Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $11 coffee beans for french press + $1.29 1/2 & 1/2 for the coffee + $6 lunch + $10 groceries

Sing it like the song in Cats. Maybe I should christen my laptop Grizabella.

Got the new memory in the mail this evening, so I took out the old, cooked memory, and put in the fresh, new memory, then let the cooler run for a minute or two to chill things down, then I turned it on. So far, so good. But the last time I said that, then boom. So I hesitate. Can't really declare a victory for a few days, but I will say that I luv Memory Suppliers. Paying 70$ for 2 512M (1Gig) of memory has got to be far cheaper than buying a whole new laptop.

Not that I haven't priced the laptops. I flipped through the Dell flyer. (My current laptop is a Dell and I've had it for 4 years. Its a tank and its holding up well.) 700$ for a 160G hard drive and 2G of RAM. And I can have it in red ... whoowhee.

I'm still waiting for my new memory to come via US Mail (cheapee me, US Mail had no shipping), but yesterday DH and I shopped at Fry's Computer.

The two signs of recession at Fry was slightly fewer people shopping around, and shopping baskets of cheap stocking stuffers. Hard to believe that 2Gig flash drives are now $9.99. A couple of years ago a Gig was up around 100$ or so.

Anyway, Friday night I tested out my old external cooler (fan and a chiller). No sound and no cooling. I suspect that the memory got cooked by the high temps that a souped-up laptop generates, so the cooler needed to be replaced before the new memory shows up. At Fry's I picked out the cooler that has a separate AC adapter. The coolers that use the USB port exclusively have one fatal flaw - but if the cooler bombs out, not only does it bomb out the memory, it also injures the USB ports. So not only could a non-working cooler kill parts of your laptop, it could prevent the next cooler from working properly.

It was pricey for a cooler - $49, but it had a 20$ rebate, so I filled it out and sent it off.

Along with a cooler, I got a bit sick of the USB mouse, so I treated myself and stimulated the economy by picking up a 39$ optical wireless mouse. And I picked up a lid that prevents dinner splatter in the microwave - 2.50$.

All told = 95$.

Today, I'm the process of trying out my new cooler. Frosty! I've checked to see how much I can do with half baked memory. Only one of the two memory cards got cooked, the other seems to be holding up. I'm living right - the 256K got cooked, rather than the 512K.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.92 coffee + $10 lunch

After that little bit of election history last night I had a shot of bourbon, flipped through the news channels (the FOX affiliate was wonderfully apocalyptic), listened to McCain's wonderful speech (why wasn't he running?), then I took a bath and went to bed.

Today I loosened up by buying a coffee at Seattle's Best and had lunch with the gang. We assume that Sarah Palin will assume Ted Stevens's senate seat (he will have to step down because he is a convicted felon), making it pretty interesting for her and McCain in a couple of months.

Not much fiscal happened, although just when I've given up finding my .12, I find a dime on the floor of the bus near my feet.
.12 - .10 = .02 to go before I find .31 to match the T-bill interest. I have two days to do it. This next 4-week T-bill happens not to be any great shakes either: .99 this time.

Its dang hard finding change on the sidewalk when you have a goal to meet. Why is that?

Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch + $1.70 cream cheese

This month I made .31 in T-bill interest. For laughs, I'm going to see if I can find at least .31 cents in the next three weeks. I found a nickel in our driveway and in the dark.

.31 - .05 = .26 to go.

I walked past the little pocket park and discovered that the city had bought two more parcels next to the park and were interested in turning them into P-patches.

I'd be very interested in a bed in a P-patch... it would be 1 1/2 blocks away.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch, apple + $8 groceries

I know that with the stock market and the world-wide fiscal badness, it sounds like the line, "so Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?", but everything else about my day went well.

The last couple of weeks I've only made it to the gym on Thursday. Today I managed to get there the other day that I promised myself I would go - Monday. I've been weighing myself each time I go: 185, 187, 186, 185. Today, 183. Yippee.

