Interesting posting number

This posting will tie the total number of posts I've ever done in a year.  Yes I realize that it is very sad that I write about writing a thing that no one will read.  The absurdism is not lost on me.  Nor the delicious ironing.  But it feels somewhat significant to me, as the main reader of this blog it is therefore an important milestone.  Deciding to write a little every day definitely effected this - it was simply a matter of time.

Anyway, meta-self-reference aside, it was an interesting day.  I went out to get my skates sharpened, but found out the guy who normally does them is away until April 10.  No matter - I headed in to another sports store to try their sharpening process and have a look at some inline skates.  My wife has indicated that she would like to try doing that now, and I think it sounds like a good family activity.  So I went to the store to do some hands-on research.  I found out that my youngest son is a Jr. 10 or 11 and my older son is a 13 or 1.  Basically it translates into their two smallest skates - but they are adjustable through multiple sizes.  I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to get those skates and they will have inline skates.  For myself, I tried on a pair of size 5 boots, but they were a little constricting, so I'll probably just move into the smallest Senior size and that should be good.  All told, it'll be about $500, plus tax, the way I'm figuring it.  I could be wrong, depending on sales and such.  But I'll way until my hockey buddy, the store manager, is working to see what he recommends.  He appears to be very knowledgeable and has been very helpful in non-skate related ways.  

Two more things though.  I went looking for a stick while I was there because they advertised an end-of-season sale.  I found one of the type I like, but it didn't appear to be on sale, so I left it.  I still have two reasonably good sticks, so no need to spend money at regular prices.  The second thing is the skate sharpening.  Now I understand they have an excellent sharpening system, but I have never used it.  Apparently they have the equipment to create a pro-style groove on the blade, but I didn't want to get that.  I just wanted to keep my current radius of groove and see how things went.  Well, the burrs and schmutz on the blade and then in my finger built a whole new respect for the guy who normally sharpens my skates.  He carefully wipes down the blade, goes over with a finishing stone, wipes, measures, wipes and is done.  After the sharpening steps.  This was apparently missing here - and I think I know why this normally wouldn't be a problem.  Most skates use the same blades, (Nuuk brand I believe), where as I've noticed my new Graf skates use a much harder steel.  That increased hardness probably allows the burrs to form.  The guy who normally does my skates also does repairs and he will install his own custom-made blades that are harder and stiffer than the average blades.  So he probably knows how to handle the harder blades.