The sniffles, coughs and bloody eye

One of the pitfalls of working in retail is that you are exposed to a lot of different germs. When you interact with that many people, 5 days a week, you are going to get sick. It's just a fact. And when you work with cash and interact with a lot of people, your chances of getting sick are higher. I am currently getting over my second cold this fall. I suspect that I never really got over my first cold so that is why this last one was worst then the first. I actually had to go to the doctor. Something that I avoid. Why go for just a cold? They can't do anything for that. Well, I popped a blood vessel in my eye so the doctor I went. I didn't go because I thought I needed to but everyone told me I had too. I have to admit it was a good thing because I do have an ear infection (Surprise!) and "yuckiness" in my lungs. My eye however is fine and will clear up on it's own. The other good thing about this visit, was I finally found a doctor in Brooklyn I really like. Dr. Azad was so nice and very warm. I really felt comfortable talking with her. So maybe, next time I get sick I won't need a blood vessel to pop to go the doctor.

In other news, I am watching Iowa vs. Michigan on TV. I miss watching my boys play. It's kind of funny. When I went to Iowa, I could have cared less about watching them play. I voluntarily worked on game days because they were the easiest days to work. We were dead during the game, giving us plenty of time to get work done that we normally get done on a Saturday but since leaving Iowa, I've become attach to the team. I guess it's one thing that keeps me connected to home. It's something that I still have in common with my friends who still live in Iowa. I know we have more in common then that but it's comforting to know that they are at home cheering on the Hawkeyes, while I am here. Iowa Alumni have a New York chapter that meets every Saturday in a bar in the upper east side to watch games. I have always wanted to go but didn't want to go alone. I haven't been able to convince anyone to go with me and I mostly have to work on Saturdays anyway. This Thanksgiving, with my Sister and Dad are in town, we are going to try to go for the Iowa-Nebraska game. I think that will be fun and get a chance to meet some fellow Iowans in New York. So, with that I say, Go Hawkeyes!!!

Good Times Good Times

Last night after work, I went out to a bar with some people I work with. We went to a bar called the Dram Shop. It was a lot of fun. It was the first time that I spent any time with my coworkers after work so it was a really kind of a bonding experience for me. It also reminding me of going out to the bars in Iowa City after work. I really miss you guys! We got off of work around quarter to midnight and I left the bar around 3am. I left early. From what I was able to gather, NYC bars don't have to close at a certain time, as long as they have customers who are still drinking, they can stay open until 5 in the morning if they want and apparently some of my coworkers have took them up on the offer on more then one occasion. In fact, some of them are such regulars at the Dram Shop that they went there on their lunch break and had dinner and beer before returning to work.

On the way to the bar, I was telling my friend David where I live. He gave that face, like really? It turns out my neighborhood, Sunset Park was once a not so nice neighborhood. In fact, as recent as 10 years ago, Sunset Park was in the midst of a Gang Turf War between the Mexicans and the Dominicans and most of the fighting was happening in my area of Sunset Park. It got so bad that when it was reported there was a shooting in Brooklyn, it always was in Sunset Park. Things that I wish I didn't know but thanks to the increase of police in the neighborhood and the end of the war, Sunset Park is a safe neighborhood again. Now, this was a surprise to me because as I walk around the neighborhood I see a lot of families. They sit on their stoops at night, playing cards and talking so obviously they are not worried about being shot. This was the first time anyone had ever mentioned anything negative about Sunset Park so it never occurred to me it was anything other then safe. But don't worry friends and family. It's safe now.

P.S. Maybe this shouldn't be mentioned to my mom. She worries about me enough as it is.