Rolled over a 1 yr CD to a 13 month at 4% interest rate. This is one of the 40K CDs. Couldn't get the highest rate (4.2%) because I had no loan with this bank. Who knows what will happen fiscally when this CD matures? I expect to be looking seriously at real estate at this time. But holding it in a CD means I can't be tempted to buy...much.

Saw a .50/can deal on tomato products, along with 4/$1 little lemons. I'm starting to see more things under $1.

It is time to think over things fiscally. As the stock market drops, its time to console one's self and plan.

Saving log - $7 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch + $15 groceries

We had a bit of excitement this morning back behind our offices. Still don't know the objective story, so let's play some Mad Libs, shall we?

blank 1: bank robbery, hostage situation, bomb scare, extreme gaiety

blank 2: Money Tree, Washington Federal, Pacific Northwest Title, icky food court

blank 3: the robber, the disgruntled employee, the bomber, my congressman

There was a ...blank 1... at the ...blank 2... back behind our offices on 3rd and Cherry. Police cordoned off the street waiting out ...blank 3....

Looky, I can write for the Seattle Times!

Seriously, rampant rumors, and with the big updraft in the stock market (our crops is saved) I never heard the right story.

N.B: This

story I could not resist blogging about. I'll have to follow this one. Sheer genius if she gets away with it.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $10 lunch + $1.85 Financial Times + $3 apple, bagette

Its the collection of the small today.

Well this week my little T-bill will generate $1.09 in interest, a slight improvement over last.

I got a .35 check from Capital One. Better than a .35 charge.

$2 in the tip box, along with 2 cents I found on the sidewalk.

During this financial, now economic, crisis, I've been picking up the Financial Times, as sort of a European version of the Wall Street Journal. Its perspective seems somehow more objective. At least it is from a distance.

Fall is back in Seattle. Trees that are turning color early look a bit yellow and bedraggled in the rain.

Oh yes, its raining. We might get a last few days of summer sun, but its wise not to count on it.

Had breakfast at our usual spot - now Crown Hill Bistro (nee the Library Cafe), but used a get-cheaper-second-entree-for-free coupon. Saved about $12 from our usual, and we got credit for it on the punch card. So in a couple of weeks, we can save the same amount again.

Took the bus to the Greek Festival and spent $70 - I got a lot of olive oil, bag of feta, bag of olives, a jar of tarama, a couple jars of grape leaves, bag of butter cookies, a Greek pastry cookbook, a set of coasters.

Sister mailed me a box of cucumbers. Odd, I know, but they did make it all right. Its time for a cucumber, feta, red onion, olive salad.

I also bought a $2 raffle ticket at Greek Festival. I know that I have no hope of winning, and frankly, this is the only raffle ticket I ever buy for the year. Reminds me of the old joke:

An old woman prayed to God that she would win the lottery. She prayed for years, nothing. When she died and met God she asked, "why didn't I win? Not even a little bit?" God said, "you had to meet me halfway - you had to buy the ticket!"

Finished up the day by watching some Looney Tunes. A little reminder that some of the best art was created during the Great Depression. Life goes on.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch

Sister called from the farmette. In the process of either fixing or replacing the garage door on the metal shed at the farmette, and apologized that she didn't update the spreadsheet ... or send me the bills she paid so I can update the spreadsheet. But she loved her birthday presents. Wonder when she will attempt the kitchen floor and the bathroom? Hopefully next year or the year after.

On my third gym session sans trainer. At the end, I told the two trainers doing their paperwork on the side table that it was very weird not making that final stop to sign out and pay for the session. "That's okay," one of the trainers said with a smile, "I can give you a couple to sign out." I've got all the bills - this weekend I'm totalling them up just to see the damage.

I'm thinking about 12K, spread out over 2.5 years.

Speaking of the weekend, I am planning on meeting another Saving Advice blogger face to face this weekend. First time that I've met any of you face to face and I'm very excited! Who is it? Well, I'd like to tell you all but I'd like to ask permission first.

Bwahhahhhahhahhhhahaaa!

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $30 bananas, ground coffee, chocolate, trail mix.

I'm off to the Beaverhead National Forest for two weeks.

But I did make one last weird observation while DH got a pair of hiking boots, socks, and a water bottle: $45 flip flops.

