I may have done a bad thing!

Hmm -- where is my techie? 

This is what happens when you are NOT a professional but think you are. I've been trying hard not to store data on the hard disks of my computers. I use several online storage places, and I have two external hard disks—well, actually, I have four, but I was only using two. 

In an effort to clean things up—yes, when I'm supposed to be sewing—I decided to empty the old one. I knew it was finicky and needed to get the data off it. 

I took it to the Geek Squad to see if they could have better luck. Well, they can see the folders—the same as me—and some of the files—the same as me, but there seems to be a problem. I could do a data recovery, but the guy said they were not the cheapest and I should shop around. 

OK - so I came home and attached it to my laptop to see what I could do. 

The old

There are eight folders, I believe. I managed to transfer the data from three folders, and I think I saved some money. Then, I attempted to transfer from the folder I really wanted, labeled "Photographs." Hmm—that folder won't open, nor can I transfer it. I'm sure it's huge. 

I searched online to see what I could do. Hmm—I could run a CHKDSK, so I did, and it ran during the night. And it provided a report that I didn't understand. When I checked the file structure, I saw my folder with photographs was gone! I'm sure the files are there, but this is now beyond me. 

So I'm trying to remove all the data from that hard drive I can (trying to DELETE as much as possible), and then I'll find someone to figure out if the photographs can be recovered.

Trying to copy files

I have no idea where I put my stock of USBs, and I was struggling with one of the main ones I use, so it was time to buy new ones. Good grief -- you can't get smaller than 64 GB, but I got three for $20 or something like that. 

The largest I saw was 512 GB on a USB!!! That's insane, and it cost $70. 

USBs are HUGE these days

I was having trouble sleeping, so I'm trying to delete a huge folder on that old hard disk. I'm also moving the data from my three main USBs to a new external hard disk and tossing those three USBs. 

I'll toss that old hard disk once it's been checked to see what can be recovered. Yes, I'll be disappointed if I can't recover those photos, but I don't even know what's there, and well, you can't cry over something that can't be fixed. Let's move on! 

But here's a valuable lesson - actually several lessons regarding computers. And I should be the one to tell you about them - since I don't do any of this!

1. Clean up your files - so you don't have files everywhere.
2. Do not duplicate files - I'm so bad at this, and no wonder I have no storage space.
3. Learn how to MOVE versus COPY - that's on my TODO list.
4. Create a good filing system - I'm pretty good, but dealing with crap from the past.
5. Delete the old stuff - working on it
6. Don't store files on your computer hard disks - use external ones - yep --- doing an excellent job there.
7. REPLACE those hard disks about every 5 years! Storage is CHEAP!!!

I'm' giving myself a 50% score in that area. Some could argue that I should get less, but I try to clean up -- just so much stuff. I should put some of the crap on one of these new hard disks, and when I'm away and have no access to all my stuff, I could clean files. But I need to MOVE those files and clean them up -- not COPY them. 

I could not stop myself last night from finishing that book. I needed to know how it ended. Remember I said I looked at the back of the book? Well, you had to go back several chapters to understand what happened. It's terrible but feasible. I wonder if her other books are like that? I think they are all psychological thrillers, so I may stay away from them. The book was called Behind Closed Doors by P.A. Paris. 

I did a bit more tidying, and this area is looking good. On the extreme left are two tubs and a box filled with things from when I was a teenager. Hmm—I think I need to take some photos and then TOSS! But it's pretty good to have only that small amount of stuff from those days. 

The area at the bottom of the stairs

This is an absolute mess, and I need to find a home for all this. This is the current project area, and some of it needs to be stored away or finished. 

Part of the current project area

I will make it happen -- just not immediately. 

More almost completed projects

The nice thing about cleaning up data is that you can take it with you. You can't take stuff! 

I had quite the shopping expedition in the morning, which took way longer than anticipated. I stopped at Indigo and ran into a lady who runs seminars on WW2. So we had a great chat about it—seriously, I never thought that would happen in my lifetime! But it was interesting! And it will be the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6. 

While some of what I'm reading about the war is fiction, the stories reinforce the need to avoid repeating history. We must learn from our mistakes, and I did a bit of online searching, and I found a guy saying he was teaching about the Holocaust, not because of the Jewish people or the Holocaust, but about HATE. Yes -- how can we eliminate hate in this world? 

Then I went to Best Buy to deal with my hard disk. I found this at Michael's, and I couldn't let it stay in the store. Not that I needed it, but it was so coordinated—25 different coordinated trims and all for $12.99!!

A bundle of trim from Michael's

I also found some applicator bottles that will be perfect for glue!

Applicator bottles for glue

I was in a cleaning mode when I should have been sewing. I went to the hardware store on my afternoon walk, and I found the perfect thing to put under the two pieces of furniture that needed some support in Studio B. It's because of the slope of the floor to the drain. 

They are corner moldings for doors. 

The price was right, and the thickness looked just right. I dug out some felt pads and put them on the bottom of the one for the big shelving unit. 

Adding felt pads for a bit of extra height

I had to remove one item from the unit as I switched out the support. I'm not sure how I lifted that corner, but I only needed to lift it a fraction, and it worked. 

Switching the old for the new

It looks much neater than that piece of drywall that was there. I thought that the drywall would disintegrate from the weight, but there was barely a mark on it. I know it's only been a month, but still, I expected a much deeper mark. 

Barely a scratch on the drywall

The other one went under the sit-down quilting machine, so I got rid of those two long boards. All is good!! 

I just had a quick peek at my deleting process. I can't seem to delete anything from that hard drive. So I'm trying to move everything I can, and then we'll deal with that one folder called photographs, but I need someone with more knowledge than I have. 

This is Murphy in the forest. I wanted to take a picture of her to put on the blog to say how good a dog she was yesterday. We passed rabbits THREE times, and each time, she looked. If I had let her go, she would have chased the rabbits, but she did not bark. Good girl, Murphy. 

Good dog/bad dog

However, once I dropped her leash to back off to take the picture, she spotted a squirrel and was gone - leash and all! The forest is wet! The picture above was when she returned to me after a free romp in the forest for a couple of minutes! OK -- that's a bad dog, good dog moment! But she didn't bark! 

Oh dear, this is NOT Murphy's best photo, but when I was at the pet store (KA-CHING!) getting food, I bought them a treat, and she loves to lie in the dead leaves to chew. And then brings the leaves into the house!

MOM -- this chewy thing is excellent

I also accomplished a lot in the sewing world—not as much as I would like, but everything I've done so far is looking amazing. I'm surprising myself! So that is good. I'll do what I can, and I'm also tempted to take this sewing machine with me on the plane so I can sew more when I get to my destination! I may end up doing that. I just have to figure out if it'll go in a carry-on -- it's small. 

Well, I was up at ridiculous o'clock thinking about that book and now I'm off to spin class. I may need a nap this afternoon. And it's Monday sewing! 

So much to do, so little time! 

Have a super day!!!! 

Ciao!!!