Megabust to DC





Row houses in Ashley's hood.

 

I’m writing this post from our bus back to NYC from DC. Among many other perks, Jen has every other Friday off from work (crazy right?) which happened to line up with Columbus Day, which she also had off, giving her a four day weekend. As soon as we realized this, I also took the weekend off so that we could plan something fun. We contacted some friends that live in the Northeast and our friend Ashley in DC was available. Her roommate was also out of town for a wedding, making room for us to stay…. just meant to be.



Future Mr. and Mrs. President at the White House

This being our third time in DC, we didn’t really do many touristy things like tours, museums, or purposeful monument visits (you can’t help but pass them, they’re everywhere!).  We rented bikes through the DC Bike Share for a bit which was fun. Through this company you get a nice 3-speed bike for about $5/hour and can pick up and drop off at any of the many locations around the city. We were also in town during the Taste of DC food and drink festival and got to sample lots of good local grub. The bacon, tomato, cheese and the banana, chocolate waffles were totally worth the half hour wait! Saturday night we went to karaoke in Adam’s Morgan (lots of night life) with Ashley and friends to watch and sing along ONLY. Ha. It was a great trip but we missed our Pup, who was being watched by our wonderful neighbors over the weekend. Enjoy the pix



Us with Ashley and our bikes on Capitol Hill



 Back to the bus. Flying or even taking a train to DC this weekend was so expensive that it just wasn't an option. I had heard mixed things about these really cheap "Chinatown buses" you could take from NYC to NE cities like Boston, Rhode Island, and DC. After doing some research on the many different companies we settled on Megabus because of the price, hourly departures, and the advertised free wifi and power outlets at every row. The ride to DC, although we forgot to pack snacks and were starving, was perfect.

The way back, on the other hand, was delayed. Some of the reasons include an extra stop because the bus bathroom became out of order (after Jen used it- no joke, ha), traffic, and a late departure from DC. The Wifi and power outlets were also out on this bus back home so people were getting quite antsy. This didn’t really affect us though, as we were smart and brought things to read. We also made sure to pack lots of snacks for the journey back. You get what you pay for but for less than $100 for two, round trip, it was not bad and I think we would do it again. Not a "Megabust" you could say. hehe.  Next time we might try Bolt Bus which is rumored to be a little better and compare the two.  

Samuel L. Jackson

The pics do most of the talking in this post but I'll elaborate. Thursday night after work, as I was passing the restaurant Orzo, I heard a British tourist ask a group of men beside me what street she was on. One guy answered, "This is 46th St." She thanked him and went on her with no clue she had just gotten directions from Samuel L. Jackson!  I recognized his voice right away, followed by his signature Kangol hat. I also recognized the custom-rimmed Cadillac Escalade he and his posse got into, which means they must dine there often.  Of all his movies, all I remember him by is Snakes on a Plane, a true classic.

Friday I took the night off from work to catch up with a couple of “my boys.” We went bowling at The Gutter - a very old school, dingy, and kind of hipster alley in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Afterwards, while checking out my friend Chris’s new place in Sunnyside (my old ‘hood!) we found the movie Drive on his computer and watched it on his new TV. It just came out in theaters… no big deal. 

Jen’s new Schwinn bicycle came Friday! We tried putting it together ourselves when I got home around midnight Friday but that didn’t go so well.  Exhaustion plus cryptic instructions does not equal a properly assembled bike.  We decided to leave it to the pro’s and took it to the bike shop in our hood the next morning. We had a good laugh when the shop owner’s first words were, “Why is it backwards?” Lol. Apparently we had put the front fork on backwards but they fixed it right up while we were at a friend’s house warming party.  Too bad the weather was too bad for Jen to give it a test drive.  But, today was a perfect bike riding day and ride we did. As luck would have it, someone took my shift at work today so Jen and I got to spend the day together.  I actually forgot my phone at work Saturday night so we decided to ride our bike over the Queensborough Bridge into the City to pick it up (an ambitions ride for Jen’s first time on a bike in about ten years).   Jen was nervous but I’m proud because she made it back alive (although she claims she almost died several times today). We also stopped at a bike shop and bought a basket, one Pup will fit in.  I tested her bike out too and, must say, it’s a comfy ride.  Our next big ride will be to Central Park once all the leaves change.  Can’t wait.

Bloody Thursday

I wanted to share some pictures from my first major NYC museum visit yesterday, The American Museum of Natural History. From it's huge, beautiful location on Central Park West to all that's inside, I would definately recommend it. The preservation of all the animals, some that had been taxidermied almost one hundred years ago, was really amazing and lifelike. My favorites were the blue whale room and the dinosour section (pics). The gems and minerals, and birds and owls are also worth a mention.

