Tuesday, February 8, 2011

To Computer Hell and Back

(Click on the thumbnail for the bigger, better version)

Edit: Fixed the link.

I never went into detail about the computer chaos last week and thought I would elaborate a bit. When I booted up my system that fine morning, I found that two hard drives (a 500 GB and a 1TB) contained no data. Big surprise to me. They happened to be the master drive and the backup drive for 2010 and 2011. No big deal.  Eeeeeek!

After innumerable deadend efforts to locate the source of trouble, (including painful excursions on hands and knees under the desk checking connections) a System Restore restored the missing data. It was good to breathe again. The particular shade of blue I was acquiring is not a good color for me. I took a short break (believe me, I needed it), then returned to open CS3. I was ready to get to work, finally. But, no. I was greeted  by a charming little note from Adobe informing me that I had five days in which I must repair and re-validate my program. What?!!!

Now, to grasp the full impact of this notice you have to know something about the way my brain functions. When I see long strings of number, my eyes begin to cross, I start sweating, and breathing fast. (Admittedly, breathing fast is preferable to not breathing at all, but it still is not ideal.)  Naturally, the Adobe form and instructions consists of, you guessed, it several interminable strings of numbers. What we had was a 9.7 stage episode of formaphobia.

The Husband wasn't around to revive me had I passed out, so I braced myself and called the Adobe phone number hoping for the best. Somehow I got through the repair and validation still conscious. I even had a valid and fully functioning CS3.

By that time, I was wrung out and decided that, in the time that had elapsed from the moment I entered computer hell until I emerged, I had clearly lost an hour of my life.

Flash forward to 2031. Anita is winding down. When the moment comes, The Husband looks at the clock, shakes his head, then turns to the doctor and says, "I know she would be ticked off about this." "She had a good," the doctor begins. But, The Husband interrupts, "Had it not been for that computer scare back in 2011, she would have have had another hour to live. She would have been able to see the series finale of Justified." Of course, by that time Timothy Oliphant (as Raylan Givens) is quite gray and moving a bit slower, but Anita would still say, "That man does know to wear a hat and cowboy boots."
             
Note: I  realize that, in light of my silly ramblings, it's a bit macabre; but, yes, the photo, above, is from our Death Valley Trip. Let's not read anything into that. Okay?

14 comments:

  1. Anita, I had to smile and laugh with your story. Even us I.T. types cringe sometimes when faced with a string of validation numbers from Adobe or Microsoft.

    It sounded like you did all the right things and the results were much better than they could have been. I do wonder what caused the two drives to show empty in the first place...any clues?

    Love the photo...Death Valley is in my places to visit bucket list.

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  2. Anita: Sorry that you had to lose that hour of your life, but it was a funny story! :) Maybe you can start taking some herbal remedy and get that hour back! LOL

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  3. Thanks, Anita, now I won't sleep tonight! Don't worry about those extra hours at the end, they're usually not all that great anyway.

    Speaking of great - this image is great.

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  4. Earl - I am glad my silly story got a laugh. I needed a laugh after it was over.

    Unfortunately, I do not have a clue as to what happened. I went to open the folder I had been working on and it wasn't there. First, I couldn't even find the two drives listed in either Bridge or Explore. Then when I did, after several reboots, there were no folders and Properties showed both drives filled. That was even more puzzling. Full, but no data other than Western Digital's so called Smartware. Of course, it does not qualify as news when I am confused by computer problems.

    Move Death Valley up the list. You won't be sorry. And, thanks for the comment on the photograph.

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  5. Paul - Where do I get this herbal remedy, dang it! Thank for the comment and I am so glad you liked the story.

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  6. Ken - Because I am so inept with computers, I have lost many hours of sleep. But, I am sorry to have spread the misery. :) About those last hours: yeah, but Ken, miss the finale of "Justified"?!!

    Thank you for the comment on the photo. I appreciate the kind words.

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  7. I never saw "Justified", but I will put it on the DVR list.

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  8. Ken - I had never heard of the series. Possibly because it is on FX. Then, one of my ex-students who stays in touch worked on the show and recommended it to me. My husband and I both like it very much. I'll be interested in hearing what you think. The first show of the new season airs tonight, by the way.

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  9. Once again after seeing your images of Death Valley, I am totally inspired!

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  10. Simple solution, turn all of your clocks back 1 hour. :-) You seem to have had your share of computer troubles eh? Perhaps time for a Mac? ;-)

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  11. Steve - Plan that trip. You will not be sorry. My husband wanted to take me there for years; but, I could not believe it could as spectacular as he described it. Boy, was I wrong.

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  12. Mark - At last a solution!

    But, what is this? I have inspired Steve, and you want me to go to "the dark side"?! :) I guess I have known too many people who have had Macs blow up. Bad luck all around for me.

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  13. Well, I'm glad your doing fine and the only issues are computer related. Even though I enjoy this media it can sure be hassle sometimes.

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  14. Monte - Remember when we all bought into the pitch that computers would assure us of more leisure time, because they would save us hours of work every day? It is a love/hate relationship for me. I wouldn't be willing do without mine, but occasionally wonder why I am so attached to it.

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Anita