Variations on "the dog ate my homework"

Variations on "the dog ate my homework" . . . also known as . . . the memory stick ate both my novels!!! Argh!

Seriously. I put in my flash drive/memory stick this afternoon, which I've been using to store my books ever since the CD drive cratered in the old computer. Hadn't yet gotten around to transferring the thing either into the new computer or onto a CD. And now I'm paying for it. Right now, it's at the computer place, hopefully being retrieved. Okay, they won't be working on it at 10 o'clock at night, but you know what I mean.

Fortunately, I'd had the foresight to print out my latest WIP as I went, so I have a hard copy of all of that. And Cold Cuts was already printed out - and needing a rewrite anyhow. So all that can be recreated if necessary.

What can't be recreated, unfortunately, are all the photos I also had on the stick. It's one of those big 4 GB suckers. So now, if they can't retrieve the files, I have lost all the photos I've taken between Easter and last week. Camping trips, weekends at the farm, my garden . . . and our youngest daughter's second birthday. If only I'd scrapbooked that day already, at least I would have that. There's also a bunch of photos of my mother on there, but I can get those again from Dad.

But the idea of losing the birthday shots is just awful. I'm the photographer in the family, so I was the only person taking photos.

Please cross your fingers for me people, that the photos aren't irretrievable, and even if I have to rewrite my books, that at least our big girl's birthday was saved.