Yes, I realize that this post was supposed to go up yesterday. For those of you who never realized it, I post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And today is Tuesday.
Are you looking for a good reason I didn’t post yesterday like I broke my leg, the water heater exploded, or we went out of town. Sorry. It’s nothing like that. I was just one of those few days that morph from bad into perfect.
The bad started early. For months now Ariel’s had problems with her computer. It shuts down randomly, not from virus software but from overheating. I suspected that her fan must not be working properly. Anyway, I did the mother-nagging thing. “Ar, take your computer in to the UTC tech people. They fix student computers for free.” Ar did her nagged-child thing. “Yeah, yeah, I will I’m just really busy right now. Exams, classes, hanging out with friends.”
So it went until yesterday. Yesterday the computer wouldn’t boot up—it had damaged OS (operating system) files. Apparently, the last time the computer shut down it tweaked the files. Ar called Dell tech support (it’s spring break so the UT computer experts are on vacation). Yeah, they could fix it to the tune of $120. gulp.
Ar decided to wait until the computer geeks are back on Monday. But she has a paper due on Wednesday, this Wednesday. And she didn’t have a backup file. In fact, none of her files are backed up. (A bad thing since it looks like she may end up with a factory wipe of her computer.) So Ariel spent the morning retyping her paper—thank goodness she had a hard copy. BTW, for all you writers and students—back up your documents. You can use a data stick. Or you can email your documents to yourself and stick them in an e-file. That way if your house burns down or you lose you data stick, you still have your book, story, or paper.
If Ariel’s computer woes were the only part of the day, I’d have blogged on it yesterday. But the day transformed. I bought some hosta and bleeding heart roots and planted all 17 of them. I had to dig out rocks and hack away roots, but nothing compares to a spring day spent outside before the mosquitoes wake up or the humidity rises. And besides my hands were utterly filthy, I was sweaty, and had a bleeding knuckle. Yep, it doesn’t get much better for a gardener.
After the plants were planted, I lay back in the porch swing, smelled the sweet air, listened to the birds, and felt the sun warm my winter-chilled bones. It was perfect, except for the niggling thoughts about Ariel’s computer. But in the spring air, you can forget anything.
Yet another cautionary tale of backing up data--hope the computer gets fixed. My college roommate had a problem with her laptop overheating--she had a little fan that she kept on it all the time. It was actually a pretty funny setup.
ReplyDeleteLove bleeding hearts--hope they flourish for you!
You seem to know a lot about computer hardware and programming. So how come you have so many problems with computers? Have you learned so much because of these problems?
ReplyDelete