Hello every one, just thought for a lazy Sunday I'd post a quick story on dealing with your new electronic purchases.  I'm sure there are a few photographers readying this like, ok, what does this have to do with photography?...........EVERYTHING! 

So, here we go....being that I'm a heavy gadget geek, a while back I picked up an electronic toothbrush, supposedly one of the best and found a great deal on ebay.  Actually a dentist was the seller and highly recommended this model. My purchase was not only based on the Dentist's recommendations but on my own research and findings as well.  So, I placed my bid and won the item and relieved it in a few days, which felt like forever ( isn't that always the case?) .   After being greeted by a beautiful brown box on my doorstep upon my arrival home, I immediately ripped open the packaging and plugged that puppy in so it could charge. I could not wait for bed time!

My initial impression was wow, this thing really makes a difference and I still believe it does.  But, here's where the lesson comes in.....after a year of use it got sluggish then died!  Dead as a door knob!  I frantically checked on line to see if anyone else was posting of this sudden death and low and behold they were!  I could not believe this was happening to me and just knew i had the best on the market!  Then it dawned on me, read the manual!  Low and behold in the manual it states, to drain the battery by leaving the toothbrush on and then recharge it to condition the battery every six months or so!!!!!  Of course my initial reaction was to proceed to the bathroom and turn it on in order to drain the battery over night.  Well, next day I returned home and went straight for my hopefully rejuvenated friend......no luck!  It ran a little, then died quickly and did this for several more days.  BUT WAIT!  One morning just out of curiosity I ran the brush while still using it like a regular old toothbrush and it started to clean like in the old days!  My brush is now making a come back and will remind me daily to practice what I preach.

Moral of the story, it's always best to read the manual after having a little fun with your new toy!  This goes for every and anything you purchase actually.  I have a few friends I teach photography from time to time and I always bug them to read the manual first before asking questions that are answered "in your manual".  It may seem like the long way around, but it's not, it will actually speed up your learning process! 

The End.