Sue Can Now Photograph Ducks

On Tuesday, we drove into Ottawa to celebrate Valentines early at a restaurant. That is what we had decided, and it was true as far as it went, but it was not the whole truth.

Before we left town, I added that I would like to first drop into Best Buy because I needed a new tablet. She knew this has been the case for several months, so she wasn't surprised. The old tablet is more than 10 years old. Battery life is short, but even if life remains, it will shut down without warning when the battery is down to about 50%. In addition, it can no longer load all apps.

While I could have continued to live with most of these issues by keeping it plugged in, what I couldn't do was ensure that it wouldn't fail completely at some inopportune time that might leave me dangling in a forlorn, tabletless wind. It was time, and Sue was prepared for this.

We talked to the same salesguy who sold me my computer in late 2023. He remembered us, me even by name, I suppose because we have the same first name. We agreed on the model that would suit my needs: a 10th generation iPad rather than the newest 11th generation, for I just required a basic machine for reading (blogs, for instance) and playing my morning games, and so forth and so on. I added a keyboard, so a bunch of dollars flew away quickly.

Then I asked to see the newest iPhones and turned to Sue and said, "This is for you." I also added that this would be her gift for the following occasions, all coming soon: Valentines, birthday, anniversary, Mother's Day, and maybe even Christmas (the latter part said jokingly). Sue was just about beside herself with sudden and unexpected delight.

Sue has had her iPhone 13 for two years and uses it prodigiously, particularly for her daily photo. But I have felt that she really needs a telephoto lens, and I kid her about scaring the ducks when she tries to get too close to them. We had to go up to the new Apple Pro 16 models to get to full 5X zoom. As the whole world knows, Apple-anything is expensive, but the newest models particularly so.

However, I had done my homework, so I was prepared for the cost. It was quite a surprise for Sue, but she was beaming with pleasure too much for the cost to overwhelm her.

As I inserted the credit card for this crazy amount, I wondered if the machine would balk. It isn't that I don't have good credit, but it was a rather sudden large amount. It was approved instantly.

We left with my iPad, but my keyboard and her phone were out of stock and would be delivered the next day. However, we still left happily. In point of fact. Sue was over the moon, which pleased me considerably. You may see some of her joy in the phone pic at the restaurant. Note: The rest of the items were delivered the next morning, Wednesday, yesterday, and we have been happily playing with our new toys.

Once I set up my tablet at home, I took a selfie with it for the record. This may be on the only photo that I will ever take with the iPad, apart from the occasional screen shot . . . maybe. A bulky tablet does not seem like a suitable camera to me unless one is absolutely stuck for an alternative. Mind you my normal photographic equipment is about as bulky as can be.

So there we are, and joy and happiness reign in the household. Sue will now be able to photograph ducks from a distance as much as she darn well pleases. I have a working tablet, and I will also get Sue's old iPhone 13, which is an upgrade from my 10 (xR), which is also getting long in the tooth, as it were.