I had replaced the broken SD870 with a newer SD980 recently, but for reasons unknown, the image quality on the SD980 just doesn’t quite match the SD870′s image quality. Comparing pictures from both cameras, the newer SD 980′s 12.1MP sensor produced consistently noisier pictures compared to the SD870′s 8.0MP sensor.

So this week, I decided to order a new lens assembly for the SD870 to breathe new life into the retired camera. And what you see below is a photo documentary of tedious repair.

Disassembly - Front

Disassembly - Back

Dis-assembly of the front and back plates were fairly straight forward, a couple of screws (6 or so) hold the entire external case together. Once opened, you can really see how tightly all of the components are packed together inside.

Disassembly - Complete

Next, the LCD came off, along with the top control plate, flash unit, and finally the lens assembly.

Broken Lens Assembly

As many other users have reported online, usually the lens on these Canon point-and-shoot cameras become stuck as bits of debris fall into the lens motor/gears. However unfortunately for me, one of the sections of the lens assembly jumped off of its “track” and I was unable to fix the problem. Well actually I did try, but I failed miserably. Much cussing ensued.

Replacement Lens Assembly

So in comes eBay to save the day with a new replacement lens assembly! This damn thing ended up costing me $35, but I guess that’s still better than paying Canon $130 for the repairs.

Reasesmbled and Fixed - Front

Reassembled and Fixed - Back

After the new lens assembly was installed, the rest of the camera parts were re-assembled, and SUCCESS! The camera came right back to life and I ran the SD870 through a series of tests to make sure everything was in order.

Whoops

Whoops, where did these parts come from? I guess my fix-it project wouldn’t be complete if there weren’t any unaccounted screws/parts at the end of the journey. So two screws and a small metal plate thing are missing from the camera… somewhere. Oh well. I consider this as mission accomplished!

Then it became a day:

Then of course we got busted because our work emails promoted our coworkers to dress “metro sexually”.

But it was all fun for everyone that was able to participate. It’s not everyday your fellow man stands up against the injustice of the everyday pressure of avoiding “effeminate” colors in the office space. It is vindicating to know how one simple comment against a pink tie (my pink tie!) can turn into an office-wide pink/purple day.

So offices around the country, stand up and support the right for men to wear whichever pastel colors that will satisfy your hearts’ desires. And be not afraid of the ensuing persecution for they are unjust! GO PINK, OR GO HOME!

Here comes another $300 in repairs, on top of the $600 that I will soon be spending on the timing belt…

I think it’s definitely time for a new car. Suggestions?

This time around, I had the pleasure of hanging out with some good High School friends, a good SF friend, and a few good LA friends. And when the liquor starts flowing, the insanity just begins to rear it’s ugly but lovable face. There’s only a couple pictures from the night since I didn’t have my own camera, but I challenge you to figure out at what exact time of the night I start becoming smashed (hint, it was pretty early on). And Heather didn’t even yak on my pants this time around! But I did get “saved” from and was prohibited to talk to Heather by my venerable yet very confused coworker when she mistook Heather for being a more recent ex-gf. At least you tried Julie. At least you tried.

Partying at JLounge 9/8/2007

Best Vega$ video memory: shooting a M16 at the range.

Here’s my awesome futon bed that I bought because I got tired for sleeping on Vic’s ground. Notice the equally as awesome lounge chair which provides me comfortable seating in my command center. On the left, you’ll see multiple bags from Macy’s and Banana Republic. Those are all the new rock star threads I bought, including 4 pairs of dress pants and 3 spiffy ties. After all, image is everything in LA! Plus, I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb at my new job. Which has been awesome by the way, but you already knew that.

Of course with all the fancy clothes, I got to have a way to organize and maintain my pimp collection. Naturally, big plastic tubs are the way to go if you’re short on closet space. But wearing wrinkled clothing is obviously a huge mistake, so each piece of clothing is maintained with a bit of TLC from a new ironing board and iron. So the image is like so: preparing for my mornings usually include myself eating a bagel in my boxers, ironing my clothes and watching some MSNBC for updates on the stock market.

