Get first and second td element in row - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I have an ajax call attached to the click event of a pic inside a table row. Once the pic is clicked and the click event initiated, I need to grab the first and second td elements from that row. I'm new to jQuery so what I have below is my latest attempt (not working..). The variables firstName and lastName both wind up being undefined after those lines are executed
$('.checkErrors').click(function () {
var firstName = $(this).parent('tr td:first-child').val();
var lastName = $(this).parent('tr td:nth-child(2)').val();
$.ajax({
type: 'GET',
url: '#Url.Action("GetErrors","AgentTransmission")',
data: { term: $(this).attr('id') },
.
.
});
});
Here is a sample table row. The image in the last td element contains the .click event. I would like to grab the first two that contain the text "phinneas" and "ferbseven".
<tr>
<td>
phinneas
</td>
<td>
ferbseven
</td>
<td nowrap>
7735
</td>
<td>
Agent
</td>
<td>
SAF
&nbsp
07070900
</td>
<td>
6/5/2013 10:35:38 AM
</td>
<td>
DANTAK
</td>
<td class="errorPlus">
Error
</td>
<td>
Details
<span> | </span>
Edit
</td>
<td align=center id=2358>
<img src="/Content/images/magnify.gif" class="checkErrors" id=2358 alt="Program Details" />
</td>
</tr>

Answer 1

use closest
var $tr = $(this).closest(´tr´);
var firstName = $tr.find('td:first-child').text();
var lastName = $tr.find('td:nth-child(2)').text();
Also, you need to use text instead of val for td elements since it make sense only on input controls.

Answer 2

First only form elements have .val property so .
You are supposed to use .text since it is a td
Try using :eq psuedo selector
var $tr;
$tr.find('td:eq(0)').text();
$tr.find('td:eq(1)').text();

Answer 3

To get their content, you can do this:
var cells = $(this).closest('td').siblings('td');
var firstName = cells.eq(0).text();
var firstName = cells.eq(1).text();
Those last two lines can also be:
var firstName = $(cells[0]).text();
var firstName = $(cells[1]).text();