Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for July 30, 2009

There is no relaxing with Calvin.

So far, not so good…

wow… pathetic.

And finally, Mom speaks.

How long ago did Calvin break his binoculars?

You go camping to get away from it all. …… But you bring it all with you.

Dad should have known better after the binocular affair. Oh, and poor seagulls.

Hey… on the bright side… it’s clean clear water.

CALVINNNNNNNN….!!!

Dad should know not to hand anything important to a six year old. I think he is to be held responsible for Calvin’s irresponsibility. Which in the case of a kid, is probably no more than a lack of coordination.

DAHamilton said, 10 minutes ago Oh, and poor seagulls.

You meant Calvin tastes aweful? LOL

Next year, Dad should bring a water-proof one!

Didn’t Calvin JUST break Dad’s binoculars? He should know to keep Calvin away from electronics.

Hehe! Now we’ll find out what character this builds!

1st the binoculars now the camera. there is a pattern forming.

Blaming the poor kid for your own mistake, typical! It’s obvious from the evidence that you let go too soon :)

..a few hours in the sun and the camera will be as new..

But the film will not, robbieboy (remember that Calvin’s dad does not use digital).

..the film will do fine.. worse about the camera.. :) i wonder what the other “everything” is.. :D

…”I can see the camera and everything.” I wonder what the everything is - what else si down there? Time to go exploring the depths!

So far that’s the best part of the vacation for Calvin. He actually seems happier!

Just wondering… why you would go anywhere to relax and take your kid or kids with you….

unrealistic…You hand a kid something, you try to take it away just a bit to see if they really have it. ONLY THEN do you reliquish control of it.

THEN he drops it…

Ten feet deep between the canoe and the shore? Shove Calvin in quick!!

Too close to the binocular fiasco. Somebody needs to have a talk with dad, mom.

If dad had been smart and knowing Calvin as he does, Dad should have bought a camera that can survive in water. As much as it is a vacation, remember from the beginning that Calvin looks on it as punishment. Leaving him home with his TV, computer games, and all, would have been just fine with Calvin. Ten feet deep is the estimate of a six year old. It’s probably not that deep at all

BTW, just for accuracy and completeness: most (non-digital) cameras will dry out just fine after being submerged briefly in clear, clean water. Same with film: it’s developed in water-based chemicals, after all. Even finished photos, if laid flat to dry, don’t suffer from exposure to clean water. (Spent a lot of time in darkrooms during my misspent youth.)

This may be Calvin’s revenge for being taken camping against his will. The binoculars thing was an accident, I don’t think this was.

What is this “film” of which many speak? I googled it and it appears to be some antiquated form of image technology. Is it like cave painting? Come on somebody… regale us with tales of the “old days”! Vinyl, 8-track tapes, beta-max, dial phones, lead-based paints and gasoline (yum!)

I can’t believe such a smart kid as Calvin could have such a stupid father. Binoculars, camera, Where did they park the car?

That wouldn’t happen in a resort

I think the “oops” pretty much covers it!

Dad came for the swimming, didn’t he? Now he gets to add diving to the agenda!

The “oops” is Calvins revenge for making him go camping

Wait until you see what happens tomorrow. That’s even better.

Why would you ever hand an expensive camera to an 8 year old over the side of a boat? I would’ve been mad at myself for being that unwise.

Stede_Bonnet: no regaling here, all technology has expiration dates, we just don’t know what those dates are. I saw a recent news article that asserted that iPods are now outdated……I’m sure all of your beloved current technology will soon be the subject of your own regaling tales….

First the binoculars, now the camera. This kid is too expensive to keep around. Put him up for adoption and keep the tiger!

Calvin dropped the camera in the water on purpose so he wants to go home anyway.

I think Dave Barry said it best:

“Camping: nature’s way of promoting the motel industry.”

Me thinks Bill was looking to rehash something from the binoculars saga, plus really show what Calvin’s father, like a lot of father’s of that era, were like. Count on Mom to step in, as usual. I remember these same kind of episodes when I was Calvin’s age. ROLFMAO

he’s only six and you should have remembered the binoculars, dad. ;-)

mfcoace said, about 2 hours ago

no regaling here, all technology has expiration dates, we just don’t know what those dates are. I saw a recent news article that asserted that iPods are now outdated……I’m sure all of your beloved current technology will soon be the subject of your own regaling tales….

Moore’s Law in action… everything is obsolete in 24 months (or increasingly less). Explains a lot about our “disposable” culture. Why learn about anything when it will all be out of date in a matter of months? Better to just sit and wait for the marketing gurus to instruct us where to next spend our consumer dollars. Buy! Buy! Buy!

(I’m investing in landfill reclamation technology…)

…I hate to repeat myself…but…wait!That’s OK,here…

Dad should worry us , He dose not seem to learn very fast

yeah when you try to relax there is always something happening but when you want something to happen nothing ever does

Finally a calvin fix! I miss him from the comics. I’ve bought all the Calvin and Hobbes books and collections but I sure miss opening the newspaper to eht comics then reading him there!

Only ten feet ?? Due to the diffraction of light in water, it might be a lot deeper !!

Humormehere: You sound very much like The Voice of Experience.

Busted288: Welcome to our merry flock of loons.

I’ve read this storyline a 1000 times in the books! Wait until everybody sees what get broken tomorrow! lol! :-)

Camera soaked? Just remove the film cassette, pull all the film out, let it dry, then rewind it into the cassette. There! Good as new!

Ooooops is right!

Pops shoulda known by now to make sure the camera was an underwater model!

It’s OK water is at shore 3” deep water proof cam.

Dad is dumber than dirt!! Last year’s vacation was a disaster (same place, it rained all week), the binocular incident, now hand the kid an expensive camera. He’s only 6 years old!!!!! Get a brain dad!!

well, next year, he can bring a waterproof disposable. But when this was first drawn, those didn’t even exist!

What will their plans be for their vacation next year? My suggestion is to let Calvin stay at home - with Roslyn!

Roslyn can barely handle Calvin for a night. There’s no way she’ll agree to a whole week.

Thanks for all the nice things everyone said when I talked about my Dad when we’d go to camp with my Mom. My Dad was a real character. I remember when I was 9 we all drove to Florida. We went on the glass bottom boat tour they had back then. Dad was leaning over the boat trying to get a shots of birds, crocodiles and alligators, drops the camera in the water! He had all the lenses and meters and such with it. He took a course at the college to learn how it all worked for this trip especially. Without missing a beat Dad dives in the water to rescue his camera. Mom was very accepting of his action but I thought he’d get eaten. The tour guide guy’s losing it and calls security to take some kind of action against my father for disrupting nature or something? Up comes Dad with the camera and everybody goes nuts applauding and taking pictures of him. That was his 10 minutes of fame! I remember he got special cleaner stuff at the camera shop and used my Mom’s hairdryer with the bonnet to dry it out the rest of the way.