September 26, 2005

Are you backed up?

No - this will not be about the Joys of Fiber or methods of snaking out your personal plumbing. This is an exceedingly tiresome and boring post where my Evil Past as an information systems auditor rears its ugly head and cannot be contained. I like to claim that I was not much of an accountant, but I fear that maybe I was more of one than I care to admit. You see - I have a dirty secret. I back up my computer files. Faithfully. One of the distressing things about this Mac, is that I am still trying to figure out the best way to back up my photos - I am not impressed with the current way. This subject has come up recently as I have been telling people about my huge photo project where I am taking every loose photo hanging around and sticking it on blank pages - nothing remotely close to Real Scrapbooking, I should stress. I am merely trying to get the photos lassoed into actual albums with actual titles and actual dates (Rancid Tangent: Is this normally what happens when you have kids? The strong desire to have things be documented for them in case you are dead?). When I mention this project to people, I am quick to point out that I really prefer digital photos and digital albums - since I don't want it to appear that I have joined the Cult of Real Scrapbooking. Besides, how often do you truck out your physical photo albums for visitors anyway? I don’t. And I DO tend to look at my digital albums quite often. Furthermore, I would MUCH prefer to get a link to a friend’s digital album as well. Then, I can go out periodically and see what they and their progeny have been up to. Anyway, what has shocked me the MOST about this topic of conversation is how many times someone has commented “Oh, but then your computer crashes and POOF! all your photos are gone!”. HUH? Seriously - am I the only person backing up their files? Here’s how anal I am - since I am not working, I have no “2nd site of backup”, meaning - the only place my files are located are at HOME - therefore, I need to look into a safety deposit box or a fireproof box. When you have devoted as much time to photos and MP3s as I have, you wouldn’t want your backups to be stored in a non-fireproof situation, either. Okay - end of rant. In short, if you are not backing up your files - ask yourself , WHY NOT?

The Weekend at Rancid le Manse: It was a good one - I finished my sock class, but alas, not the actual sock. I have knitted the cuff and turned the heel. While I am not sure that I will be knitting a lot of socks (we'll see how I feel after knitting the 2nd sock of the pair!), I can report that learning this new skill was FUN. It was very, very cool to see this thing take shape. Later that evening, X and I went for a nice dinner of Chinese dumplings. He has been gone so much, it was wonderful to have a quiet dinner just the two of us. Sunday was spent puttering around the house with the TV blaring in the background to the tune of NFL (Note to the little Freeloader: You MUST like NFL Football and College Basketball. Don't bother coming out until you have learned the rules for both and have gained an adequate appreciation. And no, we will NOT love you for "who you are". Comprende?)

Freeloader Update: Nothing much has been going on, now I am 37 weeks along now and am considered “full-term”. Therefore, anything new and unusual is encountered with a newfound suspicion discovered this very weekend. As late as last week, new aches and pains were the course du jour - NOW, each new twinge is pondered quite closely for its 1st Stage of Labor Potential. It’s quite irritating. My Free Time is dwindling so rapidly, I don’t want to squander a precious second of it - my To Do list is still pretty long, although I have made damned good progress on it. I have a doctor’s appointment today, so we will see what she says.

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