Good news! (She's dead!)
It looks like all is not lost, Jimmy-wise. We believe that the problem lies with a video card driver, and though we haven't gotten rid of the seizure-inducing noise, I've been able to start up the computer in normal mode (though at 480x600 res. Gah, the pain!), and I spent a lot of last night burning backups of my most precious files. I still haven't met with the manager guy yet (I'll have to poke Ari with a stick), but I'm feeling generally confident that we'll be able to fix everything. I hope so, at least! Cross your digits for me, my dahlinks!
As to avoid eye strain, I'm currently typing in the animation lab, after my first 3D animation class. We're starting with basic 2D animation in AfterEffects, and I'm quite enjoying myself! Tra-la!