Computer-Based Amnesia

My primary computer has been largely unavailable for use for the last FIVE weeks due to technical difficulties (or perhaps they were emotional – the motherboard had to be replaced).  I’ve been using a borrowed laptop during this time, so I wasn’t completely without internet access or the ability to create files.  However, I did not have access to any of my already created files, and since some of my passwords were on that computer, I therefore also didn’t have access to some of my online accounts.  I also have subscribed to RSS feeds to about twenty blogs, and I couldn’t remember what all of them were, so I got way behind on my blog reading.

This motherboard relationship issue actually ended up creating some wetware memory difficulties for me, because I cannot tell you how many times I would think of something I wanted to look up, and I knew I had a file for it, but I couldn’t access it.  I’ve decided to call this state of frustration and lack of memory access “computer-based amnesia”.  I really had no idea how much I relied on my computer to remember stuff for me.  It’s like what I have in my own head is just the directory and a brief summary of the files; my brain dumped the primary content because it didn’t have to do the work of remembering it.

At least I didn’t have any problems creating new content; I wrote the “Part I” series on my military experiences without any reference to old diary entries from that time period.  I am a little hesitant, though, to pull up those diary entries now and do fact checking, because I’m pretty proud about how the series turned out, and I don’t want the facts to get in the way of my good stories.

And yes, I do have hard copies of MOST of my passwords, I don’t keep them ALL on my computer.  And yes, I know external back-up drives are just common sense.  Long story short – I will get it rectified eventually.

In the meantime, I hope my computer has a strong, loving, healthy relationship with its new motherboard, because I do not want to come down with another bout of computer-based amnesia!