11 February 2011

CALL IT CRASH OF CALL IT FAIL

I'm on kind of a journey here.  I have a feeling it's gonna be a long rode home for me.  Here's the way it goes.


I'm sorry Mrs. M, your hard drive has failed.  Failed?  How can it possibly fail?  What does that mean, it failed?  I've loved and nurtured it all its life.  I clean it out and de-germ it regularly.  I sing it love songs when I put it to sleep at night.  Failed?  I thought computers were smart?  How could it possibly fail?  What does this mean for my computer?  What does this mean for me?  Well, Mrs. M, I mean, your computer crashed.   Whaa?  What do you mean crashed?  I never even let it drive.  I'm so protective, you don't even know.  I take better care of my computer than my kids.  Was it an accident?  Is crashed the same as failed?  What does this mean for my computer?  What does this mean for me?


It looks here like you just had too much stuff on it.  It's really over doing it having 57,000 pictures in your files.  And it looks like maybe it may have been dropped a few times.  DROPPED!  Those darn kids!  Yep it's pretty banged up.  Look at this ~ and this here ~ and that over there ~ and see how hard it is to open?  Even the magnets in the opening lever have been altered by some kind of accident.  We can give (sell) you a new hard drive but I doubt we can get any of your info back.


I died.  I cried.  I poked my eye out with my bare knuckle.  Then I remembered that I used to listen to talk radio.  Way back before my kids were driving and I spent 90 percent of my awake hours in the car, I signed up for a program called "Carbonite" because some radio talk show host said I should.  He said he did.  He said I'd be sorry if I didn't.  And I just hate to be sorry.  I didn't want any regrets, I'm too old wise for that baloney.  So, I signed up for Carbonite.  It's cheap - like $29.00 per year at the time to back up every single thing on your computer.  It would work silently in the background of my computer and I'd never even know it was there.

Okay then, I have a back-up plan.  I have Carbonite Mr. Apple Guy.  So there.  Am I good to go once you get my new hard drive installed?  "Hiccup".

Two days later, after hugging my new Apple Computer representative from Basics-n-Beyond, and writing a check which would have covered my baby's tuition for college.  Sorry baby, you know, first things first, priorities and all that xoxox.  I took my computer home and started the quest to get my life back.  All of my whole life and wellness living isn't helping me at all.  There is no detox for this.  No Reiki or acupuncture sessions will get me my stuff back.  No herbal wrap, yoga, Thai or even foot love special will return to me my life blood.  My computer info is either gone, or in a jumbled, non recognizable mess.  I have calls in to Carbonite, emails into Carbonite and soon I may have to get on a plane to India, because after talking to many of their representatives,  I think that's where Carbonite is located.  Wait?  Do I have my passport on my computer?  No, I think I have that in real life, so I'm good to go.

Lucky for me, my blog is on the internet so they had it all right there for me.  But my past is gone for now.  Even my Apple settings which I've tweaked to my satisfaction over the past 6 years are back to the original store version.  I'm lost in the wilderness here Granny Smith.  If I had any of your addresses or info it's all gone because I no longer possess an address book.  There will be no Christmas Cards, no emails, no notes of encouragement or sympathy or congratulations.  Know though, that I'm here loving you and praying to all the angels and saints (especially St Anthony, finder of lost things) to bring back my stuff.  Well, the angels, the saints and Carbonite.  It's scary to think how much some of us have come to rely on our computers, isn't it?  It boggles my mind as I try to recover stuff, just how much stuff I didn't even know I had, and that I now find missing.  And how much I miss it.  I'm beginning to realize I may have been too 'plugged in'.  I use my computer to communicate everything now-a-days.  I preserve and memorialize and store my mementos and treasures here.  This is where I write and journal and read.  Oh, woe is me.

Okay my friends, unless you have any advise, miracles you can perform or just want to hold my hand,   I'm back off to the trenches to see if I can do more recovery.  I'm bound and determined to get this thing back on track as if my middle name is 'Bound and Determined'.  That, or else I'm just gonna go take my dogs for a walk on the beach.  Wish me luck.  I'll let you know how it goes and in the meantime remember,  I love you more than all the failed/crashed hard drives people everywhere experience every day.  Whaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Blessings,

Tia

P.S.  There are more important things than computers, right?






22 comments:

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

Oh there sure are more important things but when you are deep in these trenches of computer hell....and it is a hell, it doesn't seem like there can be anything else. Been where you are - I am so sorry you had to go there too.

I have an external hard drive and carbonite.
I thought you just hit the recover button on carbonite and it would bring it back but if your computer dies how does that help you? Hence the external hard drive I purchased.

Someone trying to make me an Apple girl told me that I would never have this problem again if I bought an Apple. I may have to show her your post. :-)

Your pictures as always are gorgeous!!

Tolentreasures said...

