Sunday, June 28, 2009

Let This Be a Lesson to You

Hey, you. Yeah, I mean YOU.

Right now, go back up your computer.

Right NOW.

Because my laptop died while I was on vacay.

DIED.

With no warning.

One minute, everything's fine. Next, DEATH.

The hard drive makes tiny bleating noises, like a lamb to slaughter.

The screen flashes and fades, like the light from a dying man's eyes.

It's gone.

Luckily, I'd backed up my recently finished book--because I'm obsessive about backing up my writing work. But the five years of lesson plans, worksheets, and presentations? Yeah, not quite so obsessive about that.

I've read a gazillion times to back up work.

Or else.

So now I'm telling YOU, yes, YOU to go back up your work RIGHT NOW.

Consider yourself warned.

Cause this? This sucks.

12 comments:

cindy said...

one of my ultimate nightmares. oh no and so sorry! =(((( sending good thoughts to you!

Jess (The Cozy Reader) said...

Look on the bright side.....

NEW LAPTOP!

Now for the lost documents and the money to purchase said laptop are a whole other topic. :(

Anonymous said...

Yikes. I'm backing up my stuff right now, as I post this.
I feel sorry for you, but at least your writing is backed up? I would cry if I lost my WIP

Robyn Campbell said...

GULP! You're scaring me. Better take those wise words of advice.

So Betty is better? We Have been praying hard about this.

I can't email you because my out going email is messed up. This is better than it was, when my incoming wasn't working either. :)

I'll try to get you something mid week on my new WIP.

I'm wrapping up Seventy Two Hours. It's very good too. Now whether I win or not...dunno. But I like it. A lot. No, I love it.

Anyway, glad you're back. I missed you. Oh The Lit Lab are going to work on my query this week. Maybe today. :)

Sorry about your laptop. Aren't you glad you still have A Long Way Home? I'm sorry about all that you lost. Total bummer! Hey to C.

Scott said...

Beth - you have my sympathy. I learned, the hard way, to back things up. I'm obsessive - hard drive, flash drive, and external hard drive. Yes, three backups every single time. Why?

One pleasant Saturday afternoon my computer dies. Dead. Gone. Finito! Had I backed everything up? Noooooo, that would have made life too simple. Did I learn my lesson? Of course not. A few years later, two weeks after the warranty expired, my laptop dies. Was everything backed up? Noooo, that would have made life too simple. Did I learn my lesson? Yes. Then again, had I learned it the first time I wouldn't have lost valuable notes and files. SIGH! Now, I'm OCD about backing up!

S

Mim said...

I'm sorry that this happened. I lost two computers in the last year. They were both ancient. One didn't have any writing. The other one did, but we had time machine. I love my Mac and Time Machine. I'm glad you had a back up. At least now you get to go computer shopping!

B.J. Anderson said...

Oh, man, that stinks! I backed up my book before I even finished reading your post. Thanks!

Yat-Yee said...

So sorry to hear that. My computer died on me once, though thankfully the book was not that far along, and I had most of the important stuff backed up.

H said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heather Zundel said...

But what happens when your backup fails? That's the problem I'm facing right now. I'm trying to hack into my external harddrive (that suddenly and completely stopped working) - which has all my unfinished stories and digital home movies on it.

My deep deep sympathies go out to you Beth. Double back up your files, so you can learn from my little horror story. Email your most important files to yourself. That way you can access them any time you need.

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear you had backed up your writing, Beth. Just checking out your blog from your comment on mine. I'll add you to my Blogs By Writers list. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure you'd seen that after you left your comment on my blog, another reader left a comment with some possible ways you can get your lost work back from the dead harddrive. Good luck

Unknown said...

Heather: Yup--I think I'm going to start using Google Docs as my backup (in addition to an external harddrive I'm going to buy)

Not sure about saving your harddrive...??? Good luck!!!!

Daybydaywriter: Thanks! I'm off to check it out now!