Yeehaw, our camera is back!

On September 9th, we approved the quoted $345 CAD ($260 USD) cost to repair our damaged Nikon P900 camera at the Nikon Service Center in Toronto.

They have an online portal where you can check the status of the repair. I had been checking it regularly, and under "Status" it still said "Shop". Last Friday, the status was changed to "Approved".

I questioned what exactly they meant by that, and I was actually going to give them a call this week.

Yesterday, we went to visit our daughter and family for dinner, and there was a shipping box on the counter from Nikon. It was our camera! Lindsey said it arrived late last week!

So, they are really efficient at doing the repairs, but not so efficient at updating their website!

Anyhow, we have the camera back and I will spend some time today testing it out. There was some repair order paperwork in the package, and it said that they actually had to replace the entire lens assembly. They also thoroughly tested everything including giving it adjustment and general cleaning. They do say that it is brought as close as possible to factory new condition.

I have to say that visually, the camera looks brand new. I am impressed.

Glad to have it back. A smartphone takes some good quality pics, but it doesn't have nearly the versatility that this Nikon P900 has.

Another package was waiting at Lindsey's as well. The brand new Nikon P900 that I ordered from Amazon Canada in case the repair on this one didn't work out. It had been on sale for $580 CAD ($438 USD) taxes and shipping included, which is a fantastic deal.

We've decided that we are not going to keep it. At the price I paid for it, I can probably sell it privately and even make a few dollars! Worse case scenario, I will simply send it back to Amazon.

Lots of other stuff on the go... we have been busy!

Monday afternoon we had an appointment at Scotiabank to switch over our banking from TD. It will be a gradual changeover as we want to keep one TD account for emergency funds while in Mexico this winter. Just to remind you why we are doing this... TD Canada Trust got greedy and has quietly increased their foreign exchange fees on ATM use to 3.5%. Every other Canadian bank is 2.5%.

Also, Scotiabank has a Passport Visa card that has ZERO foreign exchange fees.

So, after 35 years we are changing banks!

When we went into the branch in the nearby town of Arnprior, the main street was closed.

Turns out they were filming a movie!

We stood and watched for a few minutes, but we didn't see anybody famous.

Monday evening, Ruth went out for dinner with 4 of the girls she used to work with when she was in the hairdressing business 30 years ago...

Ruth, Judith, Maureen, and Roberta.

Then, yesterday afternoon we did a travelogue slide presentation at the retirement residence where my mother lives. We are having some beautiful weather here in the Ottawa area this week, so we figured that not many people would show up. But to our surprise there were more than 20 people who came to see us talk about our RV trip to the Arctic Ocean last summer.

Then, we went to our daughter's for dinner. Six year old granddaughter Sadie had a loose front tooth, but it still hadn't come out when we left. Lindsey sent me this photo at bedtime...

Toothless Sadie!

And 8 year old grandson Cameron is sure getting big. Here he is after his karate class yesterday. 

He's really good at it and already has his green belt. He goes to class 4 times a week, so its a pretty busy schedule.

Oh... has anybody been to Galapagos Islands? We are looking into a side trip there while we are in Ecuador next month. Yes, it is expensive... but if anybody can do Galapagos on the cheap, we can!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record low price on the popular Tribit Bluetooth Speaker. 

And in Canada...

Great deal on the Ecovacs Robotic WiFi Vacuum.