finally broke down and went to costco to buy a new backup drive. membership had expired too, so a few hundred dollars later, i'm home trying to open the thing.
if you're not familiar with these things from costco, the packaging is practically non-destructable. i suppose it's to prevent theft, but sheesh. i'm over at my mother-in-law's, and the best i could find to open the thing are scissors that seem built for a kindergartener to use. they're actually full-size kitchen scissors, but cheap as hell.
tried a steak knife, but then thought better of it, and went back to the crapscissors.
found two of those pieces of crap, so between stabbing and cutting motions, followed by a two-scissor maneuver, i somehow managed to free the box from the bullet-proof plastic.
currently have the thing plugged in, and i guess i need to try moving some files on to it, in case i need to take it back.
would they take it back, when the packaging is all shredded and thrashed?? hopefully, it will work, and i won't have to find out.
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this master deluxe was beautiful. burnished golden in the sun, i was quite envious of the owners, as i left, heading back to my stupid, generic honda.