52

This Thursday marked 1 year for me living NY.

So far it has been a mixed bag of both good and bad times. I enjoy my job and getting a paycheck every two weeks. I like the house and area where I live and my landlord is very agreeable and helpful if there is something wrong or needs to be fixed. I was able to find a church in a relatively short time where I was able to join and get involved with easily. I haven't even minded the fact that since moving here I have not had the best of luck health wise: chest pains in Feb & my recent ordeal of breaking my wrist and hand. Sure its not been easy but I guess things like that happen since we are unable to control everything. I even finally switched the car over to NY plates.

The downside has been (the lack 0f) my social life. While I have many met many people through work, church, and practically living at the YMCA I still lack a group of FRIENDS. When I was planning on moving and when I got up here friends from home and people I met here continually say that it must take alot to move to a new area and not know anyone. If I had a dime for every time I had this conversation, I would have a lot of dimes. While I know these people mean well, it sometimes just reminds me of how alone and isolated I feel. It has been great that my brother lives in Conn. and Craig lives in Boston, but it is not like I can call them up and go hangout with them for the evening. It is not like I have isolated myself either, I do go to different activities through church and work but have had no luck forming meaningful friendships...and lets not even start on the whole girlfriend/significant other topic. There is more in this area I could go into but I really don't feel like it at the moment, I just wish things would get better and the effort I am putting in would payoff.

The year in numbers:
Pay grade started:16
Pay grade now:18
Pounds lost: 42 (32 if you count the 10 I have put on due to breaking my wrist)
Visits to the ER: 2
Visits back home: 3


and on a lighter note...

Mom and Phil were up to visit this week. They got here Monday evening and left yesterday afternoon. I think they had a good time during there visit. While I was working they rode the motorcycle in the Adirondacks , the Catskills, and down to Conn to see a lighthouse. In the evenings we would go out to eat and then go back to the house. They also stopped in the office and saw where I work and met my coworkers. Phil helped me hang some pictures and mom did my laundry and my dishes. It was nice to have them here and I am glad they enjoyed their time. I went to see the doctor Friday so he could reevaluate my wrist. I start physical therapy on Tuesday . I am going to wait till then to see what they think I should or shouldn't do exercise wise at the gym. I can't wait to get back into the workout groove and figure it is going to be somewhat difficult.

Not much else exciting happening this week but I am headed to Cinncy in 2 weeks so that should be fun.

-c

Cast Away and Vacation

WARNING: This post contains lots of pictures and a video from YouTube.

So I now I promised weekly updates on the blog awhile ago but the last 2 weeks were the exception...whatcan I say,you get what you pay for. Truth be told I took off work the week of the 4th and drove down to WV.

The Friday before the 4th I drove to Morgantown and spent the weekend there visiting friends before heading on home . The catch was my mom did not know I was coming in so when I started down the road I called and told her I would be calling later after I got off work because I needed her to look for something on the computer for me. When I pulled into the neighborhood I called and made sure she was at the computer before pulling in the driveway and ringing the doorbell. Needless to say she was surprised and I think glad to see me especially since she was planning on coming up to Albany in 2 weeks. While home I got to see my grandparents and we had an impromptu cookout on the 4th.

While I had a fun time on the 4th it was hard to watch everyone else throw horseshoes and not be able to myself. Saturday I left home and went back up to Morgantown, spent the night, then left for Albany after going to church. But overall I enjoyed my week in WV and was glad I went even if I did have to drive one armed in a hot car with no AC for 10 hrs and feel I got the proper amount of mothering after having to take care of my injured self for over a month.

So Monday morning when I got back to work I had a ton of emails to go through and it turned out the meeting that I was supposed to have which I had to reschedule my cast removal for had been changed to this coming week. I was not happy especially when 2 days last week were very hot and humid and I had an oven on my my arm. Well Friday finally came and I could not wait to get my cast off my arm.



As you can tell this one is better then the first becasue I knew what I was doing this time. Just in case you can see all the dead skin here are some better shots of my hand/arm that was covered by the cast:


Here is a picture of how skinny my arm is:


I now have limited usage of my thumb and wear a wrist brace. I am going back on Friday to be reevaluated to see if I require rehab.


I need to come up with a creative way to use this to remind myself not to do stupid stuff in the future:



So this weekend I have been picking the dead skin off my hand and cleaning my house which has fallen into much disrepair over the past 2 months (pictured below) or so especially since my mother is going to be here tomorrow.






