“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads
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Gamer Remorse: File Backing Isn't Just for Computers

Tragedy struck recently: In the midst of a bout of Skyrim, my 60Gb, backwards compatible Playstation 3 gave up the ghost after six years of faithful service. There was no warning, and it wasn't a simple overheat. No, this was much worse.

The Yellow Light of Death.

Needless to say, I was distraught. My entire gaming history was saved to my PS3's hard drive, from my first PS1 save to my 166th hour of Skyrim. And to rub salt into the wound, my Skyrim disc was caught in the BluRay drive.

And here's my epic fail. It never occurred to me to back up my save files. Not one time. Even after the death of my first Xbox 360, I didn't think about it. The hard drive from my old Xbox slapped right on the new one, and there wasn't anything lost.

I could kick myself. Everything I've read says I can't do the old hard drive switch with a PS3 that I could do with the Xbox. Popping it in another PS3 will only format the thing. There's no way to pull it at all. And while I think this is bad foresight on Sony's part, it's a SUPER FANTASTIC FAIL of foresight on mine. Because ultimately, the PS3 is a computer. And sometimes computers crash. I back up my laptop, my flashdrive files, and my phone. So really, I should've thought.

Besides watching my entire gaming life wiped away in a blink, I've lost my ability to play my old games. Final Fantasy VII! Nooooo! The Kingdom Hearts series, all my other FF games, and a whole row of PS2 games that aren't likely to be downloads any time soon. (Shadow Hearts, ladies and gents.) I might be able to scrounge up a PS3 for the new games and PS2 for the old, but I've lost my nice all-in-one machine. 

And the bastard still has my Skyrim disc.

Anyone else have a gamer's lament? I'll mourn with you below. 

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