Have I lost you..(also titled Computer Woes)!

Did I loose you?  I know I lost some of you and I'd like to find you again.  Many, many months ago our lights flickered.  They did not go out. They didn't even dim.  There was no rain, no storm, no thunder, no lightning. There was just a very slight flicker. Someone, somewhere probably hit a utility pole!

That little flicker caused a lot of problems.  My business computer couldn't "find" itself anymore.  My life was at such a point with special needs foster children that I set it aside and limped along with my laptop.  However, a few months ago when it was time to re-open my shop, something needed to be done.

I took my business computer in for a checkup.  Well.  That little flicker fried my logic board and evidently those are very pricey items.  $1,000 for the part.  You read that right...one.thousand.dollars. And that didn't include the labor to put it in.  My computer was 8 years old.  I was informed that it was considered to be a "vintage" computer and in another 18 months could be called an "antique". 
Yee Haw!  Unfortunately, "antique" doesn't mean the same thing in computers as it does in furniture.  "Antique" is another word for "doorstop" in computer lingo.

Their diagnostic tools could not recover anything from my hard drive either.  They said I needed a vintage Mac guru with the "older" diagnostic tools to be able to retrieve anything from my hard drive. That drive is now gently stored away waiting for the right "vintage Mac guru guy" to appear.  (If you are said guru, please email me...my hard drive needs you!).

The biggest problem is that I lost ALL of my business labels, forms etc. and my customer data base.  I miss my customer data base.  I was also without my computer for sometime.  So...if you have tried to reach me, and didn't get a response, please try again. April in Germany...I'm talking to you...I miss our chats! Many of my customers have become good friends and I don't want those friendships to fly off into cyberspace with my logic board.

Since a new computer was only slightly more than the logic board, I bit the bullet and bought one.  I am now humming along quite nicely with the new technology...although I believe my computer was probably out of date by the time I drove home from the store. I'll be taking some classes to bring me up to speed....I've been using Apple computers since the Apple IIGS (any one remember those?) but things have come a long way baby!  And I don't seem to learn things quite as easily as I used to...ssshhhh...let's not talk about getting older! New computer + free classes = happy owner!

And for those who will ask...every computer in the house was backed up regularly but that one.  Don't ask me why... I can assure you that it is now being backed up on it's own regular schedule.  Yes, it was on a surge protector - a good one.

And just in case...

I unplug everything when I'm not using it.

Signing off and backing up,