Jen has gone to Herald Square for a bit, giving me plenty of peace and quiet to write about the driving drama we experienced, as promised. I'm not a superstitious person so I hate to say that our road trip to Virginia is cursed but at a certain point one must wonder. I can already hear my mother declaring, "That's a bad confession, I rebuke it!" Well, both our drives to and from VA this year were so horrific that a person could potentially, as they say in the South, loose his religion.
The trip began with a promising start. For one, I left work early the night before (my last night at Bourbon St!) which is a very important step to ensuring an overall pleasant drive. If I don't get close to eight hours of sleep, things are not pretty... Jen can attest to this. Second, Enterprise Rent-A-Car was very organized, upgraded us to a midsize sedan, and had me in and out within fifteen minutes. Third, we actually left the house ahead of schedule and experienced little traffic getting out of NYC that Saturday morning. The car's low tire pressure light did come on just seconds after I started the car, but Jen did a quick walk around and the tires looked fine. Plus, those pressure sensors are too sensitive anyway. Right? Let's go!
We were cruising along in our roomy Dodge sedan, making great time, when Jen and I decided we should get off at the next best exit for a food/ bathroom break. As we approached the turn towards Long John Silvers (I was pretty excited about eating there for some strange reason) and a Shell gas station we heard a strange noise coming from the back of the vehicle. Imagine the sound a completely flat tire makes in motion... got it?... that's exactly what our car sounded like. I pulled over at Shell and Jen quickly jumped out to find a blown rear, passenger side tire. Long story short, by the time we spoke with the 1-800 Enterprise people, unloaded our full trunk, replaced the flat with the 55 mph spare, got the flat into the small space provided by the spare and then reloaded the trunk, drove to an Enterprise-approved Firestone service station in rural PA, and got back on track, we were delayed by about three hours. At this point I figured out why we were "upgraded" and given such quick service. Why God, why!? So much for making good time. But hey, it could always be worse right?
As for our Rexrode family Christmas, it was a very typical, wonderful vacation. Thank you family for all you did for us and all those nice gifts. It's too much! I brought my video camera and you'll just have to wait, on the edge of your seat no doubt, for the Rexrode Christmas 2012 video to be premiered (hopefully before the end of this week) here on RexrodeAndTheCity.
Much like the beginning of our trip to Virginia, we were making great time on the way back to NYC. So much so that we were convinced that, even if we hit a little traffic, we could make it home in less than seven hours for once. HA! Not if the Lincoln Tunnel had anything to do with it. We came to a complete stop at the tolls before the tunnel and sat there for so long that I had to get out and pee on the side of the road and Jen had to... well she won't let me tell that part of the story, sorry. Lol. It's a strange feeling going numero uno with your back to the hundreds of people watching you from their cars. Lets just say it's not for guys with stage fright. Anyway, after the toll we occasionally crept along at 2 mph all the way to the entrance to the tunnel. All in all it was about a three hour delay. Sound familiar? Ya, we left Granny's at 11 AM and got home around 9 PM. What we went through could be used as some kind of sick anxiety/stress training for the military or something. I think I'd rather be water boarded. But hey, as I always say, it could be worse right?
Like I said in my last post, I was wishing for normalcy this holiday season. In terms of normalcy I feel like I got the equivalent of a stocking full of coal. But hey, it could always be worse right? We're happy, healthy, now have lots of nice new things from Christmas, and looking forward to the new year.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A New Season and Holiday Gridlock
Tomorrow morning by ten AM grades are due and this long semester finally comes to a close. It means the end of my journey at this college, and the beginning a new, better season in our lives. And I wouldn't describe my feelings as at all bittersweet, just sweet. The amount of things I won't miss definitely outweigh the things I will. A lot went down at Laguardia but it's always better to focus on the positives right? I'm reminded of one of my patients that would comically recite, "I am so blessed" when she was having a rough day. Because many of my colleagues and I repeated a class or lab for whatever reason, we were part of not one but two different classes. We now have twice as many friends and a larger group for networking when looking for our PT dream jobs.
It's also a very exciting time for recent grads. My original class just took and passed the national board exam and are finding jobs with no problem. Our college has one of the highest pass rates, at 91%! Things look good. Dr. Engel, our awesome program director, spoke with us about the temporary license application process and different employment options last night. It was very encouraging. It looks like, if I find an employer to sponsor me, I can begin working by the beginning of February. Prayers for that!
Right now I'm looking most forward to the holidays and having a few final weeks off in the beginning of the new year. I mean after that you enter into the slippery slope of adulthood right? The life of forty hour work weeks, fifty weeks a year, for forty or so years? Eek!
Speaking of the holidays, we're looking forward to our trip to VA. I'll be taking the cameras so plan on watching an awesome Rexrode Christmas video in a few weeks.
It's nice to be able to just load up a car and drive to VA, door to door. What we are not looking forward to is the traffic that might be involved. We'll be leaving on Saturday, one of the NYC "Holiday Gridlock Alert Days." These so called alert days are part of an oh-so-festive sounding "Holiday Mitigation Plan" from the Department of Transportation.
