Better news

*Whew!* The alternator in my car is tip-top. No major repairs were called for, just a tune up. So my ride is golden.

Now, as promised, I'll tell the camera story.

When C. and I went skiing in Copper Mountain, I stashed some dried fruit and nuts inside my Camelbak and a banana into my pocket for the lift ride. Since I had my camera, I figured it'd be great to snap some quick looks of our second snow outing together in two years.

After mayhem before our first run -- my binding promptly snapped off when I went to latch in, so not only were my bindings a loss, I had to rent skis for the first time in 11 years -- we were enjoying the mountain despite the 17-degree temperature and blowing snow. Really, it was a good time ... C. on his snowboard, me on my rental sticks.

So I decided to take some photos on the lift, and discovered two things that should never mingle. Delicate camera parts and a smashed banana. I had falled hard on the previous run, catching a ski edge on a patch of ice and (somehow) doing a belly flop onto the snow. I had the wind knocked out of me, but then I found the strength to giggle uncontrollably. Little did I know, my camera was on its last leg.

So I took these photos ... in chronological order of the final pictures my trusty Nikon point-and-shoot ever will take.

Chris on the lift.

You can see the frozen banana sludge.

It really was that snowy and cold.

Thank goodness for my neck gaiter. Brr!

Squint. You'll see trees. I promise.

The haze in the center of the lens is not snow, it's banana!

Not only is the camera happy to be alive at this point, but this was the last picture it captured, and boy am I happy it was this grown up little man, fresh off his first day of charming the day care ladies! All that flirting is tiresome. I'm surprised at how clean the lens looks here.


So now after all that camera drama, I have drug out my manual 35mm Pentax. I have to adjust f-stop, shutter speed and manually focus on the subject, which not-surprisingly has been Big B. It's actually fun, but not so great for those "Get the camera!" moments. I guess I just have to get faster. I'll keep you all posted once I get my roll back from Snapfish. So far, the picture dial reads 7, so once I hit 24 and manually rewind the film (yes, I have to do that, too), I'll pop it in the mail.