Ingredients:

one cranky Windows 98 SE computer - homebuilt 13 years ago
every file I created for ten years, most of which have never been backed up anywhere
one husband who isn’t always careful with my things
one memory of said husband removing his storage drive from ancient computer

Process:

1. Boot up ancient computer to reacquaint self with Paintshop Pro.

2. Reboot said computer, because it’s being cranky.

3. Reacquaint self with Paintshop Pro.

4. Realize a gray morning is a great time to move more files to the iMac.

5. Open Windows Explorer.

6. See one, and only one, hard drive where there should be at least three.

7. Call husband to verify he did not take all the extra drives and wipe them without looking at them.

8. Get voicemail.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 three more times.

10. Fall onto floor, begin crying hysterically, and PANIC!!!!!

I think I almost just died. Ten years of creative data missing? Yes, I was having a full-blown panic attack. I still feel like my heart and head are going to explode, and the crisis has passed. The old machine, it’s very cranky. While I was having a panic attack about the missing drives and data, it decided to reboot itself. Upon reboot, there were the missing drives. Phew.

I have got to get my stuff off that computer, or I have to move those extra drives to mom’s old computer and use it for data transfer. The old machine is going to go any old time now, and I’d like to not lose any precious data when that happens.

I don’t know what I was more upset about: losing every photo I took, every piece of digital art I created, and ever mad rambling for ten-ish years, or the fact I was seriously going to have to consider killing my husband.