Minor Blessings

There are lots of terrible things going on the world, to be sure, but every once in a while, something simple and remarkable is worth dwelling on briefly. Let me give you an example.

I bought a pair of Nikon Monarch binoculars ten years ago for $300. It was a bit of an expense, but one could easily pay much more, and this pair came with a lifetime guarantee.

Hilary had the same model and we often got them mixed up. That wouldn't have been a problem, except that she wears glasses, and therefore has her eye-pieces screwed in, whereas mine are screwed out. (In the instant it take you to adjust the eye-piece, the bird you've been waiting a decade to see might be gone. FOREVER.)

I wrapped a red rubber band around one of my eye-pieces and a purple one around the other, to make it easier to tell whose was whose at a glance. This method worked, but eventually my eye-pieces, perhaps affected by the proximity to the rubber, got ornery, uncooperative, and the left one finally fell off.

But I had a guarantee, and although the binoculars were now ten years old, I printed out a return form I found on the Nikon website, filled it in, boxed up the binoculars, and shipped them off to an address on Wilshire Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

That was two weeks ago. A week ago I received an email acknowledging receipt of the optical device. It was four paragraphs long, and contained language like this:

"To view your service details, please use your service order number 7063417 and your "Bill-to" name TOREN, JOHN to log-in. Your "Bill-to" name is usually your last name and it needs to be input exactly as it appears on our attached document including punctuation and any spaces.

We are also mailing you a printed copy of this acknowledgement/estimate. If you approve an estimate via the service website before you receive this mailing, it will not show the most current status.  While your equipment is being serviced, our website status will indicate "Shop." When service is completed, the status will indicate "Shpd".
This means the order has been invoiced and shipped."   

OK then.

Just today a small box was delivered via UPS. It contained a lot of packing peanuts, under which lay my binoculars. They worked fine. They worked great. Better than ever! There was a lengthy invoice at the bottom of the box describing services rendered. A team of little men in a windowless warehouse in downtown LA  (or so I imagine it) had not only fixed them, they had cleaned them. And realigned them! The itemization was followed by a total charge— 0.00.

I was reminded of an old Czech saying: "When God wishes to rejoice the heart of a poor man, he makes him lose his donkey and find it again."

There was only one problem. These weren't my binoculars. They were Nikon Monarch binoculars, but a different model; they lacked the ribbing on the sides, and they had two indented screw-holes on the bottom. These details only confirmed what I had known the minute I held them in my hands. These were zombie binoculars, not mine.

Well, I'd better get over it. Spring migration is picking up. We spotted some wood ducks in Bassett Creek lagoon just yesterday.