Since I have nothing much to do but time (or so I thought), the above saying came to me last night. I went to balance the checkbook for the month and instead found missing data (like 2 years worth) from Quicken on the main computer. I have done this before - forgotten to back up...but I had been so where were the files? Then I remembered I had put Quicken on my laptop. Said laptop died almost 6 months ago. I haven't replaced it because frankly I hate hate Vista and refuse to buy it so I have and have been without my own laptop so I have been 'sharing' hubs. Please note the small fact that for the past 6 months, I have not had my laptop so therefore it had not been updated either. Nope - all I could remember was the following.
So my dear son-in-law had gotten this doo-hickey thingie that transfers data off the laptop hard drive and transferred it to a data storage thingie. OKOK I don't even pretend to know the names of those things. I probably have been told numerous times but they escape my brain right now.
I thought - great! I have the thingie and can replace the files on the main computer so I did. Big OOPS........AFTER I overwrote the files I remembered that small wee fact that I haven't updated the laptop for over 6 months. Yep, I overwrote the files. I had the most up to date files on the computer if I had gone into the right account. So now I am looking for the other doohickie thingie that I had backed up the files on last month. I haven't found it yet but realize I can't get to some places. I did try on my hands and knees but soon realized crawling on the floor feels good for a baby but for a 55 year old woman sporting a humungo cast and bruised knees, it doesn't feel so great. Plus I had son, daughter, and hubs watching me laughing their you know whats off.
So instead I saved my dignity and knees, and began replacing the data for the last 6 months. I know that as soon as I get it all done, that doohickie will show up.
So up to the past 21 days, all I wanted to do was sit home and read and do whatever I wanted. I got my wish. It isn't all it is cracked up to be.
Which then led me to wonder where this quote came from. There are a number of versions and it is attributed to a number of sources such as in the story the Monkey's Paw, which is a classic horror story apparently written by W.W. Jacobs, first appearing in Harpers Monthly in 1902. The story begins with a quotation "Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it"; however it was attributed by Jacobs to anonymous. Here are some other variations I found which are interesting:
Be careful what you
set your heart upon--
for it will surely be yours.
Attributed to James Baldwin
I write of the wish that comes true--
for some reason,
a terrifying concept.
By James M. Cain
Ambition is a Dead Sea fruit
and the greatest peril to the soul is that
one is likely to get precisely what he is seeking. By Edward Dahlberg
Beware, my Lord!
Beware lest stern Heaven hate
you enough to hear your prayers!
By Anatole France
I still like my version, be careful for what you wish for because it can come true. Now I wish I could find that doohickie.
