I went ice skating, and it was not exactly pretty…
March 1, 2006, 6:16 PM
First of all, I am back from ice skating at Pentagon Row, and all body parts are intact. And I think the best way to describe it was that I had no idea what I was doing.
Now mind you, I used to be a decent skater. That was back a long time ago, though. But a few coworkers said that skating was like riding a bicycle – once you learn, you never forget. They lied.
I took my FliteStar vest with me for this trip and used it on the ice, primarily due to the length of time between skating experiences.
I also got one of the skate guards to take pictures of me while out on the ice, so there is photographic proof of it. One of those photos is on the splash page for March.
I now have a lot of respect for one memorable skater from December, who had a death grip on the railing, and did much of her skating that way. For let me tell you… I had a death grip on the railing, too. And sometimes, it seems that I barely had a handle on that. I was pushing with my feet, and occasionally, I was pulling myself along using the railing.
I think my problem was balance, as it felt like the blades were shifting under my feet, throwing me off-kilter. When that happened, my recovery was to basically try to hurl myself into the railing, and hold it hard to avoid a fall. This was successful.
Still, I took two laps around the rink, each of which felt like it took forever to do. That’s where I came to the conclusion that I just can’t skate at this point in time, and left the ice. Still, it was fun.
And what I’d like to know is why no one makes double bladed ice skates for adults. They make such a thing for children, but Internet searching revealed nothing for adults. I think I could do it if I had a second blade on each foot, since I have wide feet.
Who knows.
Otherwise, though, the trip went fine, as I got some railfan photos out the back window of some Metro trains, going out to Greenbelt, then down to Huntington, and then visiting my friend Tristan at the Old Town Transit Shop.
The trip home, however, was awful. I was quite fatigued, and actually took a 90-minute nap in the car on the way home at Woodstock. I was actually ahead of schedule for my return trip before that. That nap put me behind instead of ahead. But we made it.
I ended up listening to WGN radio out of Chicago for a good bit of the way home. This is on AM 720, and I can receive it at night. Why I can receive WGN and other distant AM radio stations at night is explained here. I also have become a regular nighttime listener to WOR, AM 710, out of New York City. The only thing about these stations is that I have to remember that the weather reports are for these distant markets, as the weather in Chicago and New York isn’t too relevant for me in Stuarts Draft, Virginia.
So there you go. I had fun.
Web site: All about clear channel AM radio stations, as well as a list of them
Song: Don't have one today
Quote: If anyone knows about double-bladed ice skates for adults, I'd love to know about it...