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June 2009 archive

I Spun, I Puppy Watched, I Got Spam and I Learned To Drive

Hi kids and pups. And I mean it when I say pups — I have been watching Santana for the last few days on a live camera feed! She is adorable and sweet and a very sleepy baby. I love her so much I sometimes don’t know what to do other than make smushy sounds and instant message Mallory to discuss how much I love her dog and give her a play by play of Santana’s every move, as Mallory does not have access to this site. She curls up into a little ball to sleep sometimes. santana ball

Sometimes she lies on her side. No matter what, it is adorable. I really want my own puppy so I don’t have to miss my brother’s from across the country. I think it is wrong that I miss Santana this much. If I had my own puppy I could just love it in real life. Anyway…

santana sleep     santana sleep

Funny Spam Comment
I have excellent spam filters on this blog, and sometimes I read through my spam folder for fun. Here is one funny spam comment I received yesterday:

You know so many interesting infomation. You might be very wise. I like such people. Don’t top writing.

I have to say… I agree. I kinda wanted to unspam this so the comment could live on my site for eternity. But then I thought about being responsible for people clicking on that link and getting infected with computer-eating viruses and I decided not to. Although I do think it is important for everyone to know that I have many interesting infomation! So many! Infomation, for those of you who are not familiar, is the fomation of info. It is true that I might be wise. I might not be, though. I like such people too — you know, the ones who have so many interesting information and might be wise. Those are the best kinds of people. I won’t top writing, but if I did, what could I top it with? Playing an instrument, maybe? I always did want to learn how to play the piano… For now, though, my writing will not be topped!

Spin Update
Yesterday morning, upon my physical therapist’s insistence, I took a spin class. PT told me she doesn’t know what to do with me until I test it out and see how I do. I had been seeing her for over a month now and have shown considerable improvement. (Read her letter to my doctor here). So yesterday was the day.

I went to spin with Missy and her sister at New York Sports Club at 7:00 AM. I selected a bike in the front of the room so I could watch my knee in the mirror. Missy and her sister remained in the back. I really enjoyed explaining to her sister that I had to be in the front because I have valgus. I said that! As if she would even know what that was. I felt really cool and medical and smart and sporty saying, “I need to be in the front to watch my knees because I have valgus.” I USED VALGUS IN A SENTENCE!!!

 Class started and I immediately pushed my left knee outwards. It felt like a lot of work but the mirror showed me it looked forwards. It just FEELS outwards to me because that is not the natural way my bone structure lies. A couple of times, I let my knee go normally to see the difference. It was bent SO FAR inwards — no wonder I had problems. Imagine spinning like that multiple times a week for months!

My right knee was facing forwards just fine. I actually remember noticing this one during my spin days. I remember seeing my leg twisting in and looking around to everyone else’s facing forward. I thought there must be something wrong with the way my spin shoe was set up, that it was locking in to the pedal at an incorrect angle. Now I realize that the problem is me!

I used to spin 3 to 5 times a week. It had gotten to the point where while it was a great, drenching workout, it just wasn’t that hard. Well, after not spinning for about 2 months I was shocked by just how DIFFCULT spinning was for me! Within the first 10 minutes my heart rate had jumped to 195. My entire chest was red from exertion and I felt my lungs laboring. The class itself wasn’t any harder — in fact, it was most certainly easier — than the classes I took at my gym. My heart rate stayed in the 190s and 180s the entire class. My max HR was 197, average 181. I burned 470 calories. I was simply out of spin shape!

I didn’t even realize that spinning so much lessened the challenge of the workout. I made a decision that when (if?) I go back to spinning I will only do it once a week so I can get a real challenge and attain the most benefits.

Anyway, back to my knee. While in the sitting position, I was able to keep it stabile and facing forward. Standing in second position wasn’t so simple. I found that even with my greatest effort, my knee still seemed a bit wobbly. It was much better than when I used to let it bend inwards, but it wasn’t as straightforward as I would have liked. Third position was a bit easier since I was supporting my upper body more. Toward the end of the class I found that holding my upper thigh out and tightening the muscles there helped my knee stay in a constant stabile position.

When class ended, I was thrilled to have finally spun again — and thrilled that I felt NO knee pain during the entire class. I did feel shoulder pain, but that is for anothet entry. I was excited to tell my PT, and while I decided that I will not rejoin my gym (too expensive) I would begin taking a spin class every now and then at friends’ gyms.

