You can tell a lot about skaters by the way they spin

Today’s question:

I observed in the Winter Olympics figure skating and ice dance competitions that almost all of the spins and throws with a spin were counterclockwise. Other than that’s how they are judged is there a reason for this direction? That was very observant of you. Did you know the same holds true for gymnastics and diving and aerial freestyle skiing, whatever that is, but not for ballet?

It all has to do with handedness. Most of us are right-handed and rightfooted. Some, however, are left-handed, left-footed, and some are right-handed, but left-footed.

If you are a right-footed skater you enter a spin on the your left foot and exit of the spin on the right foot.

There are some skaters who do it in the opposite direction. They jump and spin to the right, land jumps on the left foot. They are left-footed.

And being able to spin properly is a stepping stone toward jumping and otherwise cavorting on the ice. You can’t jump until you’re good at spinning.

So what about ballet dancers? Why do they tend to spin clockwise? I read a long and detailed essay about this which the author concluded he didn’t know. Okey-dokey.

We live in a house in a modest area of north central Phoenix. The house was built in 1961 and has about 1,500 square feet. What would be the monetary return if we remodeled our major full bathroom?

Gee, I wish you wouldn’t ask me questions like that. You really need to get some estimates and maybe talk to a few Realtors or do some research about the other homes in your immediate area.

Having said that, according to remodeling.hw.net, a midrange bathroom remodeling in the mountain region that includes Arizona would return about 61 percent of the cost in resale value.