Mr. Murphy meets my Macbook

I am trying to come to terms with something that happened yesterday morning. In a nutshell, my computer crashed and my hard drive is now obliterated. Not just damaged...but utterly gone. So gone that after seven hours of having my computer hooked up to whatever it is that attempts to retrieve data, the computer technician told me it was a wash.

The good news is that I did not lose everything; I had backed up my computer at the end of my summer quarter. The bad news, however, is that it is week 8 of my 10 week quarter, and therefore, my entire fall quarter is now non-existent. Notes, research, assignments, thoughts, ideas....everything.

This is what I am trying to come to terms with. I keep telling myself, "Put it in perspective: No one died, no one lost an eye or a leg, my home was not burned up", etc. etc. These are all very grand and noble gestures on my part to handle this maturely. But the bottom line is...this sucks. And as I sit here, in the library, by myself on this Friday evening, trying to focus on my part in a group project that needs to be done tomorrow, I've decided something. I've decided that I'm going to give myself a few hours to be discouraged, disheartened, to contemplate quitting, to feel sorry for myself, and to basically move through my emotional upheaval. I need a few hours of a sort of unabashed head-beating-against-the-wall-and-screaming fest. And then, I need to pick up, move on, and start over.

Did I mention that I am not as fond of Macs as I once was?