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March 14, 2005
Preparations
I realized today that I have been in seclusion too long.
This afternoon I was on a mission: to have a working camera by the end of the day. I took the bus to Amiralen (a whole 8 minutes away) and went to the On/Off store, which is the Swedish equivalent to Best Buy. I was able to find an employee who spoke English and he was gracious enough to locate a battery charger for my camera. The charger could be mine for a mere 699 SEK (that's just over $100). I was flabbergasted. I figured that I had three choices:
1. I could forego the expensive charger and quickly leave the store, relying on Lisa to take good pictures. While I'm sure she is an excellent photographer, this was a highly unsatisfying option.
2. I could purchase the expensive charger and quickly leave the store, thus allowing me to use my camera on this vacation.
3. I could upgrade and get the newest version of my camera, which is very, very nice. It's super tiny and 4 megapixels.
After serious deliberation (including making my choice, then walking away, then stopping in the middle of the store, then walking back, then stopping 20 feet away from the cameras, then turning around resolutely, then wavering, then firmly walking to the cashier), I decided to go with option #2.
So now I have a new camera charger (with European plugs) that will allow me to take all the pictures my little heart desires over the next couple months. Then, when I go back to the United States, I'll have a whole NEW charger waiting for me (with American plugs).
I did a little pre-vacation snack shopping (I remember that the food on the Karlskrona-Gdansk ferry was horrid) and came back home. As I was taking the elevator up to my apartment, I realized I was emotionally exhausted. Having to make important purchase decisions is such a foreign concept to me now (where the hardest decision is whether to buy half-ripe mangoes). Clearly I need to get out more. Lucky I'm going on vacation!
And speaking of vacation, I am not packed at all. In fact, I haven't even thought about packing, other than to acknowledge that I'll need to do it sometime tonight. This will be my first adventure using my new backpack, so I'm excited to experiment with the whole non-suitcase technology.
But first, I think I'll read a little Tender is the Night. I take back any ambivalence I was feeling yesterday. I spent about 4 hours reading it last night and I'm hooked.
Photo Credit: I took this photo with the last of my dying battery about a month ago. It was a gorgeous night--this is all real, no photoshopping to make the colors crisper!
Comments
Or, you could have asked me to borrow my extra camera and charger.
Posted by: kevin at March 14, 2005 11:55 PM
