IT'S OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL

DAMNIT!

Ok, so you already know that when my computer died a few years ago, we had to send the hard drive and the failed backups to a place where my files could (hopefully) be recovered.  I needed to be able to access my graphic design files. NEEDED TO.  We've talked about this. You know this.

We got the resulting files back from the place, and it was thousands and thousands and thousands of weirdly named, coded files in a series of folders that had no distinguishing names or categories or anything else that might tell us what the heck we were looking at.  I have sifted through them over time, and most of them were completely useless. I didn't know at the time that the computer was saving low res images of just about every button, avatar photo, arrows....just whatever garbage that pops up on your screen while browsing the internet, there was an individual file for it in the folders.  You might already know that too, I have no idea what I've talked about as far as this goes, because it's been an ongoing battle and I'm sure it's frustrated me before.

I'd given up trying to sort through them time and again, because it was just too tedious, and I was getting nowhere. However, knowing I needed and wanted to recover my work from this haystack of suck kept me going back to try and sort through them periodically.  I kept thinking that I could find something usable.  Maybe it would just be fonts, or photoshop brushes, or elements, or anything that could help me, but I thought that eventually I'd find something, ya know?

There was one file folder that, could it be found, would give me at least some of the stuff I'd been looking for. It was a classic case of putting all of my eggs in one basket, I know, but I didn't realize at the time that I was setting myself up for disaster.  Today, I found it!  I was thrilled, because...well, it was my stuff!  I'd have something to get back!  Yay!

BUT NO! PUT AWAY YOUR YAY.  I opened the folder, and inside were files. All of them, save three, were corrupted. The files that would have brought back 15 years of work were useless. They aren't even recognized as anything my computer will open.  All I have is a photo of Mr. Lee, a to-do list from 2011, and a weird photo of myself that I was using to practice an Illustrator technique on.

I kept thinking that I'd find something that still worked, but no, everything else is broken. I am, officially as of today, done trying to find any usable files because there are none. Three years of sifting through files to find out that the files I was looking for wouldn't work.

I'm disappointed of course, and I had a moment today where I was even nauseated about it, but I think deep down I knew they were gone.  It was just So. Much. Work. To. Lose. UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But, at least I know now. I don't have to sit and click on hundreds of files one at a time anymore. That's something, at least.  Onward and upward from here, right?  Oy.