Quasilaur’s Blog

I’m closing in on my first month without a job. This is part of a three month, intentional exercise in finding out where my next employed step will be. Yesterday, I found myself pondering why it’s so frustrating trying to be a social worker/therapist in Seattle. Granted, I’m still finding my way around Seattle given I’ve only been here for 4 yrs, but this is a bit of what I’ve found so far.

There are a lot of people in private practice in the helping professions. Not only do we have the University of Washington, that turns out MSW’s from not just one, but two campuses, but we have a number of other universities and professional schools that offer Masters degrees that can lead to counseling positions. Up until recently, Washington did not the require licensure to be in private practice (though the Registered Counselor issue is soon being rectified.) I happen to know of one prominent local woman that, last I checked, had no verified credentials listed on the Department of Health license list, but yet she offers not just counseling and therapy, but also classes and personal sessions on more intimate topics.

More than a couple of my former clients at both the hospital and with the mental health court would tell me that they had found a naturopath that could treat their schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. While I do not discount that lifestyle, dietary and supplemental changes can have a positive impact on mental health, usually by the time I’ve met this person, they’ve gotten themselves in some serious trouble that sends a clear signal that something wasn’t working.

I actually love going to my naturopath (ND) as that I’m more interested in getting wellness tips on a regular basis than seeing someone once every two years (or more) for an infection that’s not self-resolving. The problem with ND’s is the same problem I find with many of the people advertising as therapists in the Seattle area: how do you distinguish from the grounded, holistic, respectful of conventional medicine/practice individuals and the flighty, fanatical, anti-establisment practitioners? Jon reminded me of an ND he saw once a few years back who went on an anti-semetic rant regarding 9/11, which was a stark contrast to the professionalism and level-headedness of my ND.

Both of them were Bastyr graduates, if I recall correctly.

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While I was in Chicago, I had the pleasure of being just less than a mile from Metropolis Coffee Company on Granville in Edgewater. During my 12 days in Chicago, I went there probably about 12 times, and only once did I have a slightly disappointing cup of coffee. My usual iced Americano was fantastic every single time, and I actually felt like I could taste the notes within the espresso. Since returning to Seattle, I’ve been longing to get such a high quality iced coffee drink that was worth my unemployed dollars.

Then I remembered that another place I had coffee in Chicago offered their iced coffee as made with the Toddy cold brewing system. I had made coffee w/ the Toddy system when I worked for Seattle’s Best Coffee around 2001, so yesterday I set out on a money saving experiment. I picked up a Toddy brewer at Seattle’s Best Coffee in Pike Place Market, and just previous to that, bought 12 oz of beans from Stumptown (their House Blend). The barista at Stumptown steared me towards their House Blend with the knowledge I’d be making it with the Toddy. While I was at SBC, they offered me a free pound to go with my Toddy maker, so I picked up some of their new-age sealed (good for a year!) Panorama Blend.

I don’t know that much about coffee - especially compared to some - but I did spend the better part of 3 years of my life between Starbucks (back when you learned to pull real shots) and SBC (back when they were owned by a chicken company). I have the hope that the Panorama Blend might be palatable. We shall see.

For today, I’m on my second glass of the Stumptown House Blend. It’s a little more bitter than I’d like, but I’m liking it so far, and am glad I’ll have a carafe of it in the fridge whenever I need a bit of a boost. For the newly unemployed such as myself, inspiration is needed to get my butt into gear, so I hope this will provide it.

Getting back to the Seattle chill was refreshing after trying to run in the Chicago heat. I ended the week with being able to jog for 20 min straight, and even better, at a consistent pace. The only reason I was able to do this, though, was thanks to re-reading the first few chapters from Runner’s World Complete Book of Women’s Running and purchasing the Polar F11 Heart Rate Monitor. I’ll still be using my Nike+ SportBand, especially because I like the data I get from it, but I was focusing too much on how fast/far I was going, and not on plain old conditioning, and I was wearing myself out. Thanks to the OwnZone option of the Polar F11, I was able to stay at a slow, steady, consistent pace for a longer period of time, allowing me to