The corrupt hard drive - it is worse than the corrupt dictator in terms of American terror.

Yes, this weekend was spent alternately weeping with the thought of losing all the digital photos of the little angel that I said, I SAID, I would print off the best of, but of course I never did, nor did I ever back them up like I SAID SAID SAID I was going to do; cursing with frustration and leaping about the room with joy when at the very least I saved all my poems and short stories and lesson plans and photos.

Sadly, the iTunes did not make it.  So much for all that purchased music.  I guess we'll have to purchase it again.

My father, MacGyver, arrived on the scene yesterday.  My parents came in for Grandparent's Day at the Emerald City.  Blessed man, he laughed in the face of HP support, who said you couldn't add another disc drive just because there was no bay or bracket.  "Ha ha!" he said. "We'll just buy another one, put a piece of cardboard in the middle and TAPE THEM TOGETHER."

"Will this cardboard and taping business set my house on fire?" I asked.

"Ha!" he said again, twirling the tape with glee. 

Unfortunately, we discovered there were some spatial geometry challenges associated with our plan.  We did manage to wrench it in there, though. Unfortunately, once I put the recovery CDs on the new drive and get it all Nortoned to the eyeballs, I then have to pull the cover off the machine and reattach everything all by myself. This makes me just a tad nervous.  Pa assured me he would talk me through the whole thing on the phone. This reminds me a little too much of the intern being talked through an open-chest procedure on Gray's Anatomy a few episodes back.  But hey, I already got my photos, THANK YOU JESUS.

So, guys?  BACK UP YOUR SHIT.  NOW!  Let my stupidity be a lesson to all of you.  Do not risk losing the photos of the little angel eating yogurt or the first short story you ever wrote when you were 14. 

Do it. Do it.