Slowly But Surely

I'm getting there. Slowly, very slowly.

Ofcourse, I am talking about the elusive crossover. Last night at practice, I did some crossover "swizzles", where your skates don't leave the floor, and you weave your feet in front of one another. That was something I'd been trying to do for a while, but had not had much success with. Last night I actually did a pretty good job doing them!! Yay!! Crossovers, here I come!!

I've been with the Hellions for a little over 3 months now, and am trying to get so I can meet my WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association) minimums which are needed for me to be able to skate with the rest of the girls. So far, the only minumums I can meet are:

-regular skating
-stops
-falls
-stepping
-squatting
-focusing
-leaning

The things I need to master to pass minimums are:

-crossovers
-speed/endurance
-one foot glides
-quick cuts
-recovery from falls within 2 seconds
-hopping (yikes!!)
-weaving
-whips
-pushes
-pacing
-weaving around moving obstacles
-bumping
-blocking (taking hits, checks)

When looking at these two lists it seems like I haven't made any progress!! But I have to keep remembering how I was on the first practice I came to, when I could barely stand on skates let alone have "confident and fluid strides" (per WFTDA). I'll continue to push towards getting these damn minimums met so I can then get my REAL derby name and not have to be known as Fake 'Um Steak 'Um anymore!!

Until next time, peeps (if anyone actually reads this). Derby love forever!!

The Hellions of Troy are having a Winter Break Party to raise money for one of our girls who was injured in practice. Please come if you can. C'mon, it's only 5 bucks and it goes to help a derby girl!!! :)

Derby Madness

Last night at derby practice something funny happened. I was skating with Flexi Wheeler, one of our best skaters (she's been skating for 40 years!!) and she asked me if I had done any contact stuff yet like blocking, hitting, etc. I had barely gotten out the word "No" when she bashed into me. I went down on one knee and recovered quickly, so that was pretty fun.

We continued to do a couple other maneuvers with her cutting in front of me and leaning against me. I think I fared pretty well. Flexi even said she was impressed at how solid I was on my skates when taking a block or with her leaning in on me. Yay!!

She got me out of my comfort zone a little too, getting me to skate a bit faster and trying to make me "put up or shut up" about crossovers. I just need to f-ing do them and not be afraid of falling!! Falling is not the end of the world!! hehehe Though, truth be told. I'm not at all afraid of falling forward, that's where all my protective gear is (knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards). What I'm afraid of is falling backwards!! That really hurts!!

I think my main fear of crossovers is that I feel like I'm going to trip over my own feet. That's been know to happen to me just walking down the street, and now I'm trying to possibly do it on purpose?!? Yikes! ;) I am getting steadier and steadier on my skates by the day so I think it's only a matter of time until I can do them without being freaked out about falling. Flexi also said that with skating faster, you actually get a better sense of balance. So I will be working on that as well.

Mmmmmm, Sleeeeep

I love sleep. I really, really looooooove sleep.

Last night I slept for 13 hours (!). I wasn't planning on this, but there it is. I was talking on the phone with a friend and was then going to go to derby practice. So, after getting off the phone I was kinda tired so I decided to take a little nap. Well, that "nap" lasted until midnight, derby practice had long since ended and I was feeling bad about missing it. (I really need as much practice as possible to get those damn crossovers down!!)

So, it was midnight and I figured nothing else was going to get accomplished that night, so I went back to sleep and got up at 7am this morning. It's nice to sleep for that long sometimes. Get to catch up on all the missed sleep of the past couple of weeks. I just wish it hadn't happened on a practice night!!

Well, it's Friday. Only a couple more hours to the weekend. Have fun my bloggy peeps!

The Awakening

So.....this is awkward.

It's been over a year since I updated this thing. Oooops!!

I guess I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. If I have something to say I usually just spew it out on whomever is around!!

