3 weeks ago, early Sunday morning: when playing around with the software on your PC to try and play really old PC games, do not panic when you restart your machine and nothing happens. Do not automatically think that what you did to the software affected the hardware. Do not spend several hours searching Google to find out what is wrong with your machine. After a few hours of snatched, restless sleep, do not get up and feel that as a penance, you have to clean the insides and outsides of all your kitchen cupboards. Do not stand on a chair in the middle of your kitchen, rubber gloves on and bleach cleaner in hand, crying like a girl.

Do remember that you had problems with your motherboard and CPU previously. Do wait for your other half to consult a friend with a degree in computer science for their comments. Do allow said friend to take PC away and find out that the motherboard has fried, purely by coincidence. Do make sure that you find the time to walk the couple of miles to the PC store to replace said motherboard.

BTW, the fried motherboard in a frame makes for an interesting conversation piece, art wise.