Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I forgot to note here that while my knee and foot aren't entirely recovered, they are much better. In the interim, I bought new insoles for all three of the pairs of shoes I wear regularly, plus replacement shoe laces for two of the three, and having those is probably helping, along with the knee and shin healing.

I know I'm doing better because on Wednesday I tried to go to Lizzy's for ice cream, and instead walked to green line B, waited about 15 minutes, then learned they were going to start running shuttle buses instead of trolleys, and walked home, and my knees were OK when I got home. I had taken a naproxen beforehand, because I thought I'd need it.

I tried again on Thursday, and the trains were running, so I walked to the green line; took the train and then a bus to Harvard Square, and walked a few blocks to and from the ice cream shop before getting on a bus home, and that was also fine.

More than fine, I had a cinnamon cone while walking to and waiting for the bus, and I now have four flavors of good ice cream in the freezer. Yesterday I stayed close to home, because I need periodic rest days and was slightly overdue for one.

Also, I'd been worried that even taking a car both ways to the eye doctor on Tuesday, the necessary walking around to and at the office would be a strain, and was feeling fine when I got home. Again, this was after taking a prophylactic naproxen beforehand, rather than waiting for pain., as was Thursday's successful trip to Lizzy's.

I have now had the second (of two) doses of the Shingrix vaccine. I had the pharmacist inject it into my left arm, which was sore enough last night that I wasn't comfortable sleeping on that side; since I'm right-handed, the left arm was definitely the better choice.

The Davis Square farmers market started (for 2019) yesterday. I went there after getting my Shingrix vaccine, and came home with a green leaf lettuce and a package of smoked trout pate. (I have made enough purchases to get one free package of fish of my choice from Boston Smoked Fish, but will have to go to the Public Market to claim it.)

I brought a pint of lemon saffron ice cream home from Ranc's yesterday; it is very good. They had pre-packed pints of that in the freezer, but none for single servings or to taste. I asked about ingredients, and after telling me that it had no nuts, the cashier told me that if I didn't like it, I could bring it back and get credit for a different pint. I told her I don't live near the store, and she said in that case, if I don't like it, I could bin it, tell her, and they'd give me a replacement. I won't be doing that with this flavor, but it's a generous offer.

I knew I might be over-exerting myself in going to the farmers market, but my hip started feeling worse as yesterday evening went on; this morning my left knee was also in pain. I have been shuffling around the apartment, moving as little as possible--cattitude has been very helpful in things like bringing me cups of tea with milk and sugar--and was feeling better by mid-afternoon. I hope this means that whatever it is, is healing quickly, but it may just mean I've found a suitable combination of painkillers.

The landlord of our current apartment has put a lockbox on the doorknob, so real estate agents can show the apartment if we're not home. They assured me we will get notice of showings--not only do I work at home, but I often don't put pants on unless I'm going out or expecting visitors. With luck, they'll find someone to rent this place after us quickly, with only a few showings. (I think the real estate agent showed the place we're hoping to move into to three groups of people, including us, all in the same evening.)

I had physical therapy for my knee this morning, and this may be the last session, depending on how I feel in the next weeks. ( details, not very exciting )

I feel like I got a lot done today, some of it stuff I'd been putting off.

I went to a rally this afternoon, in favor of a $15 minimum wage and paid family medical leave. Those are separate proposals, but being backed by many of the same people and organizations, both of which may be on the Massachusetts ballot in November.

The rally was in the Massachusetts State House. Yes, inside. (I don't know what permits are needed to hold a rally, with microphones, there.) There are at least two disadvantages to that location: it got uncomfortably noisy (even with earplugs), and I had to wait in line to go through a metal detector. Also, it will definitely be noticed by the state legislators, but not people just passing by—and a rally across the street on Boston Common will get passers-by. I assume that the organizers think it's worth it to be sure the state legislature will notice them. (Some of the emails etc. I got about this event talked about "lobbying" as well as a rally, so maybe they figured that the core group would have to be in the building anyway,)

I didn't stay as long as I'd intended to, because the noise was getting to me; I was feeling slightly unsteady on my feet; and the first speaker seemed to be talking more about religion than about the issues. (To be fair, if I'd listened longer he might have said more about what we were rallying for and less about his belief that working for this was not just a good but a godly thing.)

So I went back outside and sat on a bench, and then on the grass on the Common, before getting a late lunch from a food truck. To my pleasant surprise, "Bon Me" did have something I wanted (rather than all being too spicy): Chinese barbecue pork, which I had over brown rice, with lettuce and pickled daikon and radish. Somehow, at that moment, this was comfort food. While I was eating, I saw other people who'd been at the rally (based on stickers and SEIU local 1199 t-shirts), which made me feel better about not staying longer.

On my way home, I went to the main Boston and Somerville libraries to pick up books I had on hold. There are half a dozen apple trees in bloom in front of the main Somerville library right now. (The whole area is full of flowering cherries this week; I haven't seen many apple trees.)

This morning, before heading out, I called the physical therapy place where I went for my hips and made an appointment for a first session of PT for my left knee, which I'd been putting off in the hope that maybe I didn't actually need it. I told the receptionist I didn't care whether I saw the same therapist again: continuity of care seems less relevant now that it's a separate course of treatment, and the person I was seeing for my knee had done a few things that annoyed me.

[Edited to fix a copy/paste error that ate about a line of text.]

I've done a moderate amount of walking and stair-climbing in the last few days, which is more than I had been doing in some time, and my ankle, foot, and knees all seem to be doing well. I think this is a combination of time and the ongoing effects of the PT; I haven't been icing or taking NSAIDs in the past few days. (Some stretching, yes, and the shoulder strengthening exercises.)

