serinde

In an unusually efficient morning, I achieved X-rays, specialist appointment, and physical therapy. And I was still in work by noon. Go Me.

My damage appears to be uneven wearing and grinding of cartilage. Cause unknown, since I couldn't point to any trauma; the frontrunners for guilt are the leg extension weight machine, which is apparently evil on your knees, and/or the way I was trying to correct my running stride since I tend to land on the outside of my feet. Whatever the reason, what seems to be going on is that my quadriceps are MIGHTY!~ and have told the rest of my muscles "oh get out of the way you useless sods, let me do it" so that when I move my knee, it's Doin It Rong, and the connective tissue has thus become very unhappy, and worn, and inflamed.

So, here is what I have to do:

- 600mg vitamin I, 2x daily (morning and night)
- No running.
- Yes elliptical.
- No deep-knee stretches or movements or aggravations.
- No leg extension machine, for it is Evil.
- Single-leg bridges, 2 reps of ten, on each side (for to strengthen my glutes. Apparently my ass is not mighty enough)
- I.T. band roller stretch, 2 min on each side (this hurts like a motherfucker)
- 3 or 4-inch stepdown on the right side, making sure my left knee does not turn inward when I step, 2 reps of ten
- Come back three more times in the next several weeks for PT followups
- Come back and see the boss doctor in a month.

At that latter point, he will see how it's going, and judge whether this will be sufficient or whether bigger juju will be required. (I'm okay with that.)

After a good deal of advice and input after my post earlier this week, I have modified things a bit. First, adding stretching. Second, per the Mayo Clinic, I'm going to aim for 12 reps of any given weight, whereat the twelfth rep should be barely do-able.

This ended up being a little disjoint, as a) I was pressed for time and b) there were a lot of zombiepunks bogarting machines. IT'S SUMMER, CHILDREN, GO THE FUCK HOME.

5 min. elliptical
Stretching. I went through the usual round of pre-aikido stretches, which cover most of the body.
Lateral pull-down: 12 reps @ 50 lbs
Modular shoulder press: 12 reps @ 4 lbs <-- higher
Leg extension: 12 reps @ 3 lbs <-- higher
Fly: 12 reps @ 2 lbs <-- hard.
I started doing the pullover, but I'm really convinced it is just too large for me. I'm feeling it in all the wrong places. So I gave over.
Seated Row: 12 reps @ 40 lbs.
Assisted chin-up: 10 reps @ 100 lbs. <-- higher
Assisted dip: 10 reps @ 100 lbs <-- higher (Remember, these two are counterweight-operated, so the less it's set to the more of your own weight you're dealing with.)

All email sent from my work account has my full name in the GECOS field.

All email sent from my work account has my full name in the .signature.

People keep responding to email from my work account with my name variably, and invariably, misspelled.

5 min. on the elliptical blah blah.

Lateral raise: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lbs
Modular shoulder press: 2 reps of 10 @ 3lbs
Pullover: 2 reps of 10 @ 3lbs <--- raised this weight
Leg extension: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lbs
Leg Something Else That Does Hamstrings: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lbs
Assisted dip: 2 reps of 10 @ 115lbs
Assisted chin-up: 2 reps of 10 @ 115lbs. I changed to yet a third hand position, whereat it did seem to be using my back more than my arms.
Back To The Old Fly Machine: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lb. Grindingly hard.
Seated Row: 2 reps of 10 @ 25lbs. This was mostly to kill time while waiting for the situp bench.
13 situps on the angle bench, where at the 13th I got a charley horse...in my left hip. I mean, what?! (I have a suspicion this was delayed result from one of the leg machines.) Anyways, I deemed it prudent to stop at that point.

I think I'm doing some of these wrong, because I'm not always feeling it where the helpful colored-in muscle diagram says I should. And I think I may be doing them in an infelicitous order. And I definitely shouldn't be generating charley horses. Anyone recommend a book or a non-bozotic web site on these deep matters?

I have been staggeringly useful until 3pm, what with work and purchasing of food and booze. Now I have swimming pool, and a Singapore Sling (which, since I had no lunch, has knocked me three sheets to the wind), and good company, and I am well-content.

Enjoy the moment, yes?

In the midst of packing clothes not much used, I came across the closet where my prom dress and my wedding dress were hanging side by side. Now, the prom dress was the subject of a bet between Steve and me, back when I first determined to Do Something about my weight, lo these many years ago; I wagered[1] I would be able to fit into it again, which goal I never yet achieved. Of course I tried it on, and of course it is still too small, by a good margin; no brainer.

But then, moved by the usual sentiments this sort of situation generates, I tried on my wedding dress (silk satin and freshwater pearls, hand-made by nedlnthred, ably assisted by Kasia; I made the buttons and did the pearl-sewing-on). It is too big, which I knew--but it's too big in the same amount that I'm too big for my prom dress. So in theory, barring what I learned about women's bone structures continuing to grow, it's not that unreasonable a goal.

[1] I can't remember what I wagered. This is lame and vaguely disturbing.

It's college, and from what I can tell university, policy that for the middle chunk of the summer--end of June through early August (but not the week of Independence Day; don't ask), roughly--the place is Closed on Fridays. You can either work 8-5:30 and take a 45 minute lunch, or you can chalk the days up to your vacation balance; but you Do Not Show Up For Work On These Fridays.[1]

This year, the season starts on June 23. Unless you are the school gym, in which case summer is now, and anyone who wants to work out for the first three Fridays of the month is just screwed.

I am deeply vexed. I can't even go for a long walk for lunch, as my knee starts objecting[2], and the last thing I want to do is make it any worse; so weights, leavened with a judicious amount of elliptical, are my only option to burn off energy without committing mayhem.

[1] I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Fridays off, Holy Shit!. On the other, my transit suddenly becomes a Goddamn circus; I may end up forced to the 6:30am train, fuck you very much. We shall have to see how it shakes down.

[2] Yes, I'm getting it looked at. I can haz referrals, and I have a sports-medicine specialist appointment next week.

syringavulgaris: This looks like it might be interesting.
[time passes.]
elibalin: Yes, that does sound interesting.
syringavulgaris: I'm just not sure if the bar will be too, too hipster
syringavulgaris: afkdfjkdl
syringavulgaris: "Launched in part as a hangout for the members of Fall Out Boy..."
elibalin: Erm.
syringavulgaris: And their website is Dead On Arrival.
syringavulgaris: (you see what I did there)

Museum of the City of New York : Byron Company Collection On Line.

"This database contains digital images and descriptive information about individual works in the Byron Collection. The collection consists of over 22,000 photographs of New York City and its environs taken by the Byron Company between 1890 and 1942."

I think I just creamed my drawers.

Edit: Note to caelfinn: They have a whole section devoted to Delmonico's.

From: InfoSec at the Mothership
To: Lowly Individual-Colleges Scum

CUNY CIS/InfoSec is pleased to announce a new security application known as PGP.
[...]