In which our intrepid blogger streams her consciousness

My POS computer broke. I got back from vacation this week and it worked for two hours, then it stopped working. I thought this was strange but figured it was one of the computer's many stubborn brain farts and turned it off, waited a few minutes, and turned it on again. But then Windows wouldn't start. Turns out the hard drive is broken. This is not the first time this has happened to me. My POS laptop (which I have roused from hibernation to satiate my internet addiction) did the exact same thing toward the beginning of my 3L year. I have to admit, that time was worse than this time; I had class notes on my laptop, which were irreplaceable if they were lost. I called Dell and was informed that the only way to retrieve my data was to send the hard drive to a data recovery service who would charge me $2,000 to get my data. I almost cried out of frustration and rage. I did not take Dell up on its extortionist suggestion. Instead, I took the hard drive home with me over Thanksgiving break. Dad asked a computer-savvy acquaintance to see what could be done and he was able to get the data off with almost no problem whatsoever. I know for a fact it cost nowhere in the same universe as 2K. Dell assholes.

Anyway, fortunately my computer is still covered by the Best Buy service plan I wisely invested in when I bought it almost two years ago. I took it in to the Geek Squad and the repairs will all be free. The data recovery, however, is another story. And, yes, I do have an external hard drive and, yes, I *did* try to back up my files, but at some point the POS computer, which *Best Buy* sold me, stopped recognizing the external hard drive, no matter how many times I tried to reinstall it. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, Best Buy's philistine policy is not to cover data recovery under its service plans. Even though data recovery is likely the least expensive of the services it could provide, it's also the most lucrative. People will pay ridiculous amounts of money to recover lost data. A computer's just a computer. But pictures, movies, important documents -- these are priceless. I braced myself for a number that would set off a conniption fit, and was pleasantly surprised when informed it would cost only $160. The Geek Squad employee cautioned that there was a chance they could not recover the data, in which case I would still be charged $60 for the attempt. Well, these are amounts I am willing to fork over for pictures of my dead dog and music and videos I would otherwise have to convince Apple to re-send to me, which would take hours upon hours upon hours. So I gladly agreed as the employee assured me that, given that he was able to access the setup screen, it was quite likely that the data was recoverable.

So you can imagine my chagrin when Best Buy called me yesterday to explain they were unable to recover the data -- OH, but if I wanted, I could send it to a Geek Squad group in Santa Monica who had "better software" that would probably be able to get the data that the store I'd gone to "couldn't"! Well, how much would that cost? At least $500, and possibly $1600, if my hard drive is damaged badly enough.

I smell a scam. I wonder how many other people are told that Best Buy local is "unable" to recover data (after getting the nonrefundable $60 deposit) and directed to the more expensive store?

Fuck you, Best Buy. I am asking my computer genius friend to see what he can do, and HE'LL get my data for beer and pizza (actually, he'd do it for free, but I'm happy to buy him the beer and pizza for his trouble). Lying cheating asshole bastard extortionists.

On a lighter note, apparently I am a man. According to SparkLife's gender test, that is. Now, I've scored "man" every time I have taken their test (and, no, I didn't memorize the test and intentionally try to score "man." I couldn't even remember the questions, and I think some of them have probably changed). But when recording my score, I was informed that this new score was even MORE manly than my previous score. In other words, it appears that being a practicing attorney for two years has made me more "manly," or has made me think more "like a man," or something. Very, very interesting.

Also interesting: perusing my archives, I see that I used to be a much better, much more entertaining writer before I stopped having a life. I'm not positing a link, I am just drawing attention to two things I noticed today. This one makes me very, very sad.

Finally, I've learned that I have some important decisions to make in the next year, and I'm completely at a loss as to how to make them. So, those of you who are the praying type, prayers are appreciated.