When I die, bury me with my mouse...

I learned something interesting this weekend. I am completely and utterly a computer addict. It is not until something you count on daily is ripped away from you, that you see what a part of your life it truly plays. Late Friday night, my "ripping" came in the form of a major power outage which we think may have blown the power supply in my almost new PC. But, at the time I was sure that my whole PC was Kentucky fried.

Ironically, with the power out that morning when we woke, we decided to go have breakfast with the kids and stop off at our favorite computer parts store to get much needed memory for my box. When we got home to install it, we realized that the computer was DOA.

I cannot describe to you the suppressed anxiety that I felt that I hid from my husband as best as possible. What he saw was my frame pacing back and forth near his office as he tried to figure out the problem. What he heard was my semi-anxious and repetitive dialog noting how I didn't know what I would do if the files were gone. What he could not see was the wheels in my mind spinning off their tracks as I mentally logged every file and picture that would be lost if I could not get my hard drive back. He could not hear my inner-voice screaming a blood-curdling Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Must. Get. Hard. Drive. Baaaaaack!!!

Have I mentioned that I'm fighting the world's most impossible deadline for my first issue of a magazine in a completely new job? Oh, yeah, and did I tell you that the vein in my temple is still throbbing from the trauma of this PC tragedy?

God blessed me with a techie-nerd husband--something I now count my blessings for every day. Hubs figured out that, with the right equipment, the drive could be hooked up to his laptop and I could pull over files and be in business again.

I've now backed up my beloved family photos and my magazine files. Everything else can be done later. I am not completely back in business as I can't log onto my magazine job's email to see what stories may have come in this weekend. But, I'm back online and I am breathing huge sighs of relief.

I honestly don't know what I would have done if that drive was gone. But, what I have figured out is that if you gave me one item to take on a desert island, it would be my computer...oh, and network connectivity. So, TGIF--Thank God It ain't Fried!