Fullmetal Retrieval Project

"Google is putting inactive users on notice. The tech giant says it will soon start deleting accounts that have gone two years or longer without a login or other demonstration of engagement. Stored content on Gmail, Workspace, YouTube, and Photos will all be on the chopping block—along with the associated Google accounts themselves—under the new policy, as outlined in a company blog posted Tuesday."

- Back It Up! Google Will Soon Purge Inactive Accounts, Gizmodo

When I had to abandon my old blog in 2009 to put up a new one, I came to a realization that I can never reveal the slice-of-life stories I had written during my time with Phanks. The ex-boyfriend, upon his research and investigation, learned about its existence a few months after our breakup. So I had to shut it down and leave no footprints behind.  

The disengagement was sudden and without notice, even to the community that had been following my journey. I removed the blog as if I were discarding all the dirty laundry, hoping it would never be found. However, I decided to keep a hidden backup in case I wanted to revisit my past. The blog disappeared from cyberspace, but occasionally I would read the entries and amuse myself with how lost but hopeful it seemed when I led a double life.

Eventually, I moved away from Blogger and continued chronicling my life on other platforms, such as Instagram. However, when I heard about Google's collective purging, I felt an urgent need to act. My first instinct was to retrieve the sign-in details for Fullmetal Dreams. Yet, my digital search yielded no results. So, I made the decision to import the contents of my old blog and merge them with Daybreak Embers. By accessing the present blog through my personal email, it would be protected from purging even if I were to stop writing.

For now, my personal journals remain safe.

However, my relief was short-lived when I discovered that not all entries unfolded properly after uploading the master file. It seems that the Blogger code for entries from 2004 to 2005 is incompatible with the current HTML version. Now, I have to manually publish the old entries—one by one—to complete this desperate migration, a total of 465 posts.

"Might as well do some grammar revisions and read the entries as I go over this work," I told myself while copying and pasting entire posts for re-publishing. 

Though it may not have been my original intention, I will get to be reacquainted with my lost and rebellious 24-year-old self once more.

It's nice to see you again, Proximus.