Fate presses buttons

So, carrying around the interview tape you have to transcribe in the recorder is a bad idea. Want to know how I found this out? While emptying my travel bag, a sickly orange light greeted me from the bottom of the case. Of course, it was the "out of battery power" light, to show that the recorder had been recording, over the interview, during the whole trip. A jostle of the bag must have depressed the right combination of buttons, starting the recording mechanism. I'd check if I lost the whole interview, but the recorder was on for so long that it ripped the tape off the spindle resulting in an unplayable mess.

One: Never keep the tape in the recorder.
Two: Remove batteries and carry separately.
Three: Invest in the more expensive, higher quality tapes.
Four: Transcribe the minute you are finished the interview.
Five: Write notes during the interview so that you have a back-up.
Six: Don't be such a f'n rookie, for the love of Pete!

All is not completely lost. I have notes and good memory of what went on during the interview, and I transcribed the first 15 minutes of it already. But I had some choice quotes in there, and I'm still choked, but not "just been punched in the gut, can't breathe" kinda choked anymore. More like the philosophical "I've lived, learned and moved on" kinda choked, with a little knuckle biting thrown in for variety.