But my penance may be done.
For the past three decades, Quicken has been my financial tracker. When I started, I used the computer software as an easy bank and credit card account system. But, it soon turned into a method to track all of my finances. Partly, as the software improved. Partly, as my information needs changed.
It has been a great companion. My taxes are simple to complete. And I always know just where my hard-earned money is going.
Of course, one place it went recently is into the hands of a Manzanillo thief when my backpack was lifted along with my computer, Kindle, binoculars, and camera. And with the computer went all of my Quicken data.
Long ago, I learned to back up my data. I have a hard drive in the house that wirelessly backs up all of my computer information in real time. As I create it, it backs up.
I am wily enough though to know that Quicken protects its information from intrusion and will not allow that type of back up. Quicken users need to back up their data in a separate operation.
And I have done that for years. I have (or had) a thumb drive specifically dedicated to Quicken backups. But I probably do not need to tell you where it was on the day of The Great Theft. Yup. In the backpack.
I had left everytthing electronic in the backpack after returning from Europe. After all, I was moving within days. What was the point of splitting everything up -- only to turn around and re-pack it? (I guess we all know "the point" now. I certainly do.)
But not to worry. For the past year, Quicken has informed me it is transferring my information to its cloud every time I close the program. I was positive there would be a full back up somewhere on the Quicken site.
Wrong. When I went looking, the web site helpfully offered this warning. "The Quicken Cloud is not a backup, cannot be used to recover 'lost' data, and cannot be used to start a new file." It is designed solely to let my telephone synch with my other Quicken data.
So, I accepted the fact that I was about to pay the wages of my technological sins. I would buy the latest version of Quicken and start all over.
Then, my sainted brother came to the rescue. He noticed on my wireless back up, there was a ghost copy of a Quicken data file from early August. And it turned out to be just what I needed.
Of course, there was a big data gap between early August and early November, with quite a bit of European spending and house-purchasing mixed in the lot. But it was better than nothing.
I will spare you the travails of getting new software to work and the repeated deletion and revision of accounts and entries. But after several days of monastic clerkship, I now have the semblance of a working financial record.
It is not as accurate or detailed as the lost record. However, I am pleased to have what I have -- and I know I have a far better idea of my finances than does the federal government knows about its own.
Because this essay started with a religious tone, it needs a moral conclusion. And this is it.
Like most morals, we already know them -- and that they are true. Learn from the failings of a fellow sinner.
The first is -- Thou shalt back up data daily. In this case, I need to get another thumb drive immediately.
The second is not unlike the first -- Thou shalt not store your back up device in the same spot as the source information. My momentary lapse of that precept has cost me enough to re-teach me the lesson.
The third is -- Thou shalt not get so obsessive about data. After all, they are just numbers. If I could not have restored the Quicken information, my life would have gone on as before.
That is one major project out of the way. Now, I can sort through my filing box and store it away. That is most likely my job for the afternoon.
Then I can start documenting this new house for you. I do keep promising.
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