This a picture from the new camera...Spring can't be too far away!

A quick update...

I received a pronto reply from Dell--I guess they didn't want me to keep it, after all. I'm almost tempted to call a lawyer or something to see if I really could keep it, but I'm sure that Dell would say that it definitely was solicited, even if I tried to unsolicit it. I guess I have better things to do with my time.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying the new camera. I will be posting pics from it on the blog in the not too distant future.

Will post more as soon as events warrant.

Text of email to Dell customer service

"I ordered a Canon digital camera from you and the item was scheduled for shipment on 3/16. On that date, I received an email advising that the camera was not in stock and that the expected ship date was 3/23. I cancelled that order through your website within a few minutes of receiving the email. The next day, I received an email saying that the camera had been shipped. Unfortunately, I had already placed an order with another company and no longer need this one. My question is, should I return the camera, or would I be allowed to keep it, since it is technically unsolicited merchandise? Please advise. Thanks."

We will see where it gets me. I hope I at least got their attention!

Down Dell, Up NEWEGG!

Well, I finally decided to go with a Canon Pro1. I've quite extensively researched digital cameras in that class, and the Canon certainly has it's drawbacks. However, it seems like most of the complaints that I've read about were addressed in the latest firmware update, so I'm fairly confident that my money is well spent. I'm hoping to have the camera this weekend, so that I can bring it with me to the feast, so that I can surreptitiously photograph people in meeting. Make that "show it to Brad"...

To make a long story short, I ordered the camera from Dell because they had it on sale for one of the lowest prices I could find and still be sure that it wasn't a gray market camera. They had it listed as in stock, with a 24 hour ship time.

After waiting a couple days, the company sent me an email, advising that it wasn't in stock, and the estimated ship date was a week hence. Bad, Dell! Bad dog! To make matters worse, they charged my credit card for the purchase, even though they did not even have the item that I was buying, which puts them right up there with other unscrupulous companies that I will refuse to do business with just out of principle. Needless to say, I cancelled the order as fast as humanly possible, and fervently hope that they will see there way clear to reversing the charges on my card during my lifetime.

I wrote the last paragraph yesterday, and boy do I have updates for you today!

After canceling the Dell order, I ordered the camera through Newegg. True, it was slightly more expensive, by about 30 bucks, but I was done playing games. In typical fashion, I had an email from them about 10 hours later with my FedEx tracking number, with delivery scheduled for Friday.

I went in to work this morning, and in a spare moment brought up my Juno email to clear it of the usual rubbish that accumulates since I use that address now when I don't want to give out my real email address, and discovered to my horror that Dell had shipped the camera after a) emailing me to let me know that it couldn't be shipped and b) after I cancelled the order. I am quite peeved, to say the least. I will call them tomorrow and try to work things out in as charitable manner as I can, but I already know that customer service has been outsourced to India. We'll see where we get. Just in case, I have been practicing pidgin English. If that doesn't work, I have concocted a recipe for revenge:

1) Receive unwanted package.
2) Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
3) Pop package in mail marked "return to sender".

Wish me luck.

This weekend's snowstorm...

This is a photo from my Nikon 2500. Exposure was set at +1.

I'll be trying to upload something for an avatar relatively shortly, I expect.

Ahh, the Innocence of youth...

I heard from one of "mean kids I had the unfortunate burden of hanging around" today. (If you don't know what I am referring to, check out Brad and Claire's blog here and read my comment under the "In Defense of Thor" column.) Her comment seems to indicate that I'm Mr. Tate, which means that the rhyme was even more cryptic than I thought, unless there were frequent outbursts of rage on my part that I have totally forgotten about.

I enjoyed the process of growing up in Essex, but I do have to admit, now that I live sufficiently far enough away, that I double crossed my friends when I was little. Especially in regards to the abandoned house next door that was my playground. Somehow, I managed to get sucked into playing house with one set of friends, the mean, taunting ones, and we would (or perhaps I should say they would, as I don't recall ever doing very much) work feverishly to make the house the spitting image of a magazine picture, and then, at least on one occasion destroying the fruits of their labors on the very next day with another friend by hurling rocks through the windows. In an effort to shift the blame to somebody else, I will now name my accomplice in the destruction: Ben Hansen.

It's nice to know that we can recover from these little phases that we all go through and turn out OK. I mean, I'm perfectly normal, right? Right? Why are you laughing so hard?

The situation is getting worse!

I'm referring, of course, to my quest to find a suitable digital camera. I had pretty much convinced myself that I wanted to upgrade to a Canon G6, but after handling the thing a little bit I'm less than thrilled. I like the fast lens, but I don't like the way it feels in my hands. I asked to see the Pro1 which felt much better, but the electric zoom seems, well, wonky. And then I discovered that Nikon is offering some pretty good rebates...

Another factor is that I'm nervous about buying one online, but too cheap to go to the store down the street to buy it. I'm actually a little puzzled by my nervousness, because I've bought a large number of things online, including the computer that I'm using, and haven't gotten shafted yet! I mean, what is the big deal? Find a website with a good reputation on resellerratings.com, pay them with plastic, and wait for the goods to arrive, right? There is always a first time for getting shafted, though, and the odds are catching up with me. I can feel it in my bones...

Somebody please tell me what to do!

A second post already!

First of all, why does the post below show that it was made at 9:49? My clocks must be way off, because I've already eaten lunch!

Secondly, when I become rich and famous from my blog and you want to come hang around my house just so that you can get a glimpse of me, you can find me in Bhutan. Really. Just look at my profile...

A few things to get started....

First of all, I really am NOT a diehard fanatical LOTR junkie, or Middle Earth weirdo. I loved the books (I think I've read them 3 times) and really liked the movies, but it certainly doesn't dominate who I am. So why, you might be asking, are you identified as Gimli? Short answer: Because my two cousins are taller than I am, so even though I'm six feet tall I had to be the dwarf. I'm fairly certain I would lose you on the long answer....

Secondly, I expect that the above ramblings will be the last mention of anything LOTR. I expect that this will be a place to put digital pics I've taken that are reasonably interesting (anybody want to volunteer to let me take a pic of the inside of your nostril?) or funny anecdotes from work (boring to everybody but me) or miscellaneous musings.

Finally, I don't know if how often I'll update this thing. No guarantees, at all...Here we go!