What? You didn't notice I was gone?

Apparently one of us has the touch of death with computers. Although, frankly, I think it comes down more to treating the laptop like it's…. um… built to withstand living in our house and less to… say… downloading porn. At least this time, anyway. The fix is supposedly on the way from HP, so we should be on our way again soon. Unfortunately, the fix will wipe the entire hard drive.  

Have I mentioned the part about not having backed anything up in… um….  When did we buy it, again? 

Right.  

Translated? 

Over 4,000 pictures. Gone. 

At least $150 in iTunes. Gone. 

Why? 

Because I'm a fucking idiot. That's why. 

I plan on trying to jimmy-rig my way into the laptop so I can back everything up before I have to wipe the drive. I have no idea if it'll work, but I'm going to try.  

Strangely, I think I'm sweating the music loss more than the pictures. I think photography and I have become dangerously estranged but I don't know why. It just makes me feel like "eh". I think it's related to that burn we got at the beginning of summer over the phrase "well, I thought you would consider it a volunteer position." 

Folks, if you work for a charity and are trying to obtain professional or semi-professional services donated to your charity, you really really should mention up front that you expect the services to be donated. Do not, instead, talk about fees and payments and then, at the last minute, play the charity card like it's going to work. All that will get you, if you're lucky, is a graceful bow-out when you can least afford one.  

Now, I have no problem doing charity work, and I probably would have been willing to do this if I'd known the full scope of things from the get go. Waste my time and lead me on and I'm going to walk away every damn time. If you cannot respect enough to tell me the full scoop right up front, then you don't respect me enough for me to do the job for you. Sorry.  

From there I think it was a short shot to photography estrangement and I'm not really sure how to get back to it. Well… You know… After I get the computer sorted back out.  

In other news, though, there are big changes on the way soon – including a new address and some new features. More information will be available soon, and the New! and Improved! blog will be live (tentatively) on October 10^th.  

Why? 

Because, what, there are other days on the calendar?