Gargle with Saltwater then Crash
That pretty much describes my past week. Maybe my MacBook needed a saltwater gargle too. Let this be a lesson to all of you out there who don't back up your computers on a regular basis. Do. Do back up your system. Now. Or forever lose your pictures, important documents, everything. The thing that is so ridiculous about my experience, is that it didn't have to happen.
Three years ago my MacBook died. I took it into the Apple Store (not this nifty one in London, but the one in Charlotte, NC) and a Genius told me that my hard drive could not be recovered. They put a new hard drive in my laptop and sent me on my way. To avoid this ever happening again, I purchased an external hard drive and the Genius showed me how to clone my MacBook hard drive to the external drive. I did this religiously for about 6 months, and then I started getting lazy about backing up my computer. So lazy, in fact, that I haven't backed up my laptop in about 6 months. I'll bet you can't guess what happened to it last week? Yep, you guessed it. It crashed.
I have a tendency to run my computers into the ground and download a hundred programs, because I think they are invincible. That's because they are Macs. Macs are invincible. Well, sorta. Put it this way, I won't have a problem in the world with any Mac I've ever had - no viruses, no problems, nothing, nada, until one day it just won't work. Fortunately, Apple stands by their computers and because I have an AppleCare plan, they protect my investment. Thank you Apple. Unfortunately, though, they can't always recover what I've lost. And in this case I lost a lot. BUT, I'm not going to cry. Nope. I am not going to fuss or scream or stomp my feet. Nope. I am going to hand over my MacBook, wait patiently for it's new heart replacement surgery, (hard drive that is), and then start over - from scratch.
Although I now back up my images to Flickr, those are the ones I have already resized, edited, and played with. I had about 500 images that I had not yet edited in Photoshop and they were waiting quietly on my MacBook for me to get to them. Now I'll never see them again. Can I cry now? They were important images too. I have no one to blame but myself for this debacle. I didn't just lose images, but documents and software that I had downloaded from the internet, and password information and...and...and...crap. This really stinks.
You know what gets me through sludge like this? The reality that in the big scheme of life, this is nothing. Insignificant. Who cares, really. That is what keeps me going through Big Bear's job loss too, is knowing that I have a roof over my head and I'm not hungry or cold. Wait a minute, I am cold (we lowered our temperature to 68 degrees on both levels of our home and we're walking around in 2 layers of clothing), but I'm not freezing, and we have a warm family room because we have a fire going 24/7 to keep one room in our house really warm. That is so we can lower our utility bill, of course. And NO, we are not losing our home.
I read on someone's blog that we were losing our home and yet I'm having contests. First of all, we are not losing our home, and secondly, my contests are sponsored and not a dime is coming from our pocket. Thank you to my sponsors for making this holiday season special for my readers who won your great prizes! So, what keeps me smiling through all of this mess? My Big Bear, my family, my children's laughter, a hot shower with smell-good bath wash, a warm bed with an awesome down comforter, the other computers in my house that work just fine, my dear friends, and you - my readers. See! I told you having a journal next to my bed to write in every night was a good idea! How many of you started a bedside journal?
A few of you told me that you were going to start a bedside journal to write your daily blessings in every night. Ya gotta start it if you want to realize the benefits. There are nights I have gone to bed feeling lousy and stressed and then I start to think about my personal blessings. Then I think about all those families out there who have it so much worse than I. Families who "have" lost their homes. Families who are living out of their cars or on the streets or in shelters. Families who have lost loved ones or their health. I think about the young men and women soldiers, too, who are in a foreign land and can't be with their family. The Lord has really been good to us in this life and believe me when I tell you I have no room to complain about anything. I'll pray for all of you instead and that will make me feel better.
I am, however, going to get smart so that these little speed bumps smooth out a little. For instance, I am going to keep a hard copy of all my passwords and computer information in one of those small Globe-Weiss index card boxes that hold 3x5 cards. And, I am going to burn all my documents on my hard drive to disc. And, I'm going to back up my computer at least once a month. And I am going to keep all my images on a separate hard drive as well as my computer. Because prevention is 9/10ths of the cure. (By the way, if you click on the index card file above, it will take you to Staples where you can order one for yourself.)
Now if I could only find a good cure for this sore throat that has been hangin' on for a week now. Big Bear told me to gargle with saltwater. For 16 years I have avoided gargling with salt water when I have a sore throat. But, the other day I gave in and gargled. I wanted to throw up, but I gargled. Yuck! Gross! Bleck! Disgusting! Then I gargled again. (You don't want to know). And believe it or not, I didn't have a sore throat for 2 days. Now it's back with a vengeance and I know he is going to make me gargle with that stuff again. Yuck! Gross! Bleck! Disgusting!
But only if he brings me some chocolate afterwards. Gotta have my chocolate. And milk. And a foot rub. And a head rub. And a back scratch. And ... oh forget it.
Now be a good doobie and back up your hard drive, write all your passwords and important information on 3x5 cards and put them in a nice Globe-Weiss file box, then gargle with saltwater and call me in the morning.
SusieQ