I guess the lesson is:
Use 4gb cards and rotate frequently. 8gb of data is just too much to loose.
Down load and format cards after every shoot. You can buy a cheap HP laptop in Australia for around $250.00 with a card reader and wireless connectivity. Upload to flikr or piccasa every nigh when away from home. Never ever have 1000 shots on a card and rely on it being reliable.
Dont winge if you haven't used reasonable precautions to protect your images.
Cheers
John W
__________________
John
Sydney Australia
Canon 7D, Canon EOS 450D, Canon EFS 18-55, Canon EF 100-300 f5.6, Canon EF 50 f1.8 11; Canon Speedlite 430 EX11, Fuji FinePix F40
and now with new and improved Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC and Mamiya ZE-2 35-70mm F3.5-4.5 Macro