Dean's World

First, and not at work! Good night here.

My best answer (for one that isn't computer-wise is call HP support (you will have to pay) and ask them if they can retrieve your old hard-drive.

Maggie,

Let's start with an important question: what's a fortune? Adding the old drive to the new computer should run you one labor hour (probably 15 actual minutes, but they'll bill an hour). Depending on where you're at, that might be $60-$75, might be more. If...

1. $75 isn't too much for you, and...

2. You really want it easy, and...

3. You're at all technophobic...

...then that's the way I would go.

But I'll bet your kids or you have a friend who could do the job as a favor.

If it comes to it, you can probably do this yourself. Heck, I hate hardware work with a passion, and I wouldn't hesitate a minute on swapping a drive between two machines. It's usually as easy as hardware can get and still require a screwdriver.

I'll be happy to explain in detail, but I have one question first: what's the new computer? It probably won't matter, but it might.

Oh, and for the new computer, I strongly recommend Carbonite. Unlimited, effortless, secure on-line backup for one computer for $49.99 per year.

My brother arrived safely in Afghanistan, so that's OK.

RE: the hard drive - should be really simple to do. You might consider using a gmail account to back up some files on the fly, using gspace.

OK, Maggie, I'll be sending you some instructions. There will be some back-and-forth here, so stay by your email.

Yes, an external housing is a possibility. It's a cool option, in some ways; but the last one I bought was about double that $20 figure, so let's hope that's not how we need to go.

Maggie-

The problem you are likely to face is with compatability. If the old drive is IDE (also called Ultra ATA) you may not be able to attach it to the new system. New computers are all SATA (Serial ATA)- it would require the use of an adapter to connect the old drive to the new SATA controller.

For an external enclosure I'd suggest looking at www.newegg.com- they tend to carry cheap ones, like this one by AZIO

John,

Good call on IDE/SATA. I didn't catch that. Maggie couldn't install in the new computer, so she currently has the drive in her own computer while she copies the files.

Also good advice on tha Azio. I'll pass that along.

Non-techno night for me.

I would have loved a Thursday night open thread night so I could unload this one, but no such luck.

Last night I ran a bad call and had to call it quits (CPR wise) on my son's very good friend, John. They were even roommates for about 2 years. He was 29 years old, and he died alone in an upstairs dingy apartment, with his cell phone open next to one hand, and a tourniquet next to the other. There was other evidence of drug use in the room, and it's fairly certain he died of a heroin overdose.

Heroin. In this small backwoods town, heroin has taken 3 young men in the past year, and nearly taken one other. That I know of.

This guy, John, was a most remarkable individual. Charismatic doesn't even begin to describe him. Dark haired and Italian in a Sopranos kind of way, he was handsome, a little bit pudgy, outgoing but with a shy smile that melted the girls into puddles, and kind and gentle. He was extraordinarily intelligent and possessed that sense of timing that made him a wonderful storyteller. You couldn't be around John long without needing a break because your cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing.

For all that, he was a bartender, the most popular one in the area, and made an extremely good living at it. My son and John were a bartending team when Joe was in college, and together the two of them might split $1800 a night on Fridays and Saturdays. It was heady money for college boys.

He was an avid golfer, and nobody knew their sports teams like John. He always had season tickets to the Yanks and Giants. He lived for sports, I used to think. In the winter, he'd go to Florida several times for the golfing, and maybe for South Beach a little, too. He was very handsome.

Two years ago, he met Courtney. She was from the city, and was rumored to have posed nude for a magazine. She was beautiful, of course, and a bit hardened. She was also a heroin addict. John spoke to me about her several times, asking how to deal with what was going on, and just venting as she was scheduled to go into rehab on Tuesday, or next Friday, or a week from Monday....she rehabbed a lot. And relapsed every time. And somewhere along the way, John succumbed to the temptation and began the trajectory that ended in that dirty apartment last night.

John's father is a prominent surgeon, and his mother is a PA with the local heath care system. They are wealthy, of course, and there were no doors closed to him. He had every advantage, when you stand on the outside and look in. But I have to wonder what I couldn't see...what was really on the inside to make this wonderful person end up like this?

I'm a fairly jaded person, I think. You can't do this job without getting somewhat calloused. It's a blessing, actually. But losing John last night...knowing CPR was for naught, seeing all the signs, calling the Medical Director for permission to stop...I went through the mechanics of it, but inside I think I was really scared. He was roommates with my son, who doesn't even drink. Could Joe be hiding a dark side, a double life, like John did? Only a handful of people knew about the heroin - not even my son knew. How well he hid it. Right up to death. It scares me because I have children. It scares me because John was unable to fight it off. It terrifies me because I didn't see the signs, or if I did, I didn't pick up on them. I'm a Level 3 tek...I didn't fall off the tomato cart yesterday.

Complacency is my enemy. I have new eyes today, and I've been deep into the books since morning to learn more about this sneaking, deadly, ugly thief that takes a blessing like John and sends him into a tailspin that is unrecoverable.

If you're a parent, or an aunt or an uncle or brother or sister... Google heroin addiction and learn all you can about it. And remember that it's not just a gutter drug. It's the clean cut, shiny cheeked kids who have the money for such a recreation.

There is only one restaurant in town open tonight. All the others have closed in memorial to John, who either worked there or was counted as a friend to the owners. It's amazing. The one place that is open is packed with people talking in quiet, reverent voices about how they remember him. It's really amazing - there are hundreds of people there, milling around outside and inside. What a great loss to the town...to the earth, really.

I'm sorry to hear that too Linda. One of my best friends growing up is a heroin addict right now.

90% of the worlds heroin is grown in afghanistan, and the profit is funding Islamic extremists right now.

Out of respect/courtesy I have deleted a few paragraphs of what I wrote, and decided to just stop right here.

Thank you, Jan and Josh.

Josh, if you have useful information about heroin, don't delete. Please pass it along. Thanks you for the courtesy, but a good heroin rant would be welcome, trust me.

Linda