This is inside blogball, but one of the aspiring blogger's worst sins is omission — keeping a steady stream of posts coming, so that whenever anyone ever comes back, there's something new to read. Imagine if you got the newspaper one day and there was nothing in it. Or even a newsletter. Oh, wait: If you're a regular reader, you don't have to imagine.

I got a nice little flu that put me down — and behind — for about a week, and that roughly coincided with a progressive problem with my laptop that ultimately led me to wipe the disc clean and start over again. The restoration process sent me to the Apple Store for help, on two of my computers, within three days of each other. Both times, I needed to have system software reinstalled. (For the record, both were my fault, and the geniuses were kind, patient and helpful both times.)

The upheaval gave great perspective on just how many pieces are just "there" in our computer environments — contacts, mailboxes, signatures, audio, bookmarks, photos, calendars, shortcuts, cookies, etc. — and how each one of them has to be restored if you lose them. And that's if you've been backing them up faithfully, as we do.

So anyway — if you were wondering — that's why, and thanks for returning. Please do so again, and Happy New Year.