good evening

ladies and gentlemen.
today, i'd like to share a story about my life with you on a subject that i will probably never again write on.
but first let me write it up, and then paste the last sentence of the story right here so that you know what is coming/you read the spoiler/you realise that there is really actually nothing to spoil/you see whether you want to keep reading or not:

"everyone's good. "

so, a few weeks before we all were let loose upon our unsuspecting hometowns (read: spring break), my Dell Inspiron 6000 (you know, the laptop that every second senior owns) died hopelessly. after asking everyone i knew for help, akin a single mother with a manic schizophrenic child, i've realised that there was no hope left (read: a very small amount of hope left). at that point, i've called Dell 6 times (or so), and all that they could offer me was a new hard drive, but i didn't have any of my stuff backed up!

so.
and.
but!
i've found a cure!

if you're ever in this situation as well, do this:
go to best buy, buy a hard drive enclosure (just the case for an external without an actual HD in it), it will cost you about $40 - don't worry, you can return it later for a complete refund. They have IDE and SOMEOTHERSHIT kinds. chances are, you own an IDE one.
then, come home, drink some water, eat a granola bar and proceed as follows:
take out your 'fried' hard drive and put in the enclosure, and then connect it (they come with usb cables) to any other computer. then, you can browse your hard drive as if it were a flashdrive.
ha!
but the best part is - dell ended up sending me a new hard drive. i got it yesterday. apart from me now having two hard drives AND all of my data saved, the new HD turned out to be 60 GB instead of my previous 40 GB one? i am excited more than i was when i found out what shoulder pads were.
and if you are as excited as i am about this, then i'm happy that you didn't waste your time on this pseudo-knowledge blog. i promise not to ever talk like i know something about computers ever again. everyone's good.