So what do I do now?

This probably isn't going to be a very perplexing problem for you.  In fact, I doubt that anyone else in this entire world would give this a second thought, but to me - I don't know which answer I am going to use.

You see - yesterday I found I had filled the hard drive on the old laptop I use upstairs for my embroidery designs.  Now this could be because the hard drive is something like 65 gb.  The computer is getting old.  It crashed once, and I suspect that all those old files that were on it are still lurking someplace in the dark recesses of the hard drive.  I have tried to find space.  I deleted a lot of old files.  But I think there are some I cannot find, and I don't delete files willy-nilly anymore.  I managed to do some serious harm to my school issued laptop when I was still an in-service teacher.  So I try to be a little more careful.

The other explanation is perhaps, just perhaps, I have too many blasted embroidery files.  Just because collecting free embroidery designs has replaced my passion for genealogy ...  The last time the files were counted they numbered something like 46,000.  Hmmm.  Perhaps, just perhaps.

But the problem exists never-the-less.  I have been thinking of various solutions.  The most immediate solution is to put the designs on CD's.  That is an easy fix, and many of the designs were placed on CD's when I used the reader to load them into the machine.  That was pre-digitizer.  Yeah, spend $1400 to replace a CD reader. But it is a set-up that works well, and IF I ever learn to use it properly, I will have greater flexibility - to get MORE designs.  Well...

The downside is that I don't trust CD's - at all.  I really don't want to lose those designs.  Not all were free.  And many of those that were free are special.  Nope - can't afford to lose them.

Another possible solution would be to get some large thumb drives.  I have mostly small ones now because the machine reads the 2 G ones easily.  The bigger they get, the more time it takes to load the designs.  But I could use them as storage to then move the design to the computer to load into the machine via the digitizer.

Downside here - not trusting of the thumb drives either.  Of course, I should be so trusting of the hard drive on the computer?

The last thought I have had is to buy another external hard drive.  I have one, and I backed up the designs on it yesterday, but I need to take a cold look at the files on that drive.  I have piled files on there that seemed to be of vast importance when I put them there.  Now I am trying to remember just why those files were so important.  Plus, I have backed up embroidery designs so many times, I am not sure where the most recent back-up is.  Darn chemo-menopause-old age brain.

This has the same downside as the other ways.  Plus, the external hard drive is the most expensive.  For some reason I seem to trust it more, however.

I think what I am going to do is a combination of at least two of the possible solutions.  Probably all three.  It is tempting to go to an off-site storage place I have seen advertised.

But the problem is that I cannot get this computer to accept the router, meaning I have no internet upstairs.  I got the wild idea to try to set up the home connection thingy.  I have worked on that for the last couple of days.  It still doesn't work.  I look at my  internet accesses upstairs, and it shows that it recognizes this computer as an internet place.  But this computer doesn't send any information to that one.  I guess this one is just too stuck-up.

As to the weekend with the dogs - the old lab is still alive, and doing well.  When you are taking care of a dog that old, you worry.  You surely don't want him passing on your watch.  Simone and Angelica are doing ok, with Angelica staying in her kennel most of the time.  We just keep them apart with that little grating.  Shadow on the other hand is back on top of the china cabinet.  Last night I went in to pluck him down so he could use his litter, eat and get some water.  I imagine he is back up there today.

All will be back to normal tomorrow.  Mean time, Lady Bug won her 50 m breast stroke.  It was a pretty sight.  Perhaps I will see if I can hijack the video from Facebook and put it here.  Brave talk from one who is becoming very technology challenged!

Keep warm, and peace.