The Comic That Almost Wasn’t

(Originally Posted Sept. 24, 2010)

This blog discusses:

This week, I have brought you a comic. The universe tried to stop me, but I was too smart for it. (Take that, The Universe). I had actually finished this week’s comic long before all the trouble began, on that fateful day known as Last Saturday. I was trying to upgrade my operating system, but my hard drive wasn’t having it. This hard drive was four years old and it had outlasted one power cord, two jump drives and two batteries. On Saturday, the hard drive told me that it did not plan to see any more changes. So it went on up to that spirit in the sky to store data with the angels.

Right now, I don’t have a lot of pocket money, so my cheapest (and therefore, best) option was to buy a drive online and install it myself. I was pretty sure I could do that. I dropped in on a friend of mine who had tools and instructions We had the computer put together again in a little less than an hour.

Sure, I gained technical knowledge on drive replacement. But, more importantly, I learned that, apparently, I can see into the future.

Last Saturday, shortly before my computer crashed, I made a complete backup of everything on the old hard drive, just in case the new operating system did something crazy. None of my work was lost. Not a single comic strip, photograph, or old college paper that no one in their right mind would ever read again. When the new drive was hooked up, I went to reinstall all of my software. This meant I had to track down half a dozen installation disks purchased over the course of the past four years. Every program I ever bought was neatly stored in a cardboard box with the correct product keys and installation codes attached. (Please note that while I was growing up, installing any software that had been purchased more than a day ago usually involved an hour-long search for the disk, and/or product key. P.S. The search usually came up empty.) I still need to re-connect with all my old web sites, most importantly, Lepus Studios. Well, no sooner had I started things up again, when I found an old “Read Me” file that I had written last January. It explained all of my web site’s start up procedures and FTP configurations.

So, little by little, over the past several years, I have been leaving clues for Future Me, preparing for this exact emergency. I have avoided pitfalls that man was not meant to avoid and I have cheated virtual death. I should probably be looking over my shoulder for some virtual “Final Destination” spirit to appear and deal out my comeuppance, but the excessive hubris usually blocks out those worries.

Besides, I wasn’t a total victory. I still need to re-purchase some iLife programs that aren’t part of my new operating system. Plus I lost a large percentage of the music files I backed up, namely, a hundred percent. As we all know, iTunes handles precautions against music piracy with a fervor most of us reserve for bomb threats. Near as I can tell, my honestly-obtained music collection was mistaken for pirated music and, therefore, was not transferred along with the rest of my files. (To be fair, I do think music software needs to be strict and I agree with their efforts to protect the rights of musicians.)

So it looks like I can see into the future. I must remember to use this gift wisely and responsibly.

Next stop, lotto numbers.

-Marj