I’m writing this on a computer I didn’t intend to buy. Earlier this year, the money I had originally intended to use to replace my laptop (which was going out of Apple Care), ended up going to do some work on the house that needed to be done. Life happened, we had the family crisis this summer and then I ended up getting sick for much of September and October, First, it was sheer exhaustion, the body releasing the tension it’d held for well over a year and saying, “You are going to slow down and relax.” Then, because I was so exhausted and worn down, I caught the flu. (Be glad this is a blog and not a podcast; the cough still lingers.)

Public Service Announcement #1: Get your flu shot. Trust me, it’s better than getting the flu.

Then, there was the laptop incident. I won’t go into details, but let us just say my husband managed to knock over a glass of water on a shared workspace and it managed to fry the logic board on my MacBook. He’s still alive, by the way, and we’re still married, but there were a few moments that night when it felt like it was touch and go.

Public Service Announcement #2: Don’t keep liquids where they can spill on your laptop. Better, don’t let your significant other have liquids anywhere near your laptop.

So, there was an emergency rearrangement of funds and I lived and wrote on my iPad for about a week. (Seriously, this device is a lifesaver for me.) If there was something that I needed to do on-line that wasn’t really practical to do on the pad, I used the husband’s laptop. Fortunately, I’d been copying my active manuscripts onto my iPad, which meant writing (such as was happening) kept on going. As far as the data on the laptop itself, I invested in an Apple Time Capsule shortly after they came out and had been using it to do regular and automated backups. This included a backup just before I went to work that morning. Once I’d purchased my replacement laptop, I was able to do a full system restore. This is second full system restore I’ve had to do with this Time Capsule because my hard drive turned into a brick just after Christmas last year. (That, thankfully was when it was still covered by my Apple Care.)

Public Service Announcement #3: Back up frequently. Not just your manuscripts, but your system. You never know when the day will come you need to do that restore.

In addition to the new laptop, I’m now in possession of a new Time Capsule which gives me more storage and providers a stronger signal for my wireless home network. It didn’t hurt to discover the life cycle of the first-generation Time Capsules was approximately 20-24 months; I’d had mine for 30 and it was definitely time to replace.

Public Service Announcement #4: Your tech doesn’t last forever. Keep an eye on it and try to replace before disaster happens.

With the my computer problems solved for the moment and the flu (hopefully) behind me, time to start looking ahead to NaNoWriMo. A few years ago, I did a month of inspirational quotes and I’m thinking of trying to do that again. If nothing else, helps keep me going for those 30 days.