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It's only a drop of two feet from the arm of my chair down onto the carpet. But that was enough to break my external hard drive. I do not know if I'll be able to get it fixed, whether my photos will be able to be retrieved or how much it will cost me. Its a silly mistake and it's going to cost me dear.

So, there are two lessons here for everyone who is into photography.

1. Take good care of your equipment. Not just the camera and lenses but your computer and any storage devises too.

2. If a picture is worth saving, it's worth backing up!

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PS the answers to Friday's Macro Quiz are now up.

Geez! you're right :) I'll take care! onlyricky · 2009-04-20: 15:40

nice story with eggs.but serious - you are right! gonia · 2009-04-20: 15:56

good story nikito · 2009-04-20: 16:18

So sorry to hear about your misfortune. All the king's horses, etc., in the shape of specialist companies searchable on the web can recover data from damaged disks and they're quite affordable (I've been there and now have a RAID array). revenant · 2009-04-20: 16:49

Sorry to read this, hope you can limit the damage... :o( ...But I like your eggs anyhow... :o) Ryana · 2009-04-20: 17:01

Yikes; yes this is my worst nightmare. The Crazy nut I am, I keep all important stuff on saved in three places; my main computer and two separate external hard drives. I guess that's the best I can do for now. Best of luck to you and getting your stuff back. smbunation · 2009-04-20: 17:03

so so sorry to hear, always make a backup, it has happened o me so many times, i hope u can fix it, try freezing it sometimes it works onlymehdi · 2009-04-20: 18:04

I like the story, the pictures and the metaphor. :) I'm so sorry for you, Jon... And, by my own experience, I'm know perfectly what are you talking about. When I worked at the magazine, my hard disk broke... I had to pay a fortune to recover the information for give my boss the article next day. So now I have an exteral hard disk and sometimes I also record important things on cds or dvds... ????? · 2009-04-20: 18:43

I'm so sorry to hear this, but I will take your advice...have been meaning to backup my external drive everytime I use it....guess now is the time. Thanks. lifeisgood · 2009-04-20: 19:12

nice story !! finbarr · 2009-04-20: 19:27

Ouch...clever set to go with the story of your misfortune! Thanks for the advice....it's very true and something we all put off too long. lookagain · 2009-04-20: 19:59

Wonderful story illustrations. I save my photos...too precious to lose, but you remind me that it's time to do some more backing up. ????? · 2009-04-20: 23:40

Commiserations :-( At least you made the best of it :-) jet28 · 2009-04-21: 04:51

Yes, I need to do this very badly. The egg in the last shot does look a little sinister! I have a theory. The egg backup was jealous and had the original egg 'knocked' off. dontblink · 2009-04-21: 07:31

Good picture and meaningful :-) Arie · 2009-04-21: 09:14

Thank you for the reminder - I have been thinking about backing up to DVDs but have to do it. Am very, very sorry to hear what happened. Have been through it at work and home and it is painful. Great analogy, though, and shots with the eggs. Nubster · 2009-04-22: 22:11

lovely set, and very true, hope the damage isn't to bad, and you can get all your pictures back, good luck !! eternity65 · 2009-04-23: 10:43

Whoops-a-daisy; nicely illustrated lesson. busybee36 · 2009-04-26: 07:08

Tagged: warning lessons drive hard brocken eggs