Interesting you should mention Blender. I spent $7500 on a high end graphics box with all the bells and whistles over a year ago just so I could really 'dive in'. With Blender and custom kernels.

Now I have a $250/month bill for a high end email/browser box that I never have time to do with what I wanted to.

*sigh*

Two months would only get things set up . . .