Tech Thursday: Do Unto Others………….

O.K. first, I had my stress test over the last 6 hours. Don’t know much yet, but my Doc said I did very well on the stress test part, and the scan results usually follow the performance on the treadmill. I think the entire staff was shocked I didn’t die in the first 2 minutes on the treadmill.
I will share with you, when they share with me.

Today I would like to cover a little equipment news and then share a story of encouragement. First
the new replacement for the P7000, (the P7100), arrived today, and I have some initial observations.

The body is more rounded
and has some added pads
that makes hand holding
easier and more comfortable
I mentioned earlier that,
this one has a LCD on
the rear that folds out so
that definitely adds to the
usefulness. The big change
and for me it is a huge
change is this model is
fast, the shutter to actual
image time is very fast.
I loved the P7000 but was
wooed away by the P300 because of the speed at which it operated, now the P7100 is even faster! Wow, an answered prayer, I loved everything about the P7000 but this camera is far more usable. I will give it a full run down and shoot some images in Reno next week and will report back, but expect it to be a stellar report, I can already tell, I’m going to love this camera.

Now a little story, I hope you will enjoy, and I will warn you up front, there is a moral. About a month ago I got a card from a friend in Virginia informing me that her husband, a long time photographer friend, had passed away. I was sad to loose this buddy and sorry for his wife for her loss. She said in the card that she had no idea how to sell his camera gear and wondered if I would help. I gave her a call and told her about a large, well known camera dealer that specialized in used gear and suggested she send them a list and then let me know what they said before she did anything. I also ask to send me a list and I would start working on what she had to help her out. A week or so later she called and told me they offered her two thousand for everything. I was shocked, I felt the gear was easily worth twice that or more. I suggested she let me put out some feelers and see if I could help her sell it. Now let’s take a short break, at this point I’m just trying to help the widow of an old friend. You might say trying to offer an act of kindness.

Now let’s run back the calendar nine years. I’ve just accepted the job as a tech rep for Nikon and one of my best friends in the company says, “sell all your gear. “ I said, but I’ve collected my stuff for years, he said and you will get a consignment of all the latest stuff, plus digital is coming fast this is the time to sell you old film gear. So I sold it all, after it was all gone started regretting immediately that I sold my Nikkor 400 f 3.5. It was super sharp, not too big, and would have worked great with my current digital SLRs, so for the last 9 years I’ve hunted high and low for another. Problem was mine was new, out of the box, when I bought it, I mean mint, the chance of ever finding another like that was almost impossible. I’ve searched and searched, but most of the ones I’ve found were beaters (really used hard), and just not what I wanted.

Back to my friends widow. Going through the list, to my shock, I found that he had a 400 f3.5,
the pictures she sent me indicated it was in nice condition. I called her back and told her she had some nice pieces of equipment and I would like to start the bidding on one of her lenses. I checked
around and found what was the going price for a 400 f 3.5 in good condition and made her an offer, turns out she had the matching TC-14B, which was also something I wanted so I upped the offer and, long story short, you can see it in the opening image at the top. Now, soon I will be posting a number of pieces that you may want to consider, really good gear, in mint shape, so you too, if you need something, can help her out.

Now the moral, God asks us to treat others as we would want to be treated. When I got the card from my friends wife, I thought about how I would hope one of my photographer friends would do the same for Sherelene someday. I didn’t think any of the equipment would be anything I needed or wanted, but when we step out in kindness and offer His love to those in need He has interesting ways of showing us that we have pleased Him. I have to admit that when I got the card, I first thought, “I hate that my friends has died, but I really don’t have time to deal with this right now.”
Then the Holy Spirit said ever so gently, “What would you want your friends to do if Sherelene had written any of them?” It wasn’t hard at all to pick up the phone after that reminder. To be truthful, I’ve really enjoyed talking with her, and hearing more about her late husband who I do
miss.

In the events of everyday life, you will hear a voice urging you to do something for others. Sometimes it will come at a time when you just are covered up with life’s cares. Don’t say no,
when He calls, always answer, yes Sir. Obedience is about being willing to share God’s love,
compassion, and grace with those, He chooses. Trust me, the rewards will be far greater than
a 400 f3.5……….

the pilgrim

Postscript: Thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for the calls, emails, and comments on the blog, and I know you guys, many more than contacted me, were praying. You just may have to pay for those prayers, I just may stick around for a little while. Truly I’m so blessed to have friends like your guys and gals…….