the video is shot. If so, I have to have the logic board replaced. I might be making my purchase ahead of schedule.

Good thing I have it backed up to tape.

Despite my compulsion to purchase new toys, purchasing anything worth more than a couple hundred dollars requires a few months of mental preparation: I’m a cheapskate by nature, and screwing up the courage to open my checkbook isn’t an easy thing. I like it even less when things like hardware failure force my hand.

But still: there’s nothing like the delicious smell of new electronics.