R.I.P., Laptop...

 As our dear, old friend, Ray Sommers used to say, "Some days it 

just don't go by the book." Today, my friends, was one of those days.

The day started innocently enough. I went to the studio with the intention of

finishing writing my Summertime Quilt pattern. I loaded my DVD into the

player to upload more photographs, only to find that it wouldn't spool up.

To make matters worse, it wouldn't eject either. I was more than a little

frustrated, so I figured that if I restarted the computer, it would behave.

I was wrong.

I've been pampering this for a few months, hoping to limp along for a few

more months. (Remember when I went to see Genius Ben at the Apple store?)

Nothing I did would eject the DVD, and the computer wouldn't boot because it

was trying to read the DVD. I had a "Catch 22" and I started talking to myself.

 If you ever wonder which keyboard keys get the most use, my six year

old MacBook Pro can help answer that question for you. Let's look a

little closer...E...R...A...S...D...F...C...

 M...K...and we have a winner!...N. Can we have a little applause for

the letter "N"? When the computer was on, this key actually just lit

up, with no indication of which letter it was. This old paralegal doesn't

have to actually look at the keyboard to type, so it didn't slow me down,
but the poor keyboard sure looked ever day of its age. Poor thing.

l-r: 13", 2.9 GH NEW MacBook Pro; 6 yr. old 15" MacBook Pro doorstop.

 Handsome and I packed up the laptop, hoping that it was only ill

and not deceased. I really wanted to transfer the information on it

to a newer model. No luck. No Last Rites. No "Goodbye and Thanks".

It's not "mostly dead"...it's "dead dead". No CPR wouldn't help. Dang! 

So, it was a bittersweet day. I purchased a brand new, smaller, lighter

leaner laptop, but I lost most of what I had on my old sweetheart. All

I'll be able to retrieve is what I managed to save on my last backup...

45 days ago. It's the old, "You ought to know better" story. I'll pull up 

my socks, take a deep breath and just do what I have to do. I'll be fine.

After all, I was able to write this post on my new baby, wasn't I?

My old laptop computer will join the ranks of all our previous Apple
"war horses". I may still contact one more individual who might be able
to retrieve the information on its hard drive, but for now, I'll tuck it into
a safe place and get to work on the newest addition to our stable of Apples.