Wha???

They weren't gold plated flip flops. And this store had several pairs of regular shoes w/uppers and laces for under $45.

No wonder why kids today assume flip flops are work attire - they cost the same as a work shoe.

Time to leave the store.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $8 lunch

The shorts I bought yesterday didn't fit, so I returned them. Their sizing fooled me. I did manage to find another pair of shorts that did fit. So I recouped $19.

I had a hair more than 100K in my community bank account. I trimmed that down to under 99K and put the proceeds into ING. Just didn't want someone to say, "why didn't you keep it under the limit?"

Found an interesting article in the paper today.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008063100...

First of all: this isn't particularly bad yet. And I haven't really noticed all that much frugality out and about. I see folks afraid but still driving around. I still see very few pedestrians, few bicyclists, and now its again easier to get a seat on the bus. I hear more complaints, but little clever thinking. I see a bit more fear - concentrated if you have lost your job or your house - but the fear feels spread out and low grade from the average person. Kind of like "nothing to see here, move along.."

I'd like to think that a new wave of permanent frugality is at hand, but right now everyone appears to be hoping against hope that they won't have to stoop to the tricks.

Speaking of tricks - my PDA off/on button now refuses to work. I thought about replacing it, but DH taught me that the all the buttons turn on the PDA. The sneaky way of using what you already have. Turning the PDA is a bit more problematic, because none of those buttons turn things off. You have to set the automatic shutoff to 30 seconds or a minute and let it shutoff by itself. Better to teach myself a little laziness than spend on a new PDA.

I'm trying to figure the big pieces of this economy out.

In the last few years, we've had a big expansion of money (dollar bills are only a small bit of the money supply) as folks buy houses and re-fi and HELOC. Banks bundled it up and sold it to other entities, then used the proceeds to make more loans. In other words, they expanded credit and manufactured money.

Now, as banks write down their debt, that "paper" money is being destroyed. So if money is being destroyed, that should be deflation. Inflation is the increase of the money supply, deflation is the decrease in the money supply.

Deflation usually causes lower prices. When fewer dollars chase the same amount of stuff, those dollars are precious - they buy more. Therefore prices are supposed to go down.

Clearly they are not - there is another, stronger element going on.

Deflation is also supposed to strengthen the dollar, because again, fewer dollars buy more stuff. But if you compare the dollar to the price of oil... well, you could look at it from the perspective of the oil - that barrel of oil has the same value, yet if it takes more dollars to buy it, those dollars are weaker.

So what we have here is a deflated (fewer) in number, yet weaker dollar.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $10 lunch + $17 groceries

Got paid today.

Semi spendy today, but I have a 1/2 sandwich in office refeer for tomorrow and a going away party that will serve a light lunch on Thursday. It means that I plan on spending next to nothing over the next two days.

Still this entry is a bit dull, I'm tossing in a great music blog aggregator called The Hype Machine

http://hypem.com/. Lists blog entries by the tune and the artist they are blogging about. When you click into the individual blog, then right click on the mp3 entry, often you can save an mp3 or two or many ... to test out in your iPod. A little free entertainment!

Walked on Fairview, instead of Eastlake, this afternoon for my walk, up again to the U district, finishing at Trader Joes.

Part of the walk was at the water line and was very nice. The part of Fairview where the houseboats were was unexpectedly not nice. Lots of Private Property, no Photography signs...not unexpected. But the road itself was broken up and dirty, cars all sticking out & lots of liquor bottles & beer cans strewn around. Surprising for supposed "worth" of the properties.

Bought a bottle of water for $1.19. Bad girl!

I looked at a For Sale sign (it was so tempting to photograph it ). Catty, snarky note here: if you are trying to sell a 1M houseboat, it might help to learn to spell (where is the Space Needel anyway?) and don't use serial killer/ransom note handwriting. The seller really would have done better with cutting and gluing letters from the newspaper.

Finished off by getting 32 clif bars at Trader Joe's for week day breakfast use. Still holding at .99/apiece.

From the SA blog:

Stick a clean dry towel in your dryer load to make the load dry faster.

