Say Hello to My Little Friend! A Back Up Flash Drive

This is my new buddy.  His name is Lucky.  The package says : "Lucky brings good fortune.  It's as simple as that, don't over think it."   How could I resist?

He is of course a flash drive to back up my writing.  I pop him in, spend 75 seconds updating him, and throw him in my purse like Tom Thumb. 

I am usually tight with my $10 writing budget, but I splurged the $14.99 because he was so freaking adorable.  He is also soft enough to rub when my brain is busy working out an idea.

You can get a 2-4GB flash drive for cheap.  The $3.99 one was about the size of a dime, but I was worried certain I would lose it.  Lucky can hold 8GB! which is clearly unnecessary since 6 months of writing = 150 mbs.

We do use a separate external hard drive to back up all our files at home, but the process isn't perfect.  We only do the backup monthly and generally forget to put it in the fire proof safe. So it only secures us in the event of a hard drive meltdown or theft. 

This guy is just for writing and is my sole responsible to keep updated.  I would be devastated to lose a month of work.  Those nine new ideas.  That breakthrough on editing a story.  Submission history! ("Excuse me Madam Editor,  I may or may not have sent this to you...")

The other option is to use online storage with a scheduled backup routine.  But I'm not ready yet to trust cyberspace.  Lucky seems so much more reliable.  It's probably the spiky hair.  

The main problem so far is Lucky looking like a toy which has drawn the interest of my kids.  I do not look forward to digging through piles of Little People or *gasp* the sandbox to find him.  I may have to suggest he is poisonous.

So, what is your back up strategy?  If your answer is "none," please run to Staples or CVS and plop down your $5 for a flash drive.  Your work is too precious to lose.