Sunday, February 1, 2009

Camera


This post about my camera is specifically for Adam, Dad and Chrys, whose financial support made this story possible. Here I will record the eventful journey of a small piece of electronics from it's original home in Kansas to Ann Arbor. Most Cameras don't get to see much until they are actually out of the packaging but this little guy made a few unanticipated stops on the way. I received Christmas money to buy a camera and set out to find the best deal. I consulted many a family member in person and via Skype about the pixels, battery life, size and capabilities. My informed consumer habits were all present until I  saw yet another Canon Powershot commercial with Maria Sharapova. That's when all my research went out the window. I had to have that camera.

I returned to Ann Arbor with no camera but a pocket full of Christmas cash with which to start a focused search for the perfect Powershot. Like any good consumer I started with actual stores but thought their prices were, too high, then to Amazon, still too high. Finally, I ended up on Ebay. I am not going to lie and say I never shop on Ebay, because it is a main source for my hair care products. However,  I am not one of those people who will have to hire out my first born child as an indentured servant to pay for all the things I have bought. This story demonstrates just how long it's been since I bought anything on Ebay.

I found my camera in the very color I wanted, chocolate brown, for a very good price. Plus it came with a 4 gig card! I went over all the specs and they seemed in line with my research plus the seller had a very good rating so I decided to go ahead with it. As I entered my information that's when the trouble started. I think my house is situated in some sort of worm hole or electro-magnetic field- sorry for misuse of the terms science friends- because our internet never works for very long or properly. As I entered my new address information the internet went out and apparently did not save. I was so excited to have bought a camera that I did not realize until it was too late that is was being sent to my brothers old house in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where I lived before moving to Ann Arbor.

When I realized the mistake I started an email conversation with the USPS. They are really friendly emailers but not really that helpful. After a couple of exchanges in which they assured me the post office would be calling me but never did, I just called myself. The online tracking indicated that the package had been delivered but I know it had not because I contacted the person who currently lives there- he was in my brothers ward- and was assured that the USPS had just left a slip to pick it up, not actually delivered it. 

I contacted the Cheyenne post office and the lady there was really not very nice or helpful. She said if the online tracking said delivered than it must have been delivered. This is when I pulled out my wild card. I had asked my own postman, who is super nice, and he gave me a couple of scenarios of what might have happened. When I started citing information from one of her own she became much more helpful and said she would check the shelf to see if it happened to have been miss-tracked. Sure enough a half hour later I received a call from the Cheyenne post office saying they found my package. To make an already too long story not as long as it could be I called the person who owns my brothers house and asked if they could send it to me. He was more than willing to and now I have my camera. Yipee!  Stay tuned for actual shots with the camera.

Here is my beauty (Taken with my cell phone):


4 comments:

Katherine said...

Did you really post this at 6:24am? THAT'S some loyal blogging!
There was a lot of drama in that story! I found myself anxious to make sure you got your camera!! I'm glad you did, and am curious how you got the picture of your camera...though I suppose that's what roommates' cameras are for...
Congratulations on your new acquisition! :)

Ereen said...

I think your camera just wanted to know what the great state of Wyoming had to offer before it found you.

ego non said...

I think there's a wormhole that links your internet blackhole vortex to my apartment ~ 4 states away.

Kirsten said...

Yes, but now we need a post with pictures actually taken with the camera to see that it survived its journey in working order.