Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

This shirt's for all the writers:

I have my precious! Finally, I have a beeeyoootiful, beeeyooootiful, almost-top-of-the-line DSLR. This amazing creature: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS40D/ The warnings information specifies that this beast can set fire to things, cause blindness, kill small children, and make airplanes fall out of the sky. Also, it takes mighty fine pictures.

But I wouldn't know.

Because, you see, the lovely combo package I bought, with the camera, a zoom lens, a bag, a backup battery, and a 4-year warranty...didn't come with a memory card to save pictures on. And didn't mention this on the packaging. So I have this lovely, beautiful, precious camera--and I can't use it.

If you heard a scream of unbearable frustration about an hour ago, that was me.

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On the other hand, we also finally set up an in-home wireless network (way easier than we thought that would be), and we got another HD TV so that Phil can watch sports.

Best Buy may also have a lien on my paycheck forever. Despite me saving and scrimping for about a year to be able to afford a DSLR this nice.

But I have my precious! And soon, soon, I will be able to use it.

On the third try, I succeeded in changing the bike tube. From this I've learned the plastic tire changing tools are better than serrated butter knives, putting the tube on from the correct side is very important, and pinch leaks are the devil. My bike is functioning again and I am so pleased! Though yesterday I almost wished it had taken me another day to repair it, as there was a super-strong headwind that I was biking against. My bad knee was throbbing by the time I got home. My next bike project should be even simpler: attaching a lightweight plastic crate to the rack. I discovered that the best time to get a crate is to wait for the start of college; there were tons of them at Target (which is starting to stock fresh produce--we live in an age of miracles and wonders).

I have acquired the cheapest wireless phone available, and it is busy charging in my study. I have hopes that it will function and I'll stop having to race down the stairs to get to the phone when it rings. This is a more hazardous proposition for me than it used to be.

My Roomba appears to have charged properly, though I'll know for sure when I get home this afternoon and try running it. Part of trying to make it hold a charge better is to completely run down the battery by a) running it to red, and then b) removing the battery and holding down the power button to exhaust the last little bit. In this case, it didn't have any power left by the time I got to stage b, because I'd done stage a and then left for an extended roadtrip for my grandmother's funeral (about which I should post later). The roomba was so dead it didn't even pretend to try and charge when I plugged it back in. I thought I'd killed my precious. Instead, I just needed to leave it plugged in for a bit and then pop out the battery while it was still plugged in and reseat it. Then it started charging properly.

Phil wearied of my lamentations over my murdered camera and bought one via eBay. I am cautiously hopeful. It's the next model up in the same line as my old camera. However, it's a scratch-and-dent model, so eek. As long as it works and there are no scratches on the lens, I'll be happy. We shall see.

I'm less broken, too. I'm walking entirely normally now. I thought I was walking normally a couple of months ago, but now that I actually am, I can tell a huge difference. I still gimp when I run, though less than I used to. There's usually discomfort and stiffness instead of pain.