PhotoDude.com

Sorry you fell for the old "going on a trip get it back to you later" routine. She has lots of nice stuff from other people too. As for what she's up to. . .lets just say she is in hiding plotting her next acquisition. My suggestion is to get your dad to start writing letters!

What I find saddest is that you felt like you had to post this anonymously, for fear of reprisals, I'm sure. But I traced your IP, and I know who you are. It's good to have an inside source. So, is my camera happy, or does it miss me?

The camera in question is in "an undisclosed location." There are two options here: 1- diplomacy. Use an intermediary to contact the kitty-cat militant (Al-kitty) and negotiate a settlement. This could take time and the camera may end up hidden in a cat hole, perhaps never to be found. 2- invade. A quick strike visit under a family oriented pretext. Let the better half keep Al-kitty preoccupied with feline freedom mantra while you seek out and snatch the camera. Either way it could get messy. Also understand that a post hoc investigation could reveal that you should have suspected all long and failed to take proper precautions. Good Luck

"Also understand that a post hoc investigation could reveal that you should have suspected all long and failed to take proper precautions." I'm going to have to pin that one on my Special Assistant for Little Sister Terrorism. She really fell down on the job, and didn't inform me how bad things were until it was way too late. But, let's not point fingers. There's plenty of blame to go around. Let's not ask, "why do they covet our camera?" Simply because we have one. These questions get us no further down the road to a solution. We must look at our future options. Option #1, Diplomacy - Always the preference when parties have a dispute, but rarely a form of solution when the parties have a long long history (as you well know, this is a 42 year old problem). At least, not direct diplomacy. Intermediaries may be sought out as proxies, however, via means of communication like, oh, I don't know, the Internet. Soon thereafter, you might obtain an inside source. You may also bring close associates into the effort, especially those with vast letter writing and fax capabilities. If thinks get really rough, you could consider trying to enlist a Little Sister who has more allegiance to you than she does to her Fellow Little Sister. If you can find such a person. Option #2, Invade - A dicey option, at best. The element of surprise is likely lost, as our inside source could be compromised by any number of insidious means. You have to make an honest assessment of how well that inside source could hold up under the pressure. In this case, that means we have to assume the cat's already out of the bag. And speaking of which, there are three potentially fierce (well, if you poked 'em enough) feline adversaries. Yes, we could bring our own feline special forces to bear, but they perform best on their own training grounds, and when taken out into the field, get all freaked out and scream like little kittens. This all paints a pretty ugly vision of the "invasion" option. But there's a Third Way. Option #3, Psy-ops - First, issue a reminder ... "I Have Your Dolls." (which also archives one of our previous exchanges that reinforces the fact diplomacy isn't likely to work here). If that doesn't elicit pause, escalate: "Our Beloved Mother recently gave me dozens of pictures from our youth ... our very goofy looking youth ... and I will post one specially cropped photo per day, escalating in Goofy Factor, until the camera is returned." Wait, what's that? I have to go now, I think the phone's ringing...

It is OK to have WMD (weapons of mass derision). But Al-kitty has to believe that you will use them. An empty threat now would only be seen as weakness. No telling what pilfering would take place then. Also, Al-kitty has a weakness, vanity. Yep the kitty street was set ablaze my this statement. . . "but rarely a form of solution when the parties have a long long history (as you well know, this is a 42 year old problem)." Al-kitty insists that the problem could only be FORTY years old and claims that Photodue is now engaged in politics of personal destruction. They say it was hot today in Atlanta. . .no kidding!!

Of course I know that you can't make make empty threats with these terrorists. All is proceeding according to plan, though. I knew that I could triangulate by planting false intel about the age of the problem. I knew it would give me confirmation the message has been delivered. The weakness of vanity is well known, and a part of my strategy. If I could only threaten her hair in some way. Yes, it was hot in Atlanta today. It may get hotter this week, too.

Enough, already! I give up. I was so fascinated by the camera that I took it apart to see how it worked. The only problem is that modern technology has so many small pieces and no instructions. The stuff that looks breakable is wrapped in tissue paper and stored in a separate bag. I bought an eyeglass repair kit. The screwdriver was small enough but the screws in the kit won't fit in the places previously occupied by the screws that I lost. The cats must have used them as toys. So let's get together. You can buy me lunch and we can talk about new technology and all the little parts.

To defeat your opponent without engaging in battle is the best win of all. And as for those "parts," you still have some time to meet the terms of your surrender, and surely a Big Kompooter Expert like you can deal with fixing a simple little digital camera. Or hire somebody who can. Finally, please send me a picture of your husband holding up Monday's edition of USA Today, so I can verify he has survived this engagement unharmed. For the most part.

funny exchange and thanks for sharing! a chuckle in the morning is worth a lot. :)