Ever get that sinking feeling...

I remember hearing a radio interview (archived) with Ansel Adams and his upset on discovering pin holes in his camera bellows. The worst part was that he had just come back from a month long trip, so even before the film was processed he knew they would probably be ruined. I tell you this because I find myself in a similar situation having discovered a small gap between the lens and the mount on that cursed 6/17 (see previous posts for details). It may indeed be time to retire that bugger of a camera and save myself the face ache.
I thought mentioning Ansel would make me feel better, afterall he was one of the ones that started this nonsense, but I think I feel worse. Its a bit like finding money in the bank, spending it, and then being told its not yours and you have to pay it back.
Of course I wouldn't feel so bad if I hadn't spent all afternoon hanging off a cliff face over crashing white water counting to 120 for each exposure while shouting at seguls...