Like any good writer with OCD, I save my work. And then I save it again... and again.
I save drafts, rough drafts, notes, beta reader edits, editor edits. They are all neatly labeled and filed away. I even manage to back them up to my email. Just in case.
And I like to envision my computer's innards similar to this:
I also have this problem of saving my emails.
Is hoarding a problem?
Because I'm sure my inbox could be compared to one of those houses on Hoarders.
No joke, when my husband walks by my computer he usually gasps in
horror at the fact that I usually have over 1,000 emails in my inbox.
Hey, don't judge, a few months ago I cleaned it up and got it down to 700.
I'm just glad electronic files don't rot and smell...
___________________________________________________________
So back to my OCD-ness of saving.
I woke up a few days ago and thought to myself:
"I haven't done a backup in a while.
I should do that again soon."
A few days later, I'm sitting in my living room, typing away, alone, at night. Editing my beloved second draft of novel number 2.
And just as I write the words "Brain scans."
My computer screen goes black.
No power. No love. Nothing.
As I'm staring at my laptop in horror, trying not to scream like there's a hoard of zombies in my living room.
I remember the thought I had of backing up my work.
So I grab my trusty iPhone and check my email, thinking to myself: "it's ok, don't panic"
I find that the last backup was over two weeks old!
(Enter looks of confusion coming from Stevie-dog at my groans of despair.)
So then I'm thinking I might be onto something
in the fictional world I've been creating for months,
and maybe the government has been watching me
and maybe they shut my shit down...
Um.....
Back to real life:
I have a few choices now:
- I can run up stairs and wake up my husband sobbing "fix it, fix it right now!"
- I can bring it to some computer repair place in three days because I have to work my real job, three days, ugh.
- I can fix this shit myself
I chose option 3.
Thank you iPhone and reading glasses.
I search and search and search.
I press random buttons on my keyboard that someone said might work.
I'm pretty sure I resemble this image:
I pray to the lord Jesus.
Nothing happens.
Ultimate sadness :(
It's when I look down to my power cord that I realize the green light is off. And when I check the power outlet I see I plugged it into an outlet which is attached to a light switch, which happens to be in the off position.
I unplug, hold my trusty green apple Inspiron to my chest and make way for the dining room. Where I plug the power chord into a different outlet and immediately hear the strange noises my laptop makes when it's loading up.
Yay!! The Joy!! The Glee!!
Thank you Autosave!
Thank you random power outlet!
Thank you Dell Inspiron 1525 for not going to laptop hell and bringing my files with you Iloveyousomuch!
Thank you Stevie-dog for not judging!
The first thing I did was save that shit and email it to myself.
Then I poured myself some more rum.
