Speed Walking

Why does it seem to rain or snow when you most need it not to? For me it’s almost every time I have to trek to school across LIC, get groceries, or do laundry. There’s nothing quite like having your warm, dry laundry re-wet on your walk home after spending a few bucks and waiting half an hour for the dryer to do its thing. To be fair though, this is a very wet place to live and running those pesky errands is a weekly occurrence. I shouldn’t complain.

Through a few winters here, I have learned that even in mid March it’s not uncommon to get a late winter snow storm and the arctic temperatures that follow. This was the case on Friday. Friday began as a typical cold, late winter day of average gloominess. But after racking my brain with my study group for a few hours in the afternoon, I exited the college doors to find a different world awaiting me. The snow and sleet were coming down heavy and sideways. Of course I had no boots, umbrella, or even a hood to throw over me. It was me versus Mother Nature for the 20 minute walk home.

If you think I walk fast as it is, you should see me in inclement weather. On my way I hurried past people walking leisurely down the sidewalk and through crowds waiting in line at food trucks along the curb. What is wrong with these people? Aren’t they getting cold and wet? The snow and freezing rain didn’t seem to register with a certain production company either, because with just a couple more blocks to go, I sped right through some film set. “Hey, um, sir, can you please cross the street,” they requested. But it was too late, I was too fast. I also got a text from my brother at this moment asking how things were. For whatever reason I could only think to respond with, "I feel like I live in Russia." This got him on a rant about the Russian mob, fallen USSR, and singing their national anthem, not surprisingly if you know him. 

Making it home and walking into a warm, cozy apartment after a walk like that is priceless… until I realize Pup needs to go out. I guess there’s quite a bit of Florida blood left in me. I hate to be cold.

The next day they were still filming, and this time I did cross the street and go around. Taped to a lamp post, the location permit stated the filming was for a TV pilot of a show called The Tomorrow People. So keep your eyes peeled during that one, I might be in it. 

Nemo Found Us

I’m writing today from of our warm bedroom with a view of a very wet, snowy, grey NYC landscape. Today is a “flex Friday” off from work for Jen and I certainly have plenty of studying to do so we’re spending the day defying the weather by staying indoors. From what we’re hearing the weather will soon be getting even more wintery. Nemo, as it’s being called, is about to take a big white number two on the North East.

We honestly don’t know what we can expect to see in the next 24 hours. Newscasters themselves have been jokingly giving predictions of “2-30 inches.” We both got very alarming emergency alerts on our phones yesterday requesting that we prepare for the storm and limit travel. The mayor’s office has seemed to over-prepare for every snow storm since the record breaking blizzard that caught them off guard two years ago. That was a mess! The city has 250,000 tons of salt being spread. It’s a good thing, considering I just read on Twitter that we have 6,300 street miles to plow if the snow fall is heavy enough. It’s equivalent to plowing from NY to L.A., twice! Jen and I don’t typically get too hyped up and tend to side with the more conservative weathermen that are predicting less than six inches. There’s also the fact that this storm shares its name with a talking, crippled clownfish from a Disney/Pixar movie that makes it hard to take seriously. We found NEMO! You can’t always judge a storm by its name though. My Aunt Sandy is a lovely person, but Hurricane (Super Storm!) Sandy was a b*tch.

Weather permitting, we’ll go to White Plains tomorrow for Jen’s Grandma’s 83^rd birthday luncheon. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, one of our all time favs, so we’re hoping it’s a go.

No matter what this storm entails, one thing you can be sure of in this city is stupidity. Someone will decide to go for a drive through the snow with their kids, get stuck, and blame the city when they almost freeze to death. There will be people scraping the bare sidewalks with their shovels at the first sign of flurries and calling it plowing. And someone will give their gasoline powered generator a precautionary test run…indoors

P.S. Something about a commercial I saw recently filmed entirely in the city, inspired me. I might be getting the Sony Handycam out again to do some filming and play with some more effects in my video editor. So look for that, hopefully next week!

Trophy Hubby

What's new? Well not too much. As you know I'm done with school, waiting on my temporary license to practice, and doing a lot of studying in the meantime. I get a permanent license after I take the board exam in early April. To get a temp license though, the college must send the necessary documents stating I did graduate to the NY Office of Professions in Albany. There are delays in this whole process (of course!) due to "Super-storm Sandy" forcing the school to close for two weeks during my final semester. I'm turning lemons into lemonade, though, (I must really like lemonade) and using this time to prepare for that scary exam I take in a few months.

As you may also know, I left Bourbon St before the holidays. I have no job, no school, and a pretty wide open schedule. Yes, it is as amazing as it sounds. I've always felt like I must be productive in some way, so I keep myself busy. I'm looking for a job, we're considering moving, I have another round of runway shows in March to prepare for, and a huge priority, the board exam in April. On top of that I have the responsibilities that come with what I refer to as my new title, Trophy Husband.

Now a Trophy Husband is much different than a Trophy Wife. (Yes, official titles are capitalized). Let me tell you, it's no life of luxury. We aren't showing up at corporate luncheons as status symbols or spending the day shopping. We are in the trenches! Grocery shopping and laundry (not small feats in NYC), cleaning house, walking the dog, checking things off the honey-do list, and holding down the house apartment are just a few of the things we do day after day while our wives are at work.

To be honest, it's no walk in the park but I don't hate it either. I can do the things I need to do in the order I prefer. Naturally, Jen likes that I'm around more often and that chores are already done when her days off roll around. So, Jen, it's simple. Just bring home roughly twice as much money and we can keep this charade going. Done.

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.

Holiday Traffic, 5th Ave and 34th St, 1948

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.

Merry Christmas

to family, friends, and readers of RexrodeAndTheCity

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.