Heart attack!

[ostarella]

Woke up this morning and my pc was off, and I hadn't shut it off when I went to bed. So I thought, okay, maybe a short power outage or something. Tried to turn it on and - nothing. Checked the plug ins - everything plugged in. Tried again. Nothing. First thought - OMG, the power supply's died! Second thought - my truck's still plowed in, it'll be hours before I can get it out and get up to the city to see if I can even find a place that has a power supply! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!  In desperation I pulled the power cord out of the pc and plugged it back in - voila!

I immediately did a new backup of all my writing so I would at least have it for the other computer. (I have the "new" computer which is around 8-10 years old - can't even remember when I bought it - and the "old" computer, which was my son's when he was in high school 12-14 years old.)

I guess a new pc is something I should be considering after I find my new job, huh?  :P

Comments

[beckyblack]

OMG, that's scary. Had a similar scare and similar solution too. It's probably worth reseating all the cables every few days, just as a matter of routine. Stuff does gradually work loose, from small vibrations, from the minute expansion and contraction as the thing heats up and cools down.

I don't leave mine on overnight, I'm paranoid about leaving it unsupervised for too long. :D I don't know what I think it's going to do. Sell all my stuff on eBay probably.

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

What's startling is the realization of how much I depend on the 'net, not to mention all the files I have for the writing (even if they are backed up - I'd had backup disks fail to function, too). When I'm working nights, I always shut it down - but I shut off everything then, just to keep the dogs as safe from a fire as possible (paranoid about that). But when I'm not working, I usually leave it on because I have such erratic sleep patterns.

Wittering on here - but at least it's up and working now. But I do think I should start shopping around for a new one - if I'm going to be traveling I should probably have a laptop anyway.

[beckyblack]

If I even get a network outage for a couple of hours I feel as deprived as if the water or electricity was off.

Gotta get a laptop for the travelling. Mine doesn't travel much, but at least it gave me my desk back! There's, like, room, for other stuff! At first I thought "Can I really type my stories on a laptop keyboard?" Then I wrote Reunion, 81k words and thought "yes I can!" :D

I had to get a mouse though. The ouija board pad thingy drove me mad. I'd use it in a push, but even for travelling I've got a tiny travel mouse. (But I adore my cordless optical mouse for use at home. It's a beaut.