Anyone know what this is?  Yes, it’s a stapler, but the other item is a pocketsize lifetime of documentation, photos and memories.  More specifically, it’s a Crucial brand 2.5 inch Solid State Hard Drive that can hold up to 500 gigabytes of data.

Not Quite a Lifetime

Over the decades that I’ve owned a computer, I have documented much of my life digitally.  I enshrined parts of my life on the internet through this blog. The hard drive above is the one I took out of my now-deceased MacBook Pro.  But it contained much more than the 8 years of time I owned that computer.

Every time I’d migrate from one computer to another, I’d transfer all the data from the prior computer to the new one.  Data storage got cheaper and cheaper.  The hard drive above with a half a terabyte of data capacity costs $60.  And you can get a full terabyte version for just over $100.  Quite amazing, no?

I’d also start to digitize and store old photos, slides and documents.

Over the years, I began to consolidate my life onto a hard drive.  Or at least a computerized representation of my life.

When my computer died last week, I knew I had safely backed up the data.  But honestly, my latest backup was almost a month old.

But not to worry, even that month gap of data could be unlocked with a simple key.

This simple, inexpensive cord allowed me to access every item from my old computer hard drive.  Amazing that the key to a lifetime costs about $10.

I feel incredibly fortunate to live in a time when the contents of my memoirs and my legacy are so secure.  They are also replicated enough so they are backed up.

Will any of this data be of any significance once I’m long gone?  Probably not.  But I’m glad to have it none the less.

When’s the last time you backed up your lifetime?

Current Knitting

I’ve been making great headway in my knitting the last couple of days.  I didn’t want to start another Cross Hatch Scarf.  Instead I worked on the Mini Cross Hatch project and I’m nearing completion.

I ordered some matching elastic banding and soon I’ll have completed my first ever knitted (mostly knitted) jockstrap.  There’s still a lot of detail work to do on this project, but I’m quite please with how it’s turning out.

I also picked up the Ensign Brook DK Cardigan again.

The first sleeve is almost complete…just the top shaping before I cast off.  Once I see how much extra of the tan yarn I’ll need to finish the second sleeve, I’ll decide on what I’ll do to complete the sweater.  I did correspond with Karin at Ensign Brook Farms and I couldn’t be certain of the colors on a computer screen. I have other options, so I’ll continue forward.