FRIED

My computer, that is--or so it would appear.

So, they've been doing a lot of utility work around my complex--replacing old gas lines and trimming trees away from power lines. I was working from home yesterday afternoon, and the noise from the guys doing the gas lines was so loud, I didn't even know some idiot with a chainsaw was also there--until everything went dark. While I was on the computer. Yeah. Wasn't. Happy. Even less happy today.

I don't know if Chainsaw Wielding Idiot sliced through the line, or if a branch that wasn't properly secured fell and took it out, only that it knocked out electricity on one entire side of the street. And why is it that every time the power is knocked out on our block, it is only on my side of the street? It was out for two and a half hours, and was thankfully restored in time to prepare dinner--good thing I hadn't planned to make something in the slow cooker! Since it was only the lights and not the gas that was out, I could have cooked by flashlight had it been necessary, but am really glad it wasn't. I waited until after dinner and the news (okay, and a couple of reruns of MASH), then went in to check the computer. Crossed my fingers, powered it on...

And was greeted with the Blue Screen of Death.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

So seriously very not happy right now. The blue screen kept telling me I should run CHKDSK/F. I was more than happy to comply, but could not gain access to the function needed to do so. I finally located the disk that came with the computer, but since it was getting late, and my frustration level was already through the roof, I decided to leave it for another day. Hopefully it will allow me to get back up and running again, because I really CANNOT afford to fix or replace a computer right now, even if it is five years old. It was working perfectly fine until the power went out. And yes, you KNOW I would like nothing better than to send the Chainsaw Wielding Idiot the repair bill.

So, I may be pretty scarce for a while, unless the op disk helps restore the system. That means no Teaser Tuesday and Thursday Thirteen for a while. I don't know about Wordless Wednesday. Might be able to upload the occasional odd photo during the week, just to keep the blog alive, but am not sure how much I will be able to do from work.

On the bright side (not that there seems much of one), if I am unable to recover anything, at least it won't be as bad as the HD crash of 2003, when I lost everything. For one, I started ordering disks whenever I had pictures developed, so nothing prior to January 2011 will be lost, and a great many of those after 2011 have been uploaded here. I also made disks for friends with copies of photos, and have a memory stick that contains a backup of some files, including the family photos I have been in process of scanning. And...while searching for the op disk, I found a few disks that also contain backups of files (mostly photo, but also some documents). So. If the hard drive is indeed toast, and nothing can be recovered, I'm in a lot better shape than I was nine years ago.

Oh, and on my list of computer maintenance I was running yesterday? Defrag, Scan...and backup.

Sigh...I should have known that dead cardinal I passed on my walk yesterday afternoon was a bad omen. Usually seeing a cardinal is considered a good thing. But a dead one? Doesn't seem so lucky to me.

Speaking of birds...the baby robins at work are gone. They were there yesterday afternoon, but when we checked them this morning, the nest was knocked sideways and all three babies missing. Want to take a guess at who is responsible?