I have a new desktop on my computer.  The Wolvog set it up for me, giving it an enticing beach background so I’ll want to show up for work each day.  He placed two layers of passwords on the desktop, so it’s a pain in the ass to get in or out of it.  Which is why I now tend to stay put once I go to work.

Up until this week, I worked from this desktop.  I can swipe right and get to the document I’m working on, or swipe left and get to my email, and it makes me feel like I’m on top of everything.  Actually, that should be past tense.  I thought I was on top of everything until I realized that the only thing I was on top of was my email inbox.

I commented on this at the end of a long day where I had written very few pages but had kept my inbox at zero because… well… email is usually pretty easy and writing is hard.  But don’t worry; I didn’t just waste my time with email.  I can access music or movies through this desktop, so I listened or watched for a few minutes as a reward.  (For accomplishing nothing?)  I can get to every social media account from this desktop, so I checked in with Twitter and Facebook several times.  My feed reader is on this desktop, so I read all of your blogs.

The Wolvog suggested that I set up a distraction-free workspace.  A space with Internet access in case I need to look up a fact but is never logged into email.  A space with just the documents I need for the project I’m working on, and no other documents to peruse to waste time.  A space with nothing but my work.

It’s like being told that I need to eat oatbran for every meal.

But he set it up and made it look pretty and imported all the documents I need and none of the bookmarks I want.

As much as I don’t exactly enjoy hanging out in that space, it really has changed my work habits.  I now check my email in the morning and then “leave for work,” commuting over to the other desktop.  I set my phone across the room so I can’t easily check into email without leaving the workspace.  And, as I said, he has made it a pain in the ass to exit or enter so I tend to stay put.  Every hour or so, I quickly check email from my phone and only log out of my desktop to answer one if it’s time sensitive.  Other than that, when I’m at work, I am really, truly at work.

I have no willpower.  I admit that I have no willpower when it comes to email, blogs, and finding 80s commercials on YouTube.  But I have a new workspace, so it’s all going to be just fine.

The Wolvog and ChickieNob have started taking 3-D 360 photographs and showing them through a VR viewer.  Their viewer doesn’t have a head strap, so they fashioned one out of an old pair of swim goggles.  Sometimes I see them walking around the house, spinning around very slowly with their hands outstretched.

I had not put their VR viewer back on my head since the first time I tried the VR viewer and wanted to throw up for hours afterward.  But I recently tried it again now that the pictures are coming from inside the house.  (Cue scary music.)

I stood in the kitchen and spun around, looking at our living room.  Instead of feeling the carpet beneath my feet, which I could see any time I looked down, I felt the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.  So disconcerting.

But the creepiest thing was that they snapped a picture of me talking to Josh.  So I am standing in the kitchen, staring at my back in the living room, facing Josh.  It felt like I was astrally-projecting and viewing my own life… like Harry going into the Pensieve.  It was so so so so so weird.

Oh, and I still have a headache from it days later.  So, virtual reality… not for me.  But pretty much the weirdest thing I experienced all week.

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck: Book Review” (The MotherHub)
• “The Power of Awareness and Education” (The Road Less Travelled)
• “Exploring Infertility Treatment Options: the Augment Treatment” (The Write Mama)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Res Cogitatae has a post with a title that would normally make me run away screaming, but luckily I stuck around to read it because it’s a thoughtful piece about how you set up your life.  As a fellow ant, it made me seek out my inner grasshopper this week because she’s right: you never know what life will bring.  She writes, “This isn’t a dress rehearsal.  This is all we get.”  Amen.

Cynful Thoughts has a post about loss and why she speaks about it despite other people’s discomfort.  She points out: “The fact is, the whole reason no one wants you to announce your pregnancy early, is because if you should lose it, YOU will make OTHER PEOPLE uncomfortable with the news. THEY won’t know what to say. THEY may feel squirmy and anxious around you, trying to find the right words. YOU DEFINITELY DON’T WANT THEM TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE!”  Please go over and read the whole post.

Lastly, Everything Comes with Pancakes has a post about the two sides of crying.  Is it a release or a surrender?  Either way, go over and give her a hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Now I know what it’s like in the Pensieve. Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between September 9th and 16th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.

