Post by Lady B on Nov 6, 2007 9:41:14 GMT -5
Hello Fellow Forum Members,
I would like to invite all of you to my Pity Party.
Before I became addicted to all things rock, I used to faithfully back-up data on my computer—photos; video movies; gif animations; Word documents—every month. But since May of this year I had a new obsession—rocks—and all things connected to rocks—collecting them, tumbling them, cutting them, sorting them, receiving them, buying them, sharing them, admiring them, joining forums and discussing them, reading about them, searching out new information about them, participating in and developing contests about them, and I let go of a very important obsession—backing up my data.
Now I am paying a most regrettable price and one made so much worse because it was both avoidable and solely of my own doing.
About three weeks ago I had a little problem with my computer and had to shut it down—not just reboot it, but shut it down/turn it off completely. No big deal…happens to me off and on. I have a very strong electro-magnetic current—an aura, so to speak—in and around my body. I cannot wear battery operated watches, carry a cell phone in my pockets or on a waistband or belt; or work at a computer without surge and static protectors. When I was in the Army back in the day, I accidentally blew the computer system for a large medical division. It took 5 days of technicians working round the clock to recover the data and I was never allowed to use an Army-Department of Defense computer again. I have also watched data disappear into a pinpoint of light on monitors, have had two monitors explode in front of me; have stopped animations dead in their tracks [always tricky when I was trying to teach my students how to create animations], and have shocked myself and anyone unfortunate enough to enter my energy field without grounding him or herself first on any number of occasions. So, little computer glitches, hesitations, and hiccoughs are second nature to me now. You would also think that I would know better by know, BUT…
I actually did think to myself: “Kate, you need to back-up your recent files. It’s been a while!” but the blank CDs were on the other side of the room and I had posts to write and contests to develop so—no back-ups! And I really should have paid attention when the batteries that worked just fine to operate the digital camera for taking pictures balked at uploading those pictures onto my computer. And then the loudest message came when all eight of my rechargeable batteries indicated “No Charge” for me but worked for Bob. But did I listen?
My computer was only four years old. It had current virus protection. It was upgraded routinely per directives from Hewlett-Packard. It had double surge protection and a dedicated battery back-up system. I grounded myself ‘most of the time’. There was no carpeting under me or the computer to build up static charges. I regularly told it I loved it and all it could do for me. I gave it HOURS AND HOURS of my undivided attention.
And then it began to happen…it was like watching wires on a spool that had been tightly wound begin to unravel—one by one, in multiple directions, with rapidly gaining speed. Someone recently remarked that I had too much time on my hands. Unfortunately—not quite enough. Even as I desperately tried to recover data, I watched my computer disintegrate the operating system. I did manage to recover all of my digital photos that I had stored on my computer—we think. And I saved some Power Point presentations and a few Flash files. But the last we saw of my Word Documents was on a dark and lonely screen that said the Data Recovery System that Bob was using had located the files. And then a message came up that said: COMPUTER HAS NO OPERATING SYSTEM.
Gone. Whoosh. “Lost”.
I know the files are still on the hard drive. I know that someone might even be able to recover them eventually. I also know that I am in stunned grief right now. I have “lost” poems. I have “lost” addresses. I have “lost” important-to-me links. I have “lost” data. I have “lost” information and storylines for planned-for contests. I have “lost” down-loaded personal messages I wanted to keep. Recipes, quotations, fun files, reminders…all “lost” and all my own fault for not burning CD back-ups on a monthly basis.
So, here I sit, using a borrowed computer from a friend of my daughter (and praying like crazy that I don’t kill this computer, too), telling myself that this too shall pass. It really isn’t such a big thing on the grand scale. It’s just 6 months of data. I can retrieve much of it by re-viewing threads on Forums or using search engines. I can contact Forum friends and ask for addresses and such all over again. I can exercise my brain and come up with new ideas for contests. And if I am fortunate, I might be so blessed as to write another poem or weave another story. But some things are truly “lost” for now…hours from Bob’s free time when he tried so hard to fix my computer and/or recover data; poems and storylines with which I entertained myself; a certain “joie de vivre” in how I was getting through each day.
So, here I sit, feeling blue—a color I really, REALLY do not like—and thinking I need to do something fun. And Voila! It came to me: "I think I’ll have a Pity Party and I’ll invite all of my virtual friends to attend!"
No contests in this one. No mind boggles or rhymes. No photos—my photo manipulation program is “lost” and I haven’t quite gotten the energy to follow Harry’s wonderful tutorial just yet for a new photo program.
Just poor, pitiful me—I can’t even type that with a straight face so it’s already working—inviting all of you to join me as I wallow.
And if you have stuck with me all the way to this point, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me that as soon as you are done reading this pitiful plaint, you are going to go do what I should have done…BACK UP YOUR FILES!!!!