Leaving the gym this morning I passed a blood drive and decided to donate. They made me hydrate and rest for a bit because I had just exercised and then determined (by my awesomeness) that I met the requirements for the special red blood cell extraction. It's quite the process. A machine removes your "whole blood," seperates the platelets and rbc's with a centrifuge, then puts your blood combined with a saline solution back into your body so you leave with the same volume. Because the replacement is cooler that your naturally warm blood, I got really cold and a little light headed. They made me rest again and after some pretzels, apple juice, and Lorna Dunes (my favorite, ha) I felt back to normal and was good to go. Anyway, they can now take my rbc's straight to a hospital where they are in great need and hopefully save a life. Pretty cool.

San Gennaro

This Saturday morning I woke up to Jen telling me our neighbors had invited us to the San Gennaro Festival which I had forgotten I wanted to go to.  After late weekend nights at work it’s hard to get up and out the next morning but the Saturday was worth it. The streets of Little Italy were packed with everything awesomely Italian (like corndogs!).  We ate seafood, sausage and peppers, and of course, a cannoli. We parted ways with our friends after a few hours so we could pick up a few things for Pup before I had to head into work again.  Poor Puppers has been battling fleas.  We had to get her some flea medicine and some bones : )

I finally feel completely rested on Mondays after napping all Sunday afternoon and working out in the gym in the morning. Today I wanted to take advantage of one of the last few days of summer weather and went to a Bryant Park piano show.  It’s a free performance held a few afternoons a week by great city pianists. Yuka Aikawa was the artist performing today and played many classics that I could recognize. She had a book open in front of her but it was on the same page the whole time and she never even looked up. Pretty amazing that she played from sound or memory for about two hours. The whole thing is pretty casual so I took Pup along to get her out of the house. She had a great time staring down people eating their lunches and letting out a single yip at those that were clapping at the end of each set.

I’m trying to take advantage of all the free Summer in the City things while it’s still nice and warm out. I’m planning to make it back to Bryant Park in the morning for a free yoga class.

Sweetleaf



Main bar (including Jen's favorite, French Bulldogs)



Working nights in a midtown restaurant, I have my days to recuperate which can be really nice. While exploring neighborhoods in Manhattan or even just our own hood, Long Island City, i’ve noticed that places have a much more laid back, inviting vibe during the day before the masses of nine-to-fivers get off work.



The "vinyl lounge"



For this post I wanted to spotlight one of my favorite daytime hangouts, Sweetleaf, which is an espresso bar and café about eight blocks from our place in LIC. Sweetleaf is in the ground floor of a cool 19th century brick building and has been expanded to more than twice the size I remember it being when I moved here. Inside they have a main bar, living room, designated laptop/ work room, and a back "vinyl lounge" complete with lots of classic records and a player. They brew delicious Stumptown coffee (with varieties like “hair bender” and “rocket fuel”) in a serious espresso machine named Dorothy. More recently they have reorganized their café (now making everything in house!) and offer cookies, muffins, cakes, pies, scones, tartlets, fondue, and even soup and lunch items.

Especially on Wednesday’s when the new Village Voice hits stands, I can spend hours there getting some reading in while enjoying the great drinks and atmosphere. And it’s not even coffee weather yet!

Williamsburg Saturday

Almost overnight the weather has changed to Fall-like. Days are cool and crisp and nights get pretty chilly and windy. Jen loves the cool weather. I like all the fresh air in our apartment with the a/c off and the windows open. At night the bar patrons (drunks) and traffic can get loud so we’ve been using a sleeping noises app on Jen’s phone. The sound options are endless, some pretty funny, and you can even just shake the phone for a shuffled sound combo. Last night I came home to an interesting combo in the bedroom, light rain and chirping birds.

Saturday we spent a few hours in Williamsburg Brooklyn before I had to head to work. As far as shopping, food, and cool factor goes, Williamsburg is the best village in Brooklyn. Plenty of people obviously agree with me because the apartments there rent for about the same price as one in Manhattan. We had lunch at an all organic Café Ella (we swear it tastes better) and bought a few things in a shop called Pema on Bedford Ave. Jen bought a fancy work dress and I got a CD titled “French Café” that has been keeping me so relaxed on my commutes.

Sunday I woke up late feeling exhausted and just… off. I got up to eat which didn’t help so I threw on my eye mask and sleep sounds and slept until like2pm. Weird, random day. I feel great now and out and about enjoying the weather

The Addams Family

You may recall me mentioning a New York Health Association school grant I was applying for a few months ago. Well good news, I was approved and received my grant check in the mail a few days ago! It came much sooner and was for a little more than I expected. Close to 3 grand for a WASP who works… not bad. I won’t tell them that I’m having to retake a practical exam in January and will deposit that check today before they change their mind! Ha.

