Operator error

In case you heard a scream come from Diamond Springs -- don't be alarmed. It's not the cold house, or my ice-cold bare feet tucked under the dining room table.

I just deleted over half of my 2007 images from the hard drive! Like an idiot -- one who must read the Idiot's Guide to the Microsoft Recycle Bin -- I blindly clicked OK on the dialog box that told me that certain folders couldn't be recovered. (Why I was deleting the images is a discussion for another time.)

To my credit, about 33 of the 40 folders of last year's photographs were backed up to an external hard drive. The best I can determine, I last backed up my files in early December. (I know, my bad!)

Seven (or is it six?) folders -- most of my shooting for December -- seems to be the focus of my search for now. Fortunately, my railroad photos are secure in their own folder.

The missing pictures are from of a hike on the El Dorado Trail, holiday potluck at work, Christmas Day model train adventure, light fixture repairs at the church building, first snow in Diamond Springs and the grand kids this last weekend.

One habit helped me recover all the missing photos in the past hour, all except those from the holiday potluck.

I never delete any images off the CompactFlash card until I need it again. The pics of the grand kids were tucked safely away on the card in the camera. My second card -- stored in the camera bag -- contained all the missing the missing images except the holiday potluck.

At this point, all I lost were the pictures that I had processed for the blog. I'm relieved!

My feet are still cold -- I've been stuck at the laptop for the past two hours recovering photos. Hot coffee and an occasional hug from my seven-month-old granddaughter have kept me warm.