speaking with the camera shop guy, he thinks the camera i had might have been a lemon... i mean it was soooo bad, colors all washed out, none of the setting worked... even at the hightest rez, the images were all pixelated! full of noise... and nevermind that it could not focus on anything. oh well.
I got a Nikon D40X instead, with the 18-135 lens which is more than enough for my needs. Didn't want an SLR camera but really, they are the best for action shots and crisp clear photos...
battery is charging now, hope to take some photos later