Skateboarding on Vacation

On the Strand
On the Strand

After getting our new skateboards last summer, Bay and I decided that we should take our boards when we travel and go skateboarding on vacation. So for our Christmas trip to visit my family in Los Angeles, we packed up the boards and brought them. Actually, I only brought over my trucks and wheels since I had an old deck at my parents’ house, while Bay brought over his whole skateboard.

The first day we were there, we rode to the park and skated around there. My old deck is a real ’90s style, with a squared off tail (and tail guard!) and front of the board goes a bit wider. It is such a comfortable cruiser shape! I loved riding it again!

On Christmas Eve day, we all went to the Strand. Most of the group was on bikes, but my oldest brother, myself, and Bay rode our skateboards. I also borrowed some rope from my dad because I was anticipating being towed by one of the bike riders. And as you can see from the photo above, we made good use of the ropes! Riding on the Strand brought back so many memories. It was なつかしい!(nostalgic)

The only thing I would change is that instead of bringing my Bones wheels, I’d bring the OJ’s instead. The softer and quieter OJ’s would have been more comfortable and easier on the ears than the hard Bones.

When the vacation came to a close, I was going to bring my old deck back to Texas but decided to just bring the trucks/wheels home. I’ll leave the deck in California for the next visit!

Run as if You are Invisible

Safety-conscious motorcyclists like to use the phrase, “Ride as if you are invisible”. As both a runner and a motorcyclist, I can see that phrase also being “Run as if you are invisible”.

Often in the past, I would approach an intersection at the same time as a car and it seemed like the driver paused to let me cross the street. But when I entered the crosswalk, he/she accelerated and almost ran me over. The problem was that I had mistakenly thought that he/she had seen me, or there is some confusion as to who is yielding to the other person. One thing is certain though, 145 lbs of flesh-and-blood will always lose to 2 tons of metal.

Safe zone

For both runners and motorcyclists the safest thing is to NOT be in a situation where a potential collision can take place. On a motorcycle, you should use your superior acceleration and braking to keep a safe amount of distance from cars. As a runner, you don’t have that advantage, but you can plan your route to be free of conflict.

By planning a route, I mean altering your route on-the-fly by a short amount (say 50 feet) or so at intersections. Since the location of potential conflict is the crosswalk, I just avoid the crosswalk if a car is present. (Keep in mind that my route is along neighborhood streets, with not a ton of traffic.)

The scenario

The common scenario on my run is that of a capital “T”. I am at the top right of the T, running to the left (West). The car is coming from the bottom of the T. I don’t know if he wants to turn left (West) or right (East). If he wants to turn right, he is more often than not looking left as he approaches the intersection, to see if any cars are coming. Often he doesn’t even look to the right, where I would be entering the crosswalk. If he doesn’t see any cars coming from the left, he will make his right turn, cutting me off. This has happened so many times!

My solution

So what do I do? As I approach the intersection, I follow around the corner 90 degrees and run along the street I want to cross (South down the middle of the T). After the car proceeds with whatever it was going to do, I dash across to the other side of the road, run up the T, then continue West at the top of the T.

This procedure totally removes myself from the area of danger. The driver doesn’t even have to wonder if he should let me cross, since I don’t even present that as an option. I am effectively invisible, and using it to my advantage.

I also do this if a car is coming in the same direction as I am (from the top-right of the T, heading West). I don’t know if he is going to turn left and down the T (South). So, I make my turn and run down the T, and when the coast is clear, I cross the street. That 50 foot buffer gives me a good view of any other cars that may be coming. Come to think of it, I also do this if a car is coming the other way. So basically in all situations.

That extra 50 (x2) feet I run adds on to my mileage, which is a nice bonus, so I am happy to do it. It’s not like I am racing the clock or anything. I’ll gladly burn those couple extra calories.

And I have the satisfaction of knowing that I am going to live to run another day. 🙂

Stay safe out there!

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Sutekina Sen TAXI – 素敵な選TAXI

Sutekina Sen TAXI
Sutekina Sen TAXI

Sutekina Sen TAXI – 素敵な選TAXI is such an enjoyable show! The plot is basically that this taxi can go back in time so the passengers can replay different situations and make better choices to achieve better outcomes. It’s a neat idea, but what makes is really great is that the taxi driver is such a fun character. He’s so uncool, yet likable, earnest, and innocent. Perfect casting of Takenouchi Yutaka and great acting!

In each episode, the taxi “time-slip” (when the taxi goes back in time) gags get funnier and funnier. And I love how the characters from the seemingly separate stories come back to make appearances in later ones. The Criminal Detective show is hilarious too. I love it! I highly recommend finding the torrent or the online subbed episodes.

Leader of the Gang
Leader of the Gang

Episode 7 is the funniest so far, with the main character Onishi Mari’s gang-leader past being revealed.

Time-slip Sound Effects
Time-slip Sound Effects

That’s Kimura Fumino above. She has the same birthday as me – 10-19! The taxi-driver is so excited about installing sound effects in his car. lol

Time-slip Safety Goggles
Time-slip Safety Goggles

All of the episodes are pretty funny, but episode 8 was quite a tear-jerker as well. I didn’t realize that the Yu-chan character in this episode was Yuka (in the center in the photo above) from episode 6 until the episode was over. And then the doctor from episode 5 returns at the very end. Yoshida Yo, my favorite!

The icing on the cake is that the theme song is by one of my favorite singers, Aiko.

Sutekina Sen TAXI Official site