True confessions

I confess, it has been a year since my last back up.

Yes, it’s true.  But, I have a good excuse!  See, I got this external hard drive for backups while I was home.  But, it has to plug into electricity to work.  (Note to self, next time get one that’s USB powered.)  So, I get it out to my house here, plug it in, and happen to touch it.  I’m barefoot, as always, on my concrete floor.  So, I touch the hard drive, and it tingles.  Using my great technical knowledge and discernment, I immediately unpluged it and put it in a cabinet.

Techie friends here tell me that I just need a grounded outlet, but even if I don’t have one, I won’t fry my computer.  I’m sure they’re right.  Except that USB cables have electricity going through them sometimes.  And one goes from my tingly hard drive to my computer.  I’m sure they’re right, but I don’t want to risk it.  It’s a little tricky to replace a computer from here.

But, I am turning over a new leaf.  Last week I learned that there is such a thing as rewriteable DVDs, available for purchase even here, so I can back up every day to a separate DVD.  And, the week before last, I finally had a ground wire installed at my house.  This was a long ordeal involving copper wire, a copper pipe, a drill bit long enough to drill through my house (!!!), and a closer look at the inside of my septic tank than I cared to take.  Well, I live in a hot dry place, with rocky, sandy soil, and to have a ground you’ve got to have moisture.  I’m just sorry I couldn’t involve my machete somehow in the installation.  Or, on second thought, maybe I’m not…