In other news, last night Jen and I and friends Jacob and Louis finally got to hang out after almost a year of talking about it. Like me, they also work in the hospitality industry so with all our crazy schedules we never could organize a date night. It also worked out perfectly that my favorite crazy coworker Caitlyn was able to get us and Bourbon St employees free tickets to The Addams Family on Broadway (she also works for the show). The whole production was kind of silly but we had great seats and I was excited that it's starring Brooke Shields. Although she looked great playing Morticia Addams, I don’t think theatrical singing and dancing is her thing. After the show we were all saying the same thing, that Shields was a little off in her singing and dancing, or just seemed bored (and not in the good Morticia kind of way). Not the best show we’ve seen so far, but for a free night out with our friends and my coworkers it couldn’t be beat!

Jen started her new job at “the FED” Monday and really likes it. She sent me a text from work saying “I want to work here forever,” as she feels like she’s working for a good, real company for the first time. The benefits are ridiculous too. I was literally reading through the information packet for like an hour, drooling. By the way, thanks to everyone who prayed and supported Jen as she was going through the almost two month long application process.

Nights Out

As I slowly continue to get over my school circumstances I’m enjoying my time away from the program more and more. An academic I will never claim to be!



Jen doing Karaoke!?



Matt and Chelsea are one of our favorite friend-couples. They’re always there to lend a hand (we helped them move too!), are very generous (gave us our big a/c unit), and know how to have a good time (Eataly!). To be closer to family, because of work, and so Chelsea can go to a specific beauty school they are leaving NYC. Although Matt was out of town for work, Wednesday night a group of us got together one more official time at Shi for drinks and karaoke. It was a chilly, rainy night but inside it was a great time! (pics with Chelsea)

Awkward...

Thursday night, like most weeks, I was at work. They’re usually good nights to work and this Thursday came with a nice surprise.  In addition to reimbursing us for our cab fares while the trains were down, my manager gave a gift certificate to the few people who would work the weekend Irene hit. It’s to Italian restaurant Becco on Restaurant Row and I’m pretty excited as it’s supposedly one of the best on the strip! I'll give you a full review of the place when we go.

I occasionally think about finding a job in a more fine dining restaurant but it’s for no other reason than money. I have it good at Bourbon St. I’m one of the “veterans”, get the schedule I need, have fun with my crazy coworkers, and the management is (obviously) really great. I should just count my blessings and stay put.

Last night Jen and I went on a date to the Upper West Side. We ate at Fred's which was named after a seeing eye dog and had floor to ceiling customer dog pictures inside. Me the dog freak wanted to walk around people's tables and look at all the pics, comments, and animal themed funnies. For a piece of Cinnamon bun cheesecake we went to Cafe Lola right around the corner. The dessert and ambiance make it clear why the cafe was featured in the movie You've Got Mail. 

Duck Duck Fanta

The end of summer seemed so abrupt today as it was kind of chilly and did not stop raining. Unfortunately I think the whole week may look like this. As much as I was tempted to spend my day off indoors, I didn’t let the weather stop me running our errands. On the good side our grocer in Chelsea, Trader Joes usually has a long line around the perimeter of the store but was pleasantly empty today. Laundry on rainy days is where I draw the line. I can’t bring myself to pay to have clothes washed and dried before I then take them out into the rain where they will only get wet again.

Last night at work I trained a new hire upstairs which means one good thing for the trainer, training meals! I usually order the steak and shrimp (most expensive entree) but this week we have a bacon wrapped duck special on the menu that I sampled and loved. The pig covered bird comes with almond green beans and red skin mashed potatoes, yum! It’s pretty dark in our restaurant at night so the pic is a little overexposed.

I also wanted to take a pic of the thirty bourbon brownies prepped in the kitchen. They just looked so cool in identical rows but our weird head chef was giving me looks so I didn’t. lol. The brownie’s were about to be taken to our party on the patio which were winners of a Brazilian Fanta trip to the U.S. They bought out the entire French Quarter Hotel for the week and had a Fanta film crew tagging along to document everything. For marketing I assume. They were all quite good looking but a little rude and didn’t like to eat much other than white bread, salad, and Fanta of course. Of the almost thirty brownies I would say five of them were eaten. They were prepaid but still, what a waste. I practiced great self control and didn’t have a single bite. I didn’t want to spoil my duck dinner.

From Chelsea to Flushing

Lately in our community there has been some buzz about two big bad corporations coming to our hood. No, one of them isn't Walmart. Dunkin Donuts and Subway will be opening in LIC soon and are getting people worried that they'll ruin things for small business. I say if your place is good enough, national or local, the people will come. To view the actual news clip which features alot of Vernon Blvd (our street) and many of our great small businesses click here. Shout out to Cranky's, I love that place. Also, a warning that the link might put you in the mood for donuts.

