I got my mandolin back!! I wasn't sure if it was going to survive the broken neck, but it did! I will tell you what happened and by you I mean no one because no one reads this. I was playing a gig at a little church and as soon as I took my bow and walked off stage, the crowd's applause deafening, I went to put my mandolin away. I have a cute little zip-up back pack for it that 6'5 got me. Adorable. Well, I put it in the back pack and someone asked me a question. I was sidetracked and swung it up over my shoulder not realizing I had failed to zip it up. Yikes! My mandolin flew out of the backpack and landed on the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Ok, just the neck broke, but some other stuff popped off too. I fell to my knees in shock and immediately began to weep. Mascara is running down my face, people are scrambling to put all of the pieces back in the case, and the audience witnessed the whole thing. Lucky for me there were only about 15 people there and that is pushing it. I drove home bawling my eyes out. I called my mom and of course she thinks something terrible happened from the blubbering noises I was making. Well I took it in to the shop and didn't get it back for a month!! It is here now though and I love it. Even more with its character! I will just have to be a little more careful! Speaking of, while I was picking it up, the guy that fixed it was like "we can fix anything! This guitar's neck has been broken three times!" I was like, great. Well hopefully that was the only break my little mandolin will have to endure. That was nothing compared to the break of my heart while I watched it fly through the air in slow motion. Oh well! Good as new! Well, good as new with a piece of felt I will always have to put on the strings to keep them from vibrating. I don't care! I love you mandolin!