freak accident

When you play paintball, you kind of half-expect some pain and bruises. Maybe the occasional welt. It's part of the game to get the other guy before they get you.
One of those fingers is the wrong colour and... well the wrong size.

What's particularly uncool is that this didn't even happen to me during the game. I had my hand up and was walking down the edge o the field after being eliminated when a ball came out of nowhere to hit my pinky end-on.

Breaking a gelatin shell moving at 250ft/s was not unlike being hit by a hammer. And that sucked because taking my gloves off was just not fun tonight. Sheesh.

another unboxing (pod pack)

Let it not be said that in order to participate in the activities I choose that one MUST invest a lot of money. I have several friends who play paintball with me who still after all these years have not purchased a single piece of equipment. Not even a mask. I have others who decided the Canadian Tire special was good enough for them (Kingman Spiders and JT masks).

But despite my own track record of acting like an idiot with too much disposable income (see my posts about starting up Magic: The Gathering), up until now I owned pretty much a complete set of essential gear for speedball except one thing: a pod pack.And that changed today when I opened a UPS delivery box when I got home.

I only got it because I felt silly ordering a baseball cap alone. Partially because I felt it was an extraneous piece of equipement for recreational speedball (you're in and out of a 5-minute match of semi-automatic fire; so I never need to refill while on the field). Partially because, I was never sure if it was worth the effort to find a pack that would fit my Dye Locklids. (I forgot to mention, those pods did not come with the pack, of course; they're unusually sized pods and I'm hoping that by stuffing them in and leaving them there for a while, the pleather pack will eventually stretch a bit). But unfortunately, it's nigh-impossible to find a pod-pack that will fit the Dye LLP and still have funtional elastic ejection. This one's a Smart Parts "sprint pack" in 3+2 configuration (that 3 in the proper ejection sleeves and 2 more in hidden straps between the first 3).

I have no idea when I'll be wearing this (if ever). But at least I can wear the hat. :)

updates all around

The running commentary on my PSU: I've learned that I'm not the only one with "false starts" on my PC. According to http://www.pjrc.com/about/rambling/antec.html my ATX power switch is a symptom of a weak 5V line. I can't wait to check out the readings in my BIOS. If I can confirm it's the same problem, I'm taking the thing to the shop to show them and then ask for a replacement.

Also, about a month ago I reported seeing cracks in my paintball loader. Well, DXS never got back to me. I even called this support line and left and message. Anyway, in the end (last week) I tried what I swore I wouldn't do: contact the store that sold me the loader. These guys in the past would take an eternity to respond to me but this time sounds like they got my back. They gave me an RMA number and said depending on what the thing looks like, they'll send me a new loader. They also thought to warn me in advance that they only had black ones left in stock (I'm at the point where I don't really care). Anyway, I shipped it off yesterday. We'll see what I get back...

My last Amazon order is still in limbo. I wrote about this in January, I think. The Annihilation book is in but the Voltron book is not. Argh. Good thing Weirdguy still invites me to the comics shop every week (he goes for the designer collectibles while I go for weekly randomness).

Speaking of which, here's a shout-out to a new player in the virtual world: www.canadianvinyl.ca - they're so new I was member number 2... I'm pretty much Weirdguy's test monkey. But he did open a section on the forums for discussion of anime PVC statues. The only collectible vinyl I own is a PandaZ Robonimal. I should blog that in the near future...

Pulse cracking?!

At first I thought it might be because I hadn't cleaned it properly (that is, you're told to clean your mask lens, for example, since the chemical residue from paintball fill can weaken the plastic). I had been hit in the hopper a couple of times before... but this is ridiculous.

Here are some photos (the cracks are in the center of the hi-lited circles)...
In this first pic, there's a crack running kind of horizontally (away to the left from the screw). The second smaller circle is just to highlight the chip in the wedge where the battery door should go.
In this second pic, there's a diagonal crack running up and to the right from the screw.
And in this third pic, it's harder to see because the Pulse has a bezzled cut, but there's a jagged line running upwards and left from the bottom right (again where the screw hole is).

Anyway, I've written to Draxxus's Pulse support. Not sure what they'll say. I guess in the best case, they'll send me a replacement shell (because really, no matter how bad the abuse during a game, they're claim is that these shells are supposedly nearly indestructible). And worse... well, either they don't answer or they just tell me that I've been screwing in the screws too tight or something. I'll keep you posted if anything comes of this.

