At least a year and a half
of my life is gone...let me explain. Photography is a passion since
retirement. I spend an enormous amount of time on it.
Because my laptop computer
is ancient (9 years old) it is unable to store the photographs taken with my
new camera. Each photo that I don't delete right away, is saved as a RAW
file, and a corresponding JPEG file. In addition I process most of the
RAW files to create a second JPEG and sometimes a TIFF file with edits.
Lots and lots of memory is necessary for storage.
To get around the memory
issue of my ancient laptop, a year ago I purchased an external hard drive (XHD)
for storing all of these huge photo files. This XHD has lots and lots of
memory. I have moved all photos previously on my laptop prior to January 1,
2013, as well as all the RAW and TIFF files to the XHD.
The sad news is the XHD has
just crashed and burned. The good news is I download many photos I like to Flickr so all is not lost. Nevertheless I'm going through the grieving
process.
Step 1. Denial and Isolation
Day one: My first reaction
when discovering my XHD would not load like normal is to deny the reality of
the situation. I'll simply forget about it not working tonight, and try
again tomorrow morning.
Step 2. Anger
Day two: Upon discovering
the XHD would not work on my laptop, or sweetie's laptop came intense emotion.
I'm angry! I didn't do anything different! Why did this happen to
me?
Step 3. Bargaining I need to regain control
* I'll try a different power cord
* I'll send an email to the manufacturer asking for help
* I'll order a new adapter - surely that will make it work
Step 4. Depression
Day three: Manufacturer
response indicates the XHD is "toast". It is under warranty so
they'll replace it - but what about all the photographs? Data restoration
isn't covered in the warranty. I'm so sad...perhaps I need a hug.
Step 5. Acceptance Not there yet!
Sweetie is still looking
into the issue but I've got a hammer in my back pocket ready to smash the
device to smithereens! The “ancient”
laptop will be next as soon as the new one arrives - it is on order.
