When a Company Does Too Much For You

Some of you might remember my joyous experiences of installing a new hard drive in my work computer last month.

In the process of reinstalling Windows 11 and MS Office, Microsoft decided to update with the latest versions instead of the ones I purchased.

Okay. Fine. Wasn't expecting it, but hey, I didn't have to purchase new copies, right?

OH MY FUCKING GODDESS!!

In their efforts to help me, they tried to shove everything through OneDrive and forced through the IMAP email protocol.

It's taken a lot of extra time to root out the OneDrive by hard links. I'm still working on it.

But even worse was IMAP. It wants to download all of my email folders and files back to the original email servers so I have copies available to all my devices. Sounds like a good idea.

In theory.

In reality, IMAP copied THOUSANDS of emails I need to keep for business reasons. The worst was my main author email address. When I got the domain email address years ago, I didn't need too much space. I still don't. And it's really not worth upgrading to the next largest package offered because I clean out that address's server on a regular basis.

But when fourteen years of business communications get copied back the email server, it maxed out my allocated space in very quick order.

I think I've finally got everything fixed. *fingers crossed*

However this is the same email address where your contacts from my websites' contact page sends your notes. So if you've tried to send me any communication through the websites' contact page, your message is in the ether and unretrievable.

Please contact me again, unless your question is about A Cup of Conflict. I swear I'm working on it!

Upgrade Woes

The inevitable necessary hard drive replacement has happened. However, everything from the operating system to my folders have so many extra protections on them it's been a royal bitch to restore all the programs and files.

Not to mention the innate fear that I'll accidentally erase something I need.

Hell, even the free tools to correct PDFs and EPUBs have given me headaches while I try to reinstall them.

It doesn't help that the temperatures have plunged after a storm system rolled through Saturday night. Even with bright sunshine today, my space heater can't keep up in my office. The only way you can tell it's three days from Spring are from the buds on the trees and the squirrels chasing each other across the back yard.

While I wait for items to copy to this computer from my external backup drive (yeah, I have a ton of books, partial books, ideas, my music for inspiration, and various pictures for covers), I'm going to try to write up all the random thoughts about the publishing industry and work/life balance that have been rumbling through my head over the last few months.

Also, if you want some tidbits to read, I've started posting chapters for Sapphire (War of the Witches #1). This series won't be out until next year. I've got to finish Justice and The Books of Apep first. But I've been dabbling on Sapphire for a few minutes most nights before bedtime. When readers are expecting something in particular, I sometimes let the pressure to mess with my head. Writing on a private project of the heart makes a nice relief valve.

Or in the case of Justice, I don't want the adventure to end. I've had that problem with past books. I unconsciously slowed my writing because I love the characters so much, and I don't want to let go.

It's time to get more coffee and warm up my hands as I wait for files to finish copying.

Have a great Monday!

Computers, Ice, and Naps

Time got away from me over the last couple of days.

First, the hard drive caddy for Baby Blue 2.0 arrived. I bought a replacement for Baby Blue because I can no longer update her. Baby Blue 2.0 is a rebuilt, higher end version of the same computer model from Dell. Even though a decent solid state drive ("SSD")and a new battery had been installed, it was missing the caddy and some essential screws, which meant the SSD kept sliding out of its socket. So, Tuesday morning was spent installing the caddy and screws. I now have a working travel laptop again!

Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to fixing the cover and a typo on the interior of the paperback version of Magick and Murder (Millersburg Magick Mysteries #3). I didn't leave enough dead space next to the edge, so the trimmer at the printer was whacking off part of the three. I'm waiting on the author's copy to double check the spacing. I'm waiting for my formatter to return from a trip before the typo in the ebook is fixed.

(Hey, I know my limitations with tech.)

On Tuesday evening, I sprinted with writing buddies in Boise, so I got a couple of pages written on Death Goddess Fighting (The Books of Apep #2).

Wednesday morning, I went to yoga class, and...

