Nothing in your black bag is gonna help what I got unless your black bag has room for another lens.

Nothing in your black bag is gonna help what I got unless your black bag has room for another lens.

This is cold and flu season.

But I’ve got a different kind of bug…the shutterbug.

I caught it when I made a total impulse buy.

Let me explain.

I went to my new Pacific NW dentist just to get my teeth cleaned.

No biggie, right?

Wrong.

After two hours of poking, prodding, and trying to avoid lock-jaw, I discovered several disturbing facts:

1. My NYS dentist must have gotten her degree in The Witch School of Dental Hygiene where bacteria and mercury are a mouth’s best friends.

The case that won my dentist her degree.

The case that won my dentist her degree.

2. All of my mercury fillings need to be replaced because they are highly toxic mercury (duh) and because they are degrading, thus allowing a bacteria Bat Mitzvah to happen under each tooth.

3. I have a cracked tooth that needs a crown and it’s been cracked a long time judging by the rivers of bacteria flowing around it.

4. I have some serious gum disease from all this bacteria festering in my NYS mouth.

Total cost for getting my mouth as healthy as an old camel’s mouth: $4,000 and change.

I may need a whitening treatment. Oy Vey!

I may need a whitening treatment. Oy Vey!

I left the dentist’s office:

1. Happy that all this mercury in my mouth will be gone.

2. Sad that I’m among half of the American population with periodontal disease.

3. Feeling like I needed something to cheer me up.

So I bought myself (and Phil) an Nikon DL-7100 digital SLR camera with two lenses.

Heck if I know what all that gibberish means. It has an "auto" setting. I'm using that for now.

Heck if I know what all that gibberish means. It has an “auto” setting so I’m good to go.

Yeah. I know what you’re thinking.

1. Lorna, you have to spend the equivalent of buying a used car to repair your mouth, and you go out and buy an expensive camera?

I did.

2. Lorna, you know nothing about photography (we’ve seen your pictures), and you buy a camera with more bells and whistles than a kiddie train ride in Disney Land?

Yup.

3. Lorna, do you know the symptoms of depression?

Apparently I’m a bit rusty on the checklist.

Well, to all you skeptics out there, piffle, I say!

Phil and I have been reading the 300+ page manual on how to turn the darned thing on and took our new camera for a test drive this past weekend.

We went to a local wildlife refuge where you can only drive around, stay in your car and take pictures.

So we did.

On our way into the refuge. The trees have ferns growing out of their trunks. That's wild, huh?

On our way into the refuge. The trees have ferns growing out of their trunks. That’s wild, huh?

What can I say? I like trees?

What can I say? I like trees?

Some men just have to look when their ladies are taking a bath.

Some men just have to look when their ladies are taking a bath.

Some women have no problem telling their men to mind their own business.

Some women have no problem telling their men to mind their own business.

I guess the rules about not getting out of your car don't apply to everyone.

I guess the rules about not getting out of your car don’t apply to everyone.

You may not believe this, but I saw the refection and meant to take this picture.

You may not believe this, but I saw the refection and meant to take this picture.

This one, too. He came out with some wiggly, squiggly thing in he beak. Got a picture of that, too. But...yuck.

This one, too. He came out with some wiggly, squiggly thing in he beak. Got a picture of that, too. But…yuck.

So, how did I do? Should I have gone home and flossed rather than gone to a store and shopped?

I think I’m going to take a class on basic photography once I figure out how to turn the camera off.

I also want a more powerful zoomy lens. But I many have to wait until I pay off my used car teeth bill.

Have you ever made an outrageous spur-of-the-moment purchase? Do tell!