Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. We were visiting my parents in California and that week, we went to San Diego. This was always a favorite spot for Mattie, and there were countless things for him to do there.... everything from Legoland, Sea World, to touring the USS Midway. These were happy times, times when childhood cancer was no where on my radar scope, nor did I have the foggiest understanding of the long term psychosocial consequences of this disease on a family.
Quote of the day: See beauty in those unexpected places. (she asked herself how people could let Bach be background noise.) See the opportunity in what looks like inconvenience. (she steered clear of the traffic jam and went to the bakery she's been meaning to stop at.) She embraces the undeclared possibility in what seems like just another ordinary day. (her friend is scheduled for cancer surgery and suddenly everything around her seems so very precious.) ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
This morning was another winner of a day with my dad. So much so, that I contacted his doctor. I think as my dad becomes less mobile, this impacts every aspect of his life. It was such a difficult start to the day, that I wasn't sure I could get him to his memory care center. But fortunately I found a window of time in which I could safely get him in the car, and it worked. Thankfully the team at the center understood today's issues and it made such a difference knowing that the team is on it, and I can get a break for a few hours. After I dropped my dad off, I moved along to my computer appointment with a technician. Since today is ironically national "Just Because Day," I decided that it was important for me to take charge of how my computer backs up data. JUST BECAUSE! I know, not very exciting, but definitely very important. In January of this year, I started a membership with the Geek Squad, and literally I am talking with these folks every other month. I am so grateful to have this support.
In my last virtual Geek Squad appointment, they suggested that I come into the store today, with my computer and old external drive in tow. The representative who helped me, reminded me of my college friend Dave. You know when you see mannerisms and traits in one person and transfer them onto another? Well this happened with me today. The tech was bright, helpful, but calm. Which is perfect for me, because with technology, I can get worked up in seconds. He listened to my concerns and even pulled his colleague in from the back to help.
I have an external drive, used to back up files. We have used it for years, but when I plugged it into my computer, forget it. I couldn't access it! I assumed I was doing something wrong. So that was one of the first issues we addressed. As he said to me today.... it's not you, it is this device. He told me it was old and NOT functioning! No one could get the drive working and open. The tech helped me with the purchase of a new external drive and showed me how it worked. From there, we talked about the cloud. Another thing I am clueless about. However, turns out I am not as clueless as I thought! I explained to the tech what I have deduced about my computer and that is I have to work through the desktop, which then automatically backs files up to my cloud account. In the past, our home had its own private server, but this server doesn't back up to the cloud. So now I have to work on uploading files from this server onto my desktop, and I believe me this will take me weeks. But I am on a mission. I am on a mission because I am afraid of losing data, losing Mattie photos, losing Mattie videos and all the things I need to keep me organized electronically.
I am on a journey of self discovery, rather funny at my age, but I guess we are never too old to learn something new, to gain independence to navigate life on our own, and find the resources needed to accomplish this journey. I view today as a success. I feel more confident in how to back up files and I have learned that celebrating the small things, is definitely important, not JUST BECAUSE, but because life is comprised of many small things, and these many small things, add up to large things that define our existence.
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