Let's Get a Physical!

Monday I had my first physical in I do not know how long....and believe me it was not pretty.

First I am definately overweight (duh!) according to the doctor he would like me to lose 40-50 pounds which would put me down around 200 lbs.

According to the doctor my eating habits are ok...not great but he agrees that the lack of excercise might be the reason for my weight gain. I have to go back in a week or so and get some blood work done to check my cholestoral (wahoo...not).

I am at the point that I feel miserable and definately going to be joining the YMCA so I can work on getting back in shape...November 1st, BABY! The pain begins!

Also got a referral to have the bump on my back looked at and taken care of finally after 2 years.

Not much otherwise my blood pressure is good and what not. So all in all I guess I didn't learn anything that I didn't know but I now know what my goals are going to be.

-c

Delayed: My weekend in San Antonio, TX

So if I had to use one word to describe my weekend in San Antonio it would be "delay."

Friday it was raining and heavy winds here in the Northeast which caused massive havoc in my travels. Friday afternoon while I was at work I recieved a call from the airline saying my flight from Newark, NJ to San Antonio would be delayed and that they would hold tickets for me to fly through Houston to SA. Since I had my laptop at work and found a wireless signal I checked to see if my flight out of Albany was delayed also. Apparently the information on the website was wrong because when I got there the 1PM flight to Newark was just boarding and my orginal flight was delayed. Luckily I was able to get a seat on the 1PM flight that left at the time of my original flight. Coming into Newark was probably one of the roughest landing I have been on ever because of the wind blowing so hard. Anyway all the flights were delayed going out of Newark believe me I waited in line at the customer service desk and checked. Since they were holding tickets in case I needed them on a different flight so I was glad to have options avalible but opted for the direct flight since they were SUPPOSED to leave around the same time. Originally the direct flight was to leave around 9:40 but a plane apparently came in and designated for the flight earlier. About 8:30 they announced the plane was on the runway and they were going to unload, get us on the plane and get in the air with a short turnaround. Well after we got on the flight and they had gone through the inflight procedure (which I don't think anyone really pays attention to) the capain came over the loud speaker and said that there was a minor issue with the plane and they would be back in 5 five minutes to tell us when they would be ready to leave. Well we sat at the gate, in the plane for 90 minutes while they worked on the aux. power supply (which they ended up bypassing). They gave us headphones and played crappy sitcoms which really didn't help pass the time. Once we were airborn it was a grueling 4hr flight we finally arrived in San Antonio about 2 am. I finally got to my hotel and checked in around 2:30 and in bed just before 3.

I got about 3 hrs of sleep because we were going to the service project at 7 so I had to get up and shower then grab my power breakfast of a waffle and blueberry muffins which I finished enroute to the service project. The service project was a good time as we were working on a local house. I worked in the bathroom ripping up the flooring and helping hang the sheet rock around the tub. We worked at the site until noonish and then headed back to the campus.
After having our business meeting and religious project we went out to eat at the local Mexican Resturant then headed down to the Riverwalk for the evening. We walked over to the Alamo ,took the river tour and went over to the Tower of the Americas before heading back to the hotel. Sunday morning I slept a bit longer although I did go down to the lobby at 8:30 to grab a waffle and some muffens and took them back to the room and went back to bed for an hour. Finally it came time for my friend to pick me up and take me to the airport for my 2:40 flight through Atlanta back to Albany.

As I was sitting at the bar in the airport killing time before my flight I got a call saying the departure of my flight was pushed back 30 minutes. This really didn't bother me since wither way I still had a 3 hr layover in Atlanta. After arriving in Atlanta I grabbed a bite to eat and made some phone calls and was glad to see that my flight was on time with the good possiblity of being early. Well once we got on the plane they once again came over the loud speaker and said that it would be a few minutes while they waited for an oxygen ball for the pilots which apparently the first one was empty so they had to send for another. Since we were still at the gate tehy decided to wait for some people to board whose flight had just got in since there was the delay already. We finally got in the air about 30 later and got into Albany about 12:15. By the time I got to my car and made it home it was around 1 AM and I headed strat for bed since I had to go into work early since I had my Doctor's appointment that evening.

OVerall I had a good time in San Antonio. This was my second time out there and I had as much fun as I did last time I was there. It was also nice to go somewhere warm...I wore shorts and flipflops on the return trip and my firend had the top down on his car on the way to the airport. Needless to say I was freezing when I stepped outside of the airport in Albany as I waited for the shuttle to the car. Anyway despite the delays it was a great weekend.

-c

Away For the Weekend

So tomorrow after work I am flying out to San Antonio, TX for the weekend for the fraternity. I am going in early to work since my plane leaves at 5 ish so that means getting u at the crack of dawn. I still have to pack and do a few things around the house here like the dishes and make lunches for tomorrow and Monday since I won't get back until close to midnight on Sunday. Then I have to go in early on Monday because I have my first real physical since high school. I am finally going to have the bump on my back looked at, get a note so I can get a better chair at work for my back, and hopefully get something for my sleep problems.

