t 'n t luoma

Yvette suggested that we make reservations ahead of time for the tour, which we did last week. It was the only thing that I associated with a day (“We are going to Alcatraz on Tuesday”) so there were several times today when I was trying to remember what day it was and made that connection.

We set out for our 11:15 a.m. tour and arrived with very little time to spare. There was a kiosk for us to pick up our prepaid tickets by swiping the credit card which had been used to purchase the tickets.

Hrm. Let’s think about that for a minute. We placed the order last week for a CityPass which included the Alcatraz trip. We had used the Discover card over the phone. The Discover card which was stolen yesterday. The Discover card which was cancelled yesterday. Hrm.

Of course I still had my card. So I went up to the kiosk to and swiped my card. Tracey was mortified, “But that card’s cancelled! They’re going to try to charge the tickets and it won’t work!” Yet the tickets popped out of the machine. My guess is that the kiosk simply matched the number off the card, but the tickets were actually paid for last week when we placed the order. Otherwise my guess is that we’ll get a phone call from the CityPass folks.

By the way, travel tip: the food stand next to the ticket counter [before you board the boat] sells something they called a “Polish Sausage.” I called it bland and tasteless. Right before you board the boat they parade you past someone who takes a commemorative photo for you. Unfortunately this must be a relatively new endeavor, because they have not yet figured out that facing people into the sun does not produce good pictures. Ethan wouldn’t even look towards the camera. “Oh, he must be shy,” said the camera girl. “Well, no... actually he just knows better than to stare into the sun.” Needless to say we did not purchase the resultant picture, nor did I see anyone else purchasing one.

Regardless, the weather was perfect for an outside day. We were on the ferry for the noon hour and then on the island, which was no doubt much cooler than the mainland. The boat trip is remarkably short, I believe it is only about 6 miles to the island. We watched a short video about the history of the island which included many details I did not know, including the military history of the island and the Native American protests which took place after the penitentiary was closed. There was a former inmate there selling copies of his book. If I did not have a stack of “To Read” books at the house, I would have picked up a copy.

Outside we went on a ranger tour, which covered other aspects of the history, including the fact that the guards and their families used to live on the island.

Finally we went on an audio tour. Travel tip: don’t bother going to Alcatraz without hearing the audio tour. It was even more interesting than the other stuff, which had been really fascinating.

All in all, it was a really fabulous part of our vacation. We all had a great time.

We just barely made it to the 1:45 p.m. return ferry (there would have been another one in 30 minutes, but we were done). Literally they were yelling “Last call” as we were walking the gangway, and I heard a couple of the crew complaining that his watch was 2 minutes slow!

Since we were the last folks on the boat, there were no seats for the trip, but some woman in the covered area saw us said that she wanted to go out on deck anyway, and so she gave us her table & two chairs.

After lunch (Bubba Gumps again! Yummy as always) we headed down to Ghirardelli Square which had been our destination yesterday before “the event.” There is a really pretty area there with “extra squishy grass” which is excellent for both resting on and for little boys to run around and burn off the sugar received from the lady handing out free samples (I think if I worked nearby I would stop in every day.... probably best that I don’t work nearby).

Ethan had a grand time running around, falling down, getting up, running around, falling down, laughing, giggling, etc. Tracey wanted to head over to China Town, but the line for the cable car was at least 30 minutes by my estimation. That and both the boys were getting a little road weary... so we headed home. (Traffic!!! Oh well)

Vivek and Yvette had loaned us their digital camera for the day (the pictures for today were all taken with it), but we knew we had to replace ours. I spent way too much time online last night checking out different cameras and finally settled on the Canon A80 Powershot, pending Tracey’s approval, since she is the one who uses it most of the time.

We went back to Circuit City (no restocking fee, just in case) and found a helpful employee working tonight. We debated between the Olympus C-5000 and the Canon A80. Interestingly, the Olympus sales rep happened to be at the store at the same time. She suggested several different models that we might checkout, including a couple which are being phased out. She was heading to CompUSA and said they might have some open-box deals, and took my cell phone number, but we didn’t hear from her (actually I think she may have called, but we were already home by then).

Now the purchase of the camera was quite an adventure. We were weighing the different options and the total-cost once we picked up all the various accessories that we would need. Finally we did get the Canon A80. Sounds simple? Oh no. Hang on.

Last week (the 6th, specifically) I bought a charger for the battery for the old digital camera (I also bought the new Norah Jones CD, which turns out to be not unimportant later on). I would later return to buy a replacement battery. The battery was in the camera when it was stolen. Clearly I no longer needed the charger. So I brought it to be returned. Sound simple? Of course not! But there’s more! It was purchased on the Discover card, which you will remember was both stolen and then cancelled. We have not yet received the new card. So, can you refund money onto a credit card which has been cancelled?

Not wanting to take any risks than necessary, I asked if it would be possible to just get store credit, which I would then use towards the purchase price of the camera. They said sure. I went back over to the camera counter and gave them the credit receipt. He couldn’t get the credit to apply, and called a manager who took about 10 minutes to show up. By this point we had been at the store over an hour and Ethan was starting to get a little wound up (no nap today). He did show up and explained how to apply the store credit ($40) and all seemed to be well.

But pay attention. Here come the numbers.

The camera was for sale at $400.

It came with a “free” 128mb memory card with the camera (for the non-techies, this is the equivalent of film for a digital camera). Usually this sells for $28.

We also bought a case + 4 rechargeable batteries ($40), a USB card reader ($18) and the service protection plan ($100).

So $400 + $40 + $18 + $100 = $558, right? Then there was the $40 credit to be applied, so $518 (and about $32 in tax, so about $550).

You’d only think it was that easy if you haven’t been paying close attention.

First of all, they don’t technically give you the $28 memory card, they reduce the price of the camera by $28 and have you buy the card. Well when I saw that, I remembered another part of the offer that I had read next to the camera display: buy 3 accessories and get 10% off.

Remembering my mother’s sage advice that if you don’t ask, the answer is always no, I said, “Well, I technically I did buy 3 accessories (the case+batteries, the card reader, and the 128mb card), so can I get the discount?” The manager was still there, and said that it wasn’t really supposed to work that way, but he would give it to us anyway.

At that point we pretty much sat back, tried to keep Ethan entertained for a few more minutes, and completed the transaction.

Upon returning back to the house, I reviewed the receipt, which is terribly confusing.

It appears that we were charged for the Norah Jones CD again ($12). It then looks like the battery charger which I returned was credited, but only after it was added ($40 and -$40). What’s even more interesting is that the camera was rung up at $352 rather than $400 (a $48 discount). Now that was supposed to be a $28 discount for the “free” memory card but where did the other $20 come from?

Well I don’t know whether or not we ended up ahead or behind. Here is a summary of the receipt

Using my initial estimate of $550, I am considering that we came out $20 ahead, but only because I asked for the 10% discount.... by the way, Tracey was very proud of that, and I’m sure Mom will be when she reads this.

I often wonder what a normal life would be like, but I’m not holding my breath to find out.