#effing tablet

So, it's looking like my Bamboo Pen tablet is pretty much dead. It may even be dead now - it seemed pretty damned useless towards the end of last night. I have not restarted my computer yet but the problem seems to be a physical one with the tablet's USB cord and I fear it is one that even duct tape, that holy saviour of many things, cannot fix. At first over the past two days it was just flickering on and off unless I held it at a certain angle, then if I pressed the cord in but in the last leg of my fifth illustration for my Valentine's Day project (done!) it stopped working altogether. I had managed to get the tablet at the right angle to get its light on but no matter how I drew on it with my stylus, nothing happened on my computer. The light also did not flicker quite as it is supposed to when I touch it with the pen.

So right now it appears my tablet is screwed and it probably is. I recently reinstalled its driver just a couple of days ago, so the problem can't be with that. It's definitely with the tablet itself. It's disappointing, especially because it may be a while before I can get a new one because there's other things I need too, like a new pair of shoes. (I bought some new ones last October and they've already got gigantic holes despite my having barely worn them.) 

However I am not sure how long I can stand being without a bloody tablet. I'm going to endeavour to finish all the ink for the Valentine's Day project on paper because I don't need my tablet as much for colour (just shading, uck) because I really want this done on time and there's only five illustrations left!

I might do something highly disobedient with my savings quite imminently though. Thank goodness I despise the huge tablets that run for several hundred dollars. I just want a teeny thing, like my Bamboo (and before it, my dear Graphire which still worked awesome when I retired it because the drivers were hating on my previous computer. I'm pretty sure this computer would have a snit fit if I tried them together since its OS is Windows 7, way more advanced than the Vista that was on my last one.)