signs that it's time to get a new camera

January 2004: Very first digital camera arrives!

1. 2005: camera lens begins to disintegrate
2. 2006: lens cover stops closing properly
   
3. 2007: camera begins turning off of its own free will
4. ...repeatedly
5. ...at key picture-taking moments ... resulting in much hushed cursing within earshot of children and the elderly
   
6. camera software begins malfunctioning, requiring clever user procedures to permit proper downloading of photos
7. 2008: after growing increasingly disagreeable over the last year, an important camera button begins detaching of its own free will
8. ...repeatedly
9. ...and is then forever lost at a ballgame
10. camera stops recognizing light when turned on, shows nearly black screen

I concede the match. Really, it has been clear that this day was coming sooner than later. Three weeks after buying $100 of printer cartridges and paper, the printer purchased especially for this camera broke and would print only partial photos and very streaky ones at that. It lasted about two years, all together. Oh well. There it goes.