What's new? Well, I've been working, running, and taking yoga more often lately which is great. Jen's current employer/coworkers are sad that she's leaving soon but she's getting pretty excited for the change. Last night we went way downtown to the financial district to do some playing in Jen's soon to be work neighborhood. The Fed building just looks like big, scary money and the security is pretty impressive too. For dinner we took a cab down Fulton to the South Street Seaport, an area full of shopping, restaurants, and lots of action right on the water with amazing views of the Brooklyn Bridge. The pic doesn't do it justice. We had some mediocre seafood at a place that starts with an S... Sequoia maybe? We are beginning to accept the truth that NY has nothing on FL when it comes to seafood.

I'm on Setup, teardown, and ushering at church tomorrow morning and then working tomorrow afternoon. Jen's also helping in kids tomorrow at church. Blah... I mean woohoo! Maybe something fun like the beach on Labor Day, weather permitting!

Oh, one last random thing about why I love NYC. Our drugstore (Duane Reade) puts clever city themed slogans on their products. For example, I had a good laugh a few days ago when I noticed our toilet paper wrapping said, "From Chelsea to Flushing."  

Serene Irene

From the park on the East River today, looking out at the Manhattan skyline on a perfectly cool, dry day it’s hard to believe there has been so much news over earthquakes and hurricanes recently. And I don’t know if it’s New Yorkers or just the media but there has been a lot of hype and over reacting in the past week. The little shiver barely felt in the ground that was just the echo of an earthquake down south was interrupting normal scheduled broadcasting here until it was time for newscasters to switch gears and start freaking people out over Irene. I know it was big and there was a chance of flooding but to me it was obvious it was weakening and would (which it was) be a tropical storm by the time it reached NYC. Our apartment was technically in the mandatory evacuation zone, but just right across the street was the safe zone so we, along with all our neighbors, stayed put. Our lack of worry comared to people around us was kind of comical. Last minute I went out looking for D batteries for our dead flashlight which everyone was (surprise!) sold out of. I then went and bought AA's for a little lantern we have but the bulb was shot (oops!). We went old school and made a pile of matches and candles, filled some bottles with water and said screw it. By Sunday afternoon the rain was gone so we took Pup out for a long walk to look around the ‘hood but it looked the same (the reason there are no good hurricane pics in this post). No flooding, no crazy wind, just some rain Saturday night and clouds Sunday (yawn).

The combination of people crazed with cabin fever, me included, and BSBG being one of the only restaurants on the row open made last night quite busy. We were so understaffed and slammed, to the point that we couldn’t even care about good service, just order taking. We somehow still managed to make some really good money. Because there were no trains running from Saturday at noon until this morning no one really had a way to get to work. I had to take a cab to and from work but luckily at the expense of the restaurant… I could get used to having a driver.

Anyway, all is well. We’re alive. Later.

Just Shoot Me

If you haven’t already guessed by my lack of communication, the results of my finals were more than disappointing. After waiting for what seemed like eternity for the grades to be posted, I was sent emails from faculty saying how devastated and sorry they were that I had not passed the Procedures II final practical.

There are two ways a student can automatically fail a practical: through a “critical safety” error or a complete “failure to treat.” Mine was the latter due to placement of electrodes for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with iontophoresis.  Iontophoresis is a form of e-stim that uses a charged current to drive topical medication deep into the body for pain relief. Gathering from all I learned in the program about CTS (a compression of the median nerve at the wrist) including one or two diagnostic tests, I placed the electrode right on the wrist (the site of pain noted on my randomly picked case study), on the dorsal surface or backside of the wrist. I wasn’t absolutely sure of my placement because of the lack of curriculum on treating CTS specifically in procedures I, II, or any class for that matter. I thought he might take points off if he preferred one side or the other but figured since the whole premise behind the modality was its ability to penetrate deeply that I would be ok.

After weeks, prayers, phone calls and meetings with faculty, including the program director, I began to lose my willpower to fight and just face his decision, no matter how much I disagreed. On a side note: I later found out that the reason it took so long to post everyone’s grades was because the director could not believe the news and scheduled an all faculty meeting to discuss my situation. On one hand it’s flattering but on the other, it made me feel like their minds were already made up by the time I could throw my word in. I’m now about five months behind the class that I will be leaving. We were the best group they had had in a while, you could just tell. I’m of course trying to focus on the positives and all that jazz but it’s just frustrating. I’m much more prepared than others who are slipping through the cracks because of luck of the draw. I have too much invested to quit at this point and a plan on retaking the class in January. I have lost a lot of respect for Dr. Chan and the program.

