Six hours down the drain... Any way to prevent this in the future besides the obvious?

I don't use CAW but for building lots I do the same thing, Simlirious. I set the timer on my microwave for 30 minutes and I also set the egg timer for 30 minutes because sometimes I ignore the microwave beeping; I just assume my coffee has been reheated. Having two timers set is best for me.

I used to go an hour but with the increasing instability of the game, 30 minutes is the longest I go between saves. And Jalida, I'm really sorry about your lost six hours' worth of work.