The Wonders of Technology...

I have just had another one of those weeks! I seem to get a few of them these days and I know what to blame it all on... technology!

We rely so much on technology these days - everything from running our businesses to paying bills and keeping in touch with the world at large (important for us self-employed crafters who spend so much time in our little creative studios and spaces with only bad daytime TV and the cats/dogs/goldfish* (*delete as applicable) for company.

Last weekend was a biggy for me - we had a stall (well two actually if I am being pedantic!) the Spring Garden and Leisure Show at the South of England Showground, Ardingly - a wonderful event with lots of visitors and a plethora of things to see from the wonderful Llamas and Alpacas, Ducks, Cows and all kinds of animals to Home and Garden exhibits and a roadshow with expert advice from people 'in the know' in the world of gardening and horticulture.  

Due to the sheer size of it all and the number of exhibitors trying to get access at 'stupid o'clock' (yes it is that time of year again) this is one of the few shows we actually go to set up our stall the day before it opens to the public.  So on Saturday morning, hubby and I got everything set up and ready for our start on Sunday.   An afternoon of watching footie on the telly was planned and all was panning out nicely.  Well that was until we got home...

I decided that I ought to check my e-mails and see what was going on in the world before finishing off my final packaging of some new designs completed in readiness for the show and all seemed fine, until the computer froze.   Not a major problem - these things happen - so a quick restart later and the black clouds were forming!   The computer just wasn't playing at all!  I could almost hear the funeral march as it struggled to battle back into life but (black armbands at the ready please) it was all to no avail.  Every time it started back up, just the slightest request to open anything (I said please and everything!) scared it into complete meltdown again.   Slowly, the realisation dawned that it wasn't well.

Now, this should be a warning to you all - I am constantly telling hubby to make sure he backs up any work on the computer he has so his 'Have you done a back up recently?' question was painful when I realised that the only solution was going to be to get a new laptop to replace 'Icky-Sicky'  Ouch! The answer was 'NO!' and the words 'Practice what you Preach' were ringing in my ears!!

Damn you technology!

It was now 5 o'clock in the evening and the nearest shop which sells computer equipment was hardly local - infact it was close to where we had been setting up all morning!!!

Now how's this for quick decisions.... 

We ran (literally) into PC World at 5.40pm (they close at 6!) after a mad dash down there in the car, I marched up to the laptops and after looking at the full range - very quickly to find the most financially appealing one - purchased a new one at 5.54pm!!

Then the fun started....  

All my business data is on my laptop - from my database of products, fairs, sales and customers to all my business and family photos, e-mails and EVERYTHING.   Somehow I had to get it off the old PC and onto the shiny new one.    One thing I had done right was create a recovery disk on my old laptop (if you haven't done this yourself - do it now, it saves a lot of pain if you have the same problem!)    I won't go through details but as I couldn't sleep without knowing that my database was safe, I sat up until early into the morning getting the key information transferred - all made possible by the recovery disk using the 'rescue data' option.

Its amazing how many files and programs you use that you forget about until you don't have them!   I have spent all week rescuing bits and pieces from the old machine and transferring it them across to the new one but fortunately, I think I am finally done.  All my e-mails were rescued (phew!) so I can refer back to my old messages and contacts which is pretty important.

All this fun and games has meant that my planned market stall in Bromley this coming Saturday has had to be postponed until 21st May.   The fair last weekend was quieter than normal (I think the weather had much to do with this along with all the extra time people had had off with bank holidays galore) but still very successful and I really need to spend some time this weekend making up new stock and completing customer orders.  Adding a market into the mix just made my head hurt!

Yesterday, my SKY+ box decided to turn itself off, just for fun.   If you have been following my blog for a while, you will know of my rocky relationship with SKY+ boxes.   Anyway, two hours later, I managed to get it started up again but after the week I have had with technology, nothing surprises me anymore!!

Oh, and to top all of the above the monsters aka moths (shudder) are out and about and giving me nightmares.   They divebomb my studio window when I am in there at night.  No giant, godzilla, mothy intruders as yet (they have sent in a couple of small soldiers to check the place out in advance) but we all know that they can pry open doors and hold you hostage in the night!!  (OK, so maybe that is just me who thinks that...) 

So my message to all monsters moths out there, don't mess with me at the moment - I have a number of swatting implements, two stealth killer cats and my Knight in Shining Pants husband and I'm not afraid to use them!!

  So, how has your week been??