Files, files and more files

I've had a macro virus problem with Word for a while now, and I've been meaning to do something about it. It causes the files to be filtered by email virus scanners, which is a problem for me because I'm emailing resumés and cover letters in Word all the time. I usually just print it as a pdf and send it like that, but ads often specify Word. I don't want to spend money on a fancy virus protection program because I have a Mac and the only virus I'll ever have is this pesky macro within Word.

I was on a forum the other day and found out that if I resave all my files as rtf (rich text format), it keeps everything just as it is, but dumps the macros. I can open up rtf files directly in Word, and hopefully resave them without the macros and email them. If I resave all the infected files, I can hopefully get rid of the macro virus.

Yeah, well, I spend a lot of time on Word and I have for the two years that I've had the virus, so you can imagine the number of files I have to resave.

While starting this task, I started looking around for some papers and a powerpoint presentation I'd written for a class senior year of college. They were decent papers and the other day I was thinking about contacting the professor to ask if he could write a recommendation for my file at the career center. For alums, professors usually ask for a writing sample to refresh their memory since you aren't in class with them anymore. To my dismay, I can't find anything relating to that particular class on Russian history, and I have a vague memory of deleting the folder thinking "Why keep old papers that have already been graded?".

I have my Christmas list from 1997, but not the awesome powerpoint presentation I made on 18th century clothing in Russia from spring 2006.

I go through cleansing stages where I throw lots of stuff away and try to get rid of clutter. Usually it goes really well, but I'm afraid my Russian history files were mistakenly included.

There's a small possibility it's on my external hardrive as part of my back-up, but I won't hold my breath. If the files are indeed lost, there's an even smaller possibility that there are hard copies somewhere in my room back in San Diego, among my papers and things I brought home from college. And if not, I'll have to pull up some other writing sample for the professor. The ironies of life...