i hate technology

in some ways, it has improved our lives significantly; in others, it has made life even more frustrating and difficult.

for instance, try updating your photo blog without a computer.

i was in the middle of composing a long overdue post, when my computer just blinked out and rebooted itself. ok. i had saved my work a few sentences ago, but i knew i lost a couple of good lines. i had my canon photo viewer app open, but wasn't in the middle of anything. i wasn't editing anything in photoshop. nothing else was going on. so i should be ok.

it never booted back into windows.

i get the ol' PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA 0x50 bsod, which means that it is more than likely hardware-related. i couldn't boot in safe mode, safe mode with networking, safe mode with command prompt; couldn't boot with my last known good configuration; couldn't run a repair booting off the xp install cd… nothing. just an endless cycle of rebooting.

i hate microsoft (a topic on which i could start another blog and have over a hundred original posts on the subject right from inception), but mac charges too much for their "eliteness" — i like fine art; i just can't afford it. no pc i've built was ever outgunned by a mac. however, this pc is 6 years old, and i'm pushing the limits of MTBF on all the hardware. come to think of it, i'm surprised it's lasted this long.

anyway, now i get to remove and/or swap different pieces of my hardware puzzle until the thing boots back up, if it even will. ram first, cd/dvd drive next, and God forbid, my boot drive last. i need my hard drive to work, need it accessible, because if it's not, i've just lost the last two month's worth of the best photos i've ever taken. this includes my high-res versions of shakespeare.

and the kicker of all of this is, i've been feeling a gnawing sensation in my gut that has nothing to do with food, or the lack thereof. a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that subtly whispered, "you should really consider backup up your stuff."

as usual, my obstinate little brain — my one-track mind, the command center that controls what my body does and when — impatiently responded with, "but i'm busy. i'll do it later. i've got time."

…and here we are.