We all know that on every computer, there is an Oh S*** Key. I pressed the one on mine a few months ago and wiped out my entire emailing list.

You ever done anything similar?

I used it to send out the occasional newsletter to those kind souls who’d signed up over the last few years to receive them. My list ran to well over three thousand, each entry dated, sourced and categorised.

To be honest, I did feel a little smug about it. So smug in fact that I thought I’d do a little tidying up here and there, get rid of a couple of old campaigns that were well past their sell-by, you know the sort of thing.

And that was my undoing. And if you didn’t know before, let me share with you right now that shrieking at the computer “No! No! No!” and “I didn’t mean to do that, so just stop it immediately!” has no effect whatsoever. I have only one question, which I realise is pretty pointless, but I would like to get it off my chest.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ONE WOMAN, WITH ONE CLICK, TO ELIMINATE SO MUCH, SO QUICKLY?

I don’t expect an answer – well, certainly not a polite one.

Support did the best they could. They asked a lot of questions about how exactly I’d got to the stage and state I was in, but as I didn’t have the faintest idea, we were all pretty much in the dark.

..and this is where it gets worse.

(Part 2 next) . . .

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