Friday, May 05, 2006

Technical Glitches


Sometimes, life makes me scratch my head a little bit. Lately, I have experienced a series of rather odd technical glitches. None has been catastrophic, and all are in hand, but some have been rather perplexing, and, taken as a series, it seems rather puzzling.


The train wreck commenced last Wednesday at the Grand Canyon. We entered the park from the less-used, eastern entrance, and spent quite some time at the Watchtower (photo above). After taking a plethora of photos and then enjoying a picnic lunch at the rim (photo below), we set off for the second overlook where a million little bugs (non-biting, thank goodness) swarmed us and set us scurrying to the next stop. Where my camera stopped working.



Oh yes, remember the new camera bag and the new 2 gig memory card? I was all set to take a lot of photos and and had already enjoyed a fine start. Then it stopped working. Right at the grand Canyon. Could the timing have been any worse? A little fiddling soon revealed that it wasn't the camera but the lens. My telephoto lens still worked, but the normal lens wouldn't focus. Effectively, my picture-taking was kaput, for telephoto lenses, while very useful in the right place, are not usually what one requires for scenery, especially when one is cheek-by-jowl with the grand Grand Canyon.


Needless to say, this put quite a damper on my spirits. Oh, I tried not to let it get me down, but it did. I couldn't help it. To shorten this part of the account, let me jump to the next day. I took it into a camera store in Sedona where they were quite interested in tracking the problem. Eventually, they stuck my lens into a new camera, and it worked. They put it back into my camera, and it worked. It still works. No one can explain this, but I was so pleased to have my camera back that I didn't care.


Glitch 2 was quite explicable. It was my fault — a brain cramp. After filling a memory card and then deleting some pictures, Cuppa asked me to check how much space was available. I did — not much. I hit OK ... and deleted 150 pictures. I had thought that I was saying, "OK, I'm Done," but I was really saying, "OK, go ahead and erase." Sick feeling ensues. Fortunately, I had enough presence of mind to put the card away until we got home. I would take it into a camera store and beg for assistance or find a program to restore erased files. I did the latter, and was able to retrieve all but about ten of the photos. Phew! Catastrophe averted.


Glitch 3: you may also remember me saying that I could store photos on my iPod if necessary. Because Cuppa was filling up flash memory cards at a rapid rate, as Cuppa and only Cuppa can, and I was fearful of her running out of cards, I dumped one of her cards onto the iPod. Fortunately, I forgot to clear it. In this case, my memory lapse worked for the best because my iPod stopped functioning on the very next day. That's right, folks. It wouldn't turn on, wouldn't recharge. Nothing. At least I had left the memory card intact, and the pictures weren't gone. The next day, however, I decided to try the iPod again, and it worked. Go figure.


Glitch 4 was not really a holiday glitch, but seems totally connected to this weird, all-within-a-week, sequence. The first thing my computer did when I got home and turned it on was to update my Browser: Firefox. I have gone through this updating process, without hitch, many times. But not this time. No, this time, all my Bookmarks (Favorites) were wiped out. Every last one. All of the feeds to your blogs too. It's not entirely convenient but not catastrophic either. I have your addresses in my blogroll or can find the newer ones form comments, so the feeds can be rebuilt. Favorites can be re-found as the need arises.


I am rather stunned that so many technical glitches occurred in such a short time span. The blame for two — the erased memory card and the lost Bookmarks — can be laid solely on my own sorrowfully sagging shoulders, but I have no explanation for either the camera or the iPod. How and why would devices stop working and then then start again?


Odd indeed!


 

20 comments:

Gina said...

I blame it on global warming.

My husband tells me I blame everything on global warming, so I might as well include your stuff as well.

methatiam said...

Damn that Mexican food!

oshee said...

Hmm..did the plane flights magnetize you or something?

That is certainly an odd series of events. Of course, I have found little oddities after a firefox update. Not complete deletion of my bookmarks, but still, oddities. I would blame the last one entirely on them.

Melodee said...

Let's just go ahead and blame President Bush.

Those are great pictures!

(Are you not using Bloglines.com yet? You should.)

Linda said...

Did your camera go through airport security? Those xray machines might have powerful electronics.

Anonymous said...

How simply awful!! I am glad you were able to save most of the photos!! Sometimes I hate technology, esp. when it comes to computers!! My hubby does not like me always printing out pages when I am working on my cookbook...but do I care?? NADA!! How many times has he wiped out my favorites list!!!!!! A lot more catastrophic if my recipes I am working so hard on!!

megz_mum said...

You have touched upon one of my fears with digital photography as well as the computer - it appears all too easy to have information go missing! Glad you retrieved the photos, looking forward to seeing more excellent shots!

Turtle Guy said...

A buddy of mine has rafted the grand canyon many times and perhaps it may be in my best interest to go on the next round.

"plethora"... love that word!

Beautiful photos.

-epm said...

Ouch! My 40gb iPod just died too... 6 months out of warranty. I don't know if I'll get it repaired or just - gulp - buy a new one. I'm a little shy about the quality out of Apple these days... My old first generation 5gb iPod, however, is alive and kicking!

Two iPod suggestions: 1) try pressing and holding the Menu and Center buttons for a few seconds. This should reset the iPod. 2) If possible, try to connect the iPod to an AC charger rather than the computer to charge it. I've heard this can also solve drained battery problems.

swamp4me said...

Regarding electronics:

Ours is not to reason why...ours is but to lose and cry.

Sorry for your glitches, both electronic and physical.

Heather Plett said...

I had a similar problem with my lens on my SLR once while camping. I finally tried to focus it manually, and realized it wouldn't turn. It turned out their was a tiny grain of sand stuck in the mechanism. Perhaps you had the same problem?

Annie said...

Whenever something electronic doesn't work that I am trying to use I just hand it to my husband and it seems to go back to normal instantly! It just boggles my mind! I am glad you were able to retrieve most of your pictures. I hope to visit the Grand Canyon someday.

Norma said...

And to think I went to the Grand Canyon and enjoyed myself with a little $4 disposable camera!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness... all of this would have had me screaming at the top of my lungs and then hiding under the covers for the rest of the day. This computer age certainly has its stressors.

mreddie said...

Nobody mentioned the unseen electronic gremlins - almost everything can be blamed on them. Great photos. ec

Iona said...

Holy crap! Yeah, that would really freak me out as well. Taking a nice trip, being all prepared for taking pictures and suddenly the camera stops working! I would probably scream so loud you'd still hear the echo on the other side of the Grand Canyon!

My worst fear would definitely be accidentally erasing all the pictures I had just taken. Just the thought of it... Oh my goodness.

Also, my computer failing would be my next worst fear. I've already experienced that a few times and let me tell you, being without it for nearly six months has really had a bad effect on me! I guess I just can't live without it. Poor soul I am....

Anyway, I've enjoyed your Arizona photo album. I'm looking forward seing more!

Linda said...

Thanks for stopping by our travel blog. We loved our visit to Canada & look forward to going back. I am reading your trip notes with interest as we have not been to the Grand Canyon. Your picture is beautiful--it is hard to capture panoramic views

Anonymous said...

cameras know when to quit. Mine quit outside of the Oklahoma City Memorial last year. If it had a butt, I would have kicked it. :)

Hope you enjoyed your vacation!

Bonita said...

You've experienced some wierd voodo. I'd be sitting real quiet now.

Lora said...

What a bummer! However, all the reason to go back again soon.