POP...

Something is missing from my desk this morning! Murphy is at it again...I was on my computer last evening and I heard a "pop" like the sound an old fashioned television made when it shut off. My screen went black and then up popped a message that said "Your computer shut down because there was a problem". I tried to restart it. No chance. I texted J and he said to pull the plug immediately. He did NOT like the pop I heard. J and his girlfriend and her son came over and J took it apart. Not just because he is mine, but he is so danged GOOD with computers. Within 5 min he called me out to the kitchen table..."Look here, see how nice and shiny. Now look here." It was definitely brownish. Something about the capacitor going which means if I had not unplugged it I could have had a fire! We discussed spending $169 on a new part...but we don't know if anything else was damaged when it broke...and the computer is already 8 years old. Ancient in tech life. We looked up another iMac and the prices are astronomical. Can't do that. I suggested a laptop, though I really don't like typing on a laptop. J laughed...they cost even more. So I am getting a Mac Mini. It is a teeny box that is actually a computer! J has a monitor I can use, although if he finds one cheap I will get new. My keyboard and mouse will still work. He is buying me an extra usb hard drive so he can run something called Timecapsule which will back up my entire computer every so many hours. He took the hard drive out of my computer in the hopes that he can transfer over to the new. If not, I have lost a lot of photos and the excel sheet that I use to do my folks' veterans paperwork every year. That can be recreated with effort. The photos...gone. For Xmas I asked for a high capacity thumb drive so I could back up all of the machine embroidery patterns I have accumulated. I just backed them all up in the last week or two. Wish I had thought to back up the photos! Sigh...... Once again, in the big scheme of things, losing my computer is totally inconsequential. On the aggravation scale I give it a six. I just went outside and cut a hyacinth and put it in a jelly jar with some water. I am breathing deeply and enjoying the calming scent. Better than Calgon... Toodles...