Pet Please #73: Remembering Exactly Where You Saved an Elusive File

This is how I feel when I remember where I saved an elusive file.

When I started my job about 5 years ago, I was astonished to find that the main hub folder on our fileserver had hundreds of files in it. There were a number of folders, many of them redundant, and then a poop-ton of Word, Excel, and PDF documents. It was as if at some point people had simply decided to save everything to that folder instead of organizing it.

So after a few months on the job, I had some free time, and I spent a day completely reorganizing the server so it would be as clean and intuitive as possible. It was perhaps my greatest day on the job. A few people were peeved because links to files were disconnected, but for the most part it was a smooth transition (feel free to correct me, coworkers).

However, entropy reins on fileservers, and inevitably things get less and less intuitive over time. So every once in a while I’ll save a file and have absolutely no idea where it is. What was intuitive one day is nonsensical the next. And suddenly the file is gone.

And yet…it makes those moments where you remember exactly where the file is all the more special. You know the thought process: “Okay, I’m looking for this file on Catholic dog whisperers (the dogs are Catholic, not the whisperers), so I bet I went to the Personal folder and then Cathy’s subfolder since she loves dogs, and then the Silence Is Golden folder, then sort by file size…and there it is!”

You feel like your mind just gave you a backstage pass. It’s awesome.

Also, a little mini pet-please: This weekend was absolutely incredible. The outpouring of support I received for my Kickstarter campaign was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Many of you stepped up to help out, and I’m serious when I say that the momentum you provided really helped get this project off the ground. So far we have 148 backers and $7,847 raised. Still a long way to $25,000, but this was a great 3-day head start. Thank you!

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