It happened yesterday afternoon at work.
I opened up my laptop and . . . nothing happened.
Well. That’s not quite accurate. Something happened and it wasn’t good.
It was a sound, a low hum from the front left corner — that spot where, lately, I’ve noticed it getting a little warmer than usual.
You know, that spot where the hard drive is.
The sound. A low growl with a little bit of a whine to it. It wouldn’t be a good sound to hear in any circumstances. It was not a good sound to hear coming from my hard drive and I said so.
Also, the screen was dark. Not a good thing to see. Not a good thing to hear.
I shut it, took a breath, and opened it again.
Perfectly fine.
No bad sound, the screen all bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Whew.
That was until last night, when I got home.
Then came that sound again, that dark screen.
That dead hard drive.
Deep breaths and many frustrated tears notwithstanding, ultimately this is just a major irritation. No data has been lost, thanks to the combination of SuperDuper and Mozy.
Nothing is gone. Nothing has been lost.
It’s just not here right now. It’s out there in the aether, waiting for a new home.
But th last thing I needed right now, a major irritation . . . to say nothing of having to sort out getting the damn thing fixed, to say nothing of figuring out which bodily fluid I can spare the most of in order to pay for it, to say nothing of losing a few days writing/editing time, to say nothing of limping along on this old slab I’ve using right now (although blessed be, to be sure), to say nothing of…
To say nothing.
(Donations for the Help-T.M.-Fix-His-Hard-Drive-And-Finish-The-Damn-Novel fund are being accepted via PayPal.)