And then the knee pain started.

A few hours after getting to work, I was sitting down chatting with a coworker when I felt an intense pain in my knee; in the same spot that always bothered me during spin. I figured it was nothing, a fluke and dismissed it. But then I had to get up and walk. And I couldn’t move my knee. I couldn’t straighten it. I couldn’t bend it. My knee was caught in the exact position it was in when I was sitting. I assume the “catching” occurred at the time I felt the sharp pain.

I got up and hobbled my way back to my desk. After a few minutes my knee was no longer caught — but now the pain was constant. After about 20 minutes the pain seemed to have dissipated. I was on the phone with the boy and he thought the knee catching might indicate a more serious problem. He asked me to bend and straighten my knee. I did this and it HURT. At one point it also caught again. I stopped doing this.

Throughout the rest of the day, the knee pain was there. It wasn’t constant, but it was often. It hurt most when I walked. I didn’t feel it while sitting. Later in the evening, the boy and I were walking to the Boat Basin for dinner (YUM) and my knee was killing me.

I think that I was not ready to spin. Which also means I am not ready to run. PT had told me that if I can walk without pain (which I can), then I can run without pain. But maybe I need more time to recover, more strengthening, more stretching. I have an appointment with her tonight and I look forward to hearing what she says. I also have an appointment with my orthopedist on Thursday, so I will see what he says as well.

I was doing my absolute best during spin. I didn’t take my eyes off my knee once during the entire 45 minutes. If I still feel pain, then perhaps my problems are bigger than we realized. I guess we will see… in the meantime, I can still do Core Fusion and honestly? I am liking it much better than spin now anyway.

Drivers License Photo
And lastly…. yesterday I wrote about why I love my drivers license picture. Here is a refresher in case you didn’t read it yesterday:

I never changed my license address when I moved to Manhattan. Three and a half years ago. But I have a good reason!

I, uh… love my drivers license picture. And I was worried that if I changed the address they would make me change the picture, as I somehow entered a loophole in the picture changing timeline. I didn’t want them to realize that I haven’t taken a new picture since I was 16. I am 26 now. But I love that picture! If it were up to me, I’d have this license picture forever.

Like I said, I was 16. I was slightly ghetto-fab, being from Queens and all, so I had the two front pieces of hair framing my face while the rest of my hair was half-up. (Remember half-up!) I had also applied generous amounts of fake tan the night before — in preparation for this photographic opportunity. I was also rocking perfectly applied eyeliner. Because of (despite?) all this, my picture turned out beautiful! I loved it, I love when I have to show it to people, I love the compliments I get for it!

And here you have it… my drivers license! (My middle name is Heather, I don’t know how it got on there!) Also, note how I dotted the i in Dori with a star. And I am actually 5’5, NOT 5’4. My mom is 5’4 so I always assumed I was the same height as her, so that is what I wrote. I used to also assume I had the same shoe size as my mom and spent a few years buying size 7 when in fact I am a 6 or 6.5. Oops.

DL-002    DL-001

I Just Wanted To Get Home. Twice.

Let me tell you about trying to get home yesterday. Twice.

The first time I  tried to get home was after an amazing Core Fusion class with my favorite instructor. I was feeling great, and even though I had a heavy bag full of laundry and books to carry, I opted to walk the 7 avenues and 2 streets home rather than take a taxi. And then the problems began.

Yesterday was the Puerto Rican Day parade, and while I am all for a good parade, I am not all for every single street being closed. I began on 59th street at 10:30 AM. (The parade was  from 11 – 6). While the parade hadn’t started yet, the streets were closed in preparation. I was instructed to walk to 57th street — 2 blocks in the opposite direction of my apartment. I did this, and came back around only to find that I was literally blocked in a square. There were street barricades surrounding me in every direction — except the one I came from. The opposite direction of my apartment.

I just wanted to get to my apartment! I found a police officer and told him where I live and asked how I might get there. I felt silly asking for directions to such a close location, but I think my situation was understandable! He told me to go up to a barricade back at 59th street and show the cop my license proving my address.

Little problem. I never changed my license address when I moved to Manhattan. Three and a half years ago. But I have a good reason!

