Flipped

My birthday gift this year is a small digital recorder so I can have movies of some of the totally cute things the dogs do, as well as the breeze blowing my plants during the spring, etc. Yesterday, I drove to Target, about 15 miles one way, as my on-line research actually showed that store had the best local prices. I knew I wanted a Flip camera as it is easy to operate and I can download videos directly to my hard drive without much thought. However, once I was at the camera department, the sale's rep did his job and nudged me into an upsale, from the Flip to a Sony with more specs and options. I went along, paid for the purchase, which now had to include a separate digital storage card, as well as a new card reader, and a camera bag. Instead of being in the ballpark of the Flip, I had now increased the sale just about one-third. But, I had a Sony, a name we all know and love.

Back at the ranch, I unboxed the camera and, following the directions, began the set-up phase of installation. That's where it began to unravel because the little toggle was so small and the button associated with it so tiny that I simply could NOT input the correct data, beginning with the date. I selected 2010, then got May on the screen, but when I tried to toggle to the specific date -- POOF! -- whatever was on the screen was now the date! I tried everything I could find to use to go back, but that, evidently, is not an option.

Plugged into the USB port of my laptop, I decided to figure out how to take a movie. First, I had to flip the lense to turn the camera on, a feature that seemed unusual. If I adjusted the lense to point toward my target, the camera turned off. That was strike two in my scoring column. Strike three came when I had to select the icon to either take a still photo or make a movie -- and the tiny button to do this was on the "wrong" side of the camera from the lense. Rather than throwing the darned camera against the wall, I carefully removed the battery and the storage card, reboxed the whole kit 'n kaboodle, and returned it to the bag, along with the receipt.

Determinedly I psyched myself up to return an item I simply did not want because I could not use it. I was not optimistic because even though I know people who buy clothes, wear them to an event, and then return them, my experience has been that I'm stuck with whatever it is regardless of why I don't want it. However, I have just returned from Target and I now have the Flip HD camera I was originally going to purchase. It has nice, big buttons and toggle feature, so I can see how to operate it. I installed the battery, turned the camera on, and made a quick movie of Mia eating kibble.

That's all the Flip does: it makes a movie of whatever it is pointed toward, complete with sound. Ta-da. Got what I wanted!! Next step: make a movie and post it on my blog!! Wish me luck as that truly sounds way above my pay grade.