It took me over 45 hours of gameplay time, but I at last conquered the game. I can't say it was a challenging or difficult game (I never once died) but it sure as heck kept me busy. I can't remember the last time I played a non-RPG that lasted that long.

Whew.

Well, now that that's over, I need to find myself a new quest. When does Tales of Symphonia 2 come out again...?

Well, for all my fighting and questing, I was unfortunately unable to salvage the memory in my PS3. Not wanting to wait any longer, I gave up and accepted the fact that failing to back up my stuff in the past has cost me everything I'd ever done with my PS3 up until now.

Oh well, life goes on.

But that brings me to my dilemma. It's been several weeks now since I've had a PS3 to play. They should be sending it back to me sometime this week. But since I don't have any files at all on it anymore, I'm basically starting over.

Meanwhile, I've been really into my Wii...even more than usual. I guess the absence of my PS3 has really made me appreciate how fun that console really is.

Okay, here's the dilemma: for those who don't know, I am an artist. I do a lot of work in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. At least, I used to. It stopped working in late August and I've been struggling to make do with a mouse ever since. Not fun. A tablet isn't just something I want; I've done paid commission work in the past. I'm developing a comic now. I NEED a tablet again...but they can be pretty pricey.

The tablet I want costs $329. Things should be starting to come together now.

As I have been without a PS3 for so long and haven't exactly been missing it, particularly since everything I had on it is gone, I'm pondering whether I should sell the repaired/refurbished console and use the money I get for it to buy myself a new tablet.

The only thing that makes me want to keep the PS3 is the fact that I really want to play Saints Row 2, and FFXIII when it eventually comes out.

I don't expect anyone to actually help me decide...in the end I might just save up whatever extra money I can get and buy myself a tablet, eventually...maybe for Christmas. Problem is that'll take a good long while because money's really tight.

*Sigh*...what to do, what to do...

First it was my Wii, days before Brawl came out. Then, my Wii broke again. At least it was free to fix the second time.

Now, my PS3 has stopped functioning. I mean, completely. No power at all. Switched cords, switched outlets...nothing. It didn't get wet or anything so I don't know what's wrong with it.

I'm going to be in talks with Sony's repair department soon. Chances are, the repair will be covered under warranty and I'll have my system up and running again in two weeks or so. But there's just one problem.

Because I can't power on my PS3 at all, I have no way to back up what's on the hard drive. The moment I send my console to Sony for repairs, there goes all the music, ripped movies, game saves, PSN titles...heck, my stored credit card file and what not are on that thing. The Sony troubleshooting site advises you to back up your data and format the hard drive prior to sending it in for repairs, but I can't do that if the console can't be turned on.

Unless...maybe I can convince a friend of mine to let me stick my PS3's HDD into his working PS3. Well, it's an option.

Sigh.