Perfect Timing

Four days ago, I realized that my last post must have been more negative sounding than I had thought (or intended it to be). I was getting a lot of comments of sympathy. I didn't mean to sound so depressed or whatever I sounded like, and decided to write another post to get the conference post off the top of my blog. I opened the 'new post' page, and then started flipping through my camera pictures to find a picture to stick at the top of the post. But right about at that moment, my computer decided to die. Completely and most uncooperatively, it just gave up the ghost.

For two or three days prior to it's death, my computer had been acting sick. It had been doing little things like sending serious error messages or just turning off without permission. Sir was going to look at it when he got a chance, and it didn't seem to be the end of the world or that we needed to make a electronic checkup a high priority. So, it was a surprise. I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was because my computer was going on five years old next month and had served me well. It had survived a few minor illnesses during it's lifetime and just before the extended warranty ran out last year, I sent it off to have all the little things repaired. Little things like the screen coming away from the lid (my computer is really a laptop) or the lights around the power button not lighting up, or the speakers that buzzed looked at (the repair shop people seemed to think the speakers were perfectly fine and sent it back with buzzing speakers). There were a few other things that they tweaked or brushed up as well such as a general cleaning and either cleaning or replacing the fan since the computer had been overheating and turning off on me at random intervals. I had compensated for that problem by propping it up at an angle but, like I said, it was random so my solution wasn't the most reliable.

Anyway, since it had been carefully looked over only a year ago, I didn't expect my computer to just up and die. But since it did, I was then left without a computer. No way to read the blogs... or the additional comments on my conference post... or a way to check my e-mail... or the weather forecast (I want to mow the lawns again, but I'd like to have a few dry days in a row first). I couldn't even look up random information off the internet that occasionally drives me crazy until I find an answer. To top it off, I got to stare at Sir's computers all day long for three days. He has two of them. A desktop and a laptop, but because he still does a few jobs at home for his self-employed business, he keeps the computers locked so his clients will know that their projects are kept secure.

While Sir has been looking into figuring out what was wrong with my computer, like trying to get it to turn on enough to recover my files etc., he's come to the conclusion that the problem is the hard drive. So, we get to replace the hard drive and then we can re-install the original programs that the computer came with and I'll have a brand new computer. Which means I've lost anything that I did and filed on my computer since I sent it away a year ago, but hey, at least it wasn't five years of stuff that's lost. Besides, Sir is hoping to try to actually get at the dead hard drive and still managed to get my stuff off of it later.

So, until all of this happens to my unconscious computer, I'm getting to borrow Sir's laptop. He kindly transferred all the stuff he needed to keep secure to his desktop computer and removed the passwords so I can use his laptop at my desk and still get at my blog, and the random information on the internet. Today was the first day he was able to get around to setting his laptop up for me, so I'm very happy about that and am looking forward to getting my 'blog fixes' in while my computer is recovering or being resurrected. And I'm sure there have been quite a few updates in the last week!

Now I just have to figure out how to post videos so I can show off PC's walking skills at 9 months before he turns 5! At least the conference post isn't top and center now even if I couldn't get at any pictures to put at the top of this post!

And this way, you can all know that it's my computer that's dead. Not me! :)