I’m the first one to admit that I covet my Apple G4 laptop. It has served me well online, in chat rooms, in iphoto and especially in i-tunes where I boastfully admit to having over 5,000 songs.

There were signs of course, but I ignored them. However, there was always a nagging voice to serve as a reminder that I should probably buy an external hard-drive to back up my data. I had heard and seen the devastation of what happens when people lose their data. In fact, in a classic Sex & the City episode, Carrie gets "sad-mac’d" and it instantly turns her life on a dramatic dime.

I have had Apple computers my whole life. Part of the fun is having them for a while and then upgrading to whatever Steve Jobs has spun into the latest have-to-have computer with crazy new features etc. I have noticed though in the last few years that the Apple brand computers do not seem to be serving me as well as they used to. I feel like there is some mad (brilliant) computer geek that programs the computer to just magically stop working in the year X at 10:33am on Feb 23^rd. Because that is exactly what happened to my beloved laptop.

One minute its fine and the next it needs to rushed to the Apple Hospital known as Tekserve on 23^rd and 6^th in Manhattan. If anyone has ever been to this magical place, its fascinating seeing all the old Macs stacked on the wall like markers in a graveyard.

I saw my first computer, the Apple IIe, I saw the Mcintosh, the computer that made me so popular in college because I actually had a computer and was one of the only people who didn’t have to go to the computer lab! Ah, the nostalgia.

As I took a number and sat in "triage," I looked around and saw that everyone had the same expression I had. It was like bringing your family pet to the vet. After about 25 anxious minutes, my number was called. The technician with her cool tattoos and many piercings takes a look and says the dreaded rhetorical question, "You backed up, right?"

This couldn’t be happening. Of course I never backed up! I meant to, doesn’t that count????????? The 3,000 pictures that I have from prior years at the Jersey shore, vacation pictures from LA, Arizona, Italy, Newport, Nantucket, Turks & Caicos, precious pictures of family pets and family members all flashed before my eyes. Holy sh*t, I think. I am never going to see those pictures again. And the playlists that I so meticulously put together like a high school girl putting a mixed tape together for her boyfriend – gone! The soundtrack of my life as I knew it was gone, vanished…

I ask her to reboot for the third time to see if it launches. She tries and nothing happens. TRY AGAIN! I plead a little too loudly. I am on the edge, I can feel it. Tears spring to my eyes. "Its time….," the technician says as she ever so slowly removes the power cord, "its time for data recovery", she somberly says. I stood there stunned. How could my reliable machine betray me like this??? The technician smugly then tells me that she could probably recover my data to the tune of $650. What could I do? She knew she had me. I had no choice. I reached for my credit card. She then tells me that the average laptop these days only last 3-5 years at best. So says she could replace my hard-drive but what was the point, I figured. I might as well go for the new computer.

I thanked the technician and said I would need to go home and think about it. As I left with a lighter computer bag, it was my heart that was heavy.

The death of my Mac was a few weeks ago. I am still reeling but the new iBook, I have to admit, is totally rad! They were able to recover my data and I am slowly integrating my old life with my new life. There have been some challenges and there are days I just wish I could have my old computer back. What is really cool about my new laptop is that is has built in a program called "Time Machine". It automatically backs up your data every few days. Wish my old machine had had that….

LJ Miller tells this story as a cautionary tale. External hard-drives are fairly inexpensive and can really save you a lot of heartache. She writes this story from her new computer and admires how the keys feel so cool beneath her fingertips. For comments or shared tales, please visit the message boards.