With the little free time I got, I usually spend it either working out my rock star physique at my personal gym or perfecting my rock staring technique on some Guitar Hero 2. It’s pretty easy to see that all the necessities are covered in my small 14×14 sq. ft. area.

But something seems to be missing…. Ah yes, of course, our good friend Jack. I had to go to the supermarket and buy this bottle of Jack just because Victor didn’t have a drop of alcohol on his premises, and that just doesn’t seem right for some reason. Even though it’s not opened yet, I can assure you that there’s been lots of drinking in the past two weekends. The list includes: The Day After, Mr. Pockets, LAX, and J-Lounge, with the latter being my favorite right now. I did however, manage to become a casualty of the rock partying scene. I tell everyone that I got in a fight with defunct punk rock lead guitarist, but the truth is that there was some shattered glasses bits on the bar counter that I didn’t see. Got to give it up to Pam for her excellent first aid skills, thanks for patching me up.

Well, that’s all the update I have so far. The last 10 days have seen like an eternity to me, which is great because I wouldn’t want any day of my 25-year old life to fly away from me right now. Rock on!

Other than that, I’ve been keeping busy with the normal life of an umemployed bum. Recently I sent an email to my friends detailing my excruciating day that consisted of:

8:00AM – Wake up
8:00AM-10:30AM – Dick around
10:30AM-11:30AM – Oil change and tire rotation
11:30AM-12:30PM – Eat BCL with Freddy (since he wants to be a bum soon too)
12:30PM-1:00PM – Haircut
1:00PM-3:00PM – TV (Star Trek midday baby!)
3:00PM-4:30PM – Sleep
4:30PM-6:00PM – Work out
6:30PM – Write this email

Which then garnered the prompt response of “i hate you jay.” from Marcus. Although I thought I had an upper hand on some of the other bums we know (David), he had to one-up me and spent his day attending a charity auction, bidding and winning six rounds of golf at the Trump National.

I have also flirted with certain death and disaster immediately after my life and health insurance plans terminated. Going skydiving probably isn’t high on people’s to-do list without any type of insurance to protect you, but I say who cares, you either live or you don’t right? Either way, it was a fantastic experience and everyone has to try it at least once. There really is no bigger rush than free-falling at 120mph from an altitude of 15,000 ft. In the video below, you can see just how fast you turn from a 5’5″ person into just a speck in the camera lens as you see Margaret fall out of the plane right before I do.

Next weekend, snowboarding at Sierra at Tahoe. See you all there.

I also put some photos up in the photo gallery, so click through and enjoy.

I think everyone remembers all crazy last year was, you can check out the pictures I took in the picture gallery. But this year was a little different, we started off with coordinating all of our costumes and eventually bought Flintstones costumes. I got the grown up version of Bamm-Bamm, Betty and Barney’s son. Naturally, I wanted to take a picture with my “Dad”.

After hitting up 4 places in 2 nights, and seeing notable costumes including: cross-dressers, anime characters, and brokeback cowboys, it’s time to get some shut-eye before starting another dreaded week at work.

See all the pictures here: Halloween 2006

It was my coworker’s birthday this past weekend, and I was all game once I heard that my coworker was bringing her Brazilian girl friends. We started off at Mangarosa, a fusion Italian/Brazilian restaurant in San Francisco. I thought my pork chop was great, but of course my Brazilian coworker didn’t approve of the food: not authentic Brazil. $30 will still get you a huge platter of beef though, enough to feed two, just prepare to get the salt and pepper shakers out.

I also tried a new drink called Caipirinha, made of lime juice, sugar, and cachaça (a Brazilian liquor). I’d say it’s close to a margarita, but with much more flavor and a lot less tequilla. At $10 a pop, it’ll probably cost a bunch to get drunk off of this stuff though.

But with or without liquor, Brazilians are mad fun. During dinner, there was a bunch of singing, clapping, and table pounding. At Bubble Lounge, everyone was dancing and having a good time, even though no one had alcohol and the music was… questionable. That’s a huge difference compared to most Asians who need to have 3-4 shots before they can even approach the dance floor.

Less standing, more dancing!