So, since last time a whole bunch of stuff has gone down. Here we go:

Dana broke up with me around May-ish. It was far from mutual, though in the time that has passed, I have been able to get over this fact for the most part. We still lived together for a couple months while I was trying to find a new apartment as it was clear to me I wouldn't be able to do the "just friends/roommates" thing. Moved out in July. Cut off all ties completely in August due to not being able to handle the "just friends" thing. (to clarify, I thought I would be able to do the just friends thing once we weren't living together.....*BUZZZZZ* Wrong!!) So, as it stands now I am still seeing my counselor and dealing with all the crap related to this whole thing. This was the first relationship I had ever been in and therefore, the first break up. It's a lot to deal with all at once. According to my counselor, lesbians usually become friends with their ex's again. This seems a little dysfunctional to me, but we'll see what the future holds. I am not completely ruling out the possibility, but I definitely need more time to work stuff out before that happens. I did see Dana at a little coffee shop concert a while ago and it wasn't horrible. A little awkward, but we exchanged pleasantries and then went our seperate ways.

I joined the local roller derby team!! After dealing with all the doom and gloom of the above situation, I needed something to get my mind off things. I joined the Hellions of Troy roller derby league in September even though I have NO skating experience! Even as a kid, I was never a rollerskater, and now here I am strapping on my new $400 (!) skates and learning the ropes. I have progressed to being able to skate pretty confidently, I learned how to do T-stops, snow plows and every kind of fall you can imagine...single knee fall, double knee fall, baseball slide, and 180 degree knee fall. I just need to work on doing my crossovers and then getting into the more advanced derby techniques like blocking, turn around toe stops and jumping (yikes!). I haven't been able to skate with the pack yet, they skate a lot faster than I can right now!! When I first moved up to Albany, I went to go see the Albany team play and until I joined the Troy team I kept thinking how fun it all looked, but didn't have the guts to actually join the team. I decided to join the Troy team instead of the Albany team because the Troy team is more into the athletecism part of the game and becoming part of WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the national organization), and the Albany team is more about the show and exhibitionist part of derby.

So, that's all the craziness that's been going on and keeping me away from posting on here more regularly. I'm not making any promises, but hopefully I will update this damn thing more often!! :)

Ensure - The Miracle Drink

Hi Blog,

It's been a while, I know. But I have to rant about something, so here it goes.

I work in an HIV Clinic. Patients with HIV have elevated calorie and protein needs compared to healthy adults without HIV. Many times the virus and/or meds cause the patients to lose their appetite and lose weight. When this happens, I usually recommend an oral nutritional supplement such as Ensure or Boost to help them gain some weight back and get their appetite to return.

I have no problem giving Ensure and Boost to these types of patients. It's the entitled, greedy mofo's I don't like to give it to. People who are 50# over their ideal body weight, haven't lost a pound in years and eat everything in sight are always the ones that think they need Ensure the most because *GASP* they lost 1# over the past month and they think it's the end of the world. Even though, in reality, they could stand to lose at least 30#.

The issue that inspired this post was that I just saw a patient a couple of minutes ago. The patient tells me she is swollen and retaining water, so my first goal is to educate her about a low salt diet. Meanwhile, she is eating a bag of Goldfish crackers while nodding mindlessly at what I'm saying about not eating those kind of things. Is she interested in relieving the swelling at all?? Noooooo!!! All she is concerned about is getting more "Ensure milk". I swear to God, my head almost exploded there in my office. I told her my lie about "I'll see what I can do about it, but Medicaid probably won't pay for it" and sent her on her way with some low sodium diet info she is probably going to throw out the minute she gets home.

Ugh, I need to find a new profession. One where I don't talk to brick walls every day.

It Hurts to Pray to God, When God is Dying Too

Last night, the little woman and I visited downtown Albany to see Jason Webley and Reverend Peyton and The Big Damn Band play at Red Square. I have seen Jason a couple times already and absolutely love him and I knew of Reverend Peyton from a song they do together called "Two Bottles of Wine"...but more on that later.

Turns out, the email I got about the show was a little misinformed. I thought the show was starting around 8pm, so we got there a little after 7pm. Turns out the show didn't start until around 9:30 or 10pm! Oh well, we just sat at the bar, had a couple beers and got to chat up Jason a little bit.

Jason went on first and it was kinda sad because not a lot of people knew who he was. Most people were there for Rev. Peyton as he had played there before. Jason's set was completely unplugged because he couldn't see the audience from the stage. I think at the end of the night, there were a couple Webley converts in the audience. At the end of his set he appropriately played his "May Day" song and we all learned how to do the "Gnome-y" dance (pulling your shirt over your heard and kicking your legs out). Fun stuff!

Click on the pics to see the whole thing, Blogger is being funny today.