I am really looking forward to getting away for the weekend even if it on business. Maybe the change of scenery will do me some good. Hopefully get to go back to the Alamo and go inside this time.

*Note to Self: Pack the Camera

-c

Summing It Up

Lost in Translation

I still would like to try and start what I posted about last week however I am finding it hard to translate what is in the brain down to the fingers and into the computer. It is like there is this big disconnect and what sounds great and thought provoking in my head comes out gibberish on the screen. As I type this it is happening, I have thought about this for sometime but as I pound this out it is becoming garbled and disjointed.

This does not only happen when I post to the blog but I notice it happening in everyday situations and I feel as if it is hurting my social interactions and progress in achiving my goals in life. Sometimes it feels as if the rational and educated part of me is trapped in side and what people see is "JoJo the idiot monkey boy."

It is very frustrating and that is the last thing I need at this point in my life.

-c

Getting Back Up to Speed

It's been over a week since the last post simply because things have just been so tiring. I am sure those of you who check this blog regularly (all 5 of you) are ready to actually read something new. I never promised anything to exciting hence the name of the blog the Edge Of the Infinite Monotony.

Last weekend my best friend Craig came over from Boston for the weekend. I had a great time considering the importance of the timing. He came in around 9 pm Friday and we decided to go grab a bite to eat so we went to Albany. After not being able too find a place to grab a bite to eat and drink in town. After not being able to find a place that wasn't crowded or packed and blasting music, I suggested we try some of the places near to the house which I hadn't been to but been wanting to check out to see what they were like. Well...lets just say I am not missing much. We ended up walking into the local Subway as it was closing and getting sandwiches and coming back to the house.

Saturday after getting up around 9 in the morning we headed to Cooperstown to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Before we went to the Hall we went to the Ommegang brewery took the tour and purchased some of thier wares. We then headed over to Cooperstown, before we went ot the Hall, we went to the ballpark to watch some of the Fantasy Camp game. We saw George Brett and Ozzy Smith which was cool. We then headed to the Hall of Fame and went through and looked at the different stuff. I really want ot go back and take more time to look at the different displays and pieces of baseball history. After we finished up in the Hall we walked around town looking for a place to hangout and watch the Yankees/Tigers game. We decided to head back to Albany and find a bar to watch the game and grab a bite to eat. On the way back we listened to the WVU / Miss. St game and talked about how since moving out of WV we both have become not only bigger WVU fans but more proud of being from WV overall. I know this is true becasue when I was still living in WV the thing I thought about most was getting out of the place. Since I have moved up to NY I have come to embrace the fact that I am from WV and can't stop telling everyone at work how great of a place WV is. The guys at work like to joke with me about being from WV and all the stereotypes that many people think of when WV is mentioned. I go along with it but always say how great things are in WV and how I am try to change people perceptions of the state. yeah I am a schill...so sue me. Anyway we watched the ballgame at Chilii's and made a few enemies in the place as we cheered on as the Tigars shut down the Evil Empire and knocked them out of the playoffs again. After the game was over we came back to the house and we went into music geek mode. I ripped music and Craig grabbed music off my computer as he ragged me about my taste in music. Again we turned in reletively early. We both came to the conclusion that our Wild and Crazy days were behind us and now that we both had jobs that required us to get up early and work all day. We also conlcuded that pretty soon we would be going to bed even earlier and not going out to bars and enjoying the nightlife becasue there was a Matlock marathon on tv which could not be missed. I guess when you get older and you wnat ot go out you want somewhere where you can have a drink and talk and not have to worry about music being blasted around you.

This weekend was fairly calm. Friday Night I played volleyball at church after work then went ot bed (but didn't fall asleep till 3 am, my friend INSOMNIA has been back for a few weeks now). Saturday I got up and cleaned the house, talked to mom and my grandmother who is Florida, and transfered music from the desktop to the laptop. In the evening I went to the Albany River Rats Hockey game with one of the other PMI's. She and I had a good time and it was nice to get out and pretend that I had something that ressembled a social life. After dropping her off I stopped at Chili's and watched the rest of the Mets /Cards game before heading back home. The River Rats game was awesome...there were 2 fights only one which I got to see. During the first period I had to go answer the call of nature and as I was coming out of the restroom I saw two of the cleaning staff watching the tv and saw that there was a fight going on and was upset because I love to watch hockey players fight. So on my way back I decide to grab an adult beverage and I am standing in line and look up at the tv see another fight going on this one involving both benches so I step out of line and run to the nearest opening and got to see some of the action. Overall the game was exciting and I can't wait to go back ...oh yeah I got to see the Stanley Cup which was cool. This afternoon after church I went to a get together for one of the guys who used to work in my division at work. He retired about a month and a hlaf after I started and passed shortly after due to health reasons and one thing he arranged was a party for his friends and coworkers. So all I have to do for the rest of the day is go to the store then I can hang it up for the day.

Going to San Antonio, TX next weekend so I am sure something exciting will happen.

