I lied. The lens isn't awful.

Sunrise, shot in "Sunrise" mode in Camera

and cropped

I just need to learn how to operate it. I purchased a Tamron 18-200mm last year for my Nikon camera. I thought the 18mm to 200mm would be the ticket. I could get wide shots and zoom-er-in shots.

I got it in November and made my first mistake with it. I tried shooting indoors at full zoom and doing long exposures.
MISTAKE! Whoops! Nothing came out like I wanted it too. I was so disgusted I simply put the lens back in the box and thought about returning it. The lens was heavy, the tripod wouldn't hold the camera still long enough. There were some other minor issues too but these were all in very low light.

I put the lens away. I did take it out to see how it would preform in the daylight and if it was useful for portraits.
It was.

However, it does seem to shine in other ways too.

Zoom into the meadow by the Owl Trees.

Another zoom to 200mm for catching the curve of the gravel road and the oaks in the sunlight.

Maidenhair ferns. Used the lens to try and do a 'sort of' macro. Nice bokeh and it worked well.

I had to go to the township recycle place and took a slight detour to see if the pair of eagles had come back.
They had. One stayed on the trees and one flew off.

Another fast zoom. Kids walking with Morris.

And then a shot of the neighbor farmer cutting his hayfield and his round bales. Our area is rolling and hilly. There is a telephone or electric line running midway through the photo which is distorted because of the focal length.

How the lens do at 18mm?

Well I took this sunrise this morning.
Cropped to take out the foreground.

And last shot. Kid silhoutte at the bus stop with the predawn colors behind them.

I think the lens does well. I just need to leave it on my camera and keep using it so I can learn to make it perform well for me.

Every lens has its 'sweet' spot especially those lenses which are not prime.
I'd love to own a professional 70-200mm Nikon pro lens. However the average price is about $2,100. I think this one will serve me well and I sure did not pay a huge price for it.