Majority of my problems have by solved by not having Nvidia graphics. Personally Linux has been great at extending the life of old computers for me. Linux mint runs a million times faster than windows 10 on my old machines. But it also helps I am fairly tech literate so problems that come up don’t register as a bif of a deal to me compared to others.

The reason West Coast states have expensive gas is that there are no pipelines connecting them to the rest of the countr, specifically Texas. Washington and Oregon produce zero crude oil. California can’t produce enough for the whole West Coast so a majority of oil has to be shipped by a more inefficient way, causing prices to go up. This is reflected by the fact the 4 most expensive states for gas are California, Washington, Hawaii and Oregon.