August 17, 2004

So...
...I was in DC for a few days...
Last minute on Friday I had to book a flight out to DC/VA for Monday to see a client and keep them at peace. The trip in itself was successful but I really didn't do anything there that I couldn't have done over the phone. I guess the face time was important to them. Anyway, I travelled there with one of the the techies I'm cool with from our MO office. We got there Monday night, checked in, checked the happy hour at the hotel bar (free, free, free!), then had some serious seafood dindin. We were going to hit up DC and look around since it was his first time there but we were too buzzed and too full to do anything and went walking around DC Tuesday night instead.

I think I like DC at night better than I like it during the day. The buildings are nightly lit and the monuments look more prominent. We went by the White House and saw it from half a mile away since they have the whole place barricaded, saw the GW Monument (how can u miss it?), Vietnam memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the WWII memorial which I think is an awesome spectacle. We must have been walking around for atleast two hours that by the time we reached the hotel at something past midnight I just wanted to pass out at the lobby. It was a good experience though and I think my techie colleague enjoyed it.

One thing that I missed while I was in DC was being by Solsa's side for her operation. I told her that I would stay with her at the hospital unless I get shipped out somewhere. Low and behold, I got shipped out. I spoke to her on her way to the hospital and wished her goodluck. The procedure went as planned and I think she's recovering pretty well.

It is worth mentioning here that I saw my friend David before we went off to see DC. We met him for dinner at this place called Maggiano's. I haven't seen him for like - what, three or so years now? We also stopped by his place so that I can say hi to his wife Au and his two beautiful daughters. Great to see all of them =).

...I saw my goddaughters...
I missed out on Angelina and Faith's birthday so, when Riss sent out an invite for a just-because-bbq, I made sure I was there. I was already planning to see them anyway. They are soooo cute and adorable! I got them this patio set to go along with their inflatable pool. Granted they are too small to sit on the chairs that the set came with, but hey, they have it – Mike J. doesn’t even have one and he’s got a house! (heh heh…)

While there I played Texas Hold’em against Riss, Dennis, Tony, Abel, and Geo’s business partner (can’t remember his name). Mike J. and I were playing together since we both didn’t know what we were doing. So he and I combined is equivalent to three-quarters of a player. We lost, needless to say. But we didn’t lose right away. We’ll have a come back – we just need to master the poker face and also try and be as discreet as possible.

...softball season is over...
and we lost. We made it to the playoffs and lost on the first round. We played well but lost by one point to some team (from another league) we've never played before. I actually wasn't planning on playing because I was so tired. I'm still trying to catch up with work and rest but they needed another female otherwise they would have to forfeit. Anyway, it was a good season overall.

...I fell off the bike twice...
I signed up for a motorcycle riding class which involved attending two fridays of four-hour classroom sessions and two sunday of (8am-4pm) range riding. On the first day of riding, I fell off the bike twice because of stupidity. Luckily it happened while I was trying to stop the bike and not while it was moving. I had the wheel cocked to the left when I was breaking. The natural progression is the bike going down following the front-wheel. As a result, my right leg was bruised which took days to heal.

I have always wanted to learn how to ride a bike. It’s always been appealing to me, how fun and exciting it looks. Before the class, had someone offered to give me a free motorcycle, I probably would have jumped on it and drive it away within giving it a thought. If that happened, I probably would turn out to be a part of statistics.

The class made me realize the dangers of riding the bike. The risks you’re taking every time you sit on one. Its not as easy as I thought it would be. Every ride I felt stressed. I felt exhausted. A couple of times I found myself reaching over my left shoulder, looking for a seatbelt that wasn’t there. I felt vulnerable.

In retrospect, it’s a good thing that I feel off the bike when I did. It made me aware of how painful it is to fall off a bike at the speed of less than 5 mph. To be trapped under 300+ lbs of metal. I can’t even imagine how painful it would be to fall of the bike, on a highway, at speeds of 55+ mph. Or if I’d even feel the pain.

I scored 100 on the written test and an 82 (should have been a 92, I challenged the 10 points they took off coz I swerved too closely to a cone – I DIDN’T HIT IT!) on the range test. But would I go and rush and buy a bike of my own so that I can go ahead and ride around? Not really. I’m crazy, but not THAT crazy. If I buy one you can trust that I’ll be hanging out at the middle school parking lot a lot. I need to be comfortable being vulnerable first before i take it out on the road.

Comments: Post a Comment