Techno Trouble!

I had recently been having some trouble with an old 8 GB USB flash drive (memory stick), so I backed up all the files on my computer as well as on an external hard drive. Then I opened a brand new 16 GB USB drive and put on it only the most important files that I was currently working on. The was far less the 1 GB on the new drive.

I worked on those files for about two weeks, using the USB every day at the office on my Windows PC, and also every night at home on my iMac (OS X), and there had been no compatibility problems at all. That may have been because I was working mainly on Word documents.

Well, because the drive was so new, and because I was so busy, I kept forgetting to back up everything. Last Friday, I worked on the files all day at the office; I also worked on them at home all day Saturday. No problem; everything great! But I was so tired when I finished on Saturday night that I was afraid I might do something wrong or hit the wrong button and erase everything, so I decided to wait until the morning to back up all the files. In fact, I was so sleepy that I shut down the computer without remembering to first eject the USB drive—but that had never caused a problem before. In any case, the idea of postponing the back up until morning did not work out too well. . . .

Imagine my surprise and shock when I turned on the computer on Sunday morning only to realize that the computer could not recognize the USB—YIKES! It was like there was nothing plugged into the USB port at all. I tried another port. I tried taking it out, rebooting, and trying it again, etc., all to no avail. As the computer could not recognize it, there was no icon, so I could neither see nor access (open) any of the files. I have since sent the USB to a company that specializes in retrieving lost data. So wish me luck!!!

And, what could be more appropriate, before I could publish the first version of this blog, I hit a wrong button and lost it, so I had to write it all over again. Talk about making sure I learn the right lesson! OK, Universe, I think I got it this time!

So now, I would like to let you know the lesson I learned, and give you all a good tip, by paraphrasing the English version of the poem «Enivrez-vous» ("Get Drunk!") by the French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821–67):

Always BACK UP. Therein lies everything: it’s all that matters.

So as not to feel the dread burden of LOSS breaking your shoulders and crushing you to the earth, never stop BACKING UP.

But WHERE? Whether ON THE COMPUTER, ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE, OR IN THE CLOUD, the choice is yours. Whatever: BACK UP. 

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To escape the fate of those tormented slaves of LOSS, BACK UP.

ALWAYS BACK UP, never ceasing.

Whether ON THE COMPUTER, ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE, OR IN THE CLOUD,

 the choice is yours.

//&

ALWAYS BACK UP!!!!!