The Gastrocast

 Here is the camera I wish I had bought. It seems to me it would be podcast, and life, proof.  However, I will await my Malay Fujifilm s5100–link to follow. The Ricoh is not available in the States, or at least I cannot find one. Ug. 



This weeks Gastocast will have to wait until tomorrow–if I get DSL, or Saturday when I go to the mainland.  I was supposed to go today, but it’s best not to mention that to me. . .I missed out on the Chinese Glazed Pots I was supposed to be in buying wholesale. They will be gone by the time I get to them and without seeing them I could not purchase over phone. Ug. The Flickr photo set is up, but I will provide a link when the Gastrocast is posted. I was so busy trying to edit this weeks show down and cut out the profanity (well, most of it. . .) that I plumb forgot to include any music. Alas, where was my producer?  Still, the show is just over an hour. I’ll have to think more about timing in the future. . . .

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 I am here to say that there is a scam born every minute.  I went and ordered a camera from what appeared to be a reputable on-line camera store yesterday. I copied down the information just in case, etc.  They confirmed my purchase via e-mail. I chose a package for the camera which included memory card, a small tripod and a few other things. Looked to be a great deal, given the package was the same price as Amazon had the camera for. 



HOWEVER–today I get an email that I must confirm my purchase, so I phoned the number and spoke with some idiot on the other end. It took him 5 times to confirm the purchase and then he said that I had ordered the Malaysian model, would I like to switch to the English model. I said yes, and he corrected the total to almost $100 dollars more!



 I said–wait a minute! There was no indication that the discount offer was for only the Malaysian model or anything else to claim that the model being offered was not an English version. He said that the offer did indeed indicate nothing of the nature of the country the purchase was intended for–they deal (this is a NYC company) heavily with the Malaysian community and would I like to change my order. . .I said from the webpage 99% of people would assume that the camera they were purchasing would be in English, or multi-lingual–he corrected me and said only 20%. Fucker! I am already over my budget so I said NO. I suppose I should have cancelled the order, but the instruction manual should be on the Web in English somewhere, And once you have a feel for the camera it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with. . . .I just can’t believe the gall of these people! Thank God for pictograms on cameras. I just hope the thing works when I get it. Utter bullshit. The sales-jerk couldn’t believe I would not pay the price and claimed I would be unable to use the camera if I did not know Malaysian. I just hope he’s the bigger idiot in this!

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 To insure your gear. If you own your own place and have homeowner’s insurance, it is definately worth adding specific coverage to portable items you use alot. If you specify values you can get up to that amount to replace your stuff. I did this before a trip and I was really glad I had. All my stuff was stolen while I was staying in Ireland. I got full value for my laptop, spare battery, camera, and a few other things. I wish I had insured my luggage, that cost to replace. The best thing is scheduled stuff doesn’t have a deductible. You pay a flat yearly rate for the stuff–minimal considering the replacement value. 



I just finished sorting out a new camera. I didn’t get the full value back on my old one. Two years old, the replacement price has sunk by $100. However, by spending all day comparing features and costs I think I may have a better camera with more features with in my budget.  Still, it is probably not an ideal podcast/ soundseeing tour friendly model. I opted for a larger, full featured camera–I like to take nature pics (no. . .not naturist).  It will fell a little wierd whipping out this behemoth to photo a busy market, but then it might lend the whole thing an air of theater and professionalism–who knows?  There were several features I had to have, but in the end I compromised. I now have two useless storage cards, but I did get a camera that does a decent bit of video. Still camera video is always crap, but. . .there have been times it has come in handy, like recording the church bells and chatter around Bourough Market for a presentation I did, or making notes about what your taking a picture of.



Nevertheless, I have not edited the Gastrocast yet. . .I am still debating whether to leave the F-ing and blinding in, or making it available as a bonus track for those of you who really want to know what sort of sailor I am. . .One thing is sure–the iriver and the new camera are getting scheduled with my insurance co the day they arrive! 

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