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Reason #1590

What prompted this was a posting on the macOS Reddit (I now understand why I avoided Reddit for so long) where a guy was bemoaning the fact that he upgraded to macOS Catalina and because he was still using iPhoto (retired from the Apple ecosystem several years ago)  during the conversion to Photos, he apparently lost 20 years of photos and videos that did not translate over.

Okay, I understand that glitches happen, and as I’ve been more than happy to opine over the past couple months, during my personal beta testing, Catalina was a hot mess that was not ready for prime time. (My own experience after—admittedly against my better judgment—upgrading to the official public release a couple weeks ago has been nothing but positive, and in fact I like it better than macOS Mojave.)

What got me (and apparently everyone else on that thread) was the fact this guy had no backup whatsoever. He had a few things in the cloud, but not everything because, It was too much of a hassle and “it’s too expensive.” Nor had he backed up his drive prior to upgrading. I mean seriously…

How much are your photos and video memories worth, dude?

So after reading his self-inflicted tale of woe, my initial response was to write, “Sucks to be you!” But instead I didn’t respond at all.

C’mon people, BACK UP YOUR SHIT. I cannot stress that enough! I have witnessed too many incidents, both professionally and personally where people have lost years of data (and I suspect in one case, their job) because nothing had been backed up.

I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this before, but my own backup strategy is a nightly clone using Carbon Copy Cloner onto an external SSD, coupled with a Time Machine backup onto an aging Time Capsule. In addition, Every few months I copy really important stuff (like photos and music) to other external hard drives just in case. The only weak point in my system is that none of the backups are stored offsite, so if the house burns down I’m SOL, but that’s an acceptable risk in my opinion.

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CONGRATULATIONS!

Last night Ben received his second Master’s, this one in Educational Administration. I am so proud! As I told him, “You’ve done more in your 36 years than I’ve done in my 61!”

I never finished my Bachelor’s. After 2 years slogging away at the University of Arizona School of Architecture, I decided college just wasn’t for me (and frankly coming out in the late 70s was such a distraction that my grades suffered immensely). I never regretted it, and if my lack of a degree stood in the way of advancing my career I was never aware of it, but I’m entering that stage in life where I do have regrets, and not sticking with my university studies is one of them.

Of course, if I had done that, my life would’ve taken a completely different path than it’s on today, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing…at all.

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Some Thoughts About My Instagram

(To be filed under shameless self-promotion.)

Whenever I request to follow someone on Instagram—especially if its someone I know in real life—I always do a quick run through my own Insta.  (Link at right.) It’s not that I’m ashamed of anything I’ve posted—and anyone who knows me knows me—but rather just to get a sense of what I’m presenting to the world; what kind of artificially beautiful view of my life I’m putting out there.

I did the same thing last night after accepting a follow request from my old boss in San Francisco (I’d been following his nearly empty account for quite some time). I wondered what he’d think of the boy (and by boy, I mean I was 39 the last time we had any interaction and was ten years younger than that when he’d hired on as an architectural drafter in that tiny 3-person office back in 1987.

I have to say that I’m quite happy with what I’ve put out there. I spent quite some time scrolling back to the beginning, back to 2012 when I recreated my account after, in a fit of madness, deleted my original account when Facebook took over the platform.

My only regret is that there are a lot of duplicate images, mostly of the #tbt (Throwback Thursday) variety. I mean, when you’ve posted nearly eight years of photos there are bound to be duplicates, right?

I removed myself from Facebook years ago. I gave up Twitter back in July. The only remaining social media platform I’m still on is Instagram, and while I know it’s probably just as evil as Facebook, I just can’t give it up yet. (Although the constant barrage of random ads for absolute shit that pepper the feed on the mobile app is pushing me in that direction.) I enjoy my feed of “bears, vinyl collectors, men who apparently don’t own a single shirt among the lot of them, drag queens, d-list celebrities, and alcoholics” as I like to call it. And where do you think a lot of the menz I post here come from. C’mon…

My account is locked down, but if any of you want to follow along, just send a request and maybe leave a comment here or send an email (link at right under “Warning”) to let me know its you. Maybe you’re already following and I just don’t know…but I’d like to!

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Songs From Another Life

This is a playlist that I put together a few years ago and burned onto CD as a holiday gift for my surviving friends from the 80s with whom I shared these musical memories. These songs—mostly from the mid-to-late years of the decade—in addition to the pop hits of the day, comprised the soundtrack of our lives as we transitioned from life in Tucson to life in San Francisco. It puts me in a…strange…headspace, so I don’t listen to it very often, but sometimes it’s just what the doctor ordered to remind me that life has not always been the psychic clusterfuck we all currently find ourselves living through.

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It’s Called Hypocrisy

Conservatives are still talking about how Ocasio-Cortez spent $300 of her own money at a hair salon, but we never found out who paid $200,000 of Brent Kavanaugh’s mysterious credit card debt.

And how the hell does one run up $200K in credit card debt?!

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Quote of the Day

The modern GOP has given us Nixon, Agnew, Bush II, Cheney, and now Trump and Pence. Plus the Religious Right, the Tea Party, the Freedom Caucus, and has granted the NRA’s every wish. From cunning crooks to war crimes criminals to corrupt authoritarians. It is all down hill, and getting worse fast.” ~ John Dean

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Quote of the Day

We should take the “does it spark joy?” question to social media. Go through your Facebook and remove friends that do not spark joy. Go through instagram and unfollow people and pages that do not spark joy. Don’t surround yourself with things that don’t make you happy.” ~ renegadebusiness via Tumblr

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Quote of the Day

I like cancelled plans. And empty bookstores. I like rainy days and thunderstorms. And quiet coffee shops. I like messy beds and over-worn pajamas. Most of all, I like the small joys that a simple life brings.” ~ Unknown