I have loved technology as long as I can remember.  Before my father retired, he was an electrical engineer.  While an intelligent man who can debate anyone on any current political issue or match wits over calculus problems, he has always been baffled by the most minor technology problem.  As a child when the tv would stop working I would hear him bellow “Gina” and I would rush to his aid.  Usually the culprit was dead batteries in the tv remote, occasionally a loose wire. 

When I need to purchase presents for holidays and birthdays, I always think about the latest and greatest technology.  However, my Dad doesn’t like techie-geek gadgets.  My mother told me to get him an old-fashioned shaving soap brush.  Well, okay but I also wanted to give him something that came from the heart.  Something that could only come from me.

I decided to give him memories. He came up to visit for a week and has been helping me around the house, fixing stuff.  Since we don’t get to see each other often, I bought an Insignia HD camcorder.  The unit is small, lightweight and easy to use.  It has a 5 megapixel resolution (that means the video it captures is clear to see), has a three inch swivel LCD screen that allows you to see the images you are filming and has a powerful zoom feature (8x digital).  It also films in HD which I think is very cool but when I told my father, ever the engineer, he asked if that had anything to do with hydraulics! 

Time slips by so quickly.  I know every time my Dad looks at me he sees a five-year-old, little girl in pig-tails ready to start kindergarten.  I want to remember the time I spend with my father.  Making videos captures these gentle moments so that I can share them with him and others.