...fell asleep in my recliner while I was going through email. *sigh*

I woke up shortly after 5 PM. DH and I had ordered new phones because several of our apps on our old phones were no longer working. We both rely on our phones for business. A fully functioning phone is necessary.

Anyway, both phones had arrived, and we went over to the AT&T store for assistance in setting them up and transferring our data from the old device to the new.

(Even DH admits to his limitations with some of the newer tech.)

We picked up dinner and spent the rest of the evening installing the necessary apps, syncing with our other devices and accounts, etc.

After DH went to bed, I started writing the first chapter of Divination and Distribution (Millersburg Magick Mysteries #5) to include it as a sample on Feline Navidad (Millersburg Magick Mysteries #4).

As for today? Well, it depends on whether the ice from last night's storm has melted sufficiently for me to safely pick up my drugs and the Grandpuppy's.

And for the rest of the day, I need to finish that first chapter for Divination and Distribution and edit Feline Navidad since my formatter should be back by tomorrow.

I'm making progress on my stories, just not as fast as I would like at times.

When Computers Do Too Much for You

Last weekend, I planned to replace the hard drive on my work laptop because I literally ran out of space, and I didn't had an extra slot for an additional drive.

Well, DH had been paid, and I entered all the bills and receipts, both business and personal, and reconciled accounts on Quicken over Thursday and Friday. I closed the Quicken window, realized I'd forgotten a receipt, and reopened the application to enter the info before I started my laptop's backup.

And for some reason, an update decided to re-initialize my data file. And by reinitialize, I mean the update blew away the data file I'd spent two days getting up to date and created a new, and very empty, data file.

ARGH!

Thank goddess for backups! I still had the mid-October backup on a couple of different storage mediums. Then I spent Saturday and Sunday re-entering everything I'd entered on Thursday and Friday.

And of course, NaNoWriMo started on Friday.

So, I'm a week behind on installing the new solid state drive. I also 7K behind on my NaNo project novel and 15K behind on A Cup of Conflict.

The family funeral on Monday, the election on Tuesday, and my annual cancer check-up on Wednesday have not helped my mood whatsoever.

Some stories may come out later that I planned, but dammit, I WILL get them done!

If I'm Quiet. . .

I ran into a little problem with my (relatively) new computer. When DH was shopping for my holiday present, he bought a laptop with a 512G hard drive. It should have been plenty of room. I don't store or stream videos on my work machine.

However, I started back into practicing cover design. I also downloaded a cheap copy of Corel Drawing for this purpose. Plus, I do keep my music on my work laptop because I use it for white noise or creating a mood while drafting.

The next thing I knew, I ran out of space. Literally. I rolled backup folders and files to portable drives. I rolled off used editorial art and photos. I double-checked that I hadn't copied a handful of movies from my old laptop to the new one. So as of right now, I've got 13.9G.

I can already tell you it's not enough to last through the rest of the year.

With DH's guidance, I open up my laptop to check if I had room for a second solid state drive. No extra slot.

*sigh*

So, I broke down and ordered a 2T SSD. Now, I need to do some surgery on my baby this weekend and move everything from the old drive to the new drive. It'll be just like last year when I shifted everything from my old laptop to the current one.

If everything goes right, I'll post on Wednesday. If it doesn't...

Well, I'll still post. I've already updated the battery and bought a mouse for the old laptop. The touchpad no longer works and needs to be replaced. However, it was cheaper to purchase the new mouse. But the point is that I've got a functional backup if anything goes wrong.

If I'm successful with this project, Baby Blue is next on the list for a harddrive upgrade!

Wish me luck!

Crippling Computer Despair

I'm not sure what happened over the weekend. My virus traps were clean. No strange cookies appeared. My computer wore her security condom like a good girl so no strange Trojans could infiltrate her pathways.

But something happened. I took me a good forty-eight hours to restore everything. The print drives were the biggest hassle.

Thank Goddess! I didn't lose a damn word from any of my current wips!

