Photo ID

My last clinical assignment is still going well. I love how fast the day goes by thanks to all the crazy chaos of a hospital. Just today I got stuck in the elevator with patients during a fire drill. And therapy is mispelled on my ID... no big.

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Shotgun Wedding

We had beautiful weather and a great time this weekend. I gave up my Sunday shift at the restaurant to spend a day hang'n with my Boo and to see the band "Shotgun Wedding" play at LIC Bar next door. I heard this very talented "city country band" play in the courtyard while walking Pup a while back and have been wanting to see them play ever since.

I did work late Saturday night which meant skipping church and sleeping in Sunday. No worries, Jesus came to our house and we watched a few online sermons by Joel Osteen. He's good.

We went into the city for a quick shopping trip (3 hours is fast for us) where I bought a pair of orange pants that I think I'll wear to a wedding (not Shotgun). They're Jen approved so I'm taking the chance.

Jen made a delicious dinner of stuffed cabbage before we went next door to listen to music. Pup lay in the kitchen, napping in the sun and waiting for Jen to drop something she could help clean up.

I took some pics throughout the day with my new Canon. Enjoy the short slideshow!

N Train

My current assignment is so far good. Nice staff, interesting patients, and a whole different atmosphere than what I’m used to. Lots to learn. My CI was out today so I worked with another PTA. She’s a Laguardia grad and has been working in a wide variety settings since graduating over ten years ago. She gave me lots of insider advice which was followed by, “but you didn’t hear that from me.” That's how you know it's good.

With my new clinical assignment come some welcomed changes to our lives. For the first time… well ever, Jen and I are on a similar schedule. We’re now up in the morning at exactly the same time, something we originally thought would be a problem (i.e. our one butt bathroom… for tiny butts). But it’s not. For example, I take Pup for a nice early walk which helps me wake up and gives Jen time to get in (and out!) of the bathroom. Although I get out of the clinic a little earlier than Jen gets off work, my commute is longer at about an hour each way. I make only one transfer at Times Square and then have time to sit on the N train and study/read/write. The N enters Brooklyn from Manhattan by crossing over the Manhattan Bridge (you don't say!?) and the views of lower Manhattan, the One World Trade Center building, and the Brooklyn Bridge while up there are awesome. This picture is my best attempt at capturing the beauty using my phone on a shaky, moving train. Anyway, by the time we get the gym out of the way we’re pretty much home at the same time and doing dinner... like a normal married couple! I do miss having time off outside during the day, but this is nice.

Then there’s Pup of course, who we couldn't just leave inside for 9+ hours every weekday. We really had no choice but to pay the dog walker from LIC Doghouse (too conveniently right next door) to parade our dog around for thirty minutes in the middle of the day. Everyone there knows Pup now and loves her, naturally. One of the walkers said, “I used to think she was a b*tch (no pun intended) when I would see her barking at dogs on the street, but she’s actually really sweet.” Ha, that’s our girl.

An Early Late Night

Literally every day this week was one of my (restaurant) coworkers’ birthdays. Happy Birthday Bourbon St! What was sexy nine months ago… Thanksgiving? Regardless, Paul, Jackie, Olithea, Carl, and Kara all had birthday outings, only one of which I attended because they typically didn’t start till like 1AM. Crazies! Last night, because I was already out at a PT/PTA student happy hour event, I decided to make a quick appearance at Kara’s gathering at a pub on the Upper East Side. I was home by 1AM.

The student happy hour was good. We got to meet the newest class the program at Laguardia, students from NYU, and NYPTA President Matthew Hyland, PT, PhD. He works hard to protect our profession and is actually a regular blogger as well. We worked up quite an appetite while socializing and decided to get some grub at Bareburger. If you haven’t had Bareburger in NYC yet, you should. They offer local, sustainable, organic burgers made of your choice of lamb, wild boar, elk (I originally typed elf. Haha.), bison, ostrich, chicken, turkey, or just good old beef. Yummo.

This morning I had breakfast with classmate Jeff to return a book I had borrowed and catch up. Now that he’s ahead of me in the program he was able to give lots of advice on what’s to come.  He also reminded me that Juan was assigned Lutheran Medical for his inpatient site, where I’m starting on Monday. Well I talked to Juan this afternoon and he was able to give me the scoop on the clinic. Inpatient really isn’t his thing, but he still enjoyed it there—a good sign. I have a few things to review this weekend and I’m still waiting on my lab coat to arrive, but otherwise feel ready for 8 more intense week of learning. 

9.11.12

Tonight was beautiful and clear, perfect for looking downtown towards the World Trade Center site. Above are the twin lights of the 9/11 Memorial as seen from Long Island City taken by your's truly with my new camera!

The first thing Jen said when she saw it was, "Wow, you would think it takes a talented photographer to take pictures like that but it's just the camera." Thanks a lot. But really, I didn't do much. I just leveled the tripod, adjusted the settings for a night shot and then fired away. I am quite pleased.

Golden Boy Anyone?

I have probably written it a million times, but one of my favorite things about NYC is the changing seasons. Today felt like the true start of the fall with a mild mid-day that faded into a pretty chilly evening. The humidity was low so the view of Manhattan from our neighborhood looked crisp and clear and much closer. Sorry, I took no pictures of the skyline. You’ll just have to use your imagination.

Although most of the great free outdoor events of the summer have ended, there is still a lot to look forward to in the fall. There are the changing leaves to see in the parks, apple and pumpkin picking upstate, Fashion Week, The NYC Film Festival, The NYC Marathon (which runs right by our front door), and The Village Halloween Parade, just to name a few. This nice weather usually makes us want to go out so I've started a growing list of must-sees on our chalkboard wall.

I just ordered a lab coat, stethoscope, timex watch, and reflex hammer for my final affiliation at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn which starts in one week. I spoke with some faculty about my assignment today and they said it’s a great place and that they’re excited to see me going there. Actually, the professor that taught my orthopedic exercise class works there. We’ll see how it goes.

Today I biked right by some filming for a new CBS tv show, Golden Boy, starring a bunch of actors I’ve never heard of. Ha.

Labor Day in the West Village

We had the whole day off together and although it was rather dreary out, we decided to spend our day in the city exploring the West Village instead of wasting it inside. We started by following a walking tour and ended by wandering around on our own taking pictures of this and that. My new camera and Flickr (online photo sharing) account will make it even easier to share great pics with you. I can now include slideshows like the one below and you can visit my Flickr link (added under links in the right column) anytime to view full sets of my photography.

One picture in the slideshow below is of a very narrow 75 1/2 Bedford St. The list of former owners and renters reads like a who’s who of New York. There’s the cartoonist William Steig, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, the writer Ann McGover, and supposedly both Cary Grant and John Barrymore spent time there. The home’s most notable resident, and the name etched into the plaque on its facade, is Edna St. Vincent Millay, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. The building is about nine ft wide and stands in an old carriage passageway. For sale and now listed for about 4.5 million.

During all this touring, Jen was becoming a bit irritable due to low blood sugar so we decided to eat at one of the first restaurants we came across. In hindsight it might not have been the best choice. The waitress wasn't friendly, the food took forever and was wrong when it came out. The highlight of lunch was actor Sean William Scott, better known as Stiffler from the American Pie movies, walking his dog right by our table. We ended with a few cups of great coffee at Stumptown in the Ace Hotel, 29th St. and 5th Ave, before scenically bus-ing it through Manhattan, over the 59th St. bridge, and back home to LIC.