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First of all, let me say how glad I am to be back on the blockchain and how much I missed you all... it's so true that you never realise how important something is until it's gone... but thankfully, this time it wasn't a forever gone.

Yes, I am still alive and haven't been burnt to a cinder in the latest bush fires that have hit the east coast of Australia. My thoughts go out to all the people who've lost their homes and had devastating damage done to their properties. I can only imagine the horrific and terrifying effect it must be to experience that kind of destruction.

All in all, it makes my recent 'problems' pale in comparison... losing a computer seems rather trivial to say the least.

The problem started with a fleeting black-out which I think may have been caused by a pesky mouse... awww I hate those meeces to pieces. A few days earlier, I had a heater that shorted out and then 'The Black-out', which lasted for less than a minute but absolutely killed my computer.

Although, I really must take some blame here... first of all, let me remind you of the 3 golden rules for computer use.

1. Make sure you have power surge protection.

2. Make sure you have power surge protection.

3. Make sure you have power surge protection.

When the power came back on, my computer 'popped' and promptly died. (yes, there were tears and quite a few swear words - actually more than just a few).

Unfortunately, I thought I'd unplugged it, however it turns out that I had pulled the wrong cord and hence, my computer was still *very much* connected to the power. So I really only have myself to blame (but I'll still go ahead and blame that damn mouse - lol)

This took out my power supply but at the time, I assumed I had fried the motherboard and in fact, I'm still not sure whether it was damaged or not. The shop where I purchased the PSU was kind enough to replace it at no charge since it was only 4 months since I'd bought it - and of course, I didn't provide too much information regarding the black-out and allowed them assume whatever they needed to assume.

Then after a couple of weeks of saving, I re-ordered a motherboard and patiently awaited delivery... which seemed like an eternity but TBH, it was probably only another week or so until I received the new MB.

Of course, while removing the 'fried' motherboard, I managed to damage my CPU... and had to go through the whole damn 'save - order - wait' process AGAIN but with the added bonus of having the store go 'out of stock' while I was saving to pay for my order. (huge sigh and many more swear words, to be sure)

Anyhoo, my CPU finally arrived and after a little tweaking, my baby sprung to life and made me the happiest girl on the planet. If you'd been a fly on the wall yesterday, in the 38'C Aussie heat (100'F), you would have caught me dancing around the house in my underwear, singing 'I am so smart, I am so smart... but also a bit of a dumb-arse... but I am so smart'.

All in all, it was a f*cken good day, let me tell you.

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My only regret is that I missed my 1st Steemit Birthday and if you can remember, one of my first posts on Steemit, was a photo of a bee buzzing around some plants in my garden... and so, to mark the occasion, today's photos are also of a bee that came to visit only weeks ago - and reminded me that, alas, another year has passed.

BUT WHAT A YEAR, AMIRITE?

I would like to say a huge THANK-YOU to all the people who've supported me on my Steem journey and to all the new friends I've encountered along the way. You will never-never know just how much meaning and purpose you've bought into my life; and how good it feels to wake up every morning when you actually look forward to the day ahead... :)

MUCH LOVE to you ALL

PS. Please leave a comment below, to remind me of all the tags (new and old) that I should be using.

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Thanks for stopping by and reading my post, I really do appreciate your time.

And remember to keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you're thinking...!

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If you enjoyed reading my post, please follow, comment and upvote.

All photos, stories and graphics are my own work unless otherwise noted.

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