I never have and never will understand how you can test a student on something you never taught them. I wasn’t born knowing how to treat CTS. I haven’t been a PT for 20 years. Do your job, teach me what I will be tested on, and more importantly what will prepare me for the real world. This is the point where I want to say inappropriate and personal things so I’ll stop. I’m done. Moving on.

I don’t even want to continue this blog post with anything else so I’ll end this one and start another;  a fresh start.

4 Exams away from three weeks of freedom

Following up on the previous post, I walked Pup through the filming that was going on in the neighborhood this past week to see if I could spot anyone famous. It appeared I was a little late as they were packing up set equipment so, after using the dog as an excuse to just stand in one spot and gawk, I asked an event caterer if there had been any celebs around that day. She said there was no one famous and it was just some shooting for CBS. She seemed to be telling the truth but I find it hard to believe there would be about five blocks full of trucks and movie trailers for something generic. I guess I’ll never know. I doubt the average New Yorker cares enough about all this stuff to ask questions, but it’s fun for me. Maybe if I was a ten year resident already or had a car my perspective would change; large groups of random people invading your neighborhood, taking all the parking spots for a day or two, and then leaving the place no better (ok, maybe a little more famous) than it was when they showed. “The Good Wife,” though, was doing some filming in the Court Sq/ Citibank area of our neighborhood today (pic)


Tonight Jen packed a bag for her ten year high school reunion. She leaves LaGuardia for Tampa, FL tomorrow at 7:30 am. I would have tagged along but it was just bad timing with work this weekend and finals on Monday and Tuesday, not to mention the cost of airfare. I’m sure she’ll have fun anyway. It was pretty late by the time she was all prepared so we stayed close to home for our date night. We had dinner at Cuban restaurant Madera and then walked a few more blocks down Vernon Blvd to Uncle G’s (?) ice cream for dessert. After being way too indecisive, I committed to rum raisin and it was delicious. I have to agree with Jen who said “that place is one of the best things to happen to Long Island City.” lol

Happy Birthday to my grandfather who turned 80 yesterday! Wow.

Artist: Rexrode

After leaving the clinic around one today I made a stop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on the way home to unwind a little. I walked up and down Bedford Ave mostly, the main street of the neighborhood, where I went into a few stores and did a lot of people watching. A retail store that I really like but is pretty overpriced is Brooklyn Industries. There are locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and they have great graphic-t's with what I would describe as "urban art" on them. I guess the store inspired me because when I got home I had to do some urban art drawing of my own.

We've had a series of New Yorker magazine covers hanging over the couch that both Jen and I were over. I sat down and thought of some things you see often in our neighborhood and came up with the water tower and bike silhouettes. (pic) When Jen got home she helped me narrow the last one down to the headphones. For materials I just used thick gray paper as the canvas (what was inside the pictures as backing), the same matting and frames, and leftover paint supplies from when we moved in. I'm really happy with how they turned out and how much cooler our wall looks. I should have taken a before picture. Maybe when I have a little more time... or any extra time... I can turn my hobby into a little t-shirt business or something. We shall see.

There's going to be some filming on our street, possible right out our window, this Sunday night. The project name is "Person of Interest." I'll be around and let you know if I see any mention-worthy celebs outside.

Frankfurters for Everyone!

Good evening Germany! You happen to be the country that, not counting the US, I had the most page views from this week (6), lol. For being such a great audience i'de like to thank you Germany for bringing us Audi, Mercedes Benz, and BMW. Thank you also for sending Janine Pretti, our x-manager at Aeropostale, to the US. If it wasn't for her and her store Jen and I would have never met. I also love a (Kosher) Frankfurter once in a while, so thank you. Hitler, Nazi's, and the Holocaust...not so great.



Shannon, ha

 That was fun.

Lady Gaga



Andrew and Carmen

In clinic this week we've been practicing measurement, don/doff, adjustment, and care skills of prosthetics and orthotics. We got to choose various pieces to try on and then present our make-believe case to the class. Here are a few of my classmates (pics) bringing a little pizazz to disabilities. When Shannon (in the shades) was up I couldn't help but be reminded of the Lady Gaga Paparazzi video where she was being lifted out of a blinged out wheelchair with gold loftstrand crutches. This thought made me lose it so the whole time Shannon was presenting I couldn't stop laughing. What a jerk. 



Last night we went to a rooftop bbq at the Rockrose building here in LIC. There were lots of good friends there, including our neighbors Ricky and Richard (married to two sisters upstairs, not a gay couple. ha) who are usually working that time of night. Jen and I split up and got to know a few new friends too. The weather was nice and cool, but after an hour or so outside the sky over the city skyline turned to dark shades of gray and black. It looked so ominous, like the evil NYC scene from Ghostbusters. It was quickly moving our way, though, and it started pouring a few minutes later. The drops were huge and everyone was suddenly scrambling to get inside, grabbing trash, dishes, children, and whatever else. We waited inside in the building's amazing rec room, "Club Rockrose," until the rain let up a little.