After that, Reverend Peyton took the stage with his Big Damn Band and played a great set of Delta Blues and old gospels and traditionals. He was really great and shared the stage with his brother on drums and pickle barrel and his wife, Breezy, on washboard. At the end of the set, Jason came back up to sing a couple songs with them. The last being "Two Bottles of Wine". They really kicked up the tempo of this and we all danced like crazy people. After the last song, they came back up for an encore but stated that nothing could top "Two Bottles of Wine"....except maybe doing it again, only this time a hell of a lot faster and louder! It was crazy and my voice is hoarse today from yelling out "two bottles of wine" in the chorus.







I hope these guys make it back up to this area sometime again soon. They are really the best!!

Been A While....and Recent Watchings

After a long hiatus, I return to purge my thoughts on a couple things.

We watched "Grizzly Man" last night after having it on our DVR forever. It was an interesting documentary about a troubled man who, in an attempt to fight and conquer his demons, went to live with the grizzly bears of Alaska for over 13 summers. The last summer he was there, he and his girlfriend, Amie, were mauled to death by a bear. After watching the film I can't decide if Timothy Treadwell was a good guy or a bad guy.

He was good in the sense that he was bringing these bears to the forefront and letting people see a side of them that they probably wouldn't get to see otherwise. He went to schools and did presentations for free, just to get the word out there.

On the bad side, I think he was desensitizing the bears...and foxes...to humans. Some of these bears would approach him and allow him to touch them. The fox dens he camped by became part of his extended family. They would eat out of his hand and allow him to pet them frequently. This has the possibility of being very damaging to these animals by making them not as fearful of humans as they should be.

The part of the movie that really bothered me was when he re-routed the river so that the bears could access the fish more easily in a time of little rain fall. Tampering with nature and the natural order of things is totally out of bounds in my opinion. Yes, the bears were starving and forced to eat their own young because of this. Yes, this is sad, but this is the way nature works sometimes. I am not naive enough to think that some of these problems with the "natural order" of things is not due to humans, but still, it's wrong to change it.

At the end of the day, I am not going to be one of those people that say that Tim and his girlfriend "got what they deserved" or that "they were asking for it". As the post film discussion mentioned, no one deserved to get pulled apart by a bear and eaten. But, these are wild animals and I think Tim Treadwell forgot that after a while. He truly thought that he was a bear and was somewhat invincible against them.

_____________________________________________________________

Another film I finally got around to watching was "Earthlings". You can find it by a simple search on videos.google. This is definitely a must watch for everyone. A lot of the information I already knew, being a tree-hugging hippie and all. But it was still eye-opening to watch.

It brings to light how we exploit and use animals in almost all aspects of our lives. For food, for clothing, for entertainment, etc. It is a very hard film to watch at certain points. In fact, Dana couldn't even watch the whole thing, but I forced myself to, even with tears in my eyes.

One phrase uttered towards the end of the film really stuck with me and it was this: Humans are the only animal that inflict pain on other animals, knowing full well that it is causing pain and suffering. This may not be the exact quote, but it was basically the point. And it's true. Humans inflict pain fully knowing that the animal is feeling pain, yet we do it anyway. We also inflict this pain for our own amusement. Just look at any circuses, rodeos or the bull fighting in Spain. No other animal on Earth behaves this way. And we are the so called "higher intelligence" right??

I'm not trying to convert people to vegetarianism/veganism but after watching this film please tell me how you can look at that Thanksgiving turkey the same way again.

Rest in Peace

Dim the lights on Broadway tonight. The man who velvetly sang "If ever I should leave you, how could it be in autumn?" has left us.

Robert Goulet has passed away from lung complications. I read the news about his illness a couple weeks ago. He was in hospital awaiting a lung transplant dut to interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.

I remember as a kid, listening to the cast recording of "Camelot" and hearing Mr. Goulet's voice croon out Lancelot's love songs. I was hooked. Later, I had the pleasure of seeing him live in "La Cage Aux Folles". Most people nowadays will recognize him from the Diamond Nuts commercials he did: "At 3pm, Robert Goulet comes and messes with your stuff".

The theatre world has lost yet another great icon. Rest in peace, Mr. Goulet.

Ok, who's with me in saying that all stupid people should be taken "out back" and shot to put them...and the rest of the world out of their misery.

