BAD Day...

BAD day...
3/7/07

You know when you have one of those days when it seems like everything in world is aligned to make your life collapse around you? Well, that was today for me. Nothing completely horrible happened to me, but everything that’s ever happened to me in the past that has been horrible came back to me today, as my life felt like it was crashing down. It felt (sort of) like the end of the world as I knew it...What really happened is that my computer died, mid-iTunes download. I decided to restart the whole computer, because it was being a little weird, and, well, it just never came back on again. Ever. Just gone, kaput, done-zo, dead. At first I was pretty mellow about it – I did like most girls would do in this situation, let my computer “rest” and went shopping for a couple hours. A hundred dollars later, and still my computer produced nothing but the gray screen of death upon my hopeful pressing of the “On” button. Still, nonplussed, I kept trying every couple minutes while sipping a smoothie at the internet café. Finally it dawned on me that something was wrong. And it was dire. Of course this was 5:00 pm, I was leaving to go back on the research cruise the following morning at 7:00 am, and the only computer store in Guam that services Macs was closing at 6:00 pm. Freaking out in the rental car in rush hour traffic in Guam (believe me, there is traffic here!), I finally made it to the store, where Andy the service tech told me, essentially, that my logic board was toast. Good news is that my hard drive was okay, bad news was that I couldn’t ever really access the hard drive again from my computer! Andy (service tech and savior), calmly told me that he’d keep the computer (currently in pieces on the counter) while I was on the third leg of my cruise and run through a couple tests to make sure it was the mother board. I just had to live computer-free for a couple weeks on a boat. No big whoop, right?

Fast forward 3 weeks, and we’re back in port again in Guam. As it turns out, living laptop-less is very, very nice. For the most part. There are some bummers, like not being able to update your iPod’s music or even charge your iPod (luckily I borrowed an old wall charger). And remembering that the computer that you left in pieces with Andy a couple weeks ago holds all the data, pictures, and final draft of your Master’s thesis on it’s apparently very vulnerable hard drive. Eh, details, right? In the interim, I read all I could about Mac issues, software, new laptops (why not??), backing up your files (should I repeat – backing up your files!) and other tidbits in the MacWorld magazines that had made it on board via another Mac user on the cruise. It all made me feel much better, and even though I no longer had my trusty iBook G4 with the Santa Cruz sticker on it, life as I knew it wasn’t over. Actually, my life was pretty nice. I found I had a lot more time to read books, write (with paper and pen), nap, and talk to people in person. It was still more difficult to write lengthy emails to people, but I knew most of the important people in my life know where I was and only needed the bare details in an email. And they knew I was computer-less. In short, it was an epiphany! Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but it was definitely a wake up call for me. To realize how many ties I have to the digital world, which is great, but then to realize how quickly they can go away. Forever. That said, I’ve written everyone’s phone numbers that are in my cell phone down on paper, email addresses are on paper, which will only go away in the event of a fire or really strong wind. Even water won’t ruin that backup! I know, some things are only digital, but you know what, most of it isn’t that important, in the end. And if it is, for God’s sake, back it up!!! I learned the hard way, that’s for sure...

So, with all of that, I’m actually typing this on my trusty old computer that almost gave up the ghost. It’s on it’s last leg, and I am very scared to turn it off (I just put it to sleep right now), but I picked it up from Andy yesterday, and he said it looks like a video card thing. Who knows, exactly, but while standing with him in the store I backed everything up to an external hard drive. I can’t get on the internet anymore, nor do I dare trying to do anything with big files, but at least I can type stuff, then transfer my writing to a computer with internet access. So there it is. I just had to share all this with you. No longer is my iBook my most trusty companion, but my notebook and pen, tucked safely in my cotton tote along with an old-fashioned book. I know, it’s cheesy, but true! And now I think I can really enjoy where I am a little more...that is until I buy the new MacBook Pro coming out this summer...(Hey I did come on this cruise to make money, which is meant to be used!).