Two years ago it wasn't traffic that was the problem necessarily, but a historically horrendous blizzard. Our economy car miraculously got us home without getting stuck in the show but we were forced to spend a night in Bethlehem (PA) like the holy family. Looking back it's pretty funny. Our Chevy Aveo was passing 4 wheel drive vehicle left and right (baby Jesus take the wheel!). The hotel clerk specifically told us that there were no dogs allowed so we had to sneak Pup in and out the back door like a hideaway Jew.
What a Christmas that was! And with that being said, all I want for Christmas is normalcy.
It's also a very exciting time for recent grads. My original class just took and passed the national board exam and are finding jobs with no problem. Our college has one of the highest pass rates, at 91%! Things look good. Dr. Engel, our awesome program director, spoke with us about the temporary license application process and different employment options last night. It was very encouraging. It looks like, if I find an employer to sponsor me, I can begin working by the beginning of February. Prayers for that!
Right now I'm looking most forward to the holidays and having a few final weeks off in the beginning of the new year. I mean after that you enter into the slippery slope of adulthood right? The life of forty hour work weeks, fifty weeks a year, for forty or so years? Eek!
Speaking of the holidays, we're looking forward to our trip to VA. I'll be taking the cameras so plan on watching an awesome Rexrode Christmas video in a few weeks.
 |
| Holiday Traffic, 5th Ave and 34th St, 1948 |
Two years ago it wasn't traffic that was the problem necessarily, but a historically horrendous blizzard. Our economy car miraculously got us home without getting stuck in the show but we were forced to spend a night in Bethlehem (PA) like the holy family. Looking back it's pretty funny. Our Chevy Aveo was passing 4 wheel drive vehicle left and right (baby Jesus take the wheel!). The hotel clerk specifically told us that there were no dogs allowed so we had to sneak Pup in and out the back door like a hideaway Jew.
What a Christmas that was! And with that being said, all I want for Christmas is normalcy.
Merry Christmas
to family, friends, and readers of RexrodeAndTheCity
Friday, December 7, 2012
Change for the Better
It's been a while, again. I find myself not with less time to write, but less drive to do so. It's not for lack of material, because it seems there's never a dull moment in life, but just part of my natural growth as a "New Yorker." Believe me when I say that after living (surviving) here for a few years the novelty of many things wears off. Places, people, or situations that I may have been inspired to write about in the past just feel more normal. They are no less interesting or entertaining but just harder to compose a post around.
So with time comes change to RexrodeAndTheCity. Positive change. :)
For one, I recently added a link to my Flikr account so you can view all the NYC pics taken from my new(ish) Canon Rebel. We recently went to Rockefeller Center to see the big tree. We saw a guy propose to his girlfriend on the ice-skating rink there. Below is a slideshow of the pics straight from Flikr.
Before visiting the Tree we had a belated anniversary dinner at Becco, our favorite restaurant in the city. The food was soooo delicious and filling. We tried to work off some of the carbs by walking to see the department store windows but it got too cold so fast. Pardon any of the pictures that look blurry. In low light situations it's important to keep the camera steady (since the shutter is open longer to let in more light it also picks up more movement), a task that's not easy while shivering with numb fingers.
Anyway, my favorite addition to the blog is my personal Twitter feed, @MattRexrode. You may have heard of Twitter but what exactly is it you ask? Well, at the heart of Twitter are small texts called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters or less which you can do a surprising amount with. You can see photos, videos and conversations and get a whole story at a glance. It's a fast way for me to keep up with people I "follow" and keep you all connected at the same time.
So, although less posts may be composed each month, you'll be much more informed on my day-to-day life through my Twitter feed. It's always at the top of the homepage!
Enjoy.
So with time comes change to RexrodeAndTheCity. Positive change. :)
For one, I recently added a link to my Flikr account so you can view all the NYC pics taken from my new(ish) Canon Rebel. We recently went to Rockefeller Center to see the big tree. We saw a guy propose to his girlfriend on the ice-skating rink there. Below is a slideshow of the pics straight from Flikr.
Before visiting the Tree we had a belated anniversary dinner at Becco, our favorite restaurant in the city. The food was soooo delicious and filling. We tried to work off some of the carbs by walking to see the department store windows but it got too cold so fast. Pardon any of the pictures that look blurry. In low light situations it's important to keep the camera steady (since the shutter is open longer to let in more light it also picks up more movement), a task that's not easy while shivering with numb fingers.
Anyway, my favorite addition to the blog is my personal Twitter feed, @MattRexrode. You may have heard of Twitter but what exactly is it you ask? Well, at the heart of Twitter are small texts called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters or less which you can do a surprising amount with. You can see photos, videos and conversations and get a whole story at a glance. It's a fast way for me to keep up with people I "follow" and keep you all connected at the same time.
So, although less posts may be composed each month, you'll be much more informed on my day-to-day life through my Twitter feed. It's always at the top of the homepage!
Enjoy.
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