Regular dosing with catnip helps with hairballs and provides the silly human with an hour's entertainment. Regular brushing helps too but its usually not that much fun. ;)

Windows 98 is a pain. You may want to think about buying a new box. The big three are running cheap deals for systems that I think will fit your needs. My guess is that you want Internet surfing, Email checking, and word processing. Dell HP
Compac
Any of these systems should fit those needs

I didn't know that catnip had any effect on hairballs. This cat hasn't much experience with the stuff -- only a scratching device we once had with catnip in the bottom. It got shredded fast! She gets brushed a lot, but has so much hair that there's still plenty for her to swallow. If any more long-haired strays show up at my house, they'll get buzz cuts!

I'd like to get a new box, but I don't think it will fit into my budget yet, even at the low prices. I notice they all have high speed processors. Since I don't do gaming or watch movies on the machine, and still have dialup internet service, the speed would be wasted on me. Sluggo only has 500 MHz (an AMD K6II, alas) and I doubt that I've ever used its full capacity.

The other option is to build it yourself. There are many books out there that will walk you through it step by step and will also guide you into finding the parts. Techtv.com is one such place.
Processors have sped up by great leaps in the last few years and I doubt that you would be able to find a 'slow' processor under 1GHz. Its just how the companies have phased out their stocks. You might actually be pleasantly supprised if you do go that route. Also check with schools in the area to see if they are about to do an upgrade. They may be willing to part with an old system for a cheap price.

My extreme technodoltishness has always kept me from attempting such a thing, but I may end up being forced to cobble something together, eventually. As for the local schools -- I don't think they'll be selling anything used for quite some time. In fact, given their financial state, they might even be buying used equipment, if they can buy anything at all.California teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and the part of the state in which I live is far from being the most prosperous. It may not be too long before instant messaging is replaced here by the more economical smoke signal.

ah, the joys of living with kitties and computers.

hopefully the nap helped the atmosphere around there. the cat's cleaned up her little messes and sluggo has released itself of its annoying ticks.

The kitty never cleans up her messes. She leaves them for me to clean up. In fact, she doesn't even bury her droppings when she uses the litter box anymore, because she knows I'll get rid of them for her. Kitty has me well trained.

isn't that always the way?

but you gotta love 'em. they're so danged adorable.