At 4:35 this morning and perhaps to commemmorate the 102nd anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake of 18 Apr 1906, Mother Nature let us know that she has the upper hand in all things weather related. Shaking of buildings accompanied by a loud noise pulled us from our beds and made us wonder if this was the “big one” that has been predicted for the Midwest for years. Fortunately, it was only a 5.2 quake followed by smaller aftershocks. I hesitate to say “only a 5.2” as it might be interpreted as teasing Mother Nature and having her retaliate with an even stronger one.
Keeping this in mind, I tiptoed quietly to the family room, turned on the TV and watched for news of the sleep-shattering event. Everyone agrees that it could have been worse. What if it had been worse? Are we prepared? No, not the food supply; most of us have enough food to keep us from starvation for days. I’m talking about all of the research we have done - our files, CDs, charts, and computer programs. Will they be safe until all systems are restored? If you haven’t done so yet, make copies of your computer programs and files. Store them in safe places - in a bank safety deposit box or with a friend or relative out of town. Scan those charts and documents onto CDs and place them in a safe place too. Think about it. Will your material that took years to gather be wiped out in a brief moment?
2 comments:
I have been following your blog for a few weeks, and really enjoy the reading. I do my own family history and keep hoping for family names to appear. It is wonderful what is now available to us through computers.
I appreciate what you said about being prepared, as a friend of our lost their home to a fire. It was sad to see all possessions gone and all her hard work on her scrapbooks. The one thing I am starting to slowly do is to put my pictures on fashdrives. They are easier to carry around and only cost about $20 or less, they hold lots and lots of information. I have one for pictures, one for family history and one for extra things I want to save. Even though this was written almost a year ago, I just wanted to say thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for your comments. You are right - flash drives are a wonderful way to keep our pictures and information portable I thought I would miss floppies, but do not - they are a thing of the past.
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