I had written an email to my co-workers explaining that I would not be in the clinic on Mondays due to working at an HIV drop in center in another part of Albany. I also put my new schedule, printed out on green paper so as not to be missed, in all the areas that the doctors and nurses go most often (i.e.: nurses station, charting room, etc.). So I was at the other center yesterday, all day, from 12pm-8pm. No access to computer and therefore no work email. So I get back to my regular office at the clinic today and find an email from one of the doctors, written at 7:50pm Friday night, requesting that I see one of his patients Monday morning. And the thing was, is that it was written in a reply to my email telling everyone of my new schedule so it's not like he didn't get the message.

Christ on a cracker! Did you even READ the email you just replied to....the one where I clearly stated that I would not be in on Mondays from now on, until further notice!?!?! Ugh!! Then this morning, the case manager for the patient in question asked me if I saw the patient yesterday. *head desk*

On other hand, to contradict my starting sentence. Just shoot me and put me out of my misery from having to deal with these retards! Have a super Tuesday peeps.

The Creature Awakes

*yawn*

So, it's been two months since I've posted anything here. Yikes, my bad.

What's been happening that's been occupying my time so much that I can't update you ask? Absolutely nothing I reply! Miss D moved down to Albany and has been living out of boxes but thankfully we move to the new apartment this weekend! Yay!! :) The new apartment is in a little better of an area than where we are now and hopefully the neighbors aren't as annoying as our current ones.

We also just got back from Montreal on Sunday. We had gone up to the Divers/Cite festival that we went to last year as well. I don't know, I wasn't as impressed with it this year. Last year the rock part, called Sex Garage was free and this year it was $15. Also, in the main park it was mostly DJ's and not musical acts like they've had in the past. Though there was one great act Friday night. She goes by the single name of "Emily" and she is kinda like a Quebecois Britney Spears. *shudder* With all the cheesy dancing and lip syncing it was so bad it was almost good!! Here's her website if you want to check out this fine singer in action (sorry, it's in French):
http://www.emilybegin.mu/accueil.html

Saturday night we also went to the drag show they have every year called Mascara. It's tons of people, crammed into an alleyway, needless to say unless you are right up front you can't see a whole lot. So, after an hour and a half of standing on my toes to try and see over people, preceded by an hour of waiting for the show to begin, I had had just about enough. I leaned over to Miss D and said "Do you want to stay" and then she asked me the same, saying that she didn't care...and I believe my reply was something like "We have to go, or I'm going to hurt someone". What is is about general admission type things like this that makes people lose their fucking minds?!? All night, people kept trying to squeeze past me to get closer to the stage. Look buddy, if there were room up there don't you think that I would be up there already?! Also, I think every single person in Montreal smokes, so that was nice...packed in there like sardines with smoke being blown in my face from all directions. Nice.

So, in conclusion. I'm not sure if I'll be going to Divers/Cite next year. I love Montreal, it's a beautiful city with lots to explore, I just don't know if I want to do Divers/Cite again. We'll have to do a bit of research before we come up next year.

One really nice part about this past weekend though was where we stayed. I had scoped out this really nice B&B . It had really good reviews and I found the perfect room. It kinda had a Middle Eastern feel to it and....wait for it.....an in room hot tub! SWEET!!! They provided fresh baked cookies right outside our room and gourmet breakfasts every morning...none of that continental breakfast crap! I didn't want to leave!! It was a very nice place, a bit expensive though but hey, how often do you do things like that, right?

Well, that's it for now. I'll try and not let it be so far in between posts again!!

Patient From Hell

I just got finished with an assessment of the worst patient I've had here so far...or for that matter, in my entire career!! >:( He was so fucking rude and disrespectful that it brought me close to tears after my meeting with this waste of space.

He starts off berating me because I did not know every single thing about his past medical history. Medical charts in this clinic are very hard to come by and I wasn't able to look at his before I saw him for his appointment today. Normally this is not a problem and I just get a quick history from the patients themselves when I see them. This was absolutely inexcusable for this whack job I guess.

Then he confuses me by saying he saw one of the doctors here and then said that another one was his actual doctor here. WTF am I supposed to think when you say you saw "Suzie" the other day for your appointment but that you're doctor here is Dr. R?!?!?!? I guess part of my job desciption includes mind reader now.