I was practicing in my Brooklyn clinic for 9 hours today and then came home to put together a powerpoint for a group presentation tomorrow... I'm pooped. Jen's out tonight celebrating two girlfriend's b-days at Shi, the waterfront sushi place in the 'hood.

Heat Wave!

Manhattan has looked so polluted and far away from our neighborhood the past few days, I assume because of the high humidity and heat. As you’ve probably heard it’s really hot here. It’s not just Florida hot, but crazy hot. Jen and I came home yesterday and said the same thing to each other; that it felt like you were stuck in the wave of stifling heat left behind by a city bus. That’s pretty much the best way to describe it, miserable. Con Edison, our power provider, reported overall electric use peaked at 13,189 megawatts at 4 p.m. Friday, eclipsing the all-time record of 13,141 MW set on August 2, 2006. I don’t really know what megawatts are but it sound like a lot. I was afraid the city would have a total black out like what I heard happened a few years ago and that there would be total insanity everywhere. I guess there’s still time. We tried to conserve but even on low our a/c was running all day. I saw a lot of frozen water bottles, wet towels, and even people walking down the block without shirts or pants… it’s true.

I worked tonight. I work tomorrow night. Maybe something fun will come up tomorrow or Sunday. Or maybe I’ll just sit in our climate controlled apartment and eat ice.

Summer BBQ's

Things have been a little intense so I pretty much had no time for writing. What’s new though? A few things lately. About a week ago we went to put dinner in the oven and realized it hadn’t warmed up and would not even turn on. Our neighbor suggested trying the breaker which had worked for her in the past. That didn’t fix it. Given our landlord’s… thrifty reputation (aren’t they all), I called him to put in a repair request. He then, surprisingly, told me he didn’t think it was worth fixing and that he would just get us a new one! Well, he followed through (with continued coaxing) and here we are with a beautiful new oven.

It came just in time as Jen and I co-hosted a bbq at a friend’s house in LIC tonight. Jen made sausage bread last night which I threw in the oven this afternoon after my midterm practical. Oh, by the way, I just finished my midterms which means I have about 4 more weeks left in this session. The test today went well. Wutev, I’m just trying get through it. Anyway, I’m proud I actually remembered to check on the bread and took it out before it burned. We also made a Ceprese salad. It’s a BYOM (bring your own meat) party so I made some burger patties today. We handed over our perfectly seasoned, organic ground beef to Matt (the host and griller) who, after grilling, threw it in with everyone’s “normal” meat. We tried to figure it out and think we at least found one of them. After inspecting the meat pile I concluded that organic meat smells and looks just like its conventional counterpart. Ha.

Some other new things came in a package Mom sent us this week. One of the many nice items inside was a new electronic squeaking mouse toy. It’s pretty life-like and Pup has been obsessed with it since she got it. The slightest movement will set it off so it takes special care to get up off the couch or move around without getting her excited. Yesterday she ripped it open and removed most of the stuffing and noise maker, declaring it dead.

Roots

Today, Blogger added statistical options that allow me to somewhat view my audience based on their location or what search engine they found my blog through.  I found out I've recently had readers visit my site from Canada, Netherland, and Singapore!

Hello world wide web. lol. This week we took a break from the grind and had some mid-week fun in our nabe. There is a part of Campus Crusade that does inner city, or "urban" ministry through art called Here's Life Inner City (HLIC). To be closer to the city HLIC recently acquired a warehouse space in LIC a few blocks form our apartment as their new home base. Our friend LeeAnn (s/p) organized a gallery opening, themed "Roots," to welcome them to the neighborhood on Wednesday night. I love modern, urban art and enjoy making art myself so when I heard about the event I added it to our chalkboard wall of things to do. Good friends, good food, good time. Pics, including my two favorite peices.

After the event we went to LIC Bar for a few, hoping to catch the end of a performance by Walking For Pennies. They're no one famous, just a local group that I'm pretty sure we heard on Valentine's day and were good. They had just finished playing by the time we showed so we stayed for another band (not so great) and a drink.

Overboard



 It's not very often that Jen and I get a whole day off together. When it does occur, like on the Fourth of July, we go a little overboard with our plans. Yesterday we took the Q train to Brighton Beach, the less crowded neighbor of Coney Island. We did walk down the boardwalk to Coney Island for lunch and to gawk at the huge line at Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, though.

After soaking up some sun at the beach (though we have nothing to show for it because we wore 30 spf, lol) we came back into the city and went for a jog around the Jackie 'O reservoir in Central Park. Though many of them were just fire flies, there were a lot of bugs out at sunset, flying into our faces as we ran. Jen ate a couple. The sunset was beautiful, though (pic).

