Oops! I did it again...

Photo: Garden Fork

"...I'm a fool in so many ways. But to lose all my senses,

that is just so typically me. Oh baby, baby." - Britney Spears

Last November my precious flash drive tragically died, through no fault of mine. On it was stored my entire manuscript, related research, every scrap of my notes and the preliminary work-ups of 5 more wips - none of it backed up (yeah, that part was totally my fault). Luckily, I was able to find some Ninjas who were able to retrieve it all (yeah, my heroes!). Then I vowed that I would never put myself in that situation every again. Well, apparently I didn't learn my lesson. Sigh...

Oh, I started backing up my files but in an admittedly very half-assed manner. At 4 a.m., after writing on for 6 hours, battling blurry eyes and an exhausted mind and body - backing up my night's work was a spotty sometimes thing indeed. But in feeble defense, I did print my edits and new work immediately. Yesterday while changing loads I found my flash drive in the bottom of the washing machine. I had washed it - twice! I so didn't want to pay another $200 to my Ninjas without first trying to fix my fuck up myself - to the internets! I Googled my problem and found an unusual solution: immerse the wet flash drive in rice for 24 hours. I was desperate enough to try it - and it WORKED! Yay!! To answer your unspoken question: YES I've totally learned my lesson this time. I've thrice backed up every file - on my Mac, on a flash drive and on cd. In the meantime, I hope this unusual fix comes in handy for you if you need it.

'Til we meet again,

Temple