First thing to do in an emergency: Nothing!

A few days ago I had a heart-stopping moment on my main linux box running Ubuntu 12.04. I had just deleted two links from my desktop when suddenly I discovered that none of the remaining links on the desktop were working. Worse, clicking on any one of them them produced an error box saying the linked file no longer existed. I actually broke out in a sweat. All of these links are to files on a second internal hard disk where I keep my own data files, as opposed to the files for the OS and the various application programs on the boot disk. So my first panic thought was that this disk had crashed or was otherwise disabled. However, I quickly established that the disk was apparently OK and all the files were still accessible through root link on the boot disk. Whew!

What I think happened was that a desktop link to the second disk, through which all of the other desktop links are routed, had been left marked with a control-click operation so that when I control-clicked the two additional links to be deleted, I deleted all three without realizing it. After I recognized this possible explanation and restored that missing link, the other remaining links started working again. Apparently, I failed to read the dialog box that asked if I really wanted to delete the three links.

Perhaps linux is no place for a klutz. I guess I do tend to panic easily, and would never make a good test pilot. One test pilot purportedly replied to the question of "what is the first thing a good test pilot does in an emergency?" His reply: "Nothing!" I think his meaning was that the first thing to do is to take the time to observe the new situation before deciding what corrective action to take. Hard to do if you panic easily.