A little before 9 we headed over to the west side to watch the Macy's fireworks show. We really didn't have a plan, other than knowing it was between 34th and 59th-ish, and just walked as far towards the Hudson as we could down 50th street. Once the show started we realized we got lucky and had lined ourselves up with one of the barges. Beautiful! Enjoy the pictures.

I'm about one week in to an intense, six week summer session. I was in class, clinic, working, or studying most of the time this week. I'm not really loving my first assignment either. It's a combination of issues. I'm there to learn (which is not happening) and don't really agree with his choices of therapy interventions. He's not awful and I don't want to bad mouth my CI (clinical instructor) because you never know who's reading. I mean who isn't reading this blog by now? :) I worked for very talented PT's in Tallahassee and learned a lot from them. I just want to be assigned to a place like that. I'm going to talk to Dr. Ross about my assignment on Tuesday. If nothing else, if I b*tch enough it might guarantee an awesome clinical assignment in the Fall.

Friday night, work. Saturday night, work. Sunday and tomorrow off! Saturday Jen took a train to White Plains to visit her sister who's in from FL visiting family. She spent the night and came back this afternoon where I met her in Grand Central with Pup then went to brunch in the East Village. It was a little rainy but after a few tries we found a restaurant, Bone Lick BBQ, that was serving brunch outside. Pup was very good while out and about. She got lots of attention today and many incorrect guesses about her breed and sex. Lol. She does have a blue leash and a black bag so it's a little unfair to expect people to examine her to make sure I guess.

After brunch we walked around and shopped our way to Soho before heading home. In the Village we wandered by this really cool store called Evolution, kind of a taxidermist with a twist. There were animal rugs with the heads attached, taxidermied animals, and (the twisted part) skeletons of fetal Siamese twins (pic).

The High Line

This week I started my 6 week summer classes and my clinical affiliation. Having only one day under my belt, I can't tell how I feel about the place I was assigned to yet... I'll keep you posted.

One of the coolest things we've done in a while was check out The High Line. Originally constructed in the 1930s to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan's streets, it's now a park located on Manhattan's West Side and runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. We packed a picnic dinner for the park, walked it's entire length, and wandered through a fun inflatable and food truck filled one month installment called the lot (lots of pics!). The only negative about the park is that there are no dogs allowed, possibly because if the dog pees it may trickle onto heads below. Unlike the dog ban of our mean waterfront park in LIC, this park may at least has a reason.

Speaking of dogs, our friends, the Goods, are in Florida for a week and we're taking care of their dog Duncan while they're away. (pic) He's a real friendly little dog that Pup actually tolerates so we've been walking them together at night

Vaca Wrap-Up

Orlando wrap-up: We visited Outdoor World at the Festival Bay Mall to get Papa some sandals for father’s day. The mall, other than housing Ron Jon’s and Vans Skate Park, is eerily empty. While there we did get to see these Steve Madden shoes (pic) with their Long Island City (shout out!) flagship address printed in them and these unnecessary quotation marks used around the word “Gelati” (pic). lol. We took a few walks through the neighborhood with Pup and saw shooting on the lake for what I think was a Florida Hospital commercial. We just can’t get away from film production! The crew parked across from Nana and Papa’s in the front yard of what Michael agrees is the most exciting addition to the neighborhood in a while, a Russian model. I think she’s Russian, close enough. I can’t remember her name either, ha. Svetlana we’ll call her gave me a high class hooker vibe… just saying. Saturday Jen, Jackie, John, Alisa, Michael and I went to Universal’s Islands of Adventure. We had a good time, running from ride to ride, and as much as I hate to admit it, the new Harry Potter land was pretty cool. Sunday we said our goodbyes and headed back to NYC. Pup behaved on the plane, but somehow came home with a few fleas. I don’t think Rinny has them… weird.


One good thing about me being in school is that I have built in breaks between semesters that force me to take some time off and give my poor brain a rest. Jen went back to work Monday but I’m just chill’n because for some reason I thought I started back to school today or tomorrow. It turns out we don’t start class until Thursday and clinic work until Friday. I’m not scheduled for any shifts at work until Saturday night so I’m doing all the chores, running errands, and might pick up a shift until the grind begins again next week.

Today I made the test-run trip out to the Brooklyn PT clinic I’ll be working in a few times a week starting Friday. It took a little over an hour, door to door, because of ongoing G and F train construction which I’m not happy about. What can I do though? It’s too hot to bike all the way in professional clothes, busing would take longer, and a cab would cost too much. Luckily this outpatient assignment is only for 6 to 8 weeks.

