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March 1, 2008
Mom, You Better Stick Around for A While.
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The Best Buy and new scanner stories kind of fold together, so this blog starts with my scanner buying experience. As I mentioned in a previous blog my scanner shopping was necessitated by needing to scan medium format negatives, and although liking the Epson scanner, I hated their software. Best Buy let me return the scanner, which was nice of them, and then I headed to Staples who had an HP flatbed scanner that almost sounded too good to be true, and it was. First I was disappointed in the software they were using (maybe I am just too used to the Photosmart S20 software and afraid of change), but when it started to look like it would take hours to scan negatives, well, I started to get worried that my search for a medium format scanner under a thousand bucks was for naught. Staples took the HP scanner back (Yay!), but I had one more hope, a Canon flatbed scanner, and that took me back to Best Buy. The medium format photos in this blog were all done with my new scanner, a Canon 8800F, and so far I am happy with it because the speed of the scanning is acceptable for what I want to do, and their software is a little more intuitive (but damn, I still like that Photosmart S20 format), so I think I'm going to stick with the Canon scanner. As such, Best Buy, don't expect another return from me, at least for this scanner.
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But Best Buy, what the hell is with the overly-friendly associates.
In this world where they say the easiest way to get sick is to shake the hand of someone who has a cold/flu virus, both of my trips to Best Buy were greeted with dudes overly-enthusiastic to help me, and wanting to shake my hand. There I am, just looking for a scanner I already had decided I wanted to buy, but it was "Hi, my name is Joe. What's your name?" as they extended their hand for a handshake.
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Not wanting to seem like a total ass, I extended my hand to shake theirs (how do they know I didn't just pick my nose or scratch my ass, and conversely, how do I know they didn't just pick their nose or scratch their ass), and said "I'm The Dude. I want to buy this scanner." Suddenly germs were transferred, Best Buy doesn't have an easy access to Purell, or those wipes the grocery stores have so you can clean off the cart handle, and now, in addition to finally hoping this scanner will do the job I want to do, I have to remember not to let my hands get anywhere near my eyes nor mouth, much less pick my nose. And if these Best Buy associates are going to continue this process of wanting to shake my hand I'm going to have to either be an asshole when I shop there by not shaking their hands, bring my own bottle of Purell, or just not go to Best Buy anymore and shop online where now all I have to worry about is if the UPS driver has a cold, but can, at least, easily wash my hands before I pick my nose.
So what does any of this have to do with my Mom and her sticking around a while? Well, since I have a new scanner that seems to do the job, I have over 100 medium format negatives to scan and post somewhere, and the only person I know who can help me identify the people, places, and things in these photos is my Mom. For example, from the photos I have posted for this blog, I have no idea who the dude is with the old car, the delivery truck is for the old Home Dairy in Lorain, OH, but I'm wondering who is John Lopatkowvich, and have I always been spelling my Mom's maiden name improperly, or what happened to the "w"? The photo of the three children, I'm assuming, are my Mom, my Uncle Ed, and my Aunt Lily, and I'm 99.9999999% sure the cute girl in the dancing outfit is my Mom. As I quickly flicked through these negatives they almost seem to encompass from about 1935 thru the late 1950's, and Mom, if you're reading this, I'll need your help to identify/place them all, and it might take a little while. You'd better stick around.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:29 PM | Comments (1)
