T. Tiger Takes a Very Important Delivery!

I have some very big news. The camera fairy was apparently just here, and now there's a NEW CAMERA in the house! I had mentioned that the two Canon PowerShot SX 60 HS cameras I've been using back and forth are both showing significant wear. (I also own one each of the SX 40 and the SX 50.) Last week, I ordered yet another Canon PowerShot SX 60 HS from a camera shop in NYC. On this day, it arrived!

T. Tiger had been sitting bravely on the front porch with a little sign that said: Package? According to the THREE emails I'd received, the UPS guy was supposedly going to show up between 12:30 and 4:30 (he got there around 3:45), and so all three of us - my husband, my Tiger, and myself - waited on the porch as patiently as we could, reading our books to pass the time, watching the rain.

When the box arrived, I instantly opened it with care. It contained the camera with a lens cap already on, a cord, a rechargeable NB 10-L battery and charger, the owner's manual, and a camera strap. All of these things were neatly packed into a perfectly sized Eddie Bauer camera bag (totally unexpected), which also appeared brand new! Awww, how ADORABLE!!!

I had to document the event, of course, so I brought the camera I'd been using out to the porch and took a few photos. Then I had to try out the new camera, of course. So I reached into my own camera bag and pulled out a fully charged battery, and put it in the new camera. And then I took the memory card out of the camera I'd been using and put it in the new camera too.

With my hands shaking (yes, shaking!)***, I turned the camera on and it made a chiming sound, which made me smile. Of course, that was the first thing I had to turn OFF. I - a wildlife photographer - like my cameras to be silent! I turned the mute on, and I set the date and time. And now for the big test. I walked around the yard taking a few photos. I zoomed all the way out, and the big lens moved silently, smoothly, without a hitch. YAY!!! It was PERFECT!!!!

It felt strange to be walking around holding a camera without a strap on it. So next I put the strap on it, easy peasy. Then I attached the strap to the new camera bag I'd received with my purchase. Then I moved all of my stuff from the new camera bag I finally bought two months ago into the even NEWER surprise camera bag I received with my purchase. Guess what: the new bag has even MORE room for my stuff!!! It has two side exterior pockets, two side interior pockets, one front zippered pocket, and one pocket inside the lid! The lid has both a zipper and a velcro closure. The color of the bag is gray, which goes with anything.

Okay, as you can tell, I'm pretty stoked over the whole thing. And T. Tiger, well, he did a yeoman's job as my "agent," waiting all day and receiving the package and so on. The camera seems perfect and I am mighty pleased with it. It is brand new but it is also totally at home in my grasp, as I already own two, and I know this camera like the back of my hand!

My celebratory soundtrack song is this one: Dwight Yoakum, with The Back of Your Hand.

NOW LET'S GO TAKE SOME PICTURES!!!!!


***I just read this story to my husband, and he says I need to add this part. So I will. I placed an online order for this camera on Tuesday of last week. The next day, the guy at the camera shop called me up to confirm some details about extended warranties. He informed me (these things I already knew): that Canon no longer makes this camera, that it is a VERY popular model, and that it is VERY difficult to buy now (unless you purchase it refurbished, which I don't recommend). He had just TWO such cameras in stock. He was holding TWO orders in his hands as he spoke to me. One was my order, received first, for ONE camera. The second was an order from a man who wanted TWO cameras. The camera store dude wanted to really be sure I WANTED THIS CAMERA or he would sell BOTH of them to the next guy in line! So you see, I made it by the skin of my teeth! WOW! We were almost overwhelmed by the customer service of a real NYC camera shop, compared to that of local big-box retail stores.

Also: my husband proudly notes that he was the impetus for the camera order, as he walked into the room where I was sitting that day, stewing over cameras, and he asked me - quite innocently - if I'd checked out "that NYC camera shop" I'd bought from that one time before. I got online within seconds, found the camera available, noted that the price was way better than anyone else's, and within about 15 minutes, I'd placed my order. Thank God I acted quickly!!! Or I'd be sitting here with empty hands! Isn't it amazing how fortune turns on a dime?