I didn't hear of it until now. I stuck the towel in my load this evening and I found it saved me about 10 minutes of drying time. Nice.

It'll bum out our rhododrendron bush near our front door - it blooms in February because its next to both our and the upstairs neighbor's dryer vents.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.40 coffee + $15 lunch

Bits and pieces on the day before the 4th:

Server room got warm in the early morning hours, so as I walked in, I was told: no Internet, no SQL, no access to data, email wonky. But an hour later, everything was okay. Darn! No computer data would have made it the shortest work day ever for me.

Found 3 pennies in front of the place I ate lunch at. Another homeless person was asking for change, but I thought better of it to give her the pennies after getting yelled at for giving so little the last time.

Pointed out to DH one of the green worms that was snacking on broccoli leaves so he knows what he is looking for. The broccoli plant that nearly got nibbled to death now has a little crown of new leaves.

Had to move $400 from savings back to checking. It felt a bit like failure, but I remembered that the original plan when I increased my withholding to the stratosphere was that I would make up money shortfalls with savings. The fact that I started the withholding April 1 and managed not to seriously cut into savings until now is doing well.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + $17 groceries

Ate the lunch I packed that I was supposed to eat yesterday. Picked up fruit, yogurt, salad, and turkey breast on my way home.

Found a penny in front of the payday lender business on 3rd and Columbia. If there was a coin that needed rescuing, that was it.

And... oh yes, Seattle police shot it out with a bank robber three blocks away. I happened to be at the gym at the time with a good window view. Four police cars came by, sirens blaring, along with a dark blue unmarked van with a police light on top coming on second, going the wrong way (and no, that was not the bank robber), with the news chopper leading the rear.

Saving log - $600 + $5.64 dividend
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $7 lunch (for two days) + $8 groceries

I need a cigarette because I FINALLY got stimulated in the mail box this evening. I was about to tap the IRS on the shoulder and say forget it.

Goes into ING.

Also going into ING was a bit of prunings from my savings that I was saving for the farmette. It was getting okay interest, but that account plus the two CDs were over 100K. I just wanted to be under the FDIC limit.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.70 coffee + $12 lunch + $7 groceries

We got an apology from the real estate management company, or rather, from the guy who was subbing for our contact when he went on vacation. The water bill had been paid and soon we will get our bill.

I get to stand down. Not only did I fill our water bottles last night, I also ran the dishwasher, and I took an extra-long shower after gym this afternoon, just in case it was to be my last for a few days.

Had lunch with the gang - lawyer friend, lawyer friend's partner, screenwriter friend. We ate at Bush Gardens, which is the oldest Japanese restaurant in Seattle. It was fascinating - a bit like the Japanese version of The Doghouse (old time diner in Seattle which closed in 1994). Not comparing the food, rather I'm comparing the old school mood. Despite the classic Japanese versus American diner, they were very similar - both places are/were institutions, each have/had their specific ways of doing things, each have/had wait staff as old as the hills (motto of The Doghouse: don't annoy the waitstaff - good waitstaff are harder to replace than customers), each had their peculiar etiquette and rules that you MUST CONFORM TO because conforming to the rules is the key to their success.

Which explains why I got scolded for asking for miso when I ordered ramen ...

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.70 coffee + $20 chiropractor + $1 apple

Brought my lunch today - a tupperware of the creamy beans and a large tortilla.

Deposited my tip box collection for this month - $44.

Got the notice that the IRS is sending the stimulus check sometime this week.

Now for the oddball thing that happened this evening. We got a call from the water company that we're being shut off. WTF? The real estate management (our landlord) pays the bill then bills us. DH hit the phone and called the management. We think that our contact guy - the guy who signed our lease - left. On vacation, or for good, we don't know.

In the meantime, I filled all our water containers. So there!

For the 40+ among us.

Remember when in every darn episode of Scooby Doo the mystery hung on a real estate agent trying to scare away buyers?

So what would Scooby Doo do? Or did? Perhaps The Onion has the answer. Warning: spit takes are bad for your monitor.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/realtors_blame_housing_...

5 to 10 inches of SNOW in JUNE on Snoqualamie Pass. We've had the coldest June in Seattle since the 1890s.

