February 23 – “The throw down camera”

My break from work this morning was to try to set up the "throw down camera" I got for Chris for Valentine's Day.  You know, since we had to put our camera in the shop, Chris has been having picture taking withdrawal pains.  So I got her a replacement.  One we could have around and pull it out when we needed it.  Kind of like the TV cops and their throw down weapon.    The package had no instruction booklet.  Well, none except  the infamous "quick start guide."  That basically said, "Put the battery in and turn it on.  Push the big button on top.  You have just taken a picture."  OK.  I got that much.  But there are all kinds of little icons on it that have no meaning to me whatsoever.  Finally I realized that hidden in between the folds of the packaging was a CD that I was supposed to have loaded on the computer before I tried the quick start method.    OK.  So I turned it off.  I took out the battery.  And I loaded the software.  Sure enough, there in the corner of the screen after it loaded was the little option icon – download user's manual.  45 adobe viewer pages later I was finally able to see how to get the thing to work.  I hooked up the battery charger, played with the controls a little bit, and skimmed through the book.  That's when I realized there was something missing.  "SD card not included.  Purchase separately."  I had not purchased an SD card separately.  And nowhere on the outside packaging did it say I would have to purchase an SD card separately.  At least I knew what an SD card was.  Well, I knew what a memory card was.  I was hoping there wouldn't be too many choices beyond the letters SD.   So I went to WalMart.  Where else?  They had an SD card.  Simple enough.  But there was another, and another.  Oh, wait those are the same thing, just with more space.  I settled on a 2 gig card.  Throw downs shouldn't need more than that.  But wait.  There was a whole other row of SD cards.  With more letters after the SD.  Not fair.  I anguished for a good two minutes before grabbing the first plain old SD card I had seen.  With great fear and trembling I stuck the card in … upside down.  Then I noticed the tiny picture of an SD card showing that it has to go in the other way.  Got it.  At last I turned it on and saw the picture in the back.  I pushed the button to turn the flash on.  And it told me I was in macro mode.  So.  I just wanted to see if it would take a picture.  Fortunately I had copied the user's manual (a.k.a. Dummy Book).  The macro mode switch was on the side of the camera.  Don't know what it means, but I changed its position and the flash came on and all's right in my throw down camera world.   Luke 4:29-30 says, "They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way."   Father, sometimes I want to walk right through the crowd, too.  Help me when I can't.  Amen.