Two days ago my computer died intestate. I did all the things the troubleshooting booklet said to do and still couldn’t raise the dead, so I texted I’M SCARED to the brilliant fixit consultant who has taken care of my computer issues for years.
He called me immediately.
I drove the corpse to him later that day and he spent several hours working on it. When he called me—“It’s bad news”—I cried. In Cracker Barrel, y’all. The waitress didn’t know what to do with me.
My consultant referred me to a data recovery expert, one of those places that put your hard drive in a sterile cleanroom and go over it, line by line, to see if anything can be saved. It’s expensive. I hope to be able to avail myself of this before the end of the year, but at the moment it’s not in progress, and I am … well, in the early stages of grief.
What this means for this blog:
• I had several posts (about a month’s worth) written. They’re gone. So there is nothing ready to go, not even for a Short Saturday post yesterday.
• I had a few hundred pages of notes (ideas) for posts, and a list of items for Short Saturday posts, and they’re gone. I’m still in shock, and when I try to think about it, I just draw a blank.
• I’ve lost some editorial work, too, so I need to play catch-up.
• I’m going to drop back to one post per week (Mondays) for a while—perhaps until the new year—while I work on crafting the sort of posts I like to write. (You know I write for myself, don’t you? That you like them is a happy byproduct.)
It’s going to take some time—the kind of relaxed, unstructured creative time I don’t currently have—to replenish the well, kids. Fortunately, many of my friends—authors, editors, other publishing industry professionals—have volunteered to write guest posts. You’re going to love them. I am so very blessed.
Thank you for sticking around during the rebuilding process. I promise it will be worth the wait.
Tweet: It’s going to take some time to rebuild. And a little help from my friends.
Tweet: A hard drive crash necessitates a slow-down. But it’ll be worth it.
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Oh Jamie this is awful news I am really truly sorry. I had a hard drive with several probably close to 50GB of photos lost to me once, I am yet to afford the sterile room treatment but I will, when I have some spare cash it is seriously expensive though. I keep the hard drive though in the hope that one day I can recover them, they are so precious and I know (having lost a version of my almost conpleted literature review of my dissertation at uni the pain of losing your work) it’s a violation and I am sending my sympathies.
Not sure what type of computer your thinking of getting -whether mac or PC – next but I now (since all the losses) have a mac, and use iCloud and time machine and every possible type of back up device known to human, just thought I would recommend as it’s been beneficial to me. I hope they can recover something for you. X
Thank you. 🙂 The good news, for me, is I’d removed all of my photos to an external hard drive the week before. So they, at least, were not lost. All in—including system and apps and so forth—I lost about 75GB of data. Things like my address database and everything related to two blogs. AND work. I was not orderly in my backups (spring my most recent) but when I have time, I’ll work my way through that.
I agree with you about the Mac. I bought my first in 1990 and have never been tempted to switch. I “understand” (speak?) Mac (mostly), although my frustration level’s high at the moment as I discover all the little preferences that need to be reset and remember, one by one, every document that is lost. 🙂
I spoke earlier with the data recovery people. The possible cost kinda took my breath away. I’m thinking very good thoughts for your coming into a sum that will allow you to retrieve your photos, Sacha.
I am so, so, so, so sorry. I know how angry I am when I forget to save just one item, the incredible frustration that causes. To have lost a month’s worth of posts, all those ideas…
My heart goes out to you. Your readers understand, believe me, and we’ll wait for you. I hope you will be able to resurrect the dead, I think what you’re feeling must be similar to grief. God bless you as you work through one of a writer’s worst nightmares…
Thank you, Robin. I appreciate your kind words. 🙂
I’m so very sorry. I can imagine you’ve had some sleepless nights over the death of all those words.
Have prayed you have a supernatural memory and extra inspiration over the next few months. And like Robin said, we’ll wait for you. X
Stephanie, thank you so much. I am definitely heartsick. But a designer friend of mine emailed me and said “When that happens to us [at the firm] we say ‘Second time will be faster and better!'” I hope so! Right now my mind’s a blank. But I’ve got a massage scheduled tomorrow. 🙂
Jamie, Jamie, Jamie… Please know I’m praying circles around you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you. Sending loads of good thoughts and vibes your way as you navigate through.
Thank you, dear one.
Ahh, Jamie: Sounds like you met your crisis in the best possible way–good leadership for those of us who learn from you. Sorry about the computer but happy you have a plan for fewer blogs for a while and for sharing the space. I look forward to being part of this neighborhood of friends who chat together while you regroup. Have a happy week! Judy Christie
Well, I didn’t include the bit about sobbing at the kitchen table. 🙂 Thank you for your words of encouragement. I can’t wait to read your post!
I lost my camera two months ago and cried because there was a video I’d taken of my husband reading to me and one he’d taken of me reading him a poem that meant a whole heck of a lot to both of us. It was a date night we hadn’t had in ages and we had so much fun, like two teenagers falling in love all over again. That and the pictures of our youngest son’s first months. Such precious memories lost.
I hadn’t moved them on to my back up yet. I don’t know why. Usually I’ve got that thing emptied and on a hard drive before you can blink.
I know the memories are still there, but I won’t ever get those captured moments back.
I still cry when I think about it. 🙁
All that to say, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your computer.
I think I know exactly how you feel, Sarah. 🙁 The only thing that’s kept me from just lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling, I think, is the week before this happened I’d transferred my entire photo library (well, about 13 months’ worth—all that was ON my hard drive) to an external hard drive where I keep a decade or so of photos. I realize in the grand scheme of things this is a small thing. But … doggone it!
Oh, Jamie! SO, SO sorry. Makes me want to find wherever it is I mislaid my back up drive and get to work – I’m about 3 months behind, I think. I hope they can recover most of it for you. Major, major bummer. (And I thought this wasn’t supposed to happen to Mac. Sigh.)
Sadly, hardware fails, no matter what brand it is. In the case of a hard drive, it’s a moving part, and can definitely crap out with no warning. This doesn’t change how I feel about my Mac (I bought my first in 1990, no joke!). I’m going to go solid state next time (the way things are moving anyway). My last backup was 4 months ago, and you’d be surprised just how much work you do in that amount of time. Now my backups are automated, so I don’t have to think about it. (sigh) And thank you so much for reading and commenting. I appreciate you!