In this instance, I specifically mean me. True, I don't count my blessings nearly often enough. Most times, though, I honestly consider myself walking proof that the Powers That Be do, indeed, look out for fools. But that's no excuse.
Case in point: A brand-new motherboard freaked out not long after Dennis graciously upgraded nearly every part of my workstation, and I rebuilt the software parts from scratch and backed up data files. With vacation looming in the schedule, I figured I'd just limp along with a laptop and deal with another round of backing up later.
That reckoned without the Household Hardware Guru having to squeak the return in to TigerDirect under warranty. And so I arrived home to find the poor beastie already down in the den and disassembled. Whoops. Fortunately, the gamble paid off and the new Asus motherboard had the same chipset as its precessor, no manufacturing substitutions having been made in the interrim. Ubuntu booted up tonight as if it hadn't missed a beat in over three weeks.
Needless to write, the first thing I did after that was to download everything that's been living on various servers, then plug in a flash drive and copy, copy like the wind! Because the inconvenience was merely the proverbial warning shot over the bow from the Powers That Be--and duly respected as such. And in that penitent, chastened spirit, I present the incident as testimony that backups are a waste of neither time nor money. Hardware can blow out at any time for any reason, and, well, ounces of prevention, yo.
