Propping up the bar

The Genius Bar - have you ever been there? - is like no other bar I have been to. True, when a member of uniformed staff led me to it, I thought I was going to be asked if I wanted a cup of coffee (it was 9.50am). But instead, I was just to take a seat while my computer was unloaded from the suitcase in which I'd transported it and set up in front of me. 
This was the Apple Store in Kingston upon Thames. My iMac having fallen seriously ill - a flashing ? in a folder icon appearing most times I tried to turn it on - I had booked an appointment to see what was  up. 
I'd arrived ten minutes early so when I was asked if I'd like to wait at the bar (or go away and come back was the alternative) I assumed this was a waiting area where I could get some refreshment. Instead I found myself lined up with a bunch of strangers and their various models of iMacs and laptops. 
I started prodding my start up button - the ? came up three times. Then, fourth time, the apple icon popped up. I clapped my hands with joy and the man next to me said, "Fantastic things, aren't they? But a complete pain when they don't work..." Turns out he'd had exactly the same problem some years back (it was just like sharing symptoms in the doctor's waiting room - not that I would ever do that, you understand). "You should buy a hard drive now, and back up before you lose everything," he advised. And a few minutes later the techi Apple consultant, Mark, was telling me the same thing.
I parted with £59, plugged in the hard drive and went off for a swim while it transferred years and years of files.
When I returned it seemed to me that the job was done. More hand clapping.
Unfortunately as I know nothing about computers I couldn't have been more wrong. 
In the process of the transfer, my hard drive - containing all those years and years of files - had been wiped. 
Before, when Mark clicked on the bit of computer that shows how much space has been used, I'd used 31GB. Now my hard drive contained all of 0.
So... five days on my iMac is still languishing in hospital, awaiting a new hard drive, while I function in limbo - hot desking my daughter and husband's computers whenever they're out of the way.
The next job is to find someone to salvage the data from my hard drive, when I get it back - I'm told it can be done. 
The oddest thing is, this is having a strangely exhilarating effect on me - waiting to see: will I get my life back, or will I have to start all over again?