well its 1 in the morning and I notice my 2nd xbox (first had disk reading errors) was ungodly loud even in the dash. So I turn it off and and watch tv. 15 minutes later, I turn it on, Two red rings. I know it sucks. But I never had a red ring before. I always thought it was three quadrants of the circle lit up. This has two on the left side of the circle. I know four is a power failure, but what is two? Am I screwed either way? 

i think in this case you are slightly more screwed as that means not only 1 but 2 lights aren't working. joy... -_- yeh the disk reading errors and the noise is a big tip off. Also my adive TAKE YOUR DISCS OUT and don't put em back. Red ringed xboxs will pretty much EAT your disc! I lost oblivion too my last red ring

i think 2 is a cable connection error... i could be way off

Two is, according to microsoft, an overheating problem, although from what you described, that you just turned it on, that seems slightly odd. I'd assume its a hardware issue if you let the console cool and it still gives you them, likely an issue with the heat-sinks. 
 
Either way, MS Support Site has a section on it,  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907533

Jukezypoo is right, I had this problem a few months ago. Microsoft will easily repair it for free.

 Well I found that page about the two rings, and yes it is overheating. So I did what It told me and left my xbox off when I went to sleep. Came back at least 9 hours later, still doing it. It must be the heat sink. Right when the season of games comes about my xbox dies. Fortunately I have a best buy warranty, I can go there and replace like right now. I know Microsoft can fix it for free but I don't want to be without my Xbox for 4 weeks, good thing I found that thing.