November 16, 1990
Dear Everyone:
WELL!
The man came to fix my hard drive this morning and boy, did he
fix it! Basically, he took
it out and replaced it because it was causing a shrill hum that was
giving everyone around here a headache.
But, in the process, he obliterated everything I had on the
system. WordPerfect,
DrawPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, Fastback, the whole shooting match.
He managed to do this right before lunch so,
instead of writing my letter at lunch time, I spend most of the
afternoon making a backup of “Clara’s” PC which I then used to restore
mine.
All of which might have been avoided if I’d known
what he meant when he said, “You’ve run Fastback, right?”
No.
I hadn’t gotten around to it.
I hadn’t gotten around to opening the package to look at the book
that tells you how to use Fastback.
Good thing I always file my data files and
documents on floppy disks, isn’t it?
I always knew there was a reason I did that.
Fastback, if you haven’t guessed, is the system
that backs up your system so this sort of thing doesn’t happen.
Needless to say, I “got around to it” pretty fast (no pun
intended) this morning. Now
“Clara’s” system is backed up.
I can’t back mine up until we get more floppy disks; I had to
steal 8 of “Clara’s” to get hers done.
This guy was a real trip because he, like myself,
knew just enough to be dangerous.
For instance, he assumed that I knew what he meant about
Fastback. Because, when the
answer was “No”, he didn’t know quite how to proceed.
Then, he’d throw out questions about how the hard disk was
formatted.
I explained that I wasn’t involved in the
formatting as everything, except DrawPerfect, was installed before the
machine was delivered. Sort
of like getting a car with “factory air conditioning”.
How do I know how they put it in?
As long as it’s there and it works, I’m happy.
Then he’d try to explain something that’s so basic
that even I know it. Like
showing me the on/off switch, as though I haven’t been using it for
weeks.
It was kind of like getting a lesson in quantum
physics from Mickey Mouse.
Still, he, the PC and I all survived, so I guess it
all comes out in the wash.
Sorry this is such a short Letter, but it’s after
5:30 and I’m ready to head for home.
Love, as always,
Pete
PS.
Important Ashland Note:
Send a check or money order for $105 to
Mother.
She made all the arrangements.
(And thank you, Mother, very much.
I don’t think I could have managed it this time.)
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