Help me out blog world!

I experienced the epitome of the "rule of bad 3s" this past week! On Monday I woke up with a horrible pain in my side/back, which after being looked at by my massage therapist aunt and my physical therapist aunt, is thought to be a bruised (hopefully not cracked!) rib. That was my bad even #1
So, help topic 1; anyone have tips on how to care for that? It should be noted that, as a poor grad student, I do not have health insurance...

On to bad event number #2! On thursday I went to turn my laptop on and it went a bit crazy on me, then popped up with what my computer friend calls, the BSOD, or blue screen of death! Slightly ominous right? So, my computer is now in the repair shop, with a not so promising future. This is a 2 year old HP laptop and is my second one in my 4 years of grad school. I promised myself the last time it crashed that I would be done with PCs if it happened again before I was out of school. So....I am now Mac browsing.
So, help topic 2; are there any Mac owners out there who can share some tips with me? Am I making the right decision to switch?!

And my 3rd bad event, on Thursday (thats right, the same day my computer pooped out on me!) my car broke down on 1-5 in the middle of rush hour traffic. So, I called roadside assisstance and waited on the side of the freeway for an hour and a half (!!) until the tow truck finally got there. While I was waiting, 2 other tow trucks stopped to see if I needed help, to which I had to painfully say no because I couldnt afford to pay anyone (thats what the damn roadside assisstance is for!) AND a tow truck drove by towing another tow truck! So, that was fun, I dont really need any help there, I just wanted to share the entire sob story.

Im going to end on a positive note though. It was my mom's 50th bday on Thursday and my grandma and 2 aunts (her sisters) came here from ND and WY for a surprise visit. It was so much fun, I miss all of my family so much! The women have always had a wonderful relationship which I always admired growing up. Now I get to be a part of that relationship that I witnessed and it is an amazing experience. Plus the surprise went perfectly, so all my planning and secrecy paid off.

So, as it turns out, my "rule of the bad 3s" wasnt even enough to ruin my week. It was pretty awesome!! :)

ps: ill add pics from my mom's bday when I figure out my computer debacle...it gives you something to come back for!!