VForce for Dummies

I learned this weekend that there is some basic know-how that newbie paintballers lack about their new gear. Some masks are packaged OEM-style and or the VForce manual is unclear. A few buddies came over to play. They opted for the more affordable Morph, but all VForce masks feature the quick-change lens so this tutorial is applicable to all of them.

Anyway, I will demo using my Profiler, meaning there's an extra step involved that is not for other VForce masks: the strap is secured into the lens clips. So I need to get the strap out first. Here's a close-up on what the end of the strap: it's a squeeze-release.
To get at it, you need to reach inside your mask past the foam with your fingers and feel for it. It's not very tight even when it's new – you won't need tools or anything for this. Once that's out of the way you will remove the clips. These clips keep the lens snared against the retaining loop on the mask:
With your thumb, lift the clip away from the mask: it should slide back away from the lens. This may take a bit of elbow grease, but again, don't use tools.

Finally, with the clip off (on both sides), press down on the end of the lens so that it slips underneath the retaining loop. Simple!As a side note, I thought I would mention as well that a VForce mask should come with a little baggie of o-rings. These are used to secure the retaining tabs on the visor. It's easiest to install these when the lens is off. Slip them on one end of the tab and then just press into place on the other end.I've met more than a few newbies who didn't know what to do with those o-rings for some reason.

My Proto Duffle finally arrived

Packing up for this Friday's speedball evening, I decided now was a good time to blog my gear bag (yes, the one I ordered back in June!). It arrived in September.
PBL screwed up again but I'm loving the Proto Duffle anyway. I was surprised to find it was the new 2007 version of the gear-bag. Same "Duffle" but with cooler graphics on the outside and the outer pockets have been reworked. Interestingly enough, the site still lists the older version of the Proto Duffle.
Anyway, it's got nice big exterior pockets on the ends to fit a hopper and an air tank. Plus plenty of pockets for tools etc. And inside is a padded compartment for a marker and elastic loops for up to three barrels. I'm also really liking the vented pockets on the outside: those will keep my really dirty stuff away from my "cleaner" stuff. The whole thing comes on a padded shoulder strap and even padded grab handle (which is a very nice touch when carrying decent weight in a bag).
I haven't actually brought it anywhere yet but I'm already appreciating it because now I don't have my gear just lying around the house.

Memorable day out for everyone

Submitted for your approval:

My Nose - is it a the result of a cat scratching my face? No.

I learned an important lesson today at the big outdoor paintball field. Stay cool and hydrated. I'm sure everyone, including the staff will remember me for a while - I'm living proof when they warn players to drink lots of fluids. While I had a glass of water when I woke up, the only other drink I had was a cup of coffee with breakfast at Tim Hortens.

After only 2 games I was breathing hard and feeling all out of it. I sat down in the shade off on the side of the dead box staging area. It was very strange since I'd never had this sort of experience before. I sat fighting to stay awake but before I knew it, I was drifting off to "sleep." At one point I recall opening my eyes and realizing I was blind - like my brain just could not process any information from my eyeballs.

And then at one point I suddenly felt very relaxed. In fact, I vaguely recall dreaming a bit as my mind wandered. And then before I knew it, I heard voices and I realized the cool sensation I was feeling was my face in the gravel: I'd fallen off the bench when I fainted. I was escorted off the field for a break and given a cold-compress from the first-aid kit.

Besides that, I had a great time. I was able to use my marker with no troubles and the new barrel was nice. Kind of difficult to judge its performance because we were firing at such long ranges. I had EvilTwin and his brothers join me and overall it was fantastic. They've just left after a steak dinner at The Keg (why hadn't I noticed how lovely all the servers were before). I've already disassembled my Ion for cleaning and I'll leave it to dry overnight (paint got inside the breech and I had to wash it inside and out). For now, I think I'll give my folks a call and then call it a day and go to bed.

no word from PBL

Well, just to update everyone who cares, it's now about 2 business days since I sent my complaint to PBL about the barrel (see previous post). And as I figured, they haven't responded to me. One good thing though is that they charged my credit card upfront, so I guess I can ignore the amount on the invoice. That is the back-ordered gear-bag is paid for but not invoiced. Which in turn means my barrel cost me whatever the original bill of sale was and not wasn't listed on the invoice.

