As If Things Weren't Bad Enough

My PC has been running a bit slow, so I decided it was time to do a cleanup. I purchased a program a long time ago (with "clean" in its name) that I employ from time to time, when I remember. This time around it found a bunch of issues that needed fixing. So I merrily gave it the go-ahead, and all seemed fine once it had worked its magic.

Well.

Now my Microsoft Word won't open. "Something has gone wrong," Microsoft tells me. That's lovely. My in-progress novel is tucked away inside Word, as well as the manuscripts of every book I've ever written. Am I panicking? Not yet. Currently it's in the process of being repaired, although it's been about an hour now...."We'll be done in just a moment." Really?

The process might be taking so long because, believe it or not, Microsoft 365 includes seven programs. Something I've learned about Microsoft over the years is that it creates tons of needless apps that no one ever uses. I don't have a clue what most of them even do. Maybe if I was still working I'd occasionally create a PowerPoint, but OneNote? Every PC comes equipped with a notepad; I don't need two of them. I use Word and Excel; that's it.

My brain is already scrambling to come up with alternative solutions. I can uninstall Microsoft 365 completely and try to reinstall it. I guess I would need to find my license key, wherever that may be. Also, I'm fairly certain that all my docs have been saved to OneDrive, so they're not gone gone (fingers crossed).

How will I feel if my novel is actually gone forever? Well, not good. I know I've been making noises lately about not finishing it, but I only half believe myself. I'd like to at least have the option. When I said I was taking a break, I didn't mean break, as in "irretrievably broken".  Would I ever restart the novel from scratch? Hahahahahahahaha!

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something; not something good, obviously. 

I'm not going to think about that now.