Snowshoeing In McCall

This previous weekend, Jess and I got out of town for a couple days in our annual “post holiday decompress” trip. We usually try to get away for a weekend sometime after the first of the year just to come down a bit and recharge. This year was a little later than normal, but we still made it.

We stayed at the ‘everything old is new again’ Shore Lodge. Fresh off their failed “Whitetail” experiment, they are back to their roots. I’d never set foot in the building, but I gotta say that place is really nice. We had the authentic “McCall experience” in that we stayed at Shore Lodge, ate at Lardo’s, The Pancake House and The Mill. We also bought a 6-pack of beer at Paul’s.

Probably the most fun thing we did the whole weekend was snowshoeing. We borrowed some friend’s gear and tooled around the shore of Little Payette Lake. I’d never been snowshoeing before. Many years ago I did a little cross country skiing and snowshoeing is kinda like that. We had so much fun, we may be in the market for our own snowshoes.

We also had perfect weather. The sun was shining and the temps were in the upper 30’s. It was so nice we were able to shed our coats and de-layer a bit. Absolutely gorgeous.

Of course, I loved being out there with the new camera and playing around taking pics. Here are my favorites. Click on them to go to Flickr. Or you can view the slideshow.

Aspen Shadow

Winter Forrest

Winter Aspens

Winter Aspens

Snowshoeing Past Aspens

Aspen Matrix

How We Spent Our Evening

ist2_2356580_house_keyQuestion.  When you get the keys to your new residence, what is generally the first thing you do?

If you’re like 99.9% of the population, you probably take the 6 seconds and proudly slide that new key on your key ring.  It’s almost a symbol of your new life.  A very momentous occasion for most.

Unless you’re my wife.

Somehow, she never bothered to place a house key on her key ring, despite the beautiful little setup the builder had for us upon our move in.  Each key on a shiny little ring in a jewelery box.  Nope.  Never did it.  In fact, I even TOLD her to do it, multiple times in the past 9 months since we’ve moved in.  Still never did it.  She even has the typical “woman keyring” with a dozen or more keys on it… keys to her office and her parents house and even to a padlock to my old storage unit.  “I have a key to the rental house, though”, she said.

Why do I mention this?  Oh, I don’t know… maybe it could have something to do with the fact that we just spent the last 45 minutes locked out of our own house.

We just now regained entry with the help of a locksmith and $55.

See, after work we decided that we would go to the gym and work out.  No biggie, we do this multiple times a week.  However this time the garage door somehow locked when it closed upon our exit.  My guess is the lock mechanism wasn’t turned all the way open or something.  Anyway, when the door shut, it locked.  We got back from the gym only to find it immovable.  Oh shit.

Even worse, the hide-a-key we had in the front of the house for just such an occasion, wasn’t there.  See, this exact occasion happened to my lovely bride a few weeks ago and she retrieved that key to let herself into the house.  As I lifted the rock to get the key I was greeted by the sight of bare dirt.  No key.  Well gee… I don’t suppose you remembered to replace that key you used to get in the house did ya?  Apparently not.

Here I am, in shorts and a sweatshirt perusing my work bench for something that might be able to open the door.  Like I’m friggin MacGyver or something and am going to miraculously figure out how to pick the lock with a nail, a wasp trap and can of spray paint.  Unfortunately, I did not have these skills.  What I did have was an iPhone.  The iPhone again saves the day, as I was able to look up locksmiths.  Finally, the forth number we tried (yes, I had her call) we found someone who could come out in just 25 minutes.

As I only had shorts on and was freezing, I got back into the car and started it up simply for the heater.  Jess had the one good idea… we had beer in the fridge.  So, I partook.

Jess then told me that she was “taking 80% of the blame for this”.  Like somehow this was my fault, despite the fact that I did take those 6 seconds and have a key on my ring.  We were driving her car.  Thus, no key.  She then relented and accepted 90% of the blame, to which I assigned the other 10% to the lock itself.  My favorite quote from her was, “I didn’t have a key to my old house either!” like that somehow made this all ok.

Finally the locksmith arrived and it a few short minutes he was inside and it was all over but the fifty bucks we owed him.

Ahh… never a dull moment around the Haberman household.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to have a dozen keys made and hiding them all around the garage and yard.

Slumdog Millionaire – Feb 6th

slumdog_millionaireIf you haven’t heard of the indie phenomenon called Slumdog Millionaire, I don’t know where you’ve been.  It’s everywhere seemingly, including the Oscar noms. The other night Jess and I finally made it out to see it. What follows is my review, which as always, will most assuredly contain spoilers. Continue at your own risk.

I can honestly say that this movie is really unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It is a remarkable movie. I can tell you, it completely earns it’s 94% fresh rating on Rottentomatoes.com. I am the first to admit that I am woefully ignorant about life in India beyond what I have seen in Gandhi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The first of those was probably a little more accurate, but I digress. The basic premise of this movie is the story of a young man who goes onto the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The movie begins with him being “gently” interrogated. We the audience are unaware as to what is going on. Turns out, they are trying to figure out how he answered all the questions correctly. The rest of the movie is spent as he tells the detective his story and how he learned the answer to each of the questions. I know it sounds a little strange, but it is a very effective way of telling a story. Again, not like anything I’ve seen.

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