Dad, D-A-D, Dad

So, this is a shout out to the DAD! How cool is it to have a Dad that you can call up and say:

"hey, I was thinking about getting "X""

and have him say: "I've got one of those! I'll bring it up for you!"

The Dad is like the International House of Pancakes, except he's more like the "International House of Dad" and he's got everything in stock!

You see, in the fam, we all take pictures. Thanks to Mom and the Dad I got my first Nikon 35mm (a 6006) as a college graduation gift. It's a beautiful camera, which I still have. After using it for my summer in Paris and eventually moving on to becoming a half-way decent photographer, the folks upgraded it to a Nikon F5 when the Husband and I went on our first trip to Paris. Meanwhile, the Dad was purchasing all kinds of camera equipment for his photo arsenal, including all kinds of neat lenses. Along the way, he also provided us with a fancy-schmancy fisheye lens and once Miss B. entered the world, the Dad delivered to us a D200 to move us into the digital age. (Not to mention, having previously supplied us with a Canon Elph APS camera-- *love that camera*... and a Digital Elph.... did I mention that we all like to take pictures? Like, a *LOT* of pictures? And, that apparently, our motto is "you can never have too many cameras?")

So, for my photo outfit I've got a 50mm 1.8 lens, a telephoto zoom, a wide angle zoom, the aforementioned fisheye and a wide angle zoom on my 6006. The other day I visited B & H (aka the equivalent of a crack den for photography enthusiasts) and picked up a 24 mm lens. But I was in the middle of a brain fog, because what I was really looking for was a telephoto prime lens with a low f-stop NOT a wide angle lens with a low f-stop.

So, I call the Dad, because I know he's got some goodies hidden up his sleeve and I wanted to see what he had and see if I could test out some of the lenses in order to really figure out what it was that I was looking for. And what, ho! Dad not only has the exact lens that I was thinking I wanted to get, but then he has an even fancier lens, with zoom capability and an even more amazing f-stop capacity. And, it's never even been used! Not only has it not been used, but it's in the original packaging. (That is one of those things that I have inherited from my Dad... retaining original packaging... I found an iPod box the other day for an iPod I don't even have anymore-- but I still have that Box!) ;) How cool is that?

So, at the end of our phone conversation, the Dad asked whether this made up for his having previously sold the infamous "Buddy L" truck. (You see, long ago in my Dad's den there was this turqoise toy truck up high on a shelf that had a boat on the back of it... I loved that truck, and then, one day I asked about it and (Gasp!) it had been sold!) I'll make it official, right here... I think this makes up for the Buddy L truck (especially, since apparently, the truck was rusted in the inside! ;) Between this and having previously delivered to me (x) the Jackie Stewart car, figurine and collie and (y) a Dinky Rocket Launcher, I think we're square.

I love you, DAD!