I am fairly resigned to the fact that data is collected about me every time I use the internet, make a purchase, or walk down the street.  Even if we are resigned, we should still talk about this topic and understand the choices we’re making as we trade off privacy for convenience.

I loved a repeat Note to Self episode this summer (that I missed the first time around) featuring the author of Data and Goliath, Bruce Schneier.  If you missed it, too, you should set aside 19 minutes today to listen.

Even though he claims that no one reads the Terms of Service (uh, I read the Terms of Service), I really liked some of Schneier’s ideas; namely, that we should all do fake searches from time to time which will become part of the data files information firms are keeping on individuals.  So these firms will know what you do like, but they also will be confused because in between real searches for real items or articles, there will be fake searches for items you don’t want or ideas you don’t support.

After the episode, I went and Googled shoes that I not only didn’t want but would never wear.  Sure enough, Facebook started showing me ads for those shoes as well as others like it.  I laughed and laughed, feeling like Vizzini in The Princess Bride, though if I take a step back and truly consider the situation, Facebook is probably more akin to the man in the mask, which means… checkmate.

But still, it is interesting to think that we can control how much the firm really knows.  That we have some power in this equation.  Yes, possibly more trouble than its worth, but I’ll still throw a fake search in from time to time.  Now excuse me, I need to go look up hair care products for blondes.

Does it bother you to think about how much information is collected about you on a yearly basis, or do you not really care if someone has assembled a list of facts about you?

The twins’ school sends out a daily grade report so you can always see their grade on each assignment as well as the overall grade in the class.  Once upon a time, I looked forward to report card days because I had no clue how they were doing in class.  But now report cards are somewhat meaningless because I’ve been getting daily spoilers through the whole marking period.

I guess it’s a good idea if your child is likely to not hand in homework.  But the numbers and letters feel a lot like site stats, another thing I don’t like to check more than four times per year.  I want a general sense of how things are going, but the focus on concrete numbers makes me feel anxious.

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When I was in middle school, my dad promised to buy me the entire Sweet Valley High series if I could get straight As.  If I couldn’t, I could get the books one at a time with my own babysitting money or wait for birthdays.  Oh, and by the way, I couldn’t.  So I never got the series delivered to me in a giant stack.

Poor me.

I was telling the twins this, wondering if my dad would still buy me the Sweet Valley High series if my kids’ got straight As.  Was the offer still valid if fulfilled by the next generation?

“What is Sweet Valley High?” the ChickieNob asked.

What is Sweet Valley High?  Are you kidding me?  It is THE guide to how to behave in high school.  What if you suddenly became as rich as Bruce Patman or Lila Fowler?  You would know that you’re supposed to sneer at nerds and drive a fast car.  What if someone offered you drugs?  DID YOU LEARN NOTHING FROM REGINA MORROW’S HEART ATTACK?  What if your best friend’s boyfriend just got his pilot license and says, “Hey, want to go on my first solo flight?”  The answer is no.

Everything I needed to know about high school I learned from that series.  Was it garbage?  Yes.  Yes, it was definitely garbage.  But it was my garbage, and I loved it so much.  I still buy copies if I see them at used bookstores.

Did anyone else read Sweet Valley High?

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I didn’t write about the 15th anniversary of September 11th yesterday because I didn’t have anything to say.  But I spent the day thinking about it.  Thinking about the actual day 15 years ago, and how it impacted everything that has come after.  I know that I come from a place of privilege; not everyone gets to decide how they approach the day.

It feels strange to not say something, or, more accurately, to say anything else.  Doesn’t it sometimes feel that way on social media?  That your choice is to speak about the event on hand — good or bad — or say nothing at all.  But anything in between feels like you’re stepping over an unspoken line.

Which is true and not true at the same time.  Maybe you thought it odd that I wrote about my guinea pig instead of the 15th anniversary, or maybe you didn’t think anything of it at all.

Do you ever feel odd not speaking about a moment or event that is clearly on everyone else’s mind?  Do you think we have an obligation to publicly speak, or is it enough to privately remember?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored posts.