I was in the middle of a massive organization of the collection when I had the accident.

I am hoping to start spinning again at the gym again within the next week. Since the accident I have probably put on 8-10 pounds and I can feel it ...UGH! Well I better jet still have some stuff to do before tomorrow when mom arrives.

-c

And The Date Is....

After going to the Doctor on Monday for the checkup on my wrist/hand I will be getting the cast off on Friday July 13th. This means I have almost 3 more weeks in this crazy thing.

I originally was scheduled to get it off on the 10th but I have a meeting at work with the consulting group that is doing a project for our division so I had to reschedule. After I get this off the doctor is going to put me in a aircast which is removable and have me do some rehab. If I am lucky I might be able to make the softball playoffs...if I decide to press my luck that is. I might just move on to street hockey.

My fingers are still bruised but not as puffy and have begun to flake off dead skin.
I am so ready to be able to get back to a normal workout routine. Been sleeping too much due to painkillers...mmm...painkillers (still have a lot of sweling and sometimes at night feels like razors being stabbed in my wrist). Was at the gym recently and the Tuesday morning Spinning instructor saw me and said she noticed I had not been in class lately and said that my wrist being in a cast had better be my excuse. Haven't done the evening classes a lot lately since sitting on the bike is boring and the sling puts strain on my back and my schedule has been hectic as of late.

Found out yesterday my AC in the car is all but shot and not worth repairing. I hope to get my car title and license changed obver to NY this week ince I have been here almost a year.

-c

I Miss My Thumb

So its been about 2 weeks since my last post for a few reasons:

1) It takes me forever to type with one hand (my left) and the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is lug the laptop in the house then lug it back out to the car.
2) My landlord got a new wireless router and having trouble getting the computer to connect.
3)Been away the past 2 weekends ..Pittsburgh, Pa with friends last weekend and visiting my brother in Conn. the weekend before that.


It is hard to believe only 3 1/2 weeks have gone by since I broke my wrist and hand, I think I have 3-4 more weeks in the cast. Hopefully I will get a better idea tomorrow after I go see the dr when he checks the swelling/bruising of my fingers
That is what they looked like 2 weeks ago and they look a bit better but still bruised and some what puffy.

Since my last post I:
1) Got a new cast


yeah I took my camera to the drs appt. I have pictures of my wrist/hand but it just bruising. Still can't use my thumb and even today I really can't put any weight on it...but I am still doing the evening spinning classes with my arm in the sling.

2) Turned 29...I am old. What time does Matlock come on tv?

3) Went to Pittsburgh and saw my friends ...

What happens in Pittsburgh...stays in Pittsburgh


4) Continue to figure out new and exciting (ha ha) was to do stuff with only one hand
It took me 30 minutes to hang my white clothes to dry the other night...haven't even thought about my shirts and pants yet. If you saw my house you could tell that usually I just look at something and go "Nope not going to even try"

Well lefty is getting tired so I may post an update after my dr appt. tomorrow

-c

Update this Weekend

Yeah typing with one hand sucks

-c

I Have the Worst Luck

So I should have taken a hint after last weeks incident playing softball that perhaps I should have stopped while I was ahead.

But being the slow learner that I am I didn't and now my softball season and majority of my summer is over.

So Thursday I was proving that I was the ultimate utilityman and was playing catcher thinking that I would not get hit in the face with the ball since I would be wearing a mask. During the bottom of the 3rd inning when we were batting I said that I could catch one mote inning then someone else could because my knees were starting to hurt. So I went up to bat and had a nice solid single into the outfield. The batter after me drove one deep into left field and the 3rd base coach waved me home. As I was running down the baseline towards home I saw that the catcher was standing in the baseline 5 feet in front of home and I ran to the inside and not sure what happened next but Iremember falling then hearing a "POP" and next thing I was on the ground with people around me and I was holding my right arm. Then it goes blurry and somehow I was moved over to the bench and was so dizzy and could make out the shape of one of the guys standing in front of mebut no details so they called the ambulance and laid me on the ground with my feet upon a cooler. The ride to the hospital was painful as I think we hit every bump on the road. About 5 minutes away from the ER I was talking to mom on the phone and the ambulance hit a very rough patch and I screamed loud into the phone.

