Christmas is So Near

For starters, let me just say that I am a Christmas person.

I like giving and receiving gifts.

I like eating the foods.

I like going to early morning masses.

I simply just like Christmas.

What about you? Do you like Christmas too?

Musings from a Crashed System

Recap: My laptop had a system crash and needed to be restored to its factory settings meaning farewell to all the files -both personal and business files plus programs that I have added in the span of a year. Vista was the only one in my computer.

Needless to say that it was all because of a vista service pack update.

Here goes me- being a contemplative in daily life....hehehe whatever you might want to call this.

I was talking to a friend on the phone telling her that I had a stomach ache maybe from all the tension that I felt for my laptop's sudden problems. I said it was quite ironic that this should happen not because of a virus but because of an update. We all have an impression that an update is supposed to make the system better. It should improve the capacity of the software to be more usable. In fact, I am no stranger to vista or even HP signaling that there is a new software update and that I need to restart to install it. There had not been any problem until the last update two weeks ago.

I realized that sometimes some things that we thought are for the good can actually yield the opposite effect. It is like having a boyfriend. Though, you thought that you did everything for him and tried to please him, you still ended up being dumped. The usual line goes "How could you do this to me?" sob sob "Have I not been a good girlfriend? What did I do to deserve this?" more sob sob...

According to my friend, it was funny how I could have thought about that in the midst of my computer crisis. And I said..."That is really what I feel at this point."

I also felt empty since the laptop has been a source of virtually everything for me at this point(do not tell me you cannot relate to this.) It has been an entertainment system-my songs are in the music folder and my pictures are there, as well; a pensieve for memories - my journals and my pictures again and text messages; a communication center where I can reach those who are a thousand miles away; and lastly, my work station- need i say more? As I told another friend, it felt like losing a part of me. It is like sneaking in to the night and stealing my journal...

Anyway, I seem to be rambling...Btw, I have made up my mind. I am getting an external hard drive, and I will burn folders every week or month to a cd...

Worst Nightmare

Last Sunday two weeks ago, anyone's worst nightmare happened to me. I was trying to cool down a bit after working for a long hours that week. Before I went out of the house, I checked my email and decided to cleanup some of my files. There was a persistent pop up that kept on informing me that vista service pack 1 has been downloaded, and it is recommended that I install it to enhance the performance of my computer. I ignored this the previous days since I was quite busy. Last Sunday, I gave in and clicked install. After it was installed, the computer was asking me to restart. A pop up was saying that it would be restarting in 10 minutes unless I choose another option. I clicked the pop up to override the ten-minute mark to just wait for me to log out since I was also on my way out.

So, I shut down after while and went out of the house. I came back and decided to turn on the laptop again. Instead of the usual welcome message asking me to write my password, I was greeted by the message that the computer had a problem starting up. I was kinda scared and did not know what to do but still clicked on the options and saw that I might need a system restore. I knew that I can actually do it myself, but I need to ask some clarificatory questions. Foremost of which is will it destroy all my file.

Come Monday morning, I packed my laptop and brought it somewhere people would know what to do. They were supposed to do it for me, but it turned out that in my haste i forgot the recharger, and the operation would take more than what the battery pack can take. I went home after being assured that there is an option that will be able to help me get my files back. Two options actually. I also asked why this happened to my computer and turned out the diagnostic report was saying that it was because the service pack seemed to be incompatible with my system. They were thinking that I might have service pack 2 already that made service pack 1 unnecessary.

I felt sad over that discovery because I never thought that any upgrade from vista would lead to my computer crash. I have seen computers crash because of visuse and malfunctioning hardware. This however is the first time I realized that it could happen to upgrades also. My laptop has been with me for a year. It has not given me any problems, and I try my best to make sure that it is well taken cared off. who would have thought that an upgrade that is supposed to improve it made it go awry.

While at home, I tried to do system recovery but it kept on saying that there was not enough memory to do it. I felt devastated and tried other stuff. I tried doing back up of my documents, but the computer would ask for a flash drive at the end to put the documents but would not recognize my flash drive every time I try to connect it. I tried so many times to back up, but it would not work. Finally, since it has taken so much of my time, not to mention it is making me miss work, i decided to just go on and do a system restore that will bring it back to its factory settings meaning goodbye files and programs that I have installed. I had to take a deep breath knowing that there are still some files that were not backed up yet. It felt sad because some of my poems were there and were not saved in other medium.

There are programs that I am comfortable in using, though they maybe obsolete. I scoured computer stores for installation cd's, but they all told me that it is not on sale anymore. I had to be more creative in procuring them. After two days, I was able to get the software I need to be able to work. At this point, I have not totally restored drivers like the Nokia business suite nor I-tunes. I was still busy still trying to work on missed work hours.

(it took days to be able to write this in detail...at this point, the anger and the pain dissipated, but the memory lingers on...whew...never mind.. I will write a part two on what I learned... very far from what happened...hehehe)

The Best Pick Me Up

I was working hard these past few days, and most of the time, I did not have enough sleep. I realized that I can actually stand the lack of sleep for most part, but for prolonged periods, I realized that I do get depressed. I feel like crying, but since I am not that into crying, the tears would not fall anyway. Thoughts that make me feel sad just flashed through my memory. I decided to reach out for a few pieces of kisses. As it settles in to my tounge, the sensation was enough to shoot to my brain and make me feel better. As in, tons better.

I guess it is true. Chocolate is a good pick me up. It has properties that make people happy, even for a bit.