err... Who's Josh??
That's me. :)

Sorry, I think Jeff was replying to the problem with my harddrive arrive loose in the packaging... To your warranty issue, I'm surprised a 5 year warranty is offered here in the US. I thought 3 years was normal, and you are right, if a drive is still in use 5 years later, that's pretty amazing, at least in a home setting.

Jeff, to your questions: I tried out the disk, and it seems ok so far. Apparently the Mac doesn't have a active bad-block searching program, but I'll have my friend with a PC run a few tests. I contacted NewEgg, and they offered me $10 back to keep the drive, so I'll take them up on that offer.

As for my Visa/License, no, I haven't had any luck. Now that I'm pretty much 1/2 through this adventure, I've kind of given up. I bought a bike here in Boston though, a Ninja 250... Not the style of bike I'd really want, but its a good learner and there aren't many options in the 250 class here.

This time I'll be in China for 6 weeks, till the end of June. Mostly in Beijing, but I'm taking trips to Guilin, Hangzhou, and maybe Suzhou. I think we are planning on going to Shanghai on the next trip.