well i've tried a few basics but i cant get this problem to go away
heres a link to a screen shot
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/109/l_23a17767b0bc4b1291504e7ae06d9e66.jpg
theres a few word you can read but most of it is jarbled
and the image as you can see is corrupted or somethin'

That is a bit nasty, what resolution are you running at?

Could be a corrupted install, I seem to recall having that bug with FO2 at one point (CD copy.)
I would say first uninstall, re-download and re-install it.
If you have any mods running with it, do away with all of them. You can try adding them again (one at a time), if removing them fixes the graphics bug.
If you're running at some obscene resolution, try dropping it down to something safe (800X600 was the standard back then. IIRC it handles 1024X768 fine too.)
And silly as it may sound for an old game, update your video drivers.
And if none of that works. >.> Kick it. ;)

try some things outlined in the FAQ
some of the mods there could help this.