The dongle, dangled, was denied

Hmmm. That may be too catchy a title for what is, essentially, a mini rant about peripherals. Oh, well. Such is the signal:noise ratio of the Internet.

The computer sent to us by Bob's wonderful friend works perfectly, now that we've obtained the various and sundry little bits that were needed to hook all the bigger bits together.

The one remaining bit was the wireless keyboard receiver, so this afternoon I sat down to find out where and how to get one and it seems the answer is, pretty much, "that harsh buzzing sound that accompanies wrong guesses on game shows."

'Bout anyone will sell you a wireless keyboard and/or mouse with the receiver for dozens of dollars.

Nobody, but nobody, will sell you the receiver alone. Microsoft actually has a Supplemental Parts Team that they will unleash for with which to track down...uh, supplemental parts. But they won't talk to you without a proof of purchase, so...hey, there's that buzzing noise again.

I've got a borrowed regular keyboard for the meantime, and considerable motivation to either make the wireless thing work out, or find a really good deal on a local used one. Or something.