Why Keep a Journal?

I need to keep a journal because as I change over time, my method of comprehending everything also changes, and some memories no longer fit my new system of comprehension.

If my memory were a computer database, then I would be adding rows to giant tables continuously, while changing the schema every time I find a better way of understanding things.  Over time, some of those rows would become so far out of sync with the schema that no query would find them.  Some of those practically forgotten rows would remain important, though.  Keeping a journal is like copying vital data to an external store with a more stable schema.  (The English language is more stable than my system of comprehension.)

I wonder if I ought to express that without a computer analogy.  My kids need to learn it, but they certainly aren’t versed in all this jargon.

NewEgg, You Amaze Me

Last week, an important desktop computer used by my family died. The connection between the power supply and motherboard fried somehow. I’ve never seen a connection fail like this before: all of the connections attached to red wires had burned the surrounding plastic within the connector. It was difficult to detach the connector, and even when I cleaned up the motherboard and used a new power supply, the motherboard refused to power on. Nothing else was damaged.

I suspect the motherboard was drawing too much current and the connector failed over time. Newer motherboards have separate 12V connectors which could solve the problem.

Anyway, I immediately found a better motherboard (PCCHIPS A15G (V1.0) AM2+ MCP61P) and a faster, lower power CPU (AMD|A64 X2 5200 2.7G AM2 65N R) on NewEgg for a total of $108 including shipping. The computer will be better than ever. NewEgg sure knows how to keep me as a customer.