Lady B—the Pitiful
I would like to invite all of you to my Pity Party.
Before I became addicted to all things rock, I used to faithfully back-up data on my computer—photos; video movies; gif animations; Word documents—every month. But since May of this year I had a new obsession—rocks—and all things connected to rocks—collecting them, tumbling them, cutting them, sorting them, receiving them, buying them, sharing them, admiring them, joining forums and discussing them, reading about them, searching out new information about them, participating in and developing contests about them, and I let go of a very important obsession—backing up my data.
Now I am paying a most regrettable price and one made so much worse because it was both avoidable and solely of my own doing.
About three weeks ago I had a little problem with my computer and had to shut it down—not just reboot it, but shut it down/turn it off completely. No big deal…happens to me off and on. I have a very strong electro-magnetic current—an aura, so to speak—in and around my body. I cannot wear battery operated watches, carry a cell phone in my pockets or on a waistband or belt; or work at a computer without surge and static protectors. When I was in the Army back in the day, I accidentally blew the computer system for a large medical division. It took 5 days of technicians working round the clock to recover the data and I was never allowed to use an Army-Department of Defense computer again. I have also watched data disappear into a pinpoint of light on monitors, have had two monitors explode in front of me; have stopped animations dead in their tracks [always tricky when I was trying to teach my students how to create animations], and have shocked myself and anyone unfortunate enough to enter my energy field without grounding him or herself first on any number of occasions. So, little computer glitches, hesitations, and hiccoughs are second nature to me now. You would also think that I would know better by know, BUT…
I actually did think to myself: “Kate, you need to back-up your recent files. It’s been a while!” but the blank CDs were on the other side of the room and I had posts to write and contests to develop so—no back-ups! And I really should have paid attention when the batteries that worked just fine to operate the digital camera for taking pictures balked at uploading those pictures onto my computer. And then the loudest message came when all eight of my rechargeable batteries indicated “No Charge” for me but worked for Bob. But did I listen?
My computer was only four years old. It had current virus protection. It was upgraded routinely per directives from Hewlett-Packard. It had double surge protection and a dedicated battery back-up system. I grounded myself ‘most of the time’. There was no carpeting under me or the computer to build up static charges. I regularly told it I loved it and all it could do for me. I gave it HOURS AND HOURS of my undivided attention.
And then it began to happen…it was like watching wires on a spool that had been tightly wound begin to unravel—one by one, in multiple directions, with rapidly gaining speed. Someone recently remarked that I had too much time on my hands. Unfortunately—not quite enough. Even as I desperately tried to recover data, I watched my computer disintegrate the operating system. I did manage to recover all of my digital photos that I had stored on my computer—we think. And I saved some Power Point presentations and a few Flash files. But the last we saw of my Word Documents was on a dark and lonely screen that said the Data Recovery System that Bob was using had located the files. And then a message came up that said: COMPUTER HAS NO OPERATING SYSTEM.
Gone. Whoosh. “Lost”.
I know the files are still on the hard drive. I know that someone might even be able to recover them eventually. I also know that I am in stunned grief right now. I have “lost” poems. I have “lost” addresses. I have “lost” important-to-me links. I have “lost” data. I have “lost” information and storylines for planned-for contests. I have “lost” down-loaded personal messages I wanted to keep. Recipes, quotations, fun files, reminders…all “lost” and all my own fault for not burning CD back-ups on a monthly basis.
So, here I sit, using a borrowed computer from a friend of my daughter (and praying like crazy that I don’t kill this computer, too), telling myself that this too shall pass. It really isn’t such a big thing on the grand scale. It’s just 6 months of data. I can retrieve much of it by re-viewing threads on Forums or using search engines. I can contact Forum friends and ask for addresses and such all over again. I can exercise my brain and come up with new ideas for contests. And if I am fortunate, I might be so blessed as to write another poem or weave another story. But some things are truly “lost” for now…hours from Bob’s free time when he tried so hard to fix my computer and/or recover data; poems and storylines with which I entertained myself; a certain “joie de vivre” in how I was getting through each day.
So, here I sit, feeling blue—a color I really, REALLY do not like—and thinking I need to do something fun. And Voila! It came to me: "I think I’ll have a Pity Party and I’ll invite all of my virtual friends to attend!"
No contests in this one. No mind boggles or rhymes. No photos—my photo manipulation program is “lost” and I haven’t quite gotten the energy to follow Harry’s wonderful tutorial just yet for a new photo program.
Just poor, pitiful me—I can’t even type that with a straight face so it’s already working—inviting all of you to join me as I wallow.
And if you have stuck with me all the way to this point, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me that as soon as you are done reading this pitiful plaint, you are going to go do what I should have done…BACK UP YOUR FILES!!!!
Lady B—the Pitiful
The data on your disc should be recoverable unless the disc itself is fried. Most computer repair places can do that for you.
