Backing up and sorting out for Sunday

I’m headed to Switzerland later today for a scheduled review of how my foot is healing after the summer surgery.  It’s a good opportunity to take a couple of day’s break before the holiday season gets rolling, spending time in the country and enjoying the villages along the Swiss-Italian border.

Sony has diagnosed the laptop but not fixed it yet, so I’ll be traveling without a computer for the first time in years.  I’ll stop in Internet Cafe’s to keep in touch with business e-mail and to keep a few bits of the projects rolling, but will otherwise be scarce.

I decided to take a removable drive to have some work and life resources with me, so started the backup and organizing process this morning.  It was a nice surprise to find that the clocks rolled back an hour, but still took the entire morning to merge and organize files, links, documents, and photographs.  The task spilled over into getting the sorting and filing done for the household and business documents that accumulated through the month, reconciling the accounts and getting receipts off to the bookkeeper.

It’s a tedious job, but I don’t know how to get around it.  I need detailed records for reimbursement and taxes, and those require organized record books and accurate receipts.  The two are linked by noting which account is debited for each expense, then making sure that the monthly records are reconciled.  The reward is being able to give the accountants an organized and correct summary that doesn’t incur extra charges for their work.

Still, it feels like a wasted day of shuffling paper, and puts me even more in the frame of mind for a break.  I’m taking recreational reading and leisure hobbies with me, hoping for warm weather and blue water for a few days.  (real) pictures (rather than aspirational ones) to follow…

Art attributions to Art Rentals and Sales, Vancouver BC