Aiiiiiieeeeee!

So I'm photographing a wedding.. a real quick in-and-out job (like the honeymoon, I bet). It's someone from work who met his bride less than 3 months ago, first dated her less than a month ago, and got married today (Friday). The ceremony was moved.. I barely made it since no one bothered to inform me and it was also 2.5 hours before the reception. Being in the basement of the county building, it had a 10-minute time-slot - they move em in-and-out, hereabouts. And once it was done the best man and I decided to head out and get lunch (for me) and drinks (for both). We did and I copied the photos to my laptop, charged my batteries, erased the cards... did all the prep things. It got to be time to go and I picked up my camera case and computer case and...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzWHAAAAAACK!

That, my friends, is the sound of a laptop falling out of an unzipping case and falling to the floor. And then, of course, not working any more....

So.. this is bad. I back up at least once a month, but this time I actually went 32 days. Plus, there's all those wedding pictures there and the computer just clicks and hangs. I recognize this as the sound of a broken HD. I rush to the reception thinking.. ok.. at least I won't use the card with the erased wedding pics.. they can probably be recovered as they have only been erased, not written over..

Get to the reception... somewhere in all this fun I have lost my other card... Siiiiiiiiiigh...

Quick trip to the Snakeway, which only has one 256mb card left, which I purchase. I dunno how anyone else ever purchased one, since they are not in the computer system and so this whole thing takes way to long....

back to the reception where I have to set picture quality to medium (ick!) and a semi-dreary reception (though I did well with the champagne) in a 1930s semi-German, semi-campground-hall room with a sticky front door and one bathroom.

Shots there and then home in a funk as I see big expenditures looming on the horizon.....