He then goes on, begrudgingly telling me info about his past medical history that I need for my assessment and that he has tried supplements (like Ensure) before and that he didn't like them but that he would "choke them down" if he had to. I gave him some info on high protein/high calorie foods he could add to his diet in addition to supplements and he just takes it and says "This is all I get?!" Like I was supposed to make him gain 50 pounds overnight or something!! He has had a recent weight loss and I'm sorry but I don't have a magic pill that makes people gain weight!!

When he finally left, still the consumate professional (at work at least) I told him to have a nice day. He stops right in my door way and very snotty says "YOU have a good day!"

Jeeeeeezus!! WTF dude!! Now, anyone who knows how I am at work knows that I am the nicest person in the world and treat all my patients as they are the most important person in the world and willing to do whatever it takes to make them happy. This guy brought me to the limit though. I can understand being frustrated with your disease and weight loss but do you really need to treat me like a piece of shit?!? No one deserves that, especially someone who is trying to fucking help you!! >:(

Another Step In The Right Direction

Yesterday, Dana and I finally signed a lease for an apartment we are going to move into together in August!! Yay!! And it only took 16 months!! hehehehe

Life up here is definately different from the city, that's a given. But it's not as ho-hum as I feared it would be. There are lots of things around to do including an LGBT center here that has regular programs like art shows and concerts that I plan on going to sometime soon. Pride is also coming up on June 10th so that will be fun. Hopefully I can get down to the city for the Pride parade down there, I've never been to the NYC one.

There's also an LGBT singing group called The Capital Pride Singers that I am looking into joining, but my overwhelming shyness has kept me from going to one of their rehearsals as of yet. They meet every Monday evening at a church that's about a 15 minute walk from my apartment, so I really have no excuse for not going!

Work is going well, still kinda slow, but seems to be picking up a little bit now that the doctors, nurses and case managers and realizing that they have a dietitian at their disposal again! Still walking too (though I did get a nice chauffered ride from my hired help...errr, girlfriend this morning) since my bike just seems to like screwing around with me. I finally got the rear tire tube replaced then when I tried to bike to work on Monday there was something wrong with the rear brakes, they were too tight and wouldn't let the back tire spin freely. UGH!! I think I've got it figured out now, though I am going to bring it to the bike shop by me to make sure everything is in the right alignment per a suggestion from Miss D. :)

I also recently heard from some friends from my dietetic internship. One is still in CT and has started a healthy cooking program, where he basically makes food and freezes it and delivers it or people pick it up. Kinda like gourmet TV dinners only a heck of a lot healthier as he modifies it given the clients dietary needs (i.e. low salt, low fat, diabetic, etc). I have been thinking about starting up something like this here for a while now. I think there would be a good market for it. Maybe even branching out to Saratoga, where lots of rich people live because of the horses! Though I may have to wait until moving in with Dana to do that since I don't have a car! It would be a good opportunity to use my neglected culinary skills along with my nutrition expertise and a chance to earn a little cash on the side which can never hurt! :)

Well, that's my novel for today. BBQ at work today. Yummy!! Hopefully they have some veggie burgers or something. I was going to pick some up at the store last night but they were too damn expensive!!

Drum Roll Please....

And the grand total iiiiisssss.....................

$2553.25!!!!!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. That is the amount that some asshole in NYC took out of my checking account. Oh, that's ok, I wasn't using that extra 2.5k anyway. You use it to go buy your drugs and alcohol buddy.

What goes through a persons head to make them think that something like this is ok? That I was just sitting around rolling in piles of money waiting for someone to take it off my hands?!? Jeeeebus. I give up.

Once Again, The World Sucks

In another chapter of all the bullshiat that goes on in my life the newest adventure is that my checking account has been hacked.

I realized something was amiss when I checked my balance at the ATM yesterday and it was only $1000 where just a couple weeks ago it was closer to $3000. I called my bank today and they said they have records of numerous transactions from an ATM in Brooklyn!! I haven't been in Brooklyn in almost 2 months!! So now I have to send them a letter telling them that these transactions were not done by me and have to sign an affidavit to that effect.

UGH!!!! Why do people suck so much ass?!?!??!?! >:( >:(

Fie on You, USPS!!!

