Whew!!!! I finally made it back. Sorry I've been gone for so long. I've noticed in life, at least mine, when the days seem to be sailing by smoothly it isn't long before something comes along to knock the wind right out of me. That's what happened a few weeks ago. I was sitting in my recliner, notebook computer on lap when I decided to put work away and read the newspaper. So I put the laptop on the floor, refill my empty glass with iced-tea and settle back in the chair with paper spread across my lap. Of course, one of my many cats is stretched out on the top of my chair, napping. Guess the rustling of the newspaper disturbed her sleep because she unexpectedly jumped down, knocking over my tea I had on the end table next to me. You guessed it, every drop splashed across my laptop. If memory serves correct, I think I froze for a few seconds, eyes glaring at the black screen on my monitor. Gertrude the cat killed my computer. My life's over. Just a few thoughts that torpedoed through my head. At some point during the days that followed, I actually felt some relief. Maybe someone is trying to tell me I'm spending way too much time in front of a computer. Need to take some time to smell the flowers. Instead, I dried out my wet computer like the owners manual said to do. You know, took the blasted thing apart and let it air dry for twenty four hours. In the meantime, I'm fighting with my dinosaur of a desktop to try and get online. Not having much luck. Put laptop back together, have the same black screen. Finally get online long enough on the desktop to fill a shopping cart at Dell for a new laptop. The computer died before I could checkout. I finally called Dell and was able to speak to a live person and checkout that way. New computer was shipped. By the time this new baby arrived, my son had a friend repair the laptop I thought Gertrude fried. Everything was still there on the old baby. I didn't lose a thing. But the thought of losing all of my files, email addresses, website favorites, etc. was a worse nightmare than the hours spent fighting with the old desktop to get online. Lesson learned, backup your files so when disaster strikes you won't end up with a zillion more gray hairs.
The nightmare is over and life is good again. Back to the smooth sailing until next time. For those who might be wondering, Gertrude is alive and well. But there were those moments when...Actually, she did get the cold shoulder from me for a while. But all is forgiven. After all, I could've knocked over that drink just as easily. So lesson two learned. Never leave anything liguid sitting close to laptop.
Be back with you soon...... Or one can hope......Debra