Anyway, to pad this post a little, here's another look at what my Ion looks like with the non-2006 edition Progressive on it.

Old Smart Parts Progressive

Interesting...
I arrived home to find a box on my doorstep today. As as you can see above that's my new setup. Notice anything weird about the tip of the Progressive barrel? Yup, PBL sent me what appears to be an older model. Their web site lists only the 2006 barrel (which has a smoothly tapered tip instead of a flaring tip).

Not sure if I want to complain. I mean, it's technically the same barrel with a very similar bore size (in fact, I did the 3-point test with a ball I happen to have on hand and it was closer to 4-point contact than 3-point contact). It's just I did not expect my marker to wind up looking like this. I will definitely write back to PBL and mention this anyway. They deserve to know that I'm not an idiot and that yes, I did indeed notice.

What I WILL complain about is that the invoice indicates they charged me $41.95 for it... which is a regular price of a Progressive 2k6 Barrel at PBL. Where's my Canada Day sale discount?!

the week in the tubes

The timing was strange but could work out in my favour... I was wary of throwing stuff on my credit card because at the beginning of June I'd put on quite a chunk of money for car repairs... But I'm playing the game: will I get billed for July or for June this month? Hmm...

Amazon listed the full-length movie follow-up to the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. It was due out this week on DVD so I pre-ordered it. Got an email saying it shipped today. Also waiting for book 2 of the Marvel Annihilation collection. Love to support the local shops but I'd be a fool to pass up a 37% discount from cover price.

Got an email on Friday night from PBL. Those are the guys I bought my Smart Parts ION from initially. 15% off everything on-line for the Holiday weekend. I still need a gear bag so I ordered a Proto duffel. I also padded my order with a new barrel. A buddy from work has the same Smart Parts Progressive 2k6 barrel for his Kingman Spyder and says he liked it a lot. Don't know when they'll ship... if they're as fast as they were last time, it'll arrive pretty quick (maybe even within the week.

Speaking of holiday sales, Futureshop and Bestbuy both sent me spam this weekend but I ignored it in favour to hunting for my own stuff. Actually I just stumbled on it at Dell. I had missed it earlier during the Days of Deals promo, but I've been looking for batteries. And it seems that Dell will at random discount consumer goods. So I was able to get an 8-pack of NiMH batteries for only $20. Got a shipping notice today!

getting a mouthful

This post is for everybody except Weirdguy (who is keeping an archive of our paintball photos already)...
And in case you're wondering: paint "fill" tastes a bit like a LOT of cornstarch mixed in water. It's bitter. But really, I couldn't actually taste much because my mouth was numb from the shock of the impact.

Damage Toteboard

I played our June edition of the Weirdguy Invitational Series last night. It was hot and muggy out, sweaty and disgusting in, but we have lots of fun. So much fun that I didn't even take out my camera during the evening (didn't really have time to think about it). But here is the damage tally. LOL.

Here's a hit to my sternum (and an almost-third nipple):
I came out of one game where Kid asked me, "where did I get you?" To which I said, "everywhere, @$$hole!":Here's where I realize how much I've gotten used to wearing a long-sleeved shirt under my game jersey. I'm not even sure when this happened, but my forearm is swollen. What the heck?!
My new paintball pants performed great. I slid into bunkers, got at least a couple of lucky "bounces" where paint didn't break open. And unfortunately, because it doesn't hurt as much, I was unaware of just how often I was hit!
I will post again soon because one of my fellow players got a very entertaining shot of myself spitting out paint after I was hit directly in the mouth-area on my mask.

One not-so-funny bit of damage was that I found out after I got home and stripped down was that my convertible "camping" pants have taken another victim. I got these pants several years ago at MEC - they're a synthetic material that keeps me warm but reasonably cool on a hot day. And of course, they turn into shorts when it's really hot out. Well, I was wearing these yesterday for "casual Friday" but since it was paintball night, I was also wearing my Under Armor boxer-briefs... Well, there's a label sewn in the back-pocket area inside these pants and on anything else, it's not noticeable. But for microfiber-like materials...
I don't know what I was thinking wearing this combination. But suffice to say, the label snagged on my Under Armour shorts and has given it a worn-out rough patch... Ugh. I don't believe this. I have a love-hate relationship with these pants but right now I'm really hating them. ~_~;

more gear

If you've been by the other blog today you'll know that I probably won't be buying miscellany for another little while. But as it stands, my latest paintball gear (paid for weeks ago) finally arrived and Weirdguy dropped off my stuff for me. Firstly is something I wanted because I reacted to the stock neck with "this can't be right, it's so tight it's not humanly possible to put on and take off the hopper." So I bought an adjustable one. Given the choice I went with the first-party "Q-Lock."