When we got to the hospital I waited about 20 minutes before I got a treatment room in the ER and it was a chair not a gurney. Apparntly it was convict's night at the ER since there at least 4 or 5 prisoners with guards attending also waiting. Once I got in the room I kept asking for water but they wouldn't give meany since they didn't know if I needed to have surgury or not but I got an IV with morphine and valuim so I guess I did alright in the end. I went for x-rays and then had to go back for more since the orthopedic drs needed more pictures. Finally they came and doped my arm up and put it in traction before they came in and literally pushed and pressed my arm to set and cast it( have a picture on my phone of how out of whack it was). I screamed and screamed as this happened.

It turns out I broke my wrist and fractured my hand and going to be in a cast for 6-8 weeks. hat makes it more difficult is that I am right handed and my thumb is immobilized so I am almost useless. So far I have managed to survive hopefully it will be better when I get another cast June 5th but until then I am stuck with the club.
So I have to rely on my left hand now and drive with one armed and stuff like that.

Top five things I can't do now:

1. Tie my shoes
2. Workout (might try spinning in a few days though)
3.Write stuff down or Sign checks and receipts in a legiable fashion
4. Open caps off off bottles (it took me 15 minutes to open a bottle of Gatorade yesterday)
5. Open the back door to my house due to the lock being difficult


So my summer is pretty much over.

*this post typed left handed so ignore spelling mistakes and no sunglasses were harmed in this accident

-c

Sunglasses

I have had the worst luck with my sunglasses since my grandfater closed his optical shop

Growing up in a family who is in the business of making glasses has many benefits. One being that whenever I had a need for sunglasses or have them adjusted or repaired I just went to my grandfather, aunt, and my dad. When I was younger I probably went through sunglasses like candy so I never had a nice pair of sunglasses. I got my first nice pair my jr. year of college and since then I have had 2 more nice pairs (polorized RAYBANS) of sunglasses which I still have. Last month my grandfather closed his optical business after 60 some years and retiring at 94 years old.

So a week or so after the office closed I was at the gym and was rushing a bit to get dressed because I had to get to Bible study and I did the spinning class and was running a bit behind. So I had my good Raybans in the locker and reached up to get them and they slipped out of my hand and hit the floor and cracked the lens. Now I was going to send them to my aunt to before I dropped them because the lens popped out but I was able to get it back in but not sit correctly. So I was down one pair of glasses and went to my Raybans which I had for 3 years before I got the new pair.

So I had been using my old pair prior to breaking the other ones during softball games. Well last Thursday I was in the out field shagging fly balls before the game and I went to catch one and this happened>>>

I am not sure if the ball hit me or hit my glasses which cut my face but it hurt and still does (my dream of being a professional model are over). The first thing I did after I got focused was looked for my sunglasses which were laying on the ground with the temple broken off. So after cleaning my cut and putting a strip (no stitches here) I sat out the first inning before going into the game and playing second base and going 3-5 with one run. I drove to Cleveland Friday wearing the glasses with one temple until I was able to buy some crazy glue and patch them up....luckily it was a clean break. So Saturday I talked to my aunt who is ordering me new lens for my other pair, unfortunatly they do not make the polarized lens for those anymore so I just have my one pair which I have to becareful with now.

I guess I just find it ironic that I take good care of my glasses and then when it is most important that I keepthem in good shape things like this happen.

-c

Boston, Softball and the Gym

So I am going to try and update this every Sunday

Past 2 weeks have been alright I guess

Last weekend I was over in Boston visiting my friend Craig. I left work early on Friday becasue I had to go get a new tire for the car after I came out of the gym Wednesday morning to find the back right tire flat. Apparently not a square inch of tread on the thing (i get my money's worth out of stuff). On Saturday we did the Asthma walk and I got to meet my hero:
It went something like this...
Me: Look! Spongebob is here!
Craig: Dear lord ::shakes head::
Me: I want my picture with SpongeBob ::runs like a dork over towards SpongeBob::
SpongeBob: Please don't hurt me!

Toyota was also there and if I had money they would have made a powerful enemy by not giving me the flashlight I deserved after going through their brainwashing machine. The rest of the weekend was spent drinking and brewing beer and listening to the Red Sox game.

