No dull whirl of unseen, internal components, no blinking green lights, nothing.
I checked the connections. All good. I checked the monitor, modem, printer. Everything seemed to function, except the hard drive.
Basically, I had a comatose machine, in a vegetative state. A headless, metal corpse.
Braced to hear the worst case scenario, I took the drive to Best Buy. It felt like Christmas all over again when the Geek told me the power box was blown -- just a $60 part -- which he would replace in-store for $50 more. Three hours later the ordeal was over.
Yesterday revealed an unexpected realization: I don't want to go back to life without my computer! Let's face it. A writer doesn't need more than her hand, a pen or pencil, and a sheet of paper to compose. And it's more than enjoying the online experience. Simply put, I have come to rely on my online network of friends and family.
I love reading what you've aspired to, attempted, and accomplished. I'm inspired by your perceptions. I feed off your energy. Yeah, I can pick up a telephone and call some of you. (And I do!) But the Internet brings so many more of you right to me, right into my life.
I love it. And there's just no going back.
So thank you, for every word on your blog, every status update, every tweet. I don't know what I'd do without you!
And, let's all decide right now to back up our flippin' files -- 'cause if my hard drive can pass away quietly in the night, so can yours!
Happy Tuesday!
19 comments:
Thank goodness you had the time and means to get it replaced, Nicki. Things just wouldn't be the same without you here. I think many of us feed off your warm, positive vibes as well. You always bring a huge smile to my face. *hugs*
I'm soooooo glad you were able to get it fixed!
I feel the same way. Even though I took several days off, I kept wondering what everyone was up to...
This is the best community to be a part of and I'm thankful.
I'm so glad you were able to get it fixed!! I just bought an external hard drive on Black Friday this year so that I could start backing my work up. The thought of losing everything if my computer crashed was terrifying!
Good thing it was a quick fix! I miss my bleeps when they're offline too!
I have an external drive upstairs that I throw things into and a flash drive for the MS. Using them as directed is another story! Maybe I should revisit that method. :D
Whew! Glad you were able to get it fixed. Our wireless router was on the fritz over Christmas, which meant internet was spotty at best. (I'm so glad I wrote all my posts weeks ago.) Anyway, after replacing the router yesterday, I'm finally back online, only to discover it's cricket-chirp quiet around the blogosphere. Glad I didn't miss too much!
We got a virus once, and a tech. at Best Buy suggested that rather than spending $200 to eliminate it, we go home and coax the computer to "return to factory settings." That of course erased EVERYTHING...and left us clueless how to set the thing back up. $300later, Best Buy came to our house and fixed it...our pictures, and my work projects, thank goodness, were all backed up...
Glad it was easy to fix! And I need that online connection as well. Couldn't have survived my book release without my online friends.
Mine has been doing that more and more. The power is on, but I either have the black hibernation screen or the screen is frozen on whatever page I left it on. I have to do a hard reboot which I hate...but don't know what else to do. Holding out on repairs as long as I can!
I'm glad you got up and running quickly! It's funny - I don't know you, but I feel like I know you, if that makes sense! I can't imagine what I'd do without my blogging buds.
I'm glad it was an easy fix. Mine is on it's last leg, but I'm going to ride it till 'she dies!
Love this post because I remember a young lady who, years ago, didn't want to give in to Life with a Computer! ;-) Soooo glad we can reconnect this way. AND I'm so glad you got yours fixed!
ooh yeah, i had this realization today when i had to turn in my work PC for a few hours and had NOTHING TO DO without the interwebs. I mean, i read of course, but sometimes you can only read so long.
Also, i am all backed up on dropbox, so no worries there for me!
Oh, thank goodness you were able to get it fixed! This is so strange that you've posted about backing up files. The night before Christmas Eve I spilled some water on my laptop. It was a scary experience! I hadn't backed up some of my writing. I quickly worked to dry it with a hair dryer and then let it sit overnight with the fan. Afraid to turn it on or ruin my holiday, I decided to wait until yesterday to turn it on. What a relief that I didn't end up killing the thing! So, I've been scrambling to back up everything.
Lesson learned!
Welcome back! I'd be lost, too.
Happy New Year, Nicole!
My laptop went belly up in the spring - scared the pants off me. It took me 3 or 4 weeks to get it back - thankfully no charge because it was under warranty. I'm MUCH better at backing up now! :)
My laptop went belly up in the spring - scared the pants off me. It took me 3 or 4 weeks to get it back - thankfully no charge because it was under warranty. I'm MUCH better at backing up now! :)
hi miss nicole! yikes that was pretty scary. im just real glad you could get it fixed real quick. if our computer stopped working for sure id miss all my blogger friends.
...hugs from lenny
Hi, Nicole. I saw your tweets about this ordeal. I'm so glad that it worked out. I had a scare recently with a virus. Thankfully, the net had a quick solution, but I was praying awfully hard there for about an hour!!
Happy New Year to you and yours.
-Jimmy
I hear ya! When my laptop crashed my hubby went out and got the stationary computer we'd been meaning to buy for awhile. I was happy to have word and the interent back but I still miss my laptop. It was my very best friend but unfortunatly it was beyong repair. i'm hoping to get a new one soon though. It really is like a writer's secret weapon.
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