I guess I should actually watch the news or get a newspaper once in a while to find out what the hell is going on in the world rather thang getting all my news from Fark.

But, in a breif spurt this morning, I decided to go to CNN and look at the stories and found out that stamps are going up another 2 cents!! Jeebus!! Now I know that "snail mail" is dying a slow death, but do they really need to keep raising the prices of these bloody little stamps!? What the hell is all this money going towards??

I just hate the post office in general and the constant raising of prices is not endearing them to me at all. The post office always seems to close at exactly the minute I get home from work. Don't they know that other people work during the weekdays too, typically on a 9-5 schedule??? And if they can't be bothered to be open long enough on weekdays, you'd think they'd make up for it on the weekends, right? NOOOOO!!! Only open until noon on Saturday and not open at all on Sunday! WTF!!

Don't even get me started on the fact that if you want to mail or even pick up a package, you better take the day off because you'll be in line all day and end up paying a gazillion dollars just to send something to the next state. Keeee-righst, I could rent a car and drive it there for less money!! ;)

Anywho, this has been your neighborhood Monday rant. Continue with your regularly scheduled program.

To The Public, From Walkers And Bicyclists Everywhere

Below I will formulate a list of requests from the walking and bicycling public to the rest of you, please take note:

1. When you stop to let me cross a road, driveway, etc that you were going to turn onto or coming out from, please do not slam on the acelerator the second I have cleared said road, driveway, etc as if it was a huge inconvenience for you to stop and not run me down on the way to get your triple latte from Dunkin Donuts.

2. I know that you can turn right on red, but please remember that a red light for you also means a walk sign for me and try not to run me over. I know it's hard, but please just try.

3. Do not yell things at me from your H2 Hummer while I am walking or riding my bike. Why don't you try walking or biking to work or school occasionally instead of riding around in that nature killing machine.

4. When the weather is less than peachy outside, please don't say things like "Stay dry!" or "Great day for a walk/bike ride!" etc. It's not funny. Really, it's not.

5. Going along with the bad weather. On really rainy days, please do not aim for the puddles with your car. It's really not nice to get splashed with disgusting street water. Take a millisecond to either slow down when coming to an especially big puddle, or if you have room, try to go around it a little.

6. I know it's hard to comprehend, but I may be forced to walk to bike on the road with you for certain parts of my journey since the city of Albany seems unable to aquire even sidewalks. Wow, who knew that the trees lining the sidewalk would cause the concrete slabs that make up the sidewalk to lift up because the roots of the tree are suffocating. Huh. But I digress, getting back to the point, please respect me as a fellow commuter and don't getascloseasyoupossiblycan to me while I am on the street.

I think if you follow this list, bicyclists and walkers will have a much better relationship with the motoring public. It's just common courtesy folks!! :)

Job Update

I am now in the middle of my third week here at my new job and it's pretty interesting.

I haven't really seen that many patients yet, and I'm getting the feeling that I'm not going to have a huge daily case load anyway. Probably around 5-6 patients at the most on any given day will be the max, plus any prior approvals for supplements that I have to call into pharmacies.

That part is probably the most time consuming part of my job right now. A lot of the patients here are on Medicaid or ADAP and therefore require prior authorization numbers if they are prescribed an oral supplement like Ensure or Boost. These charts get forwarded to me, then I have to fill out a form, call the Medicaid automated number, enter all sorts of numbers and then get the prior authorization number. Then I have to mail the presciption, with the authorization number written on the top of it, to the patients' pharmacy. It's not really that hard, just really time intensive.

Other than that, I pretty much just do same out outpatient counseling I was doing in my old job. A lot of education stuff. I'm trying to get all the patients that weren't seen by the previous dietitan here by putting my name on the list to see them when they come in for their doctors appointments. Some come, some don't. Some just want to get out of here as fast as possible. I think things will be a bit easier when I am set up in the scheduling system, so I can schedule my own appointments and/or see when patients are coming back for their follow up appointments so I can catch them then.

Wow, was that boring enough for ya? ;) Sorry but that's how exciting my life is!! hehehe

I was just down in the city though (my first trip down there since I moved) to do Hedwig Friday and Saturday night so that was pretty nice. A bit of drama went down, and I wasn't able to do much else in the city other than the shows since I was so tired on Saturday from the Friday night show, then I left Sunday morning. Hope I can get down there again soon and actually get to do something, hang out with my friends, etc. :)

Until next time, kiddies!! :)

Exercise Exasperation

Greetings from upstate NY!!!

