I’m not having the best of luck with digital cameras. But hopefully, it will be better from here on out. Here is the long story.

 I got a Kodak 4 mp digital camera last year with a printer dock for my birthday. Great gift, Brian is happy. In June, I went to a NASCAR race for the first time ever, down in Sonoma. (Good wine country.) I managed to take 10 pictures, and then . . . Camera is not working. I’d turn it on, the lens would open and come out, and then retract. I changed batteries, changed again, nothing. (And Dale Jr.’s car was sitting right in front of my, taunting me, before the race started. And I could not take any pictures.)

I had to mail the camera back to the factory. It got fixed, without cost except for shipping to the factory. Based on the work order, I deduced that I must have left the camera on, or it came on accidentally, while it was in my pocket. It must have damaged the lens, which is why it would not stay on.  Ok, lesson learned. I got a better camera back to wear around my neck, so that I won’t keep it in my pocket any more.

Last March, I take my camera to the zoo to take some pictures. I had to use the restroom, which I did not want to do in public, but had no choice. Camera fell out of the top of my camera bag, and let’s just say that I literally had $150 go down the toilet. (Yes, that’s where the camera landed.) As disgusting as it was, I did try to salvage the camera. After all, it was a $150 camera when it was bought. But to no avail, the camera is ruined. And the factory does not cover if the camera is dropped or gets wet. In this case, I had both.

 Even if I did get the factory to fix the camera, I’d have to pay for it. And even if I was willing to pay for it, I have now decided that this camera is bad luck. It’s time to cut my losses, and move on.

 I did manage to save the memory card. It is worth $80. So the silver lining is that I lost $150 instead of $80.

I earned a $20 gift certificate from work, which I elected to use for Best Buy. I also earned enough points using my ATM check card to use for a $25 gift card to Best Buy. I asked my grandma for money. With all those resources, I bought a 6.1 mp Kodak camera yesterday.

I went with Kodak because I already have Kodak software installed on my computer, and because I have a Kodak printer port already.

Problem #1: Even though it has only been a year, the new Kodak cameras do not fit onto their own printer port. I’d have to buy a new one.

Ok. Not a big deal. I rarely printed directly from the camera anyways. I prefer to print from the computer; therefore, the printer really acts independently from the camera. The only use left was charging the Kodak battery while the camera was docked. I can use regular batteries, and look for another way to charge later.

Problem #2: The manufacturer packed two sets of RCA cables (to hook to your TV) and no USB cable (to hook to your computer). It is the latter that I really need. Hooking to your TV is ok, but not very useful. And, because Kodak likes to changes things up so much, the USB from my old is not compatible.

 I went back to Best Buy, and solved my USB cable problem.

Problem #3: With the USB cable, and the Kodak software, I got my camera all ready to go onto my computer, and transferred the pictures from the ill-fated Zoo day onto my computer. I went to print, and the Kodak software somehow deleted the fact that I had a Kodak printer. Now I’m mad. You would think that the Kodak camera and Kodak printer can co-exist, even though they’re a year apart in age, and I can use them independently of each other.

I chilled for 24 hours. I removed all Kodak software from my computer. I added my old software, and then my new software. It took a while, (longer than it took to write this story) but when I was done, the camera worked on my computer. The printer worked on my computer.

So after a long ordeal, a long story and a long process, life is back to normal.