Costly

Right before I left for Houston, I got the repair estimate from Canon for my lens. It came to $80 plus return shipping and taxes. Not too bad, or so I thought.

Since I have been here, with time on my hands, I have been doing some shopping. The usual shopping I do these days is pretty much limited to picking something up at Winners without even trying it on because I have kids in tow. (Or picking something up at Winners without even trying it on because I am on my lunch hour and don't have time.) We don't have a ton of shopping options where I live and I don't often spend real time on it.

So since I have been here for several days, in the main shopping district of the city, where there really isn't anything 'touristy' to see or do but with wonderful access to all of my favourite stores... I have been making the most of it. I have been traipsing back and forth between stores, comparing things, trying things on, determining if this goes with that and narrowing my choices down. (I don't like to buy something until I see what else is out there. There might be something I like more.)

I have spent more in the past few days than I normally do, but I've gotten some great stuff. Mostly on sale. I even had time to spend in TJ Maxx digging through racks and racks of ugly crap to get to the $200 sweater that I bought for $50.
(I did pass on some costume jewelry that I saw and just loved. When did stuff get so darn expensive? A costume necklace for almost $100? Where have I been that prices have gotten this high and I didn't know it was the new norm??? I also drew the line at trying on any of the $2000 Zac Posen dresses while passing through Nordstrom's. While I knew that 90% of what I tried on probably wasn't going to make the cut, I am a bit more realistic than that.)

Anyway, I spent enough to feel like I had gotten some great stuff and to stock up since it will likely be a while before my next shopping trip like this, but was not yet verging on regretting having spent too much. It was a fine line, but I was OK with it. I came back to my hotel last night and made sure I could squeeze it all into my suitcase. I considered all the legwork time well spent.

And then I logged into my email, and got a message from Canon stating that upon further inspection, another part in my lens needs to be replaced, and it's another $170 to do that.
Crap!!!!!

Oh well… I’m sitting in an airport terminal right now. Too late to take anything back. :)