I DON'T want to make a fuss about this, but two hours ago my computer crashed.

In the past, I have experienced minor blips when it has shut down and taken an age to get it back up and running again. At those moments, I lost whatever I was working on.

This time, it really did crash. In the immortal words of Monty Python, it was a dead computer. Not stunned but deceased. Not pining but expired and gone to meet its maker.

At one point, I did have two options. Re-boot to return it to its factory settings and wipe any work or software. Or partially re-boot to retain work and systems I use every day.

Naturally, I opted for the second.

Naturally, it delivered the first.

Which left me with a virgin computer. Fortunately, I had most of the work backed up on disc but among the losses was today's column.

Flipping heck, I said. That's bad luck.

My wife wisely made a swift retreat. My mate Kev the Sparky, who is an invalid guest at the moment, limped off to nurse his operation scars elsewhere before I added to them.

And so, I start again. Good job I have a good memory.