Back to finances just as soon as I pitch this snowball. Ker pow!

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + $1 coffee + $5 farmers market

Ate the other half of the foot long sandwich I bought yesterday, so it was a low spend day. I bought another cup because I got the afternoon yawns.

Now that the deli is R.I.P. (no official word or sign on the door), for coffee this morning, I went back to the place I had frequented before. The woman working the espresso machine asked me how I'd been and what happened to me. It had been over two years since I had disappeared, so its a little embarrassing but amazing on two counts: that I'm that memorable and that she's still working there in a high turnover retail environment.

Gas prices took quite a jump here in Seattle - DH tells me that even the Arco, the rock-bottom cheap place for gas, is now at $4.11. The paper here is talking about raising bus fares again (we had one in March). With my bus pass at $10/month for an unlimited number of rides, it pays for itself the first week of the month. But price hikes are happening everywhere. My workplace renews the yearly bus pass at the end of the month. Here's hoping they raise rates after I renew.

Money's now very tight at the end of the paycheck ever since I hiked up my 403B to take care of my tax bite in 2008. I'm proud of myself for keeping my head above water, and still saving at the same rates, but the checking account stands at $180 with a week left to go (get paid on Friday the 13th next week). I'm feeling the frugal burn.

And I think I'm going to be the very last American to get my stimulus check.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.25 coffee (back to the old place) + $7 lunch (for 2 days)

Last week Thursday we had dinner with an ex-boyfriend and his wife. We broke up about 15 years ago, and like many other breakups, it was not pretty. We both behaved badly.

My bad self held one of his possessions hostage - a T-shirt dated from the early 80s that meant quite a bit to him at the time. He still asked about it 8 years ago, so last week I found the shirt (still in good condition), folded it up and wrapped it in a bow.

When I presented it to him, ex- appeared puzzled, which surprised me. DH assured me that the ex- had asked about it. Maybe he's still getting my goat even now. And yet, giving the T-shirt back to him felt right, like something good was going to happen.

After the ex- had the "why?" look, I joked that perhaps it would improve my borrowing karma. You see, I very rarely loan my CDs, DVDs, books, and other stuff out to friends, because usually the friend forgets that they've borrowed it and I have to nag and nag to get it back and it usually leaves a sour taste in all mouths. Suffice it to say I rarely loan and if I do it has to be a good friend, someone whom I feel close enough to nag. Mere acquaintance level wouldn't cut it.

So I joked that this T-shirt inhibited my borrowing karma. If I give the T-shirt back, maybe I get my stuff back. Ex- was skeptical, the rest of the table chuckled a bit and turned to other things.

Well, I have two sets of possessions out on loan: a DVD to lawyer friend and several CDs to DJ friend. I have not nagged either one or mentioned anything about the t-shirt.

1. Tuesday, lawyer friend called - they finished the DVD this weekend in a marathon session - totally loved it and will return it tomorrow.

2. Today, DJ friend put the first of my CDs on my desk, gave me several in return, and will give me the rest in a few days.

Laugh all you want, ex-!

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $10 lunch

Arrgh with the Seattle February weather in early June. I woke up cranky. Its one thing to see the overcast, dreary, very rainy February weather in February - its an endurance thing. When the rain comes in June, it just makes you mad.

Day 2 that the deli has been closed. It doesn't look good. I peered into the window - the equipment was still there, along with the table and chair that they set outside for dining al fresco. No one's packed up. Still's a bad sign.

Got caught up with sister. She had left her job three weeks ago to relax and keep up with the farmette. Her projects are the water heater, the water softener, and the furnace. Especially replacing the furnace, both to keep the winter heating bills and the insurance costs down.

