The bad news: Apple wiped the hard drive.
The good news: I had the user data backed up before it was shipped to the repair depot.
The bad news: Apple put the user data in a directory on the desktop.
The good news: My original writing (including my music) isn't lost.
The bad news: I now get to spend a lot of time digging up all my CDs and downloading and reloading all my effing software.