The Depression is Here

The depression is here. Yesterday Judi and I went to the King of Prussia shopping mall which is one of the larger ones in the nation. About three or four years ago I would have had to drive for about 30 minutes to find a parking space in the super sized parking lot at the mall during the holidays. Yesterday we could park where-ever we wanted at 12:30 in the afternoon.

I'm not one who enjoys shopping, but I had a question to ask at a camera shop at the mall. This is one of the few camera stores that has not been put out of business by digital photography.

My question was, How is a $900 SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera better than my $200 point and shoot camera. I also showed the sales person some of my photos taken with my point and shoot and asked, What is wrong with these photos?

The sales person answered that when taking pictures with an SLR camera the photos can be blown up into a larger size. He said the SLR can take better shots in lower light situations. He also pointed to what he called tiny blue spots in an area that was supposed to be black in my photo. He asked me if I could see these blue spots and honestly, I couldn't.

While I'm not a professional photographer, I've taken a number of photos that aren't too bad and have received a number of complements. My experience is that my best photos are taken with good light, so the low light feature is not a big issue. I don't blow up my photos to larger than five by seven so that isn't an issue either. I don't need to purchase a $900 camera to eliminate blue spots that I can't see. So despite the best efforts of this informative and gracious sales person, I learned why I can feel comfortable in not going out an purchasing a $900 camera.

The Eagles Game

When we arrived home I remembered that the Philadelphia Eagles were playing an important game against the New York Giants. We arrived home as the game was ending, but I needed to take our dog Rosie for a walk. While walking Rosie I heard profanity coming out of the home of one of my neighbors and concluded that the Eagles lost the game.

Turning around the corner more neighbors came out of their homes and were celebrating that the Eagles won. They were saying something about DeSean Jackson running a punt back for a touchdown and the Eagles scoring 28 points in the forth quarter. I later learned that this was one of the most exiting games in the history of the game.

I then did something that might be called sacrilegious in the world of sports. I watched the highlights on the Post Game Show. There was no tension about what team would win. I was able to see most of the important plays in thirty minutes knowing the Eagles had taken first place in their division.

Well, yes the depression is here, but it was nice taking a break from it all on a Sunday afternoon.