-c

Homesick

"The memory of your dear Father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer, and holier sort than you have known before."
-Abraham Lincoln

The following line was penned by President Lincoln in response to Fanny McCullough shortly after her father's death during the Civil War.

Saturday marks the 9 year anniversary of the death of my father. It is hard to believe that it has been that long even now, if someone had asked me back on October 5th, 1997 what I would be doing 9 years from now, then writing about my father who was no longer with us would have probably been the last thing which would have been the farthest thing from my mind.

I can remember the events of that night clearly without much effort. The day itself was nothing out of the norm, got up went to classes then dinner then to a Bonner Scholars meeting and then back to the dorm. It was around 8:00 when I got back and didn't have any homework so I was just chilling in the hall with my friends next door until 10:30 PM when I decided to go to bed early. The next part is God's honest truth that for some reason and I have only told a few people this. As I lay in bed listening to Enya, the last thought I had before falling asleep and I thought it strange that my mind drifted there. For some reason I thought "what would happen if something happened to mom or dad that they somehow passed away early what would happen?" Looking back on it perhaps God was preparing me for later that night. At 2 am I awoke to my roommate shaking me awake telling me that mom was on the phone and needed to talk to me. I thank God that my roommate had walked in at the moment the phone was ringing becasue I would have slept through it. I could tell something was wrong by the tone of her voice and at first I thought I was still dreaming(sometimes I feel as if I still am) but once I shook the cobwebs from my brian and things started to clear I felt like the world had not only stopped but fell completly to pieces. I didn't sleep the rest of the night, but I was not alone my friends next door and my roommate stayed up with me the whole night. I talked briefly with my older brother over the phone and got ready to go because my aunt and uncle were picking me up on their way down to the house. From this time things started to seem surreal (due to the lack of sleep) and pretty much lasted the rest of the week. Upon arriving home, even with people stopping in and bringing food reality still had not set in I think I keep expecting dad to walk in the house and wonder why everyone was there. Around 4 pm, I was told to lay down and try to get some sleep which I think I may have done so for a few hours but can't really recall. The rest of the week was spent making arrangements and getting things ready. It was not until the night of the viewing when we went early with the other members of the family that the realization of everything really set in and the surrealism was broken. I was very proud that we stood there for a good +4 plus hours while people waited in line to pay thier respects, and remember being told that there were people lined up outside waiting to come in the church. The next day was the actual service, to my surprise some of my friends came down from WVWC which was great although I was in the middle of dressing when they showed up which was kinda funny at the time.

Returning to school the following week I just wanted things to go back to some sense of normalicy. The same semester that dad was killed I was pledging STE, again I think God led me this direction so I could have a support group. One night I came back from my pledge meeting and on my bed was a framed paper from the brotherhood and with everyone signing or writing words of encouragement on it. I still have it to this day and have it up on my wall so everytime I see it and it give my spirit a lift.

I was going through and cleaning my files the other day and came across a few items that made me sad and happy at the same time. The first thing I found was a Halloween card from my freshmen year signed by both mom and dad, I think I really don't know why I kept it other than the fact that I am a packrat, but am glad that I still have it. The second thing was a keyring with a picture of me, dad, mom and my younger brother from Parent's Weekend my freshman year. In the picture my mom's eye is swollen due to some surgery she had on it, however if you didn't know that you might have thought someone punched her or hit her in the eye. While my brain was on this track I realized that I had something that I have been using on a regular basis that my dad got me not long before he died. As I mentioned above at that time I was a very sound sleeper and needed as much help getting up in the morning as possible. My freshman year I had two seperate alarm clocks which I used to get up in the morning. Dad got me a dual alarm clock which I still use to this day. When I realized this I was upstairs sitting on the bed and just sat there for awhile just staring at the alarm clock thinking that it was funny that something like an alarm clock could mean that much to me.

I miss my dad everyday but especially this time of year. I can still remember how there would be nights when I was young when I would get up to use the bathroom and dad would be asleep in the floor or the chair. Another thing that made losing dad when I did was that I was just coming out of the phase where it wasn't "cool" to hang out with your dad. I was just begining to understand exactly what mom and dad had done for me and my brothers. As I have mentioned in previous posts not a day or event in my life goes by that I wish my dad was not here to experience with the rest of a family. Recently I found a song by MercyMe that sums up how a feel. The song is called "Homesick" and it says everything that I wish I could and does it in manner I only wish I could.
"Homesick"

You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more home sick then now

-C

The Examined Life

Yesterday driving back to Albany from my weekend in Cleveland I had a lot of time to do some thinking. I thought about many things and realized that I needed to sit down and get my thoughts out or they were going to drive me crazy if they stayed wedged in my brain. As of right now I have a good idea of the things in my life I am going to examine but I first need to to sit down and arrange them in some sort of order. Thoughout this process I might ask for some feedback other times maybe not.

My philosophy behind this is that no matter what you do there is always room for improvement. While there is somewhat of an idealized goal that I have I am sure as I embark on this process that I will hopefully learn more about myself.

-c