Started playing softball on my churchs team. It is obvious that it has been about ~2 years since I last played. My first game I was 1 for 3 and this week I was o-2 with a RBI. I am the foul ball king ...just not used to using a metal bat would prefer a wooden one. Been playing third base and center field so I am the uber-utility man. My shoulder is a tad sore after jamming it my last time at bat on Thursday but it is getting better.

May 1st marked 6 months that I have been going to the gym twice a day. I am considering doing a local triathalon in July only problem is I don't have a bike and not a very strong runner. As Craig said " the only reason to run is if someone is chasing you." If I do it I just want to finish not try and be the top finisher.

Anyway next weekend I am going to Cleveland so that might be interesting.

-c

Friday

So this past Friday was weird.

First,
After the 5:30am Spinning Class at the YMCA I was leaving the excercise area when one of the trainers stopped and talked to me. Apparently on Tuesday two ladies made a fuss about the smell in the spinning class room and attributed it to my gym clothes. At the time I just listened to the guy and said that I would try and take care of the problem but the more I thought about it the more silly it sounded to me. Now granted my gym clothes might not smell the freshest but I think I was getting the raw end of the deal.

I am very conscious about my gym clothes becasue I know that going twice a day they might not always smell the freshest but I do take steps to make sure I don't offend anyone. I wear a running shirt and biking shorts when I work out and the only cloth that really retains any odor are my boxer briefs which I wear a new pair everyday. Along with this I wear also swim in the shorts I wear to workout so they get rinsed after every use (I shower before going in the pool). After I am done in the morning I spray my clothes with Frabreezs and hang the in the locker so they can dry out and be ready for my evening workout (Lockers are venilated). Now I know that this is not going to get rid of all the stinch but unlike most people I start my workout before class starts so somedays I haave worked up a good lather by the time class starts. I am sure the fact that the spinning room is a 20 X 15ish, unvenalated room has nothing to do with it also...but the thing I wanted to tell the trainer (but held my tounge) was that duh, its a freaking gym not Bath and Body works. I don't know I think it odd that I have been going for as long as I have and this is the first time something has been said, and yesmy clothes have been washed every week.

At work:
The new comissioner was on our floor introducing herself and saying hi. I was in my cube "working" and when I heard the announcement "comissioner on the floor" I closed my laptop which I sit in the window and closed the media player with Justice League cartoon playing. When she got over to my work area she saw the few (::snicker::) WV things I have up (map, flag, calander, ect) and turns out that she used to spend her vacations in Southern WV visiting family. I now have an in with the new Commish.

-c

Superhero Workout

Every morning before work I do the 5:30 am spinning class. This morning the instructor’s workout was the “Superhero Workout.” Before we began the warmup she passed around Justice League stickers and told us to choose one and put it on our shirts. Now usually it takes me awhile to get motivated to start the workout since I get up around 4:20 am so I can get to the gym and ensure a spot in the class (only 20 bikes available) but this morning I perked up a bit when the workout theme was announced. So the sticker I chose was The Flash (unfortunately Animal Man or Question was not a choice).


At this point I was still suppressing the geek side but as the class went on I basically said screw it. I explained who Martian Manhunter and John Stewart (Green Lantern) was to the other members of the class who wondered who they were. I also had a short debate with the instructor who was ragging on Aquaman. I conceded that talking to fish is not a real superpower but that Aquaman was in fact probably one of the strongest heroes out there. I used logic that I knew she would understand and told her that Aquaman lives and fights underwater (resistance) so when he comes out of the water he is going to be really strong since there is not the resistance to hold him back (yeah I know but I had to break it down into something she could identify with). After this I decided to focus more on the workout. Songs that were actual comic reference/related in the mix were:
Superman Movie Theme
REM –Superman
Batman TV show Theme
Wonder Woman TV show them
Kryptonite: 3 Doors Down
Superman – 5 for Fighting
Aquaman – Grandpa Griffith (Funny song that can be found on iTunes)
Spiderman Cartoon theme song

During the cool down and stretch we talked about Underroos and how cool they are. Afterwards I talked briefly with the instructor and suggested next time the following songs could be used(just off the top of my head at the time):
Barenaked Ladies –One Week (Aquaman)
Superman’s Song-Crash Test Dummies
Newclues - Jam On It
Jim Croce -Don’t Mess Around with Jim –
Genesis - Land of Confusion
Spin Doctors-Jimmy Olsen’s Blues



Anyhoo,

-c