Dumb Move!

In my life I've made more than a few--dumb moves, that is. Some are just silly (like that time, in Boston, in a heavy snow, I thought my new studded tires would get me across a pile of snow; they didn't); some are more serious (like that time I ... forget it: none of your business); some are so heart-achingly, profoundly incautious and stupid that sometimes their ghastly spectral memories keep me awake at night (and if you think I'm sharing any of them on the Internet, well, you must think I'm even dumber than I am).

Since the Age of the Personal Computer has arrived, my Dumb Moves have accelerated. The times I've neglected to save files, the careless keystrokes that have altered a file in a way that took a good supply of my time and curses to restore, the failures to back up files ... I could go on, but you'd lose the remaining dollop of respect you, perhaps, retain for me.

Just these past few months I've had a colossally stupid example of my Dumb Moves (computer-wise). Let's rewind a bit: In mid-May this year (just about four months ago) I bought a new laptop, which, as usual, cost me a full day of set up and cursing until I got my programs and files loaded, until I got the computer synced with my wireless printer (that was an adventure), and so on.

Let's back up even farther: A year or so ago I started linking my Word files with OneDrive--Microsoft's cloud. It was awesomely convenient. I could enter changes in a Word file on any of my devices--phone, iPad, laptop--and, immediately, there those files were, altered, on my other devices. I could pencil edit a manuscript at Starbucks, enter the changes in my iPad, then, at home, find those changes entered in OneDrive, and all I needed to do was save them at home. Simple.

Except.

Sometimes I saved the Wrong Damn Thing. (Cursing.)

And then ... this ...

A few months ago I continued my practice of saving copies of my Word files on OneDrive. Except ... when I went to OneDrive later, that file was not there. (Cursing.) I tried all kinds of remedies--everything, of course, except the correct remedy. (Cursing.)

Which dawned on me the other day like ... well, I won't say Saul on the Road to Damascus because that's a cliche--nor will I say I cried "Eureka!" (ditto)--but I will say ... I had an insight that struck me with the force of (a) a Mike Tyson hook, (b) a blitzing linebacker, (c) a meteorite, (d) all of the above.

See, I had forgotten that I now had a new laptop. I had forgotten, when I was installing everything, to install OneDrive on it.

So I did so. And it greedily uploaded all my relevant (and long-neglected) files, and the past couple of days I've been happily editing from all of my devices and finding myself surpassingly pleased with myself.

And proud of my keen computer sense ...

A sense that took me only, oh, about four months to employ ... sensibly.