I should not be laughing, not only because of your troubles but because I sound so silly sitting here laughing out loud alone! I feel for you, I have been there at work and lost customer info that ended up costing us big $$$. When I read your statement about going for a walk on the beach, I thought, "How can anything be bad when you can go for a walk on the beach to feel better?" The closest water here is the creek and it has been frozen for at least a month. Perspective...everything is relative...hang in there and thanks for the chuckle.

Cathy

bichonpawz said...

OH. My. I don't know what to say...I feel so BAD for you. Really I do. I myself could be in that very same position. Potentially. You see....a couple of years ago...that very same thing happened to us...except it wasn't an Apple. From that point on...we now back up things. Twice. Once online and once on either a flash drive or an external hard drive or occasionally my husband will use a CD. Yeah. It sucks. Big Time. I feel for you. I really do. You have ALL my sympathy and I'm sending warm hugs out to you. I wish you could send me some more of those gorgeous views!!!! THEY are STILL there!!!

NanaDiana said...

Oh Tia- I am sooo sorry! I have been thinking about that very same thing...that I am afraid my computer is going to crash and die...and then ALL my info would be lost. I have a little back up harddrive that I need to have my son install and get everything backed up for me. Remember the old days when you backed evrything up onto floppy discs? Yeah? Me too. In retrospect maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. I used to do it weekly.

Well, I hope you can get your new one working to your satisfaction...or else you can take your dogs for a walk on the beach...OR you could just have a jug of wine and forget everything. Hugs-Diana

Unknown said...

There are more important things, and this kind of thing scares me. Maybe I need to go back up all my pictures. Maybe I need an external hard drive. Good luck Tia!!

Pam said...

Oh no! That is so upsetting! I can't imagine losing all my photos, addresses, writing, reading...LIFE! My computer does an automatic backup to our server (or something like that, that my husband set up). I do still have an address book and I've printed out my favorite photos over the last few years, but I would be devastated if I lost all the info on my computer. I think you are right, we rely too heavily on our computers. Are you sure there is no hope with Carbonite? Good luck.

Mice Aliling said...

Once you go MAC you never go back :) I've never had problems with my MAC. I am holding your hand virtually. Also it's good to have a back-up disk. Right now, I have a terabyte external drive so I can store all my photos there :) Oh my goodness I am falling in love with where you live :)

Unknown said...

Oooo Tia! Woe, woe, woe. Didn't the computer geek guy help at all? I have had three computer crashes, deaths, and I always got at least some of my memory back. When these things happen, it's like a house burglery or a fire that destroys or steals all your irreplacable stuff. I hope you feel better soon. Love and kisses til then.
Rosemary

kel said...

I could not breathe without my computer!!! Sorry, that's probably not helping, huh??

Janie said...

Haha...computers...! You Love them and you hate them!

But I Love all things by the sea....

Leila@LittleCatholicBubble said...

Oh my goodness. I am hyperventilating! Did Carbonite come through???

Rachel Cotterill said...

Oh no! I hope you get it all back. Meanwhile - go out and enjoy those gorgeous landscapes :)

Red Nails & Raindrops said...

I really dig your blog... Come check mine out :)
http://www.rednailsandraindrops.blogspot.com/

xx

Vern said...

Those pictures make me so homesick! I need a taquito. Eat one for me, will ya?

Leslie said...

Oh dear, I have no words for you. I have Girl Scout Cookies, though. I'll eat one in your honor. You make me want to go out and buy 100 memory sticks to put all my stuff on. Different colored ones that I can label with my handy dandy label maker.

"Tony, Tony, look around - Something's lost and must be found." I'm constantly praying THAT one.

Good luck with the recovery. :)

Covnitkepr1 said...

Every blogger's nightmare...that their computer crashes.

Just checking back to read any postings you may have done.

I’ve been following and enjoying your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation.

Jenny said...

Oh Tia, I'm so sorry. We've had some incredibly talented techs retrieve a lot of info off crashed and trashed hard drives. I hope you can find someone that can at least save part of it.

My husband does daily back ups off his biz computer. I think he uses a service like that.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

bichonpawz said...

Hi Tia! I'm stopping by to see how you are doing! Hope you had a Happy Birthday!
Hugs,
Jeanne

Helene said...

I know this was written about a month ago but I hope you were able to salvage some things, if not all of it. My hard drive crashed on me about 6 months after our 2nd set of twins were born and all the pics, videos, everything was GONE. It made me heartsick!

Toyin O. said...

Sorry to hear about your computer crash, love that picture at the bottom of your post.

Seawashed said...

I wondered where you've been. When all we had was my hubby's work laptop and it crashed we lost everything. Thankfully his company was able to somehow retreive some of our photos files. Now we back things up. I think I need to go through my files and delete stuff though...just so I don't overload and crash. One thing I do love is that my blog is always there because it is on the internet! It makes you feel better when you can see something familiar. That last photo of your beach is amazing. Would make a beautiful blog banner. ox

Katy @ Lolly Linens said...

I can't be without my computer. Mine crashed recently, of course it cost more to repair so I had to get a new one. All the Best to you, Tia.