I know I haven't posted a new blog since I moved up to the Capital City of Albany, NY (bad Jenn, bad!! *slap on wrist*). I started my new job last Tuesday (Monday was stupid general hospital orientation crap), and I haven't really gotten much into my job as I have only seen one patient so far at the HIV Medicine clinic here at Albany Medical Center. Hopefully I will see some more tomorrow though.

Now, to the main topic of this post. Before I moved to NYC, a year and a half ago, I had a car. When I moved to the city I sold it, thinking I would have no further use for it. Now, I'm up here in Albany really wishing that I hadn't sold that old clunker!! So my current mode of transportation is Dana's old bike. Things were going pretty well for the first couple of days but then I realized how much I miss having a car!

Let me state for the record that I probably haven't seriously ridden a bike in a good 15 years, and even at that time I was not very good. Most of the scars I have are from that bike. Whether it be falling off the bike, getting caught in the gears or whatever, it is obvious that I am not an expert bike rider. I was placing bets with friends and family as to how long it would take until I seriously injure myself this go around on the bike. So far I have been pretty lucky (knock on wood) and haven't fallen into traffic or anything.

The first side effect I noticed from biking to and from work every day is the big pain in the ass that it causes (quite literally). Even though I got a seat cover to go over the current one, it's still not fun sitting on that seat for close to an hour every day. I guess that's because bike seats aren't really made to be sat on continuouslly, you're supposed to peddle off the seat most of the time I guess. Well, perhaps when I was a kid I had the strength and courage to do this. But whenever I try it nowadays I get all wobbly and sit back down!!

The next side effect comes from the fact that I haven't done any serious exercise in a very long time (unless you count climbing the unlimited number of stairs in the subway stations!) so this biking to and from work everyday has kind of put my body into a state of shock. I know it's only a matter of time until my body gets used to it and I start getting better in shape, but for now it really sucks!! Hills are a complete impossibility right now as my legs turn to burning piles of jello by the time I get up 2 feet of the hill!

Although it's kinda sucking right now, I don't miss having a car when I see the price of gas when I cruise by the stations on my green (literally and environmentally) bike! :)

I think I'll like it up here. The Albany Tulip Festival is coming up and JOAN JETT (!!!!!!!!) is performing so I'm very happy about that. So I think Albany will have enough stuff going on to keep this city girl occupied. And being closer to Miss D doesn't hurt either. :)

P.S. I got myself a kitty cat to keep my company here. Will post pics of the little terror soon! :)

Leaving the Big Apple!!

Well everybody, the time is closely approaching when I leave the Big Apple to move to the capital city of Albany. I will be starting my job as a Clinical Dietitian at Albany Medical Center's HIV Clinic on the 2nd (technically the 3rd, since the 2nd is for orrientation). I found a 3BR apartment for $700, which is crazy to me because that's about what I'm paying right now in Brooklyn for a room in an apartment!!!

I'm very happy to be moving upstate as it gets me that much closer to Dana (she only lives about an hour north of Albany) and once I move up there I'll be able to see her every weekend, as opposed to every 2 or 3 weekends!! But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little sad to be leaving the big city. Luckily, it's not that far away that I'm going. Albany is only about 3 hours from here on the bus so I am planning on coming back on a pretty regular basis!! And who knows, me and Dana may end up moving back here some day!



So, I thought I'd come up with a list of the things I will miss most and miss least about life in NYC.

What I will miss most about NYC
All the friends I have made here over the past year and a half
The nightlife
The ability to find anything you might ever need
The arts (theatre, ballet, etc)
The gorgeous views from the subways that go over the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges
The way NYC doesn't let you get too wrapped up in yourself, it always has a way of keeping you in check
It's the city that never sleeps, what more do I have to say?!


What I will miss least about NYC
Rude people
Late trains and/or getting to the subway platform right as a train is pulling away
Tourists
Poseurs
Hipsters
Roommates (not that I don't like my roommates, it will just be nice to have my own apartment for once!!)
Loud neighbors
Greyhound buses to see mi amor!!


My next post on this blog will likely be from Albany, so stay tuned!! :)