Backing up

can actually be going forward. Or making progress.

Wait – I’m not talking about what happens when you drive a car. I am referring to that process which involves hours of looking over files which have been placed on small portable hard drives “just in case.”

If the issue is one of photos – then it makes sense. For those of us who use cameras not imbedded in phones and travel a lot – the number of photos per month/year easily reaches into the thousands. It makes no sense to hang on to the poor quality photos, the blurred through the bus window and all manner of stupid shots.

But just in case one of them might turn out to be a treasure, a copy on an external drive would free up space on my hard drive. Or that was the theory until I realized that those [now] inexpensive drives have a tendency to multiple in the dark if you don’t watch them carefully. For a long time one has everything organized. Then off on a trip – OH! I don’t have a way of backing up all these photos. I guess I’ll just get another.

My collection of external drives goes back to the late 1990s. I have a couple of jump drives from that era as well. It would be nice to be down to few devices with an actual chance of me being able to find something. I’m hoping it is a possibility rather than a fantasy.

The audiobooks are easy – I can file them by author. The photos I file by year with subfolders for months and under that dates. The problem is when backups have been done at different times I don’t always have the same photos on the drive.

And so it goes: with embroidery files, knitting patterns, eBooks (those only date starting with FictionWise in 2002).

Otherwise it was another rainy day filled with errands, Candy Crush and audiobooks when I found myself behind the wheel of the car for the fourth time in less than three hours.

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About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!
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3 Responses to Backing up

  1. Mary says:

    Just read your email re all of your back up files and a thought crossed my mind (for a change!!):
    Do you have any knitting patterns for a cable or Irish knit-type cardigan?

    • Holly says:

      Yes, I have some on the computer plus know where I can find them on line. Thanks for helping me focus on something outside my own personal whining for a bit!

  2. Mark says:

    Any way’ nice to hear from you- please keep on with your comments and reflections, I need some sanity to go with this world.

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