Wednesday, February 6, 2013

the ups and downs of life...

Life is full of ups and downs.  Everyone knows this.  Some have more than their share of downs, so I am not complaining too much.  But this week has been a bit o' the down for me.  Not enough to affect my mood, just enough to make me more ruminative about life in general.

Among other things:
My trapezius muscle on my left shoulder has been so tight that it makes my neck pop and hurt.  I tried muscle relaxants (I have had the bottle for over two years) and they helped.  Started getting back massages and that helped, and began yoga classes three weeks ago that also help.  But a few days ago the pain became an agony.  And being the proactive person I am, I did the next thing...I went to my doc and got a trigger point injection, then came home and took more meds.  And finally it is easy...

I found out the little spot I have had on my hand that has bothered me for the past few months is a basal cell carcinoma.  So it is scheduled to be removed by a surgeon...now get this next part...this is the irony that is my life.  The appointment is for Valentine's Day.  So Stevie Wonder is going to get to spend it driving me to and from Birmingham...I think I might moan after I get out of surgery and maybe cry a little too...then I just might get lucky and score....chocolate.  I'm really going to miss this spot...I'm kind of attached to my own skin...and hate to lose any of it.

All the things I have dealt with are nothing really...just blips on the radar of my life...the thing that really concerns me and is causing a bit of anxiety is the fact that the hard drive I stored all the photos I had taken, on all my computers, cameras and iPhone...are trapped.  The hard drive went down and I can't get the photos off. I have several projects waiting on those photos.  The drive holds several thousand photos...all the way back to when I first started taking photos.

We took the hard drive to Best Buy the other day.  They are sending it off to a lab for a level one recovery.  That cost us $250.  If it goes to level 2, that will be about $600.  It could go as high as $1000 for recovery.  When the tech told us that, Steve looked at me and said "it's not worth that much."

I felt like my heart had been hammered when he said that.  Yes, it is expensive, but those photos are my passion, and a record of my life and my family for years....all our travels, the birth of the grands, holidays, vacations, and just everyday stuff.  To me there is no price on that.  If those are lost, a big piece of my soul goes with them.  (If you think your files are safe on an external hard drive, in case your computer crashes...just realize as I did, too late, that those crash too.  I am looking into Carbonite now, an online storage back up system for your files.)

Sooo, my karma sucks right now...which is nothing new...it cycles, and the year of the dragon is about over, so I was kind of expecting it.  When bad karma strikes, I do what I always do.

I turn to music and my camera.  I've been listening to I Will by Matchbox 20.  (I bought it on iTunes.)  Here is 4 minutes of my life...all photos have been taken by me, (unless I was in the photo with other people).

This, too, shall pass...

...life is good. ~cath
find me @jonesbabie on Twitter

12 comments:

  1. I hope your pictures get recovered honey, at the first level! xoxoxo

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  2. Oh man, that can be so stress inducing--losing those precious family photos! I hope everything turns out okay :)

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  3. My gosh, you've been through the mill. Don't worry, it can only get better right? But losing your photos? That happened to me - all my holiday snaps from all over the world. It's painful!

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  4. I have had that happen to myself as well. I can't count the number of photos that I have lost because of a crashed hard drive! Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money to pay a recovery expert, so I just lose them :( What amazes me though, is that even though I can't print them and share them, they are still logged in my memory! That is the wonderful thing about our brains ♥
    I hope that everything goes well with your scheduled surgery. And hopefully, you will get your wish of 'chocolate' :)

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  5. Oh, dear- I hope they can get them out at the first level of recovery. Good advice, too, about alternate forms of backup.

    Take care of yourself- that thing is not a part of you and it will be a good thing to get it off. I'm sure Stevie Wonder will take wonderful care of you and give you lots of chocolate!

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  7. I can totally sympathize with you wanting to get your pictures back. I can't imagine losing all of mine!They are indeed priceless!

    Sorry you've been facing some challenges lately. It does seem like when things go wrong they go wrong all at once. I hope your procedure on Valentine's day goes quickly and you feel a lot better than expected afterward so you can enjoy your day. Sending you love! <3

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  8. I agree, Cathy - the loss of photos would be tragic! Hope they can be fully recovered and that you are feeling better, too!
    In the future for photo storage, you could look into Photobucket, a place where you can keep your photos off the hard drive. That's where my husband stores his, and it's easy to visit and download whenever you want.
    Good luck with everything!
    Blessings!

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  9. God damn Cathy that is crushing. So does that mean we need to take backups of our backups as a lesson learned. Argh! I would be crushed, and I'm surprised you didn't bitch slap Stevie wonder for that comment! haha

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  10. Oh Cath, I feel your pain. Just reading this gave me so much anxiety I want to keep backing up everything that I have right now. I understand how those photos are priceless. I would feel the same if it happened to my laptop...all the photos, everything I've written, saved conversations with treasured friends, oh my God. Anyway, thanks for still looking out for the rest of us, for reminding us of what we can still do. I will pray (really, I will!) that something could still be done to recover what you've lost. And I wish you good health as well, of course! Take care! *hugs*

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  11. Cath, I have a theory: when things like these happen, it is because something extremely good will happen soon. As they say in movie: it will all be alright in the end. This means that, if it is not alright, then it is not the end. Hang in there.

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  12. Boy! What a month February is turning out to be. Deep breath, some wine, hot tub. You're right - it will pass.

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