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Nov. 23rd, 2009
Somewhere in this house - which means somewhere in this room, by and large - there is a printed version of a book proposal I wrote some years ago. There must be, for that is how I work.
There may well also be an electronic version on a not-quite-dead computer by the desk here.
So far, I have discovered and managed to resurrect a text file from a floppy, but it just doesn't seem quite long enough; I'm sure I wrote to the end of the section and the Big Reveal, but that's not here.
I'd rather find it than rewrite it, obviously.
So: should I work my way systematically through the boxes, folders and filing cabinets in this room - bearing in mind that this is thirty years'-worth of archive, let us politely call it randomly stored - until I find what I'm looking for, seizing the opportunity also to discard what is redundant and sort the rest?
Or should I power up the nearly-dead computer, connect it to a monitor and see what I can find in there? (Bearing in mind that I am kinda scared it might do harm to my nice monitor, it's so flaky now...)
Or should I just open a bottle of wine and settle down with a book, bearing in mind that my shoulder hurts like - oh, like something hurty (there is something wrong with this language: all the similes that come easily to mind are inappropriate, they are things where I want to cry "but that doesn't hurt, if you're doing it right!") and I am miserable and anxious and all out of sorts already?
There may well also be an electronic version on a not-quite-dead computer by the desk here.
So far, I have discovered and managed to resurrect a text file from a floppy, but it just doesn't seem quite long enough; I'm sure I wrote to the end of the section and the Big Reveal, but that's not here.
I'd rather find it than rewrite it, obviously.
So: should I work my way systematically through the boxes, folders and filing cabinets in this room - bearing in mind that this is thirty years'-worth of archive, let us politely call it randomly stored - until I find what I'm looking for, seizing the opportunity also to discard what is redundant and sort the rest?
Or should I power up the nearly-dead computer, connect it to a monitor and see what I can find in there? (Bearing in mind that I am kinda scared it might do harm to my nice monitor, it's so flaky now...)
Or should I just open a bottle of wine and settle down with a book, bearing in mind that my shoulder hurts like - oh, like something hurty (there is something wrong with this language: all the similes that come easily to mind are inappropriate, they are things where I want to cry "but that doesn't hurt, if you're doing it right!") and I am miserable and anxious and all out of sorts already?
Adventures in archiving
Nov. 23rd, 2009 07:19 pmSo I did what I did not ought to do (and nearly had a nasty accident, trying to lift down the old monitor while balanced on the arm of the easy chair; did of course fall, did of course drop the monitor, but I don't think either of us came out any worse than we went in), because it did after all seem the logical course - and then plugged everything into everything else and applied electrijuice. And watched Linux powering up - and then watched it falter, watched it fail. Kernel panic, it said.
Ah, yes. I remember those. I remember that I used to know what to do about them. It had to do with a CD, I remember, and a reboot, and fixing problem sectors manually or some such. I couldn't begin that tonight, not knowing where on earth the CD might be, if indeed I have it still.
So I was going to give up, only then I thought "It's a dual-boot system, I'll just see if Windows is working" - and after a couple of stutters, yup, got that working. And lo: there is virtue in being a multi-back-up kind of soul! For right there - right here beside my left elbow, as I type on this other machine - is the very thing I've been looking for. And it's only a page I was missing, so rather than faffing about with copying it from one machine to t'other I'm just going to type it out. Manually. With my fingers. And then, wine. Much wine, and many times. I'm not sure if this is triumph or the other thing, but it deserves a libation none the less.
Ah, yes. I remember those. I remember that I used to know what to do about them. It had to do with a CD, I remember, and a reboot, and fixing problem sectors manually or some such. I couldn't begin that tonight, not knowing where on earth the CD might be, if indeed I have it still.
So I was going to give up, only then I thought "It's a dual-boot system, I'll just see if Windows is working" - and after a couple of stutters, yup, got that working. And lo: there is virtue in being a multi-back-up kind of soul! For right there - right here beside my left elbow, as I type on this other machine - is the very thing I've been looking for. And it's only a page I was missing, so rather than faffing about with copying it from one machine to t'other I'm just going to type it out. Manually. With my fingers. And then, wine. Much wine, and many times. I'm not sure if this is triumph or the other thing, but it deserves a libation none the less.