mack - 8:34 pm on Dec 18, 2012 (gmt 0)

I think I will do as you did and upgrade to 12.10 also going to cut back on some rarely (once in a blue moon) used applications.

Funny you mention Thunderbird as a potential problem source. I only installed that around about three months ago, and that kinda ties into the time frame of when my problems started.

Did you continue to run thunderbird after you updated?

Mack.