I realized this evening, going up a flight of stairs into a restaurant, that I hadn't been bothering to count flights of stairs lately, despite rysmiel's apartment being up a couple of flights of stairs, and having to use stairs to get into and out of the metro. Counting is both for ongoing "how is my knee these days" and to decide things like whether to go a bit out of the way to get to an elevator rather than walk down the stairs into the bus tunnel. Less relevant here, since most of the metro stations I've been using don't have elevators.

We rescheduled this from 3:00 to 4:00 at her request; I may get 4:00 again next week (depending on someone else's schedule). Her call caught me standing in front of the snowdrops (see previous post), and thus in quite a good mood.

I told her that since we'd made a lot of progress on the balance stuff, I wanted to work on my knees more, since this had initially been a knee rehab program. So, she had me do a few lunges. If nothing weird happens in the next few days, we'll repeat that next week and increase them over time.

( Read more... )

There are some groups of young men (I don't know how many) who like to come onto subway trains, announce loudly "it's showtime," turn on music, and do a break-dancing routine, then ask for donations. I don't much care for them: they play the music loud enough to be heard easily over the subway noise, which is loud enough to be uncomfortable. But I've gotten used to trying to ignore them and keep reading my book or doing my puzzle.

Coming home from the gym this evening, I was trying to do that when one of them misjudged his movement and kicked my left knee. My reaction was to yell "Watch it, asshole!"

I'm not sure what I expected from there, but it wasn't a demand that I not call him that or he would spit in my face. Only after that did he say something about "accident." I knew it was an accident: that's not the point, or not most of the point. It didn't help any that one of the other guys there kept saying "It's okay" to me, rather than ever asking me whether I was okay. (To him, I said "tell your friend, he's the one who's threatening me.")

I can't tell from how he handled this whether he just doesn't care about strangers (and hasn't figured out that harming the audience isn't good busking technique) or whether his reaction came from "this is normal, I kick subway riders all the time." Near the end of the routine, he bounced off one wall of the subway car, hand above another woman's head in a way that he clearly did control, so it's not just incompetence. If it was incompetence, I would hope his friends would make him practice, or leave him home. (Mediocre musicians on the subway are merely annoying; breakdancing in a crowded space requires a higher level of skill.)

I iced my knee when I got home, but it's half an hour or so from Columbus Circle to my couch, so I suspect it wasn't in time to prevent a bruise.

( the workout itself was good )

This morning, I stopped at a cart on the street corner to get a roll for second breakfast, and the vendor greeted me, observed that it had been a long time since he'd seen me, and asked where I'd been. I told him that I'd been sick and therefore taking the crosstown bus, but I'm better now.

Not only am I mostly over my cold/cough, but my knees are doing a lot better than they have been in months. I've been taking the stairs down to the subway some mornings (shorter walk, which can mean less time in the cold—useful while I had the cold) and less dealing with icy sidewalks.

I don't think my knees are at 100% yet. I took the elevator back up this evening, and I'm still using elevator and escalators at the 34th Street end. But most of those escalators are part of the commuter flow for large numbers of people (through the Long Island Railroad concourse) and of course I don't have to wait for them.

I'm going to wait a bit before doing lots of stairs, and I will probably continue to prefer accessible subway stations for some time. So, no quick jaunts down to Excellent Dumpling for lunch just yet, but I suspect I'll be taking the direct route more than I have been in some time.

Tomorrow I see Emilie, and we'll see what she says, and what she suggests I do next.

After too many stairs in Montreal (some inevitable, since rysmiel lives up a flight of stairs, some we might have avoided but only by further curtailing our activities, and some I probably should have evaded), my knees were really not happy Tuesday. They seemed a bit better yesterday, and significantly so today, but I'd already decided to postpone the leg press another week. Just as well: by the time I was down the stairs to the gym floor, my knees were hurting a little. So, 200 mg of ibuprofen, and on I go. Cardio, and then balance stuff, a more intense version of the hamstring bridge, crunches, and massage with Emilie. We finished up with me rowing while sitting on a balance ball. Oh, and she saw me doing some biceps curls, and corrected my form. The right way, as xiphias has noted of his own workouts, is more difficult.

( some numbers and other details )
I have two trainer sessions left in the original dozen, and need to think about whether I need more (or want them enough to spend the money).

After work yesterday, I went to the gym. I got out of work slightly early, so I had time to do some cardio and weight work before my hour with Emilie.

The session with Emilie went pretty well, I think. It was emotional and somewhat stressful—they're always emotional, because we're working on some deep stuff here—but she says she's impressed with how fast I'm moving on some of this balance and posture stuff. I told her about our walk in the park (which she referred to as a hike after I described it) and how well the balance stuff had gone on Tuesday. Apparently I am more vertical than I was two months ago; it's harder to notice from inside, and she's commenting on what I achieve when carefully following her instructions to move that foot a little bit this way, and tilt my pelvis thus, and so on. The tricky thing is doing all of this at once, but I'm starting to internalize some of it.

Then I met cattitude and roadnotes for dinner and conversation. It was good getting a chance to catch up with her. We're both making, and thinking about, changes, me this internal/body stuff and her leaving her job and planning a move.

However, after Chinese food, we went to our old favorite La Lanterna for dessert. I'd forgotten that their bathroom is down a steep flight of stairs. That plus the gym wound up being the most steps I've done on one day in a few weeks. My knees were hurting on the walk home from the subway. They seem better this morning, but I've not left the apartment yet, so that's not strong evidence.

( workout and training session details )