February 12, 2008
The Ice Cometh
So, yeah. I totally just bit it on the brick sidewalk in front of DCist HQ, which had been coated with an invisible layer of slick ice since I left a few hours ago. I was even wearing all-weather boots! Sadly, my fall was more of the forward onto one knee and then over to one side variety, rather than the more classic comedy-style feet flying up and landing squarely on your bottom. Sigh. What would Dick Van Dyke say?
Let my failure to make passersby laugh more fully be a lesson to you all: thanks to a proper coating of rain and ice and icy rain, your commute home will likely also be comical. A Winter Weather Advisory is now in effect until 7 a.m. Wednesday, even though the Capital Weather Gang is saying wintry conditions should be passing through quickly.
There's also been a 20-car pileup on the ramp carrying Maryland Route 210 over the Capital Beltway just east of the Wilson Bridge, the AP is reporting via WTOP. That wreck is making a big mess of things, and we can expect plenty of other ice-related tomfoolery on the roads this evening.
Photo by Brian Knight Photography
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Ah good, I can practice my slip-and-fall technique. I've become very adept at transitioning to a ski jumper style landing, arms spread, one knee bent behind me, one in front. Haven't quite nailed it yet though.
Aw, Sommer...I hope you escaped major bruising and your knee isn't too wounded, consequently spurring you to bury your heart the week of V-Day. But despite missing out on the attempt to please onlookers with some slapstick, it seems at least that you're smiling about the slip. So I'm glad you're ok enough to write about the incident:)
Ouch! Sounds painful. You're fortunate you didn't land on your back - that's no laughing matter.
Expect a nasty knee bruise to last for a week or so.
And count your lucky stars it wasn't a lot worse.
same thing happened to me, but with the "home alone" flair your fall was missing, sommer. twist ankle, go airborne, somehow land on knee. luckily i don't think anybody saw. nothing a little aspirin and allagash won't cure though.
I got you that bourbon for a reason. You know what to do.
well, i managed to make passers by laugh with my little slip and flip leaving work this evening. anyone at 16th and M around 5:30....that clown whose legs you saw go left while the rest of his body went right was me.
once i got home, i watched a guy slip and 1st and seaton, and then a biker run into a car at the same intersection. guess no one was prepared for this ice.
on my out to buy milk, yes milk, i slid down my steps, all of them!, and now blood is pooling under the skin of my shin and hip and back, ...no witnesses.
so back inside to the warm oasis
where the whiskey drowns
and the beer chases my bruise away
and i'll be okay...
so Fox 5 news at 10 had a camera crew in Ballston just to film people wiping out on the sidewalk. Pure.comedy.gold. I could watch that all night. Mostly cause I'm the first to wipe out and laugh through the pain
so Fox 5 news at 10 had a camera crew in Ballston just to film people wiping out on the sidewalk. Pure.comedy.gold. I could watch that all night. Mostly cause I'm the first to wipe out and laugh through the pain
"Watch out for the ice," I told myself as I walked home. "DCist already has tales of people wiping out. Make sure it's not you."
This was my last thought before my feet went out from underneath me and I face-planted into the sidewalk in Adams Morgan.
So, it wasn't just you, Sommer.
There are some really great fallers out there. Nice nod to Van Dyke.
I myself did the unbalanced, twirly arms-spin, but then didn't fall. Made me wish for a camera on the sidewalk at 16th and U to catch all the honorable mentions.... oh, crap, seems Fox beat me to it of course. Serves me right for commenting before reading.
Ah well, I "hunkered down" in the safety of $3 and Snakes On A Plane. Thanks, Ice Storm.
sigh ... not that i want to but i think i win. no worries sommer. i made it safely from work to home, watching other folks fall and being amazed that i somehow remained upright in shoes with no grip. got home. changed into better winter-shoes to go meet folks for drinks. made it about a block. slipped in some sort of a half-split half-cross-legged position. had issues getting up because i was on a sheet of ice. finally made it to a standing position, started to take a step and wham! back right down again.
the double fall bites but at least three drunk guys got a real good laugh. providing entertainment is always a righteous goal
and to xtena, i hope the healing process is quick
Secretary Gates fell on some ice last night and broke his shoulder -- be careful, everybody!
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnPpwRiOsjgI0z57NytZve0-sHMgD8UPG6Q80
Oops, I meant 3-buck Chuck.
Also slipped on the ice on my walk home from the metro last night. Somehow must have twist midair to land on my back, but facing the opposite direction. Today, monstrous bruise on my arse. And this was after multiple cautionary tales about the slippery conditions.