You know you've been hanging around the rink too much when the manager asks if you'd be interested in driving the Zamboni (more precisely, an Olympia in our rink's case).

I declined.

I believe the reason he asked is to have me prepare the ice before the 6-8 a.m. M, W freestyle sessions that I attend. Currently I arise at 4:45 a.m. to make it to the rink by 6. I'm afraid getting up even earlier would be brutal considering that I work full time after the morning sessions -- no chance for a nap unlike the university workers now employed by the rink.

I offered to learn to drive it for other sessions where it might be useful, but not in the early morning before work.

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Bill Schneider

Which is better: ice that was cut well last night or ice that was just cut before your session?
I've never noticed a difference, but I'm a zombie in the morning anyway.

Good call, Bill. It does sound like you were being set up for the AM Designated Driver.

Hey - you could drive through Dunkin' Donuts for coffee, just to wake up!
(Just kidding - made me think of last month's Zam race to Burger King story.)

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LOL Go BILL!
Maybe you could Zam late at night and set up a cot in the managers office and sleep there.

They may also of been hoping to give the FS skaters someone else to complain to about the bum ice.

Still, Zam drivers get all the girls you know.

Lyle

At my rink, if they don't zam in the morning the ice is really hard and frosty from that late-night final zam. Plus the bozos who do it at night are, well, bozos and make a pretty bad cut, which the guy in the morning has to do something with.

I wouldn't do it, either, unless you got some other perks like free ice-time.

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Oh, fresh cut ice is definitely my favorite! While it's smooth enough, the stale night-before ice gets brittle at our older rink. I periodically convince large chunks of it to leave the surface - i.e. in the three turn entrance to a spin.

I assume that this is due to poor temperature control in our rink - if it's cold outside, fresh cut ice turns nasty brittle within an hour. The air temp inside can get cold enough that our resident adult bronze-level Canadian native sometimes wears a full-length winter coat to skate in during the first hour.

But guaranteed nice ice is still not enough to make me want to get up half-hour earlier than I do now (suppressing a big yawn just thinking about it!).

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Bill Schneider

I'd probably get something in return, but not free run of all available ice time. I assume that I'd get the morning ice for free - a $12 savings twice a week.

Hmm, Christmas bills are mounting up, maybe I should reconsid....Naaaah.

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Bill Schneider

Twenty or thirty years ago that would have been a mighty fine perk!

I knew I should have skated when I was younger!

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Bill Schneider

lol, I've always wanted to have a go at driving one of those things!! not that early in the morning though...

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Level one Field Moves......PASSED 05.06.08
Level one Free dance.....PASSED 02.10.08

GOALS FOR 2009

• Level One Compulsary dances.......PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Elements.....................PASSED 10.07.09
• Level Two Free dance.................PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Free...........................
• Level Two compulsory dances.......

Loving it, Loving it, Loving it!!!!!

I would LOVE to drive the ice resurfacer but ONLY if they let me do proper figure skating ice but they would never allow it because it would take a whole lot longer when cleaning up after hockey players! A proper resurfacing would require a deep cut and multiple floods to remove ALL of the gouges. (I wish they would let me do it JUST ONCE! I would even come in at 2 a.m. to do that!)

I have been skating for 11 months now at many different arenas and have yet to see the ice properly done anywhere/any time but I do remember how nice it is to skate on a sheet of glass!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

The young Zam driver often has one of the pretty young skaters ride with him when the manager is out of town. Kinda looks like the 4th of July parade with the beauty queen waving at the crowd from the back of a cadie convertable.
Lyle