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Published: September 10th 2008
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Friday 5th September to Tuesday 9th September, 2009 I'm waiting in my cold cell
As the bell begins to chime
Reflecting on my past life
'Cos it doesn't have much time (Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name).......
Oops sorry, getting a bit carried away there. No I'm not, I'm not waiting in my cold cell at all. It's 12:30pm Tuesday lunchtime and I'm sitting alone in my characterless air conditioned office waiting for Angus McGill to arrive at 4pm for a preliminary briefing to discuss my imminent transfer to the offices of FE. Tommorow at nine I meet his boss, the wonderfully Dickensian named Tony Eggs and from that moment on providing all goes well and I'm deemed acceptable to requirements by Mr Eggs I will be working from my new base at FEs' El Segundo Offices close to LA International Airport.
In the meantime I have nothing to do but wait so I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce to you my latest hobby, digital SLR photography. After the trauma's of my internet shopping ordeal with Sonic Camera I'd decided to play safe by purchasing my new Canon Digital Rebel Xsi last Monday in the
Labor Day sales from Best Buy and it had sat boxed and waiting patiently in the middle of my living room floor for the following five days until Saturday afternoon when I finally found the time and the courage to open it up. I felt almost a tinge of guillt each time I'd sidestepped around it for the previous five days but knew that whilst it would have been a backward step to have shut it away in some darkened cupboard that I would also have to be fully mentally prepared before delivering it into the big wide world.
The purchase was a bit of a story in itself. Best Buy, one of California's main electrical retailers operate a price match policy whereby if you can prove one of their rivals is selling a particular item cheaper they will match the price. The camera itself was straightforward, Circuit City another major electrical retailer and one of BB's main competitors were selling the Rebel Xsi for one hundred dollars less than at $699 and the newspaper advert I showed to the stressed out store manager with the maroon coloured hair who looked like he was rapidly approaching the end of
his tether was enough to guarantee not only the price reduction but also to appear to make him more adamant that he wasn't going to let the additional lens I was after go without a fight. I informed him Radio Shack were selling the 75-300mm lens for 109 dollars, less than half the Best Buy asking price of 225 and he forlornly disappeared shoulders hunched into the stock room to consult with his computer before returning minutes later with a smug look on his face and a piece of paper in his hand.
"No they're not, it's exactly the same price as ours" was all he said only just stopping short of adding "nah, nah, na na Nah" as he approached before handing me a piece of paper with the words Circuit City emblazoned in bright yellow print across the top.
"No, I said Radio Shack have it for 109, not Circuit City" I replied
I'm sure he lip synced "no you f***in' didn't" as without an audible word he about turned and headed back to the stock room and can only assume that the stresses of public holiday sales had finally blown his circuitry as a
Wish I Had A Photograph of You !
I always thought a Bonneville was a bike. couple of minutes later a young female assistant of about sixteen years old returned as his messenger.
"The manager's too busy just now but he asked me to tell you that although Radio Shack are selling it at 109 it isn't available and therefore we're sorry but we can't let you have the reduction"
Whaaat ?. I took the paper she was nervously holding as if she hadn't even convinced herself from her hand trying my hardest not to snatch and as I scanned it she assisted me by pointing to the standard text found at the bottom of the page stating that there was no guarantee any particular Radio Shack store would have the requested goods in stock.
Under similar circumstances on previous occasions I'm sure I would, and a lot of other people still do, have accepted her word as final, just classed it as a stroke of bad luck and plain bad timing and subsequently paid full whack but I'm getting accustomed to the way things work out here and so looking for the tiniest sign of a weakness in the little girls eyes I caught her line of vision and explained,
"That
just means it may not be in stock. If I went into Radio Shack now and they didn't they have the lens I would ask them to order it for me at the same price as advertised which they would do"
She was obviously close to burn out too. "Would you like to speak to the manager?" she asked timidly
Too bloody right I would.
"Yes please, if you wouldn't mind" I replied appearing the model of politeness. As she turned to return to the stock room I had the feeling I'd worked my way into a winning situation from which I surely couldn't lose and sure enough she soon returned with her cheeks having turned a light shade of crimson.
"He says you can have it at the reduced price" was all she said as she trudged dejectedly towards the checkout silently cursing me for depriving her a cut of the additional commission. It was a result which allowed me to pick up a $125 Canon starter kit including a bag, filter and additional battery and still walk out of the store overjoyed at having having paid almost a hundred dollars less than I would
if I'd gone in blind and unprepared.
Apart from a lack of time the main reason for the camera remaining in it's box for so long was the fact that the instruction manual's that come with any electronic gadget scare me to death. The manual that came with my recently purchased point and shoot camera has yet to be browsed beyond the section entitled 'Inserting the Battery' and the more worrying thing is that I don't seem keen to perservere to enable things to change. Phil's eldest Olivia knows more, a lot more, about my TV set and DVD player than either he or I will ever know.
After a brief flirtation on Saturday afternoon taking some arty telephoto beach shots from the safety of my balcony (honestly - well Hugh Heffner would have called them arty anyway) and having had Marisa act as a willing model for some portraits on Sunday afternoon, still more or less unfamiliar with the machinations of my new purchase I loaded up the bag and ventured out. I had the perfect studio for my debut session, Second Street was closed from one end to the other for the purpose of holding the
annual Long Beach Classic Car Show, an event that apparently attracts 50,000 people from across the country where there was bound to be some sights on show.
I started off a little shyly at first alternating between colour and B & W and not wanting to cause offense or be too conspicuous but by the time I'd met Phil in Murphy's Bar above the gym for a mid afternoon thirst quencher I was snapping anything and everything that moved and that didn't without a care in the world. This is America after all, why should I feel a little conscious about taking a photograph ?
There's is miles and miles of room for improvement in the results but I like to think in those four hours I learned a lot which, when added to information gleaned from the 'Canon Rebel Xsi for Dummies' book I bought later that evening should make my purchase some of the best five hundred pounds I've ever spent. Watch this space.
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DB
non-member comment
That's a damn good deal Matt.The photos are pretty good but I notice that they are all taken from (your) head height - learn to bend your knees boy! That way you'd get more of the cars and less of the clutter. (They don't call me David Bailey for nothing...) PS Send me your new E Mail address please. Ta Ta La.