I hate checks

Ok, so my list of things to do after work today was very short, not at all time consuming, and made me happy all day just thinking about it. Those two things were...picking my car up from the mechanic, and getting a new comp. I was so excited about getting my car because i have been carless for almost a month now. It all originated when....*wavy lines signally flashback*
I am preparing to go to work on a tuesday when my ride ( i carpool) says to me "kristi, what has happened to your car" i reply "um..nothing.." and then look over, to see that my back window has been shattered because some idiot jerkoff has decided to punch a hole in it. We drive to work, I come home, pick up the shattered pieces of my poor window and go to work. I come home and make an appointment for friday and take my car to the shop (because i would rather have it inside than on the street with a missing window). I finally get my car the next tuesday, however they inform me that there is a part ( the timing belt) which may be faulty and could fail at any time, causing my poor car engine to be completely ruined. That being said, the soonest they could get me in was 3 weeks later. So i make an appointment at another place and go to pick up my car today...
So i write the lady a check...and it was rejected...because apparently now companies use this check security company called Certegy Checks or something like that, and since i hadn't written a check for them before it was a "security risk". So i call and bitch to the company and they fix it and i pay for my car ($1600). By this time an hour has passed....
So i go to the computer store to pick up a computer. i find the one i wanted was sold before i got there (darn it!) but find another thats only slightly more expensive and with better specs. Turns out its the demo comp so i don't even have a box to put in storage (yes!). So i write them a check and...you guessed it, they use this bullcrap check system. So after the poor guy spends 40 minutes on the phone trying to contact them they say the check is rejected, I use my debit card (which i should have used to begin with) and come home with my comp.
seriously though, is this part of some scheme designed to keep me from writing checks and only using my credit/debit cards? what the crap....