Ice Skating - Wednesday

I got up nice and early for me Java lecture. Almost nobody turned up for the Java lecture but that's their problem not mine, I had a great time and the code that Ionnais gave us is pretty much the last of what I need to know how to do some parts of the program. This means that shortly into the Christmas holidays I should have a basic Chess game running. After the lecture myself and Chris handed in our UML coursework and I went home to study for my Friday exam. There was no Prayer Lunch today but there was Ice Skating! I walked India there, though on the way we collected Siän and Jo, then Helen and Leanne. When we got to the Union I was told that there might be a problem with me wearing shorts. Apparently it'd be cold, I began to think that telling Siän she was welcome to wear my gloves might have been a mistake. We got to the Ice Rink and in short order I found that my hands were going to be fine at such a low temperature, better yet, my legs were warmer than most people's hands, are you surprised? Last year I spent the first half clutching the side for dear dignity, the second half was spent wobbling near the side and falling onto the ice or getting to the side in time. In the last five or so minutes last year I was able to roughly skate, though I did fall flat on my bum at the last moment in front of a load of little people (I think they might have been children). This year I spent the first 5 minutes hobbling along the sides getting the hang of how to move on skates, more importantly, how to move without falling over. I then slowly got better, after skating around clutching Sarah's hand (she's got quite good balance) I managed to get the hang of it and started to help others around the Ice rink. I didn't fall over once and got so hot that I actually took off my jacket (several other people did too). The funniest part of the evening however was when I was sitting on some benches waiting for the 2nd load of the CU to arrive at the Ice Rink and was watching people skate around. One young lady stopped momentarily in front of me and I smiled nicely at her, she smiled in return, then her eyes moved down slightly and noticed that I was wearing shorts and she promptly moved on. I laughed quite a lot and so did Sarah, though I don't know (or care) if it was with me or at me. After Ice Skating we went to the pub (again, what a surprise) and I taught Gareth some chess strategies. Gareth only knows how the pieces move because he's already completed his Java Chess game. During a 2nd game he came very close to getting me in checkmate and proved to be a very very quick learner. I got home and talked to Lauren about all the times Lorna had tried to set me up with various ladies and we laughed quite a lot about it. Pete got home and we talked about random and various things, including a muppet that's angry someone makes a better site than himself. This one had me laughing so hard Pete and Lauren asked what was wrong.