One of the downsides to living in downtown Washington is that I must travel a great distance just to get a new pair of in-line skates. After getting a haircut at the barber on Florida Ave., I walked down to the U Street Metro and rode the Yellow Line to the Pentagon. (The Pentagon Metro station and bus terminal is right outside the building itself, on the opposite end from where the plane crashed. That’s the closest I’ve been to it. Coolness.) From there, it was a medium-short bus ride to Ski Chalet, where they had some pretty good recreational Rollerblades on sale.

Along the way, I had merienda at McDonald’s, which, pleasantly enough, was playing classical music. Nothing goes better with a double cheeseburger and fries than a Vivaldi concerto grosso.