Well I didn’t see that coming. I lost my notebook.
You know the book I say you should always have with you? The one you take everywhere? To the gym and the movies and on dates and vacations? Well I use mine religiously and it has pages and pages of notes, and it’s gone.
I have searched everywhere. My office is now in shambles. I have gone through every jacket pocket. Every bag. Every cupboard and shelf in the house. It’s gone.
The reason it really pisses me off is, well, there’s two reasons.
1. I don’t lose things. I am that careful guy. I have place for things and that’s where they go. I check my pockets and have a quick glance around before leaving restaurants to make sure I haven’t dropped anything. I don’t lose things.
2. Part of my job description in the film industry is to think of things that could go wrong and then make sure it doesn’t happen. So why didn’t I think of photocopying or scanning the pages and pages of notes? It wouldn’t have taken long. It wouldn’t cost me any money. It would take what… a minute to scan it every time I filled another page?
And to lose something so valuable. I had 6 months of notes in this notebook. And those aren’t coming back.
So I know I’m venting here, but people take it as a lesson. Back your work up. Whether it is your written notes, or, and especially, your computer.
My Mac guy sold me a Time Machine a couple years ago. You plug it into your USB port and it backs up your work every hour (or whatever you set it for), and, if you haven’t used it in 10 days it alerts you that you haven’t backed up your work for 10 days. And 10 days would be a lot of writing to lose.
So, learn from my short-sighted mistake and photocopy or scan your little notebook every once in awhile. That way if the inevitable happens you won’t be grieving the loss of what was surely a million dollar idea.
Well I guess that’s it for me for today. I’m off to the dollar store.