My in-laws returned from church Sunday to find visitors waiting: four fire trucks. Their home and contents are a complete loss, including computers. Financial records of all kinds are gone or damaged. We haven't been able to pull out the boxes of photos to see if they're salvageable. An adjuster told us photos can be successfully restored, but that's only if they're not burned or a sodden mass from the water.

Many people hear “disaster” and think “Hurricane Katrina” but that's not the right reaction. Try defining disaster as anything out of your control that stops you from working and you'll better appreciate the situation. Millions of home based businesses are one shorted electric blanket away from ruin, as many small businesses are one break-in away from bankruptcy.

Clothes and couches are relatively easy to replace, but not photos of your grandchildren in the hospital the day after they were born. Good thing about the couches, since it's much harder to scan a couch than a photo.

It's still early enough in the year to make resolutions. If backup, really good backup for all important files and documents, hasn't been a priority for you, consider adding that to your resolution list.