Computer problems, a nasty fall leading to a painful bruise, and not being able to ride definitely constitutes a bad week in my books! So sorry to hear that you've had such a lousy week. I hope things start to look up for you!

I might be able to offer some helpful information for the CD drive problem. The CD drive can be replaced with any model of drive as long as it says that it is XP compatible - and most still are. The system may not recognize it right away, but the drivers can usually be downloaded from the manufacturer's website and installed. A USB optical drive might be a good buy if your laptop is on its last legs - then you could use it with your next computer as well.

I hope you have a better week coming up!