Back Ups

"You must back up your ambition by your whole nature, by unbounded enthusiasm and a determination to win which knows no failure."
-Orison Swett Marden

So much has happened since I last posted. Where to start?

We have bad news and good news...

Bad news (VERY BAD!): On Thursday, my hard disc failed. Why me? Why me?

Maybe the fact that it hit the floor had something to do with it?

But I did NOT drop it. I just watched in horror as my new laptop slid (seemingly in agonizing slow-mo) from its here-to-fore thought safe perch atop my foot stool. I tried to catch it as it bounced off my magazine rack (now neatly re-purposed as a catchall for my stitch dictionaries, design journal, pattern hard copies, & paperwork - who has time to read?) and made its way to the hardwood floor.

Ouch! As Yoda would say, "Do or do not; there is no try."

I did not.

And just like that, all my patterns, my mailing list, my pictures...

All gone.

Had this happened a bare week and a half earlier, my business would have been toast. You see, ever since I got the new laptop in September, my DH has struggled to get it to back up correctly. It seemed the old machines in the house didn't like the newcomer and chose to express that disregard by ignoring the new laptop's weekly requests for back up. They weren't talking to each other.

In response to my desperate pleas (I think my asking for back ups for Xmas turned the tide) DH finally installed Windows Home Server on Baby Boy's old computer and set it up to back up every night while we and the stubborn machines slept. Sort of a stealth back up.

Hooray! I had back ups. What a relief!

All we had to do was buy a new hard drive ($60) install it in the laptop, and use the recovery discs that came with it to reboot the system.

Except my laptop didn't come with a recovery disc. We were supposed to make one ourselves.

OOPS!

No problem, DH said. We can restore it from the home server. Except the server kept crashing. Once. Twice. Third time's the charm...

It failed permanently on the fourth try.

Overnight.

Seems Baby Boy's old computer just wasn't up to the task of a full system restore.

Now what? DH called his office, told them he had an emergency at home and was going to work from home on Friday. Then he went back to the computer store to purchase a new server ($500 - double ouch!).

Made us really nervous when the new machine staged a little demonstration to remind us just who was in charge.

We told it to "restore system." It chose to "install system." The mere thought that all of my existing data might be wiped clean in favor of a fresh new start, sent me into conniption fits.

That is change we most certainly DON'T need.

I went to the yarn store, and calmed myself by breathing deeply of the restorative wool and silk fumes. You drown your sorrows your way; I'll drown them mine...

I returned home about 3:00, a full 24 hours after the initial incident. With considerable trepidation, I dragged my weary carcass up the stairs to my DH's study for the impending burial rites.

And he smiled.

He told me he had everything up to Wednesday night at midnight. I only lost four hours of work.

I kissed him hard and told him he was the best person I knew.

He still is.

My hero.

By Friday night, I had a fully operational system. And two recovery discs. And full back ups on a reliable (Hell! At that price, it better be infallible) non-crashing system server.

There is a God.

I am back in business; all is right in the world; and I can testify personally to the soothing effect of endless knitting in times of trouble.

I know these are small matters when compared with so many genuine tragedies. Still, I am reminded of my own myriad opportunities for failure and the supreme comfort and importance of having someone back me up.

Tomorrow, I'll share pics of a finished icicle scarf and two new projects for the month of February.

Today, I am thankful for my most reliable back up - my darling, darling husband, otherwise known around here as:

• the cavalry
• the miracle worker
• the High Supreme Pooh-bah of Data

All hail...

Sand and Water

All alone, I didn't like the feeling.
All alone, I sat and cried.
All alone, I had to find some meaning
In the center of the pain I felt inside.

All alone, I came into this world.
All alone, I will someday die.
Solid stone is just sand and water, baby -
Sand and water, and a million years gone by.

I will see you in the light of a thousand suns.
I will hear you in the sound of the waves.
I will know you when I come, as we all will come,
Through the doors beyond the grave.

All alone, I came into this world.
All alone, I will someday die.
Solid stone is just sand and water, baby -
Sand and water, and a million years gone by.

- Beth Nielsen Chapman

Rest in peace, Tyler Ward. We will miss you.