The Cup is Already Broken, The Laptop is Already Wiped

Finding an upside after a particularly awful tech nightmare moment

1. Never presume a tech support person (or bot) is correct.

2. Yes, back up shit that matters.

3. Even if your computer isn’t wiped, find time periodically to reassess your ideas.

I'm typing this on a dusted-off old Macbook because I just had a mindblowing mental and emotional reset moment.

I’d noticed in passing that the seam between the bottom plate and body of my much-used but reliable 2022 Macbook Air had opened a tiny bit on one side (probably from dropping it at some point).

So I connected with Apple Support and started the text chat with an agent. We worked through the process (it’s under warranty). And it was time to arrange shipping (no Apple Genius Bar for more than 170 miles here in downeast Maine).

The agent texted that I have to turn off "Find My Mac" from iCloud before setting up shipping.

I go through the steps.

But one next-step window in Find My Mac says "Erase" instead of "Remove." I ask in the support chat if that's the button to push. I'm told YES. (Here's where I wish I'd taken a screen grab...)

Some tiny neuron deep in my brain is flickering a caution light, but...

Click.

And I watch my computer screen go to black and the device erases in front of me. No stopping it...

Inserted 7:20 pm, I stumbled on this wonderful email hours after the damage was done.

The dogs rush in as they hear my hair-tearing yowls...

Digital disaster

I settle.

I breathe and start to think, what have I lost?

I mentally note with relief how much I rely on Google Drive (images, text files..). But then I start to recall my Garageband and iMovie projects, a heap of audio files... (As you likely know by now, I'm a songwriter along with my journalism). Ouch.

Then, I realize, my Powerpoint talks.. My talks.... My TALKS.... I have lots backed up as Google Slides but presentations with lots of embedded videos don't convert....

More losses become evident. I recall ruefully how I used Backblaze in years past as a full computer backup.. I stopped because of Google Drive. And I hate iCloud...

Another breath.

I connect by phone with a very capable Apple repair agent [advice: only speak to a human] and he finds the old text support chat and acknowledges the error by his Apple peer...

But we are where we are... We get back to the physical repair plan that started this circle of hell a couple hours earlier.

Finding the up side...

I breathe again and think about the positive aspects of the path ahead. I try channeling Dr. Arthur Brooks and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche...

"The cup is alreaady broken... The cup is already broken..."

Maybe it's time to rebuild my climate and disaster and media lectures without path-dependent lock-in to longstanding narratives...

Maybe it is time for a major digital cleanse. (It is, whether I want it or not.)

I breathe again.

Time to play my guitar a bit, then play with the dogs, to get the recyclabes and trash to the transfer station.

To appreciate the Maine chill and rain after a sunny, but hot, week.

Onward.