And this children is why you do backups.

However, the lost time in writing and putting together tax return info was annoying as hell.

Therein lies the problem. Since I've crossed the half-century mark, I'm much more conscious of time. How little I have left. How much I want to do.

It's the same weird feeling I get when I go somewhere for vacation. The first half is all excitement and wonder and fun. Then at the halfway point, I get nostalgic. I try to remember each and every moment, knowing they will be the last ones of that trip.

Damn you computer! Damn you for reminding me of my mortality!

Back in Business...Sort of

Ivan has been fully loaded with programs and data. I'm thankful I didn't lose any wips or the box inventory I'd been working on when Isabella went into cardiac arrest. However, we're picking up the moving truck at noon, we actually ran out of boxes and need to buy more, and we have a houseful of furniture to load, so I know I won't get any writing done today or tomorrow.

I'll be posting some interesting personal news about Apple on Wednesday, but it may be late in the day.

'Til then, be safe and productive everyone.

There's Trouble! Right Here in Bayou City!

Isabella, my beloved work laptop, croaked Tuesday afternoon.

(Yes, William, I had good backups.)

Unfortunately, it took most of yesterday to install the files and programs (still have three programs to go) on my second stringer, Ivan. Two days of productivity totally lost.

So no writing, no editing, no blogging because I still have a hell of a lot of packing to do before the moving truck arrives on Monday.

I'll see y'all on the other side!

Protecting Your Livelihood - Part 4

Currently reading - Greywalker by Kat Richardson

I guess I and other pundits can't say this often enough--BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!!

This week a member of one of the local RWA chapters lost her entire manuscript.  Yes, the WHOLE FREAKIN' THING!  She'd only saved it to a flashdrive, not to her harddrive, and the flashdrive decided to croak.  Add on that (a) she's a published author and (b) her manuscript was due to her editor in a couple of weeks, you can feel the heart-stopping panic she experienced when she opened the file, only to see nonsensical characters.

If you use any computer, multipe backups are a necessity, not a luxury.  External hardrives would be the most expensive option, other than another computer, but even they are relatively cheap compared to the ER bill when you stroke out over losing an entire manuscript.  Flashdrive, hardrive, burned to a CD, or copied to floppy disk (assuming you can still find one), it doesn't matter.  Multiple versions of your file--even better.

I've been lucky.  The most I've ever lost is a couple of pages because I literally do all of the above at different stages of the week.

And when all else fails, have a geek in your pocket.  This writer was lucky.  Another RWA gal and her computer wizard husband were able to retrieve the file through some techno-magic, so our writer friend will meet her deadline after all.

Protecting Your Livelihood - Part 2

Currently reading - Greywalker by Kat Richardson

If you're like me, your computer is your primary writing tool, your storage unit for all your stories, and your contact with everyone else in the publishing world.

Late last week, hackers tried to hijack my laptop, primarily through holes in Microsoft and Google.  Thank Djehuti, I had blogs written and timed to post through Sunday, but most of my writing time for the weekend was instead spent cleaning out the deposited malware.  I was lucky.  I had updated anti-malware that thwarted the worst of the attacks.  My only real problem was the CPU suck as Norton valiantly battled the hacking dragons.

The lesson here--keep your anti-malware programs updated, no matter what the cost.  And don't let anyone install programs on your computer that you don't fully understand.

Murphy Is the One True God

The blog's been dark for the last couple of days due to a string of mishaps culminating in the ICU status of my beloved 710m. Will she pull through, my companion, my link to the rest of the world? We're awaiting the prognosis of the doctor.

DH tried to ghost the hard drive to a spare laptop. It barfed on the partitioning. So I've got a half-assed version of my professional life on the 700m. Hey, deadlines wait for no computer, right?

In the meantime, this week's contest in cancelled due to lack of a car to get to the freakin' post office. So sorry, folks!

Please stop by next week. I've got an amazing contest planned.