Macbook Rising

Last weekend, there came from on high a visitation from the White Screen of Death (note for PC users: the White Screen of Death is much like the Blue Screen of Death, except that the White Screen of Death means it).  And the White Screen of Death said unto me:  "Behold, your hard drive is toast.  And I mean it.  And you must take your Macbook to the high priests at the Apple Store Genius Bar and you must make an offering unto them.  And then your hard drive shall be restored and peace shall reign at your desk, but not before your heart is pierced seven times."

Yes, it has been one of those weeks when the down-side of technology has reared its ugly head.  My tech support guy took care of the basics, but then left town, and I was left to fend for myself in the strange world of bringing a computer back into working mode.  All my great plans for what I would do with my kid-free time this week went out the window, as I installed printer drivers, restored lost data, and tried to figure out if my e-mail is working (still not sure).

I was surprised at how much not having a computer cramped my style.  I still do a lot with pen and paper, but found I have come to rely on this little silver box quite a bit, even for drafting poems, which I used to do exclusively in my notebook.  Lately I have found myself switching over to my computer mid-draft to keep the words flowing as they come.  But not this week.

Luckily, most of my writing and our photos made it through the grand crash and burn, but I did lose some data -- mostly e-mail, it seems.  I am especially sad to have lost some old, special e-mails I was saving for sentimental value, and a little document I called The Blotter.  The Blotter was just a running queue of ideas, words, possible titles, and other poem-seeds.  I can't really remember what was on it, so I can't reconstruct it.  My philosophy is that the poems one must write will out, but it's hard to let go of those small beginnings and not wonder what might have come from them.

At this writing, I think I can say the dust has settled and the little Macbook seems to be back to normal (although, I have to wonder:  is it like the 'normal' after childbirth?  You know, the 'new normal'?).  My tech support guy will be back in the office tomorrow; he'll let me know if I somehow, miraculously did things right, or if I'm actually just limping along on an illusion of success.  Between this and the new phone, I've had enough technology excitement to last a good long while.  I'm looking forward to getting back into my usual writing routine, starting tomorrow.

And the forecast for tomorrow is for temps in the 30s!  Woo-hoo, heat wave!