I, uh… love my drivers license picture. And I was worried that if I changed the address they would make me change the picture, as I somehow entered a loophole in the picture changing timeline. I didn’t want them to realize that I haven’t taken a new picture since I was 16. I am 26 now. But I love that picture! I need to find a scanner somewhere so I can show you all. Or take a picture of it and  (but I don’t have it on me right now, I forgot it in a different purse!) If it were up to me, I’d have this license picture forever.

Like I said, I was 16. I was slightly ghetto-fab, being from Queens and all, so I had the two front pieces of hair framing my face while the rest of my hair was half-up. (Remember half-up!) I had also applied generous amounts of fake tan the night before — in preparation for this photographic opportunity. I was also rocking perfectly applied eyeliner. Because of (despite?) all this, my picture turned out beautiful! I loved it, I love when I have to show it to people, I love the compliments I get for it!

However, my pretty 16 year old drivers license picture wasn’t going to prove I live where I live. I got very nervous and called the boy in a state of panick. What if I was trapped in the parade FOREVER??? I approached the cop at the next barrier but as luck would have it, he was fighting with someone else about HER I.D.! She was begging him to let her go to work and he was demanding I.D. I was able to slip by unnoticed and get home.

Phew. And my problems getting home were over. Or so I thought.

Later that day, I went to my mom’s in Queens to visit with her, my grandma, and my aunt and uncle. When it was time to go, my aunt and uncle graciously offered me a ride all the way back to the city, to the boy’s apartment. We figured that since it was past 6, the parade’s end time, we would be fine.

Not the case.

We needed to get across the park. At 66th street, the street that crosses the park, there were barricades up. We rolled down the window to ask a police officer where we should go to get across the park.  He said, “Fifth avenue is open. You have to go up and make a left and come back down fifth and you can go across at 66th.”

Perfect.

We go up a few blocks, all have barricades, until we get to 71st street. We make the left and approach 5th avenue to make another left. But 5th avenue is closed, street cleaning machines sputtering all around like Rosie the housekeeper on the Jetsons.  A mean lady cop yelled at us and told us we weren’t supposed to come down 71st street. But that’s what the other copy told us to do! And he told us 5th ave was open. We told the mean lady that this is what one of her own told us, and she yelled at us some more. She said that he was wrong. She said 5th avenue is closed and we needed to turn back around.

We asked mean cop lady where we could go to get through the park. She said 72nd street is open and goes through the park. 72nd! We were only one block away! We didn’t have to go through all this madness on 71st. So it was time to go there. By the way, mean cop lady was rolling her eyes and giving us attitude the entire time. But she seemed very sure of herself, so off we went.

By this time, however, a long line of cars were behind us on 71st street. Apparently someone forgot that this street was supposed to be closed and didn’t put up any barricades. All the cars behind us had to back up and turn around, and finally it was our turn as well. We backed up down the street, make a K turn to face the wrong way on a one way street and headed back towards Madison.

When we got there, the line of cars behind us had already disappeared. We were alone on the street in front of the barricade that they put up (a little late, huh) — and this time it prevented us from getting onto Madison. We were stuck on 71st street (closed). We couldn’t go to 5th ave (closed). And now we couldn’t turn back on to Madison (barricade). There were NO cops around at all to open it for us! We were trapped.

Finally we saw a cop and he freed us. “Oh, you want to get out?” he asked. Uhhh. Yeah. And onto Madison we turned.

We were not happy (and not surprised) to see that 72nd street, the street we were told to go on by a police officer, was closed as well. We asked yet ANOTHER cop what street we can  go down to get through the park. He told us 96th street. Very far out of our way, but what can we do.

But. This cop, like ALL  the others we spoke to, was wrong! 79th was open. We drove past it, not expecting it to be. 86th was open as well, and we were able to turn onto it, make our way through the park so I could get home. Finally.

What I don’t understand is this: How is it that not a single cop knew the correct answer? And if they didn’t know the answer, why not admit they don’t know? They ALL told us decisively where to turn, where to go, based on…. what? They all seemed certain of themselves. Especially mean cop lady. Where do they get their information from and why can’t they coordinate with each other? There should be one line of communication with the same information, no?

And this parade is notorious for causing disruptions to the city. You’d think that the NYPD would want to create SOME semblance of order on this day. Guess not…

From oglobo.globo.com

(from oglobo.globo.com)

Coming soon: Post  about my experience in spin class today — to test my knee.

Currently Reading: The First Hour I Believed by Wally Lamb. I have the softcover version! Not that it is much lighter… so excited to be reading this!

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