@$% !!

My computer died two nights ago. I was in the middle of something and got up to get a glass of water and when I came back the computer was dead. Some fatal error or another.

This is the second time now that darn thing died on me. The first time was messy, because it took all my files with it. This time I was prepared. I had back-ups. The truth is, I spotted erratic behavior last week and immediately backed everything up. Or so I thought. It turns out I forgot about iTunes.

Then the battery on my iPod needed recharging today. Of course, I didn’t think much of it and plugged the shuffle into my husband’s computer. As soon as I connected the two, iTunes popped up and “updated” my shuffle. UGH. It erased everything I had on it and replaced it with songs from early 2006 (the last time I was forced to use the husband’s computer). I am so mad right now. It didn’t help that I couldn’t figure out how to contact iTunes support. After a bunch of self-help dead-ends and reading my way through various FAQ, I finally found the contact-us form. Yay. Now I hope they come through and restore what I lost.