Had lunch with the gang - lawyer friend, lawyer friend's partner, screenwriter friend, and we got to asking about compounds. Like the Kennedy compound, the McCain compound, the Bush compound, the Koresh compound. Doesn't anyone have an estate or a house any more? Are we all survivalists or something? We tried figuring out the elements: multiple buildings, a chain link fence, ability to live off the grid, perhaps a gun collection. The other three joked that my little farmette was the closest thing to a compound, to which I noted that the barn, in the shape of a "U" surrounds a concrete pad. I would have a compound inside my compound... a nested compound.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $8 lunch + $16 groceries

You might have noticed that the coffee price jumped by .50. The little deli where I normally get my cheap coffee was closed. I have my fears that its closed for good - its June 1 and it was the very last business inside the Alaska Building which is in the process of its being stripped and renovated. You can't walk past the building along the sidewalk with all the construction, dumpsters, fences, and orange cones surrounding it. There's a big sign and a little pathway to my little deli coffee place, so I was hoping. Fingers crossed that the owner got sick or something.

But there was a little action near that deli. A Seattle police office came out of the inside of the construction, holding something between two fingers. He got out a paper bag from the trunk.

"Looks like you found something," I said.
He walked over.
"We found this inside," he said. "One of the construction guys called it in."

It was a rusted out little Saturday night special. The gun barrel was so rusted out that they couldn't get a serial number. The black handle looked, I swear, like it was made of Bakelite.
The police have no idea if it was part of a crime, without the serial number they couldn't trace it. It will get destroyed.

Last Friday I had a meeting with my supervisor, another woman. We both noticed at the same time how often women say, "I'm sorry" and use it as an um or an er.

I started with, "I'm sorry that I had a different spreadsheet than yours."
She countered with, "Let me get my copy, I'm sorry I have to turn around to fetch it from my computer."

And then we got a bit silly:
"Gosh I'm sorry that you're sorry. Sorry."
"Sorry. sorry."

Of course we were smiling and laughing while we were saying it, but one just has to think that the phrase "I'm sorry" has got to cost us women plenty of money. I mean, how effective can you be to drive a hard bargain if you are saying "I'm sorry" all the time? Waddya sorry about? The seller wants you to buy something, no sorry about it. Why be apologetic? Unless, of course, you're trying to spread counterfeit bills around, most people are glad to see you.

Friday -
Saving log - $3 tip box + $40 Drp1 + $35 Drp2 (scheduled)
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + $13 lunch

Saturday-
My laptop is back - I'm $180 lighter for the fix with another $120 to get an external 500GB hard drive so if the laptop has to get fixed again, it would be cheaper because my stuff will be backed up. Now its the fun of getting things set up to where they were before. Oh yes - I don't have reset the picture to 32 bit color when I log in. That part's nice.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + $8 lunch

Laptop shop called. They got the laptop working, but it kept crashing, so they will have to save some and wipe the rest. I told 'em pictures, spreadsheet, and music, in that order.

The Ameriprise guy sold the mutual fund so I can move the rest of grandma's inheritance into Vanguard. With any luck, I can consolidate everything up by the end of June.

Took a close look at the Early Girl tomato and saw flower buds. The other two tomato plants are just vegetative.

Laptop-less, so this will be quick. I'll hi-jack this blog for a little gardening. With any luck I'll grow at least 30$ worth of tomatoes to break even.

Planted the three tomato plants. One, which is determinate (meaning it will stop at a certain height), we put up against the house, facing south. Its a nice hot corner. Its supposed to produce yellow tomatoes.

The other two, which are indeterminate (meaning they will grow forever if you let them), we put in a 10 ft niche against a south facing wall. One of these is a Early Girl and the other is supposed to be a 'black' tomato. Its hard to tell because it had two tags - an early girl and this one. We'll see. I hope it is a black tomato - those are a very deep brown, not black. I picked them for fun, because I think it would be a blast to alternate sliced yellow and 'black' tomatoes ... I could call it "bee salad".

Added a bit of slow release fertilizer and puffed gypsum for calcium. Hope I don't have to add calcium, but the last time I grew tomatoes they got a touch of blossom end rot.

Oh yes, one other thing. Tomatoes self pollinate. They don't need another tomato, and you don't have to worry about hybrids between two plants. They are nice that way.

Looked in on them this morning. The weather was coolish and cloudy, good for helping them out during their little trauma of getting planted. They all seem to be settling in nicely - no wilting and they seem to be growing straight.

Pictures when I finally get my laptop back.