Don’t panic

Last night I undertook some upgrades to the operating system of my laptop. I’ve done it before on many occasions with no problem.

It took about half an hour or so and when I logged on again and went to access my files and photos, I was greeted with the Message “zero bytes. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.

I had been wanting to check with the Apple store why some documents did not seem to be backing up but with all that’s been going on I had postponed the visit. I’ve also spent many hours preparing photos for a talk on Budapest this Thursday and had mentally planned to go in on Friday.

After various explorations if the system I found that everything had been archived and a new document folder created. Hence the “zero”. I still couldn’t access all my files but I knew they were there.

So after a late morning Church meeting, I headed in to the Apple store and sought a walk in appointment. I got one for 3 pm. To fill in time I wandered around and found myself at the National Portrait Gallery. The entrance hall is always impressive but it also now has the painting of Doddie Weir who is about to be part of the national MND trial. ie the blip.

There was also a fascinating photographic exhibition - the. MacKinnon collection - which had late 19th and early 20th century photos of Scotland. Well worth a longer visit.

Back at Apple my access was restored by one of their very helpful staff A separate problem accessing the App Store took longer to address and will require a reformat - after Thursday's talk.

Back home by 6. Not quite the day I had planned. But panic over.