On that note, returning from the PMA convention, I was starving. I decided to try Steak and Shake. I hadn't been in one since I took some courses at the U of I in Champagne Urbana, Ill. back in the sixties. The appeal there was Friday nights, cool shakes and mainly some fair shakes from those very cute girls who were certainly stacked better than the burgers. 

I ordered the basic 1/4 lb. gourmet burger, fries and a coke. It was "the specialty of the house". Since I was alone, I sat at the "bar' and in full view of "Evan" obviously trained by Dr. Kevorkian in the art of killing things.  

He took this hockey puck of meat from an open box and softly placed it on the grill, almost with reverence.  Then in a moment of maniacal glee, he killed it with a series of smashes from his really thick steel burger flipper. He cooked it to death in two minutes flat. Then he scraped the remains and proudly dropped the cremation on the bun draping the funeral with a sliver of onion, a transparent piece of tomato and some lettuce. I wanted to go to the car and get my camera. I felt part of the magic of the alchemy of the moment. 

I have scraped more off my shoe on a bad day. It's about sizzle, they aren't misleading you. You get sizzle and a pile of carbon. The next time you come in you will order a double or a triple. That boost's the average ticket sale by a dollar per puck.  It's all about money, not sizzle. In their case, sealing the juices in with all that racket and attention is part of the sell. You miss the value part, you do get the hype. 

GOOD DEAL HINTS:

  •  As far as better deals on cameras, here are some clues. Only the rich, gadget hungry, latest and greatest cult followers got to have the first edition. They usually have the last edition, only slightly used at a good price for sale.  Many are credit hungry and count on the sale of the older model to supplement the cost of the new one.  Wait six months and the price comes down, later models have less problems and installed upgrades.  

  •  Olympus, Leica, Samsung,Panasonic and others are reinventing the wheel with the 4/3 camera which is an interesting format and cultural change. Reminds me of Linux for some reason. Maybe the open codes on lenses. The jury is still out.

  •  There are deals galore and crooks galore. For every responsible well run E-Commerce enterprise there is another group who are bait and switch thieves. For safety's sake we recommend your local dealer and if you do go on-line go to the ABC of internet camera companies:  All are rated very highly and been in business for decades. These are the GOOD guys. You should have no problems.

  •  "Gray market" is a camera product brought into this country by someone other than the certified legal importer. They buy the parallel line and they are the importer.   Genuine Nikon come into the USA as Nikon USA. Some companies have their own buying concern direct from Nikon. B&H does this and they back it up with their own parts and service. This line of Nikon is made for the same U.S. market specs and is OK to buy from B&H or Adorama. Generally if from ABC, they are safe.
  •  But "Fantastic Cameras, Digital Sounds and Swedish Smorgasbord" in Brooklyn does it different. They buy them in the Euro market, big place, many loose borders, lots of black market and ship them here. That's the "grayer market". In reality you might not have a warranty at all. So they will advertise USA warranty...  BY WHOM?

 " Caveat emptor"  Is Latin for "Let the buyer beware and is the property law doctrine that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing".  My Brooklyn translation is "Cavity Empty". The place in the wallet where the money used to be.  I  prefer the old adage, " and if it seems too good to be true it usually is".