Again with the silence?

This reminds me of - actually - this is really a lot like - how I met my husband. But that's a story for another day.
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You see internet, I still love you. (Miss you, need you, blah blah.) But the world? It is conspiring against me.
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Christmas was wonderful, and fun, and really just plain great. No big awful drama, no conflict, just lots of trying to keep Am from unwrapping all the presents. She still doesn't quite get that there's things IN the wrapping paper, it's more that she has paper that she can rip. It was sad, missing Hugh, but the low grade chaos created by the kids helped with that.
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We finally got home, and heaved a sigh of relief. As Am was happily diving into her (old familiar)box of books, and the man was manfully shovelling the driveway, I turned the tv on for some background noise/light while unpacking everything.
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However, the cable company was having none of it. "No tv for you! No internet either!" Fine. So it wasn't until the next day that I realized that there's something wrong with my computer.
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It's like it's developed some kind of short term memeory loss. Things saved to my hard disks are still there, from what I can tell, but every time I shut it off, when it turns on again, it's like it's never been on before.
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So? No big deal, just deal with the helpful "Welcome to XP!" bubbles... except, as I gradually, & with mounting horror, discover, Big Deal. My Outlook is completely AWOL. I can reinstall it, sure, but I have to reconfigure my email accounts & stuff. Also, all my emails... all my saved, archived emails, are gone. Gone, gone, where, I don't know...
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And my itunes, similarily, needs a re-install. I did figure out how to remap the library, so that's nice, but the playlists are gone. Well, that's okay, I can manually rebuild them using my ipod as a reference, or something. Except...
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Three days ago my ipod refused to wake up. It was fine, then it was not. There was no dropping, no water, no trauma. I charged the crap out of him, even, and nothing. I'm taking him to the apple store in the hopes that someone there will say "Oh, dummy, just do this" *waves magic wand*" and he'll wake up again. I will gladly have some geek in bright colors call me a dummy, if they can wake up my ipod again.
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I was distraught over the computer thing - especailly my emails - and I'm having a hard time having any faith in it's ability to do anything. Plus, there's the rage+woe bomb - as in - "why did this happen? how can I fix it? what the HELL am I supposed to take time away from to dick with this needless shitebox?" So I've been avoiding the computer, and you, Internet. The man bought me a groovy ergonomic keyboard for Xmas, and I'm afraid I'm hurting his feelings, but I can't get over my revulsion at the computer issue* long enough to install it.
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And I'm genuinely grieved over my Ipod... if he really is dead, I kind of want to bury him in the backyard, in the little tin tea box that kept him safe for so long. Why yes, I did anthropomorphise him. He kept me company all the time, & sang me songs, & was a boon companion. Why shouldn't I feel like he's kind of a person - a little, shiny-bummed person?
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I'm off to go see the Apple store, with hope & a comatose Ipod. Wish us luck!
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*- Okay, fine, a quick story for a footnote: The man & I met through online dating. We'd sent a couple emails back & forth, & my cuomputer died in tax season, as I was moving. I was entirely too exhausted by tax season + moving to worry about some guy I'd sent two emails to, so I just put my head down & got on with things. Come June, when the furor quieted & I fixed my computer, I found an email that said "You seemed nice, but if you're not interested, let me know, don't be all rude & stuff & junk." I shrugged, figured that since that email was well over a month old, I'd just write hime off, he's probably just a weirdo anyways, and hit the delete button. THEN I sent an email to everyone in myaddress book saying "Hi! I've been out of the loop, have moved, etc etc...", without realzing that I'd put him INTO my address book. After receiving a masterfully worded email, something about "Gee, since I know where you love, want to meet for a date?", hyperventilating about being killed in my sleep by an internet weirdo, and a coffee date, here we are. Happy and married and procreated and gardening and stuff and junk.