Journal of a Sabbatical

September 2, 1999

is mercury retrograde or something?

Today's Starting Pitcher: Ramón Martinez (the long-awaited debut of Pedro's older brother)

Today's Reading: Up and Down the Merrimac by Pliny Steele Boyd

My relationship with things mechanical and electronic is just getting worse and worse.

It started with my copying a blank disk onto one of the disks of vacation pictures (which was getting file errors) on Monday 'cause I wasn't paying complete attention to what I was doing. Should've waited 'til I got home instead of half listening to Andrea and half copying the photos. Oh well. That's not so bad. The pictures I really care about from that disk are on my hard disk or on the web already.

My real camera got banged up slightly on the plane under the seat in front of me. I thought the damage looked pretty minor and hadn't really done anything about it until today. I picked it up and turned it on this morning. Everything worked fine except that the flash doesn't retract when I shut it off, and the body is separated in one corner. I can live with the flash sticking out as long as it works, but I need to test that the body separation isn't letting in any light. I decide to take it over to Andover Photo for their opinion.

On the way to Andover something fell on my foot while I was driving. I couldn't imagine what it could be. When I parked the car, and got out I discovered that what had fallen on me was the cover of the fuse box. That's odd, I thought, and went to put it back on. The plastic shaft that holds it closed is sheared off. So I just put it in the back seat and added it to my list of things to mention to the Honda Barn when I take the Auntmobile in to find out why it's running hot and the cooling fan stays on so long my neighbors are calling me to tell me I've left my car running.

So, at the camera store, they say it'll cost $90 just to get an estimate from Pentax. They suggest shooting a test roll to see if it works the way it is. I buy the cheapest film they've got and set off to get some coffee and take some pictures. Hussein and George let me take their portraits, then I zoom in on the coffee menu and lens zooms off its little track at the end with a funny clicking sound and won't move no matter what I do. I press the button anyway to take the picture but nothing happens. OK, I guess it really is broken. I sip my coffee and talk with George about his new job, and how Budapest changed his life, and why I look Hungarian ...

Back at the camera store, I announce: "It's really broken now." They all nod their heads in agreement and reiterate that it'll cost $90 to get an estimate. I ask plaintively: "Aren't there any old-fashioned repair shops anymore?" Surprisingly they give me a name.

Back at my hovel, I get inspired to look on the web for help. Starting with the Pentax site. Voila! A list of authorized Pentax service centers! I e-mail the closest one and discover that indeed they can look at it and give me an estimate if I just ship it to them.

Meanwhile, Eudora continues to crash if I double-click on a message that has an attachment. Also I have an immortal junk mail message - I can't delete it. I finally move it to its own folder and let it mold there.