Its a bird! Its a plane! No! Its a new PC!

When the PS4 and the Xbox One were announced this past summer, I realized that these "next gen" consoles as they are called, will now more than ever slowly bleed me of every penny I possess. Sony and Microsoft had now overstepped, games were rumored to cost eighty dollars a pop, internet memberships would be sixty dollars a year, and if you wanted to bring a game over to a friends house they would have to pay a steep activation fee.

I remember thinking"Whatever happened to putting the customer first!"when I first heard these affronting announcements.

In the words of my good friend Jake W, "Console companies are trying to piss everyone off, and PC gamers are just getting everyone stoked!"and whilst he was joking, he really hit the nail on the head.

Jake had inspired me to change, and to set out on a quest that would change me for the better; I was going to build a computer. After some research into the subject I realized that this was easier said than done, and it would be a good deal more money than I currently possessed. Luckily for me my work season was not far off, so for the next months I worked on a dam in west springfield and managed to raise all the funds I would need.

I had the funding now but the know how to actually build the machine was lacking, and before you can drive, you have to learn how. During the whole process I was endowed with a certain amount of luck, much more than usual, and I realized that my mentor was closer to home than I had thought. My uncle Dennis built and serviced computers regularly, and he would be just the person to talk to. 

After talking to dennis and searching through the seemingly unlimited archives of Youtube, I knew where my quest would bring me next; Micro Center! I was driving back from a Red Sox game with me' da one night, and our journey took us directly by the superstore. Never before had I seen such a trove of PC treasure, knowledge, and high tech junk to blow money on. Venturing cautiously into the store I was approached by a friendly salesman, a one Mr. Emilio Dunn. When I confessed to Emilio what a computer building nooby I was he responded gracefully, smiling and saying that I had nothing to worry about, he would walk me through it all. What ensued was a journey through cyber space and time on an old stock computer, and when we were finished I had a quote for all the parts I would need. I decided I needed more time to weigh my options. 

The motherboard and video card

I meant to return to Micro Center later that week, however due to unprecedented complications, I didn't return for almost a month. However long it took I was determined to return, so eventually I was back with the cash and the knowledge to purchase the parts. I entered the store with my mother, and I had been planning to have them assemble it there so I could film the process. Unfortunately this proved unfeasible, and they were going to charge me an extra hundred for their assembly services. 

We left having purchased our parts, and drove home where I started in on the assembly immediately. In my haste to build the computer I had forgotten to line up a time with Dennis so he could help me build it, this was a problem. I knew the risk I was taking when I decided to assemble it solo, I could fry all the parts, it could explode, it could melt into a puddle of steel and plastic, the list goes on and on. My face was set and my demeanor firm, power would course through the veins of my creation on this day.

I grabbed an old laptop and started it up, it took painfully long but I eventually navigated to Youtube to look up a tutorial. Jackfrags was there for me I knew this, and his soothing cockney accent would guide me through the process.

The complete machine

Two hours in my neck was killing me, but I had made good progress, the mother board was assembled and the disc and hard drives were seated in the case. I took a break, I visited my grandmother in rehab, and I drank a glass of ice tea. I'll never forget that tea, it shone and sparkled the deep color of amber, and the taste brought me into faraway lands, lying on a tiger skin rug in India. 

No rest for the weary however and I was back to work quickly. By eight o'clock It was done, and as I plugged it into the wall socket for the first and prepared to press the power switch, I froze. This moment would shape me as a human, if I failed I would never take a risk in my life again and I would live an empty life void of both challenge and satisfaction. I pressed the button, and waited, waited, waited. Nothing. I looked everything over in panic but no signs of error on my part, unless... Ahh yes the power supply was switched off. With the switch on the back turned to ON, I tried again and depressed the little rectangular start button. This time the machine roared to life and hummed loudly. The satisfaction was ultimate, the ecstasy complete, I had done it. I had built a Computer.