in memory of...

Thank you to all who offered advice, support and sympathy for my poor poor hard drive.

Mr D: lived a good, long life. He was a faithful companion. Even though, I may have neglected to keep him sufficiently defragged, and relegated him to a constant state of haphazard organisation, Mr D: served me w/ steadfast eagerness. He was always there. and I never imagined there would be a day w/out him.

Mr D: was born a Maxtor 40GB. Small by today's standards. but seven years ago it was all I needed to supplement the rest of my computer family. He was stationed alongside Ms C: and became a surrogate father to her son, Mstr E: They lived in a house that Dell built, but thanks to my tech savvy friends, soon became a hip melange of the latest and greatest.

In my college years, Mr D: received his mission in life. While Ms. C: maintained the household's operations, and Mstr E: was the keeper of documents, artwork and other files. Mr D: was the working man in the family. He ran my music editing program - Cool Edit Pro, Photoshop 5, and most important to my sanity - my RPG games. Oh how many a happy eve' was spent annhilating my dormmates over a friendly battle of Q2, UT, R6 and many more. But most recently....

Mr D: was reassigned. What started as a hobby for me quickly became my life's work, my passion. My college years coincided w/ the era of P2P sharing. connected to the world's network. And I began a research and archival project that has consumed me for 4 years and counting. I hit a goldmine earlier this year. and Mr D: was w/ me the whole way.

*****
A few months ago, I noticed that my computer was making a funny sound. One of the hard drives was making a funny cluck-a-cluck-a sound when spinning. Probably not good, but unfortunately I didn't pay much attention. "I better check that out." (I would say to myself) Then in September, I sat down one day to work on my project....

and there was nothing there.

nothing. the little flashlight searched and searched but there was nothing. just a void, a big black hole in My Computer where Mr D: used to be. Mr D: what happened? Did you get sick? was it a stroke? what did I do? years and years of work. it was all gone.

I was smart enough to back up *some* of my project. By some I mean, about 25% - 45%. the rest - I fear I may never be able have again.

***Okay okay don't panic yet***

Dave gets excited over emergencies. He likes to be the level headed point man. and thankfully he stepped right in and got on message boards, trying to find a fix. Meanwhile I'm cowering in a corner, crying and rubbing my hands together, rocking back and forth muttering "all gone, all gone...."

Dave tried everything, even putting Mr D: in the freezer for a few hours. didn't work. no time was wasted. we checked the presumed dead Mr D: into a data recovery shop.

The inital prognosis was unclear. Unfort, there was some damage that would have to be repaired before the shop could even make a diagnosis. If the platter was damaged, it would be a total loss...

and they quoted me at $600 - $2,800 holy effin crap!! Can I put on price on memories? What is the value of 4 years of tireless labour?.... in the end it didn't matter b/c.. (the following is an excerpt from an email from the shop)

"The drive would not allow access due to the maintenance track (servo)being corrupted/blown. The technician then had to begin the time tedious process of writing software and attempting to repair this issue. Unfortunately, none of their efforts yielded positive results. Replacement of the faulty mechanics/electronics and repairs to the maintenance proved ineffective inresolving the problem. The work has been discontinued on this drive and the job has been classified as unrecoverable. "

I got the news at work on Wednesday. I started to cry. The cold, sterile email made me feel worse. Have you no regard for my feelings, man?!

On friday, I rec'd Mr D: back. He was airmailed to me in a cardboard box. The same box which will serve as his coffin, his final resting place forever more. A memorial service is being planned.

*****
I'm about to purchase a new hard drive. I have to move on. There is much work to be done and years and years of work to re-do. I'm planning on picking up a high capacity drive, and a firewire hard drive to back everything up!

Let this be a lesson to all - back up your files! People, and hard drives will inevitably come and go. They are but the shell that returns to dust. But it is the good times we share, the smiles, the laughs, the trials and tribulations. That is the stuff which is life, which is love.