As shown above, it's almost half the size of the stock neck bringing the profile of my marker down almost a full inch. Here's a picture of what my marker looks like with the new neck installed. Hmm... maybe I should've put on the barrel to give it some context. My reaction to the neck: what was the point of the lever? I was under the mistaken impression that I'd be able to quickly flip the lever open and close to install the hopper. But not so, it's just there to give the neck a bit of additional clamping power. I still need to have an Alan wrench handy to tighten and loosen the clamp. Kind of defeats the purpose of the lever, if you ask me. There's nothing "quick" about this "quick-release" at all.

The other thing I was glad to finally get my hands on were my pants. I really wanted to take a shot of myself actually wearing the pants but nothing I took turned out so... here they are hanging off a stool in the kitchen.
The odyssey of the paintball pants is a strange one. I knew which design I wanted well before I made up my mind to actually get them. One too many slides in slimy paint-drenched turf convinced me to do so. The problem was that nobody seemed to be sure what size these things were. I read conflicting info about how Empire's sizes were "too large" and even the official product site at InvertPaintball.com is annoyingly ambiguous. I had to Google a sizing chart from a third-party retailer to find out that a 34-inch waist was a "Medium." Which, 90% of the time is correct... unless you're looking at Nike product, which seems to cater to very tall and very slim people.
Anyway, who to trust? I took a chance. And when I tried them on today, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief - they fit perfectly!

You know what gets me going tho? Inside the waist is a label... clearly marked "M - 32-34" which means there is an intended waist size for these! But why doesn't anyone advertise this fact?

2 unrelated things

First, an update: It cost me 10 bucks plus tax to get a replacement banjo fitting at the pro-shop. It was their last one (apparently they go through these like hot-cakes)... They had it down to an art: in the time it took me to run back to my car to pick up my wallet, they installed the replacement and were screwing in a tank to test it. A couple of dry-fire shots later, I was packing up and ready to leave.

Second, a reactionary note: I'm disappointed in the publishing job behind the Ultraman Tiga DVDs as a whole. But I can't complain due to the very fact that they exist at all considering the messed up licensing wars going on between the Taiwanese and Japanese copyright holders. But still, the American release could've used some consistency. Remember when I said the first volume had an authoring bug that crashed my DVD player? (The bonus features playback would not jump back to the menu when it was done leaving it stuck in an endless loop). Well, besides that kind of foolishness, there were the occasional glitches in the video. Finally, for volume 4 (which finally arrived in the mail yesterday) the whole deal stank of "rush job." There is no insert in volume 4 (I thought it might be a mistake so I had to look that up on the web). And there's also the complete mis-print on the episode list on the back cover (somebody cut'n'pasted the titles from volume 3). Actual show review later.

self-destruction of the Ion

Well, that was a lesson learned.

I'm not an idiot because I tend to believe I have some common sense: like not applying too much pressure to a screw or else you may strip the threads. But today, on a whim, because I hadn't test-fired my marker since the last time I cleaned and lubed it, I decided to put the air tank on just to dry-fire it once or twice.

And after I heard the satisfying "hiss" of the tank's pin-valve making contact with the Ion, I started to hear a constant but much quieter "hissing" noise. Uh oh. I listened carefully and determined that the leak was coming from the front of the marker - either the breach or the regulator itself. At first I even thought perhaps the marker was supposed to leak if the barrel was not on right (then I came to my senses and realized, no that can't be right - the barrel has nothing to do with the air system; it's just there to aim your paint when you shoot.

So I took the tank off, made sure the regulator read zero-pressure, and proceeded to strip the marker... all the while I hadn't noticed that the front-grip was a little loose (I'll get back to this later). Anyway, so with the grip off, I started to check the banjo-fitting that connects the regulator to the rest of the marker... I pushed the AllenWrench into the slot and gave it a gentle twist. Nothing too hard. There was a little give but I had intentionally left it like that the last time I closed it up.

But well... if there's a leak...

I gave a bit more pressure. And then... "pop." Well, it didn't actually make any noise because it turns out that the screw is a relatively soft metal. Photos speak louder than words, however.

