Please forgive my bit of absenteeism, but I've had another run-in with that Murphy guy. You know, the one who sits back laughing while everything that can go wrong does? Him. He likes me. A lot. Too much, actually.

Friday and Saturday I had to help out the tourist office with a shin-dig in Joinville. The object was to let all the folks in Joinville and the surronding towns know what associations are out there for them to enjoy. We're an association, so, of course, we qualify. Part of our presentation was a big fat Power Point slide show and since we had such a small space, I offered to bring in my computer and flat screen monitor. I know, I'm really nice.

I showed up and set the computer up and got things running. It seemed like all was going well. I had to unplug both my tower and monitor so the folks at the next table could plug in their power strip, and we could use our own multi-socket extension cord--the one that finally showed up an hour later than it was supposed to. So I plugged everything back in and turn the computer on and...

POOF!

...no more hard drive. It decided to die at that very moment. It was impossible to get my machine running.

We went back and stole an old computer from the tourist office (fortunately we have a few lying around) and we're able to continue with the forum, but my computer, it seemed, was toast. And as my monitor and cables were all stuck at the convention, I couldn't do very much about it until the end of the weekend.

The end rolls around, and I pack everything up--alone, since my colleague never showed up. Thanks Jean-Louis! I'm feelin' the love. I finally got home and had to make dinner for the reduced Saturday night crew--no time to get everything hooked up again, much less do anything about it.

So Sunday morning rolls around. Marc and I have been talking about rearranging things here, since we're obviously not moving in the near future, and trying to make this tiny space a bit more livable. My computer usually sits in the living room, in a corner, squished between the TV and the wall and blocked in by the couch. It's not an ideal situation at all. And as I'm using an ottoman as a computer desk, the entire get-up is rather unstable. The fans also pick up a lot of dust from the upholstry. Before we even hooked up the first cable, we'd decided we need to find a new home for my computer.

I spent the entire afternoon Sunday trying and retrying to get my machine working. The only thing worse than the embarrassment of having my machine crap out right at the moment I needed it most was realizing that all the pictures I've ever taken of my children are on that hard drive and that I haven't back them up since before Piglet-girl was born. I wasn't about to give those photos up with out a fight.

And damn, what a fight it was. To make a long story short, I ended up having to install a different hard drive, reinstall XP on it and then run check disk on the old hard drive. That took care of the problem, fortunately, and I have since backed-up everything I cannot possibly let go. So, technically I'm up and runing again. Technically.

See, there's still the problem of finding a new home for my computer. For now it is sitting downstairs, all of its various parts disconnected, waiting, and doing so more patiently than I ever could--but then it is an inanimate object, right?

OK, maybe not. But I need to find it a new spot, and that's easier said than done. So, if I'm not back for a while, please understand it's not because I don't love you. I do--you guys are a drug and I'm completely addicted. But I need to organize my crap a bit, and that means calling in the heavy equipment--and moving furniture (alone, always alone). Gros bisous et à bientôt!