[ale] Archival Life [wuz: 26G to backup]

[Leam Hall]

I have lost several years of e-mail due to my file server croaking. My 
fault completely, yet it makes me wonder what I'm doing in such dusty 
archival mode. If those friends whose e-mails I have lost were such good 
friends, are we still engaged and growing our friendship? If so then 
history can be forgotten as relationships are deepened and changed. 
Otherwise I should learn to keep better track of my friends.

Having moved around a lot, there is almost no thing in my life now that 
I had ten years ago. Except perhaps for the boots I was issued in 1991. 
My life has been enriched by many and as I mature there seems to be more 
worth to living in the present than archiving the past or worrying about 
the future.

We used to go into moves with boxes that had not been unpacked from the 
last move. A sure sign that the contents were probably better given to 
Goodwill or thrown away. I feel the same about my data, now. If I have 
to think about its condition after a decade of non use then it probably 
isn't worth the archiving effort.

Just my thoughts. I'm reading Viktor Frankl's "Man's search for meaning" 
and find the challenge to stay in the present a worthy one.

Leam