Here's the broken banjo-fitting... which in itself is not too bad. That's about a $12 mistake I just made.
And below is the "screw-end" that was stuck in the hole after it broke off. This is what really scared me. The following 2 photos show how the piece cannot be pushed up from below so it's a matter of "pulling" it out.


As luck would have it, I happen to have a drill-bit just the right size. Wrapping double-sided tape around the bit, I was able to make a "reverse-clamp" and unscrew the broken piece back out. It could have been a lot worse: maybe it wasn't a hollow screw that might have broken in there. Or I just happened not to have a screw-driver or drill-bit that was small enough...

What REALLY drives me up the wall after the fact (besides the fact that the local pro-shop is not open on Sundays or Mondays) is that I realize after removing the regulator from the grip that it was loose... in fact it was probably loosened the first time I was at the chrono-station. That is, I now believe the "leak" had nothing to do with the banjo fitting at all, and if I had thought to check the fore-grip FIRST and made sure to screw it in all the way, I never would have attempted to open up the marker and adjust the banjo (which was probably already just fine the way it was! ARGH!

replacing the feed neck

Well, if I wasn't committed before, I am now.

Here are the remains of my stock feed neck from the Ion.

I only put on my hopper twice since owning my marker. The first time was very loosely to take a photo when the package arrived for the first night. The second time was shortly before going to field it for the first time... At that point, I had attempted to remove the hopper by giving it twisting motions (which later turned out that I had destroyed the factory-applied locktite substance; guess I don't know my own strength). Since then, I just left the neck attached to the hopper and screwed the whole thing on and off.

Well, this month I'm pooling with some buddies to mail order a bunch of stuff. In this order I'm buying a Smart Parts "Q-Lock," a low-profile neck with a quick-release feature. So I decided to get "cleaned up." Unfortunately, I didn't realize that in twisting the neck off the hopper that I would completely shred the o-ring seals that were built into the neck. So now it's all or nothing because I won't be able to go back to the stock neck.

Only 2 bruises this time...

First off there was a reservation screw-up (no finger-point, thanks) and in an incredible stroke of bad luck, this was also the night there was an entire field trip or birthday party (I've never seen so many kids in one place before)... so we go slotted in as "walk-on" players and had to wait for an extra hour before we got to play. We spent our time either browsing the wares in the pro-shop and laughing at the little munchkins through the security webbing.

We weren't mean-spirited or anything, but it was highly entertaining to see six 3'-tall people all crowded behind the SAME bunker. And then obviously 4 of the 6 being eliminated at once. And then there was that other time we cheered them and encouraged them to advance... so 5 of them started rolling the entire bunker forward! To an adult these inflatables provide just enough cover to crouch behind. But to these kids, it was like a giant boulder and it was hilarious to see.

Rules-bending aside, I was a little bit irritated to see some of the kids not really paying attention during the safety orientation... that's an accident waiting to happen. :(

As for ourselves, things worked out for me because playing only 2 hours meant I didn't go through as much paint and I wound up spending less than I normally do. It took me a little while to get used to handling my new Ion. It doesn't balance the way the rental Tippmann 98C does. The electronic marker is a little more responsive but the trigger's shape felt a little odd at first. I was so distracted that I found myself frequently the first player eliminated. As the evening came together however, I started to appreciate the speed and accuracy ...not to mention the sheer volume of paint I was spitting out once I got into "walking" the trigger.

One of my fellow players who recommended the Ion to me asked if I regretted my purchase or not. I'm happy to say "definitely not!" In fact the only thing that annoys me about the activity is having to clean up afterwards. When I got home last night, I had to rinse off my mask and do my anti-fog treatment for it. Then I wiped down the Pulse hopper. I just spent my morning stripping down the Ion to clean and lubricate the bolt. I'll leave the regulator for some other time (I figure since it was relatively clean I suppose I should be able to let it go for another month or so before having to lube the o-rings in there).

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures:

Finally got my mask christened (and what a way to go!).

And I wasn't alone: here are some of my buddies who also were all victims of head-shots all within the same game!

cheap anti-fog

Besides the regulars, I doubt any paintball players read this blog. However I've come to know that Google turns up all sorts of weird hits so maybe someone looking for anti-fog info will find this.

