I drank my most expensive bottle of Gatorade ever today.
Got up late the next day after Mount Peale. The Jailhouse Cafe was closed on Tuesday, so I ended up in a place called for Peace Cafe. Outside seating was full so I ended up inside where I sat in an area where I was ignored for quite a while due to the waitress looking after that area being busy sorting out some emergency elsewhere. Eventually got served, wasn’t happy with the service. Was given the option of not tipping, but ended up tipping anyway just in case I had to go back.
Went down in the direct of the south bits of Canyonlands. Went to the Needles Overlook to check that out and then was heading for the next entrance down, when I decided to drink a one quart bottle of Orange Gatorade. Drank a bit, stuck the cap on it, the bottle was too big to slide into one of the cup holder so I lay it on to at an angle. It turned out the top wasn’t on properly, so some liquid spilled out and filled up a little bit of the cup holders and a tray section. Wasn’t fully aware of all this as I drove. The camera then managed to end up in part of the liquid. Fished it out and drove onto the next part of Canyonlands. Eventually stopped at Newspaper Rock to look at the ancient artwork. Managed to squeeze a few pictures out of the camera by pulling out the battery a few times, but it was acting erratic. Eventually it stopped taking pictures although the lens would open. On trying to shut it down something was spinning away inside, although pulling the battery out stopped that. The sticky substances in the Gatorade liquid had probably jammed something crucial in this tiny camera.
Went into Canyonlands, stopped at a picnic table with a bottle of water and tried to flush it out by pouring water into various bits of it. This was a desperate measure, but a calculated risk. This had no success, no better or worse afterwards.
Went on a hike on a slickrock trail for about 2 miles. Left the camera on the seat with the lens out to in an attempt to dry it out in the hot car. Still no luck when I got back. Decided to go back to Moab, camera got worse on the way back. Display started flickering with interference, and then it also went back to 00:00:00 and 00:00 as the date and time. Decided it was history, would probably never work again. Went into the only electronics store in Moab, Arches Electronics and ended up buying one of the few cameras they had. A Sony Cybershot. Could have almost certainly got a cheaper one and more choice in Grand Junction or a town with all the stores, but I wasn’t there. The shop owner must have loved me, he then tried to sell me the $20 official case. I turned him down, the first thing I tried with this one was sticking it into my existing case.
Should have buried the old camera in the desert. That bottle of Gatorade cost me just over $323, and I didn’t even get to drink all of it. My preference would been to get a more recent Canon IXUS, but as noted I would have had to wait for that option! I would now struggle to figure out this new camera for a day or so.
Strange forces were at work here however. This was the sixth anniversary of the day when I broke my elbow but saved the previous camera. It’s a mystical place the SW. The ancients must have been involved! Looks like I have another thing to add it to the list for future trips, bring a spare camera!
No comments:
Post a Comment