After that, it was time for shopping. I was curious as to whether any of the stores would be closed because of the illegal immigrant protest. The only business that I noticed was closed was the Burger King in Ramsey. So at least in this area, things went on more-or-less as usual and they haven't made their point.
Anyway, the main goal for the evening was to get a digital camera to replace the Coolpix 2000 that broke on Sunday. I'd checked all the sales circulars the night before and identified the Nikon Coolpix L4 as a suitable entry-level replacement. (I don't want to get anything too expensive because there's always a danger I might lose the camera in the woods. In addition, these days, most cameras have specs far beyond what I need.) So I went to CompUSA to get it. It was on sale, although the deal was a free camera case, not a price reduction.
I played with the camera a bit in the store. The first thing I noticed is it is very small, about half the size of the Coolpix 2000! All the camera functions -- focusing, picture browsing, etc -- were also an order of magnitude faster than the old camera. In addition, it uses fewer batteries (2 vs. 4) and has more megapixels (4 vs. 2). So already, I was quite impressed. But the best part is it's somewhat cheaper than what the Coolpix 2000 cost when I got that a few years ago! More camera for less money -- now that's the kind of deflation I like. So for maximum jaw-dropping impact, always wait a few years between technology upgrades. :) Anyway, this is the first picture I took to test the Coolpix L4 after setting it up. Of course, further evaluations will have to wait until I get outside.
