allism's Journal: Maybe some people shouldn't have computers

This is a rather sad followup to this post I made after a rather frustrating trip to Oklahoma last Thanksgiving.

My son and I just got back from a vacation with my mom and her partner in Missouri. My mom's partner is an excellent professional photographer who has recently made the switch from film to digital. She had a wedding to shoot in St. Louis, and they have an RCI membership, so they reserved a condo in Clarksville, MO and off we went for the week before the wedding.

Mom and T. shot the wedding and drove back to Oklahoma. When they got back, there was no power in half of the trailer they are living in until they get their house done. Apparently the phone lines were fried too.

This is where it gets fuzzy. I KNOW I put both of their computers on surge protectors when we were down last Thanksgiving, and apparently at least one of their computers were working when they got home, because T. managed to get the photos off of the camera and onto one of the computers. As far as I can tell from what she said, maybe they moved the computers to a working outlet without taking the surge protectors along, and maybe something happened while they were rewiring the house to correct the electrical problems. At any rate, neither of the computers still boots up. T. hadn't burned a backup CD, and had cleared the photos off the memory cards for the camera.

We had a brief discussion about whole-house surge protection in the house they are building (scheduled to be done next summer, I hope), and they finally agreed to have one of my friends come out and look at it instead of expecting me to drive all the way down there, since I'm not really in a position as far as my work backlog and my health to take a trip there. I just hope the wedding pix are recoverable - that would be something I would never forgive a photographer for. Everyone has to learn the hard way to make backups of critical data immediately, but hopefully it's not on something as irreplaceable as wedding pictures.

true of all technologies

[subgeek]

some people should not drive; still others are ill equipped to operate scissors.

Whole house surge

[JohnnyComeLately]

One of the companies we own (Linear Corp.) specializes in surge protection and makes a whole house surge system [panamax.com]. They don't really push it, but it's all good stuff that they make.

I carry multiple memory sticks and don't delete off my computer until I've got two electronic copies. I've always been paranoid of losing pics. I had a few hundred personal photos I'd uploaded and had online. I backed up my website several times a month just in case the site ever tanked.

What kind of surge protector?

[mekkab]

I just lost a PSU (check my recent JE's for the announcement, and photographs of the lovely case mod to fix it) that was on a supposedly good surge protector (an IBM, no less! :). You can't trust those things.

UPS' are the answer simply for their ability to condition the line voltage (the bonus ones send a shutdown command via USB).

Re:What kind of surge protector?

[allism]

I don't recall what kind, and I'm sure not driving down there to find out ;)

Re:What kind of surge protector?

[mekkab]

Never mind the specifics; they could still be plugged into a so-called surge protector and get burnt.

True 'dat.

Re:What kind of surge protector?

[allism]

If they ever call my friend that has repeatedly called them to help with this, I'll have him investigate. Knowing their history, though, it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't plugged into anything but the wall.