computer meltdown

I don't know if my computer not posting today was a good thing or a bad thing. On the downside there isn't a lot of diagnostic activities I can run when the damn thing wouldn't get past it's BIOS startup. On the other hand there isn't much that could have been the cause - bad memory, bad cpu, bad motherboard thingy. Since the only convenient thing to check on was the memory, I opened up the side door on the case to take a peek.

Holy sloughed skin batman! Dust was partying like it was 1999 in there. After retrieving the memory module in question from underneath a bed of dust, I proceeded to clean it off and used an eraser to clean the connector metal. Sticking it back in the most unusual thing happened. The computer booted. How often do you get a complete computer meltdown and fix it in 5 minutes? Never. I owe it all to the fact that I have all my data backed up in duplicate (my new backup technique is unstoppable) and therefore the meltdown wouldn't have been disastrous. Some reverse anti-Murphy's law or something. Oh well. I guess that nice new shiny computer will have to wait until Vista comes out.