Well, I'm down to less than 24 hours before fielding my paintball mask (a V-Force Profiler) for the second time and to be honest, there was some fogging going on even tho I didn't complain about it as much as my friends did. In a pinch, I've learned that you can just breath only by the mouth and blown down away from the lens.

One of my fellow players is trying a RainX product... I went for a simpler trick: Johnson & Johnson's "no more tears" baby shampoo. A large bottle almost 600ml costs less than $5. And I figure, if it doesn't work out, at least I'll have clean hair. Anyway, all you need is a single drop for this exercise.

Remove the lens from the mask and rinse it in your sink. Carefully hold it by the edges and have a clean fluffy towel handy. drop some of the baby shampoo on your fingers and let the running water dilute it before allowing it all to drip onto the lens, swirl it around a bit with your fingers and allow the water to rinse it clean. Dab dry with the fluffy towel - no need to rub, the lens will be a little squeaky because it's so clean.

The theory I've read is that by having the lens so clean (using a gentle detergent like baby shampoo to avoid any chemical reaction that might weaken the plastic) that water particles won't stick to the surface. I don't know how much I believe that sort of explanation, but I do know that it seems to work fairly well. I wore the mask for a while and breathed hard in it and there wasn't any fog at all. Sweetness - I'm ready.

Fresh from the box!!

Here it is...
Picked up my new Smart Parts ION paint marker from the post office today. I'll admit I'm feeling a just a tiny bit strange to be talking about a device that resembles and functions so much like a fire-arm in light of what's happened in the States this week. But really, I'm just also a bit excited. I plan to take this over to see Weirdguy on the weekend (who has the same model marker) so that he can show me all the little ins and outs of this sucker.

Initial reactions:

1) Whoa - that's a huge hopper on top. And I'm a little upset that despite all the marketing, the Pulse loader does NOT come with the "optional" 9V battery pack. It's built to accept a possible future product that will allow a pair of 9V batteries but in its stock configuration, only takes SIX (6) AA batteries! Yikes!


2) Yeah, I can see why Weirdguy recommended a quick-release feed-neck. It's insanely difficult to put on the and take off the hopper. I hope I haven't broken anything while trying to remove the Pulse hopper - I think I heard the feed neck "creak" while trying to ease the thing off (might've been the O-rings straining against me though.

3) *sigh* thank you PBL for pleasantly surprising me. Their site listed only a generic air tank but it turns out to be a DXS brand tank worth about a hundred bucks.

Now to visit the local pro-shop to get the tank filled and pick up the correct size batteries (I had stocked up on 9V for nothing it seems; nobody told me the ION itself came with a battery in its box).

Tuesday afternoon list

Out from the tubes: my Amazon from late February had some funny stuff happen to it. For whatever reason, Amazon decided that it'd be "faster" to send me whatever they had in stock first. Not that it made any difference: it still took a month and both packages arrived while I was out of town anyway.

I also learned that the mail carrier has access to the super-box even if they've already put something in it and left me the key (makes sense; why I didn't think it before?). So on 2 separate days, the carrier figured out that I had 2 packages and they both fit into the same box. Alright then.

I've changed my mind AGAIN and I think I'll hold off buying my own paintball marker. I've collected a few more opinions and although I haven't actually narrowed down my choices (it's always been a Tippman (an A5 or a 98) or a Smart Parts ION)... I'm now resigned to the fact that either way I'll wind up spending money on upgrades. So it's all about budgeting for something I'll feel comfortable with.

I'm being non-committal about tonight's movie meetup. The group is seeing "The Hoax" and it's downtown (quite out of my way). But I'm feeling kinda tired on my first day back. I need my afternoon naps.

On a completely unrelated note: Civil War is finally out as a collected edition this week so after months of waiting I'll finally be able to sit down and read this monumental storyline all in one go (as far as I don't need to stop to eat, sleep, work, etc).

Oh, I think my T615C finally died. I can't be sure until I plug it into the cradle to see if the battery will charge. But I just don't know. I'll be sorry to see it go especially as I'd hate to go about searching for a replacement PDA (I've learned it's one gadget I can do without, actually).

I got rid of the Kodak Easyshare software. I've since discovered that if I just plug in the camera to a plain vanilla WinXP machine, the OS will detect the camera and allow me to access the camera's internal memory. It's been the Kodak software that was preventing this. This is one of many things I learned while rebuilding my parents' computer with a fresh install. See? Wasn't such a waste of my time after all.