Canon PowerShot S3 IS

I got a new digital camera yesterday -- a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. I have been wanting a new camera for a while. One of my co-workers got one of these a couple of months ago. After seeing it, all the features it had, and some pictures that she had taken with it, I knew that this was the one I wanted.

My wife and I both got our profit sharing last week, so my wife said she'd pay half for it if I wanted it. Since it was on sale at Best Buy, it seemed like a good time to pick one up.

After having about an hour to play with it before we left for the hockey game, I took it with me to the game and snapped a bunch of photos.

This camera is loaded with features. Probably way more than most people need, but it's perfect for me.

My last camera was a Panasonic DMC-LC33. It was a great little camera, and still is. But I needed something with optical image stabilization, for one thing. I also wanted something with better macro. I can't tell you how many times I ended up with blurry macro shots because I held the camera just a little too close. The Canon lets you get up to ZERO distance from an object.

Senators 6 - Sabres 5

Great game last night with a couple of good fights. :)

Admittedly, the Senators were lucky to win that one. Despite the Sabres missing a handful of key players, they played a strong game to keep coming back.

Space Services

I got a reply from the lady at Space Services about the error on the customers declaration sticker, and the fact that I had to pay customs fees on incorrect info.

She apologized profusely and said they would refund the amount to me, and also sent me a real picture of the star I had dedicated to my wife that I could print out. They normally charge $19.95 for that.

It was a nice gesture when all I really wanted was the money back that I paid for customs fees.

She added that they rarely make such mistakes, as they have with my order. I believe it. I couldn't see them staying in business for very long if they made that many. :)

I got a confirmation that the amount was refunded to my credit card about 2 hours later.

Sens vs Slugs - Part 2

Someone on my team at work won 2 tickets for tomorrow night's Sens vs Sabres game at Scotiabank Place. Unfortunately for her, she already has plans. So, she held a little raffle within our team to give them away and I won. :)

They're Club (100) Level Suite tickets. My wife is pretty excited about going. It'll be our first hockey game this year. We went to quite a few games last year, all with free/won tickets except for one game.

Should be a good game!

Sens vs Sabres (aka Slugs), February 22, 2007

Great fights last night. :)



Although, Lindy Ruff should be penalized and/or fined for sending out 3 goons to take out our guys.

Mystery package -- revealed

We paid the $9.87 and picked up the package today. It was in fact from the Space Services company that I ordered the star certificate from. The fee was for tax and handling. (aka Customs fees)

The reason for the stupid charge was because on the customs declaration sticker, they wrote that they shipped software (valued at $19.95) along with the certificate (value $9.95), for a total value of $29.90 USD.

When I first saw it I thought, "They sent another copy of the software with the certificate... perhaps they re-sent the entire package that I ordered previously?"

We opened it up, only to find just the replacement certificate. No software. Nothing else. That's what I expected. But why on earth would they write that software was included and then not send any?

So basically I paid taxes and handling fees on an incorrect value of the package. Had they just listed the certificate, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had to pay anything.

Anyway, I sent them an email when I got home. We'll see what they have to say. Hopefully they'll do the right thing and refund me the $9.87 on my credit card.

It's rather funny that I never had to pay anything on the first package, despite the accurate values written on the sticker. Go figure.

2008 Ford Escape

My wife and I lease a 2005 Ford Escape and our lease will be up in December. We've been talking about it for a while, and decided that we will probably get another Escape when the lease is up, except that we plan to buy it rather than lease. Our primary reason is because we don't want to tied down with a mileage limit. As it stands, we're either going to exceed or be very close to exceeding the 60,000km limit that we got with this one. Blah.

My wife took the truck in for it's regular oil change last night and came home with a brochure for the 2008 Ford Escape. My initial reaction was, "BLEH!".

First, it seems that they have done away with the unpainted cladding. We actually like the unpainted cladding. It takes a beating quite well. (i.e. doesn't scratch as easily as painted body parts, or chip from stones)

The chrome on the front looks out of place too. It looks cheap. The wheel wells also seem to flare out further.

I realize that the Escape isn't a big, nasty, 4x4, bush whacking vehicle to begin with, but the 2008 looks less like they could survive out in the wild. Like they belong only on paved roads. The 2007's and earlier at least look like they could survive a little easy off-roading.

I keep looking at pictures of it and it has started growing on me, a little. I guess I'd have to take one out for a spin to see what it feels like. And if we decide not to go for it, we'll hopefully still be able to pick up a 2007 with little or no mileage on it. Maybe even a little cheaper?