Dumped by My Technology Without a Backup

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Anyone who knows me expects to see me sporting my backpack gear bag hanging on my right shoulder. I carry tons of tech in that bag whether I need it on a daily basis or not. The backbone of that backpack has been my 13″ MacBook Pro. The laptop was my dream computer, and it was basically an extension of myself. Making movies, editing photos, and writing posts; all flowed from my laptop like a master magician wowing a captivated crowd. In fact, that MacBook even made trips with me to the farm and hunting. That magic came to a horrible end this weekend when my MacBook Pro went kaput!

The computer had been acting like it was not feeling well lately, but I was able to complete all of my tasks without issue. As I was breaking down opponent football video Saturday, the machine felt unusually warm. When I tried to shut the laptop down, it locked up, and the screen turned a baby blue shade a few times and it went blank. I immediately sent the bat signal out to Dan knowing he would be the only person I knew who could help me revive it. Long story short, after a lot of try this and do that he told me the phrase I did not want to hear …”I think you might be screwed.” My friend … errr my MacBook was no longer going to be following me!

If losing my nicest and only mobile computer was not enough, the realization that I did not have a backup made my stomach turn. That is right, scream at me and throw rocks now, but I had no backup and no money to replace my laptop. There I sat with a few hours of work left to do, and all I could think about was how would I do my football work or write posts for Gear Diary. Since that terrible day, I have taken my hard drive out and recovered my files. My Mac Mini at home is much older, not set up like the MacBook, and it has to sit on a desk; my 1st gen iPad is not supported anymore, and is probably living on borrowed time. My daily work has not been easy, and I feel like all I do is roam around looking for a spare machine to use.

Sure, there are worse problems around the world, but this event has greatly altered my daily workflow in a negative manner. I am still learning the best way to complete my tasks slowly, but if there is anything I can impress upon the readers with my horrible experience, it is to back up and do it often.

I consider myself lucky actually since I was able to get the pics, videos and precious files from the laptop despite losing the entire machine. I may not ever have another setup that sweet, but I will find a way to get things done. One thing I know is that there will be backups of everything I do from now on.

Hopefully reading this has inspired you. Stop what you are doing and backup your machines, tablets and phones!

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About the Author

Travis Ehrlich
Travis is a high school teacher and coach in a small South Texas town. His love for gadgets began at a very early age, and he has been a cross between a jock and a geek for most of his life. He has two boys and a wonderful wife who lets him be a gadget freak. He is a Mac convert and has drank the whole pitcher of Kool-Aid! He is also an avid guitar player and loves the outdoors, especially hunting with both a bow and rifle.

2 Comments on "Dumped by My Technology Without a Backup"

  1. Oh, Travis! I’m so sorry to hear that you lost your only portable computer. I know what that’s like, except mine was stolen rather than dying a natural death. I feel for you!

  2. Man, I feel your pain! One of the best features of Mac OS is Time Machine, which, while not perfect, saved my bacon. I was using my girlfriend’s PowerBook , as My MacBook Pro was stolen was stolen. I set up an account on the borrowed machine, and used TM to backup the system. As luck would have it, the hard drive died in the PowerBook. Replacing the drive was no big deal, but the I realized to my horror, that all of her data, applications, photos and music were gone. Fortunately, when I went to restore my account, Time Machine had all of her stuff and restored it! BTW, she still digs me 😉

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