Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – May 27, 2004

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – May 27, 2004

A Teeny-Weeny Little Scare

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – May 27, 2004 – Do the words “back-up” mean anything to you? I My computer is protected with an anti-virus program and a sophisticated firewall, to frighten away any worms and viruses that may happen my way – not to mention Trojan horses. Pop-up ads and spam have been largely filtered out of my system, so one would think I could rest easyily when it comes to my computer.

However one can never forget the biggest threat of us – human error! I’m certainly not a computer guru, but I can make my computer do almost everything that I want it to – sometimes I even amaze myself. Just this morning I was all aglow because I had succeeded in converting and moving a graphic image to a new destination. I was busy patting myself on the back and explaining my computer brilliance to Augie; and then right smack-dab in the midst of my self-congratulatory fulmination on technological wizardry – my monitor screen went blank.

Not black (that would be a power outage) but blank. My heart did a quick double beat and I immediately thought – “This can’t be”. I was in my writing file. I “x’d” out of my word processing program and went back into ‘My Documents’. My writing file was gone.

I was surprisingly calm. I knew I had Chapters one through four saved in another location, and of course, there is my back-up file. I typed “writing” into “file name” and hit enter, confident that my lost folder would surface. This did not appear to be the case. Nada. The next step was to open my back-up file.

I sound like I know what I’m talking about, don’t I. Well I didn’t have a clue. The message said – “Welcome To Backup Utility Advanced Mode” (little moment of sheer terror) and my options were “Back-Up” – “Restore and Manage Media” or “Schedule Jobs”. I got out of there lickety-split, my aforementioned computer genius a thing of the past.

My logic tells me that the lost folder is here somewhere. If I could just see it (I wouldn’t have to open it – honest) – but I can’t. I think for a moment that my short-lived writing career has come to an abrupt halt. I wonder if I could re-write all my stories from the month of May. I think not – I don’t even know what all the topics are. I wonder if an emotional melt-down is in order, but decide it will accomplish little. Instead I berate myself for thirty seconds and then return to my computer screen.

Back to “My Documents”. My writing file is the only one missing. I think back through the near misses of the past and recall a time when I inadvertently double-clicked on a folder, only to watch in horror as it vanished. So calmly, and with the precision of a surgeon I opened all the folders in “My Documents”, one by one. Instead of starting at the beginning of the alphabet I should have started with the “w’s” – because there it was tucked safely away in a file called “word offers”. The prodical file folder returned to its mother.

A sigh of relief escaped from my body as my hunched up shoulders relaxed. I had no idea how to get this wayward file back to its original position in “My Documents”, so I copied its contents into a newly created file folder called Writing File. My blood pressure dropped a notch or two. My writing career was safe. I am once again a computer goddess, self-assured, competent and perhaps a wee bit smug.

I didn’t have to call Computer Ben for tech support. But I’m not kidding myself, from now on I’m going to back this puppy up at every turn. It’s taken me 54 years to start writing and I can’t let my endeavours be de-railed by the mistaken double click of a little mouse.

Now because I know myself, I’ll probably go over-board and copy my files six ways to Sunday, but that’s okay. A little obsessive-compulsive behaviour can’t really hurt an old broad. The moral of the story (I love morals) – hit the old back-up key more often than not!