Mile High Pup

I finished my practicals last week and then survived three straight hours of written finals Monday. Afterward, we wanted to unwind and celebrate all of our hard work plus Dickson, who's birthday is the 15th of June, and I were celebrating our birthdays. We decided on Blockheads, a Mexican restaurant and bar in my midtown work neighborhood that has cheap drink specials. The guys insisted I have a Bulldog with them; it's a Margarita with a shot of patron on top and then a Corona with lime tipped into the drink at the table. The corona drains into the glass as you drink it... it was pretty serious stuff. Our tech-geek classmate was on his smart phone when he realized the final grades were already being posted. At that moment everyone whipped out their phones and got online to view our grades. Everyone that was celebrating did pretty well, which makes sense I guess. I got two A's and a B. We sat outside in the perfect NYC Spring weather for a few hours and had many good laughs about the semester.

The following day, my birthday, I was awoken by Jen bringing me breakfast in bed from Communitea and then my birthday presents. I know, tough life. She gave me a new yoga mat, hemp strap, and an unlimited month certificate to The Yoga Room, a studio that's just a few blocks away. I spent the day preparing for our FL trip and then headed to the airport with Jen when she got home from work.

Pup did so well on the plane, so proud. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, she had great trainers. She did yip a few times. Once, when a guy was walking very loudly down the aisle and again when people clapped after our smooth, safe landing. We were sharing the plane with Lake Nona High School theater students coming back from a NYC trip so it was a pretty noisy flight.

I'm writing from Orlando this evening. We celebrated Jen and my birthday last night with his and hers cakes (pic). The whole family including Jen's folks, in from Clearwater, were there.

Today we did some shopping and then spent the afternoon playing in our neighbor's salt water pool. So far we are really enjoying our vacation!

Finals Week

Saturday morning I shot up out of bed, full of worry about sitting in the NYU free clinic for hours and being late to work since my appointment was not until one in the afternoon. After doing some of my famed nagging during what was probably their first incoming call of the day they finally just told me to come in as early as I wanted and they would work me in. When I arrived the receptionist said, “Oh, Mr. Rexrode, we were told to look out for you,” ha. Within a few minutes I was given all my results (I’m immune to everything I needed to be, yay) and out of the door. The bad news is that one of the Dr.’s in the program noticed that they left some of my results out and I have to call them tomorrow and do some more nagging.
Afterward, I took a few minutes to enjoy the weather and walked through the awesome Union Sq. Saturday market (pic). They have all locally grown, mostly organic produce, meats, eggs, dairy, you name it.

Two practicals down so just one more to go followed my three finals in three hours on Monday, whoop! Today I took my second clinic practical which was for therapeutic procedures. My testing partner/pretend patient that I was paired with at random is the one person that no one wants to work with. He’s always coming in late, leaving early, full of lame excuses, and has already taken a leave of absence from the program once before joining our group. Since there was nothing I could do I decided to try making the best of it. Plus, I got great partners for my other two practicals so I couldn’t really complain. It was just my turn to do the time, ha. I requested that I go first during the testing, which he was ok with, so that if he pulled something crazy during his turn (which he did) it wouldn’t throw me off. I performed my modality of choice, lumbar traction, for my patient’s L4- L5 disc herniation pretty well in my opinion. During my partner’s turn, on the other hand, he chose Ultrasound to treat my metacarpal pain but had no idea how to operate the machine. After I painfully watched him fumble through trying to figure it out, probably for the first time because he never practiced, then fail at two more machines, he threw in the towel and I assume failed.

I’m so glad I went first! After all this drama I had to relax so this afternoon I took material for my final practical to the park to decompress. (Sun abotu to set behind the city in the pic)

I have already tested the non-involved side...

Today I had my first of 6 finals (three clinic practicals and three written exams) for the spring semester and it went well. I missed little points here and there mostly. For example, I completely forgot to say "I have already tested the non-involved side" before each test on my patient Jeff. Whatever. I was quite anxious and probably got an A so I just need to let it go.

This past Memorial Day weekend was a good one. Sunday Jen and I got to hang out in the 'hood, including getting some sun at the park. It was perfect beach weather this weekend, very hot. I guess we didn't realize just how intense the sun really was and got a little red... well Jen was pink and I was red. We had made plans to go to the beach somewhere Monday so it probably wasn't a great idea to pre-burn, ha.

After spending too much time trying to cater to too many people who, like us, wanted to take public transportation to avoid traffic (and people being flakey) we finally gave in and decided to drive to Long Beach with friends. It turned out to be the right choice as we went with great people and only hit a little traffic on the way back into the city. I piled on tons of sunscreen and kept myself covered most of the time so don't worry, my skin is going to be ok. We had alot of fun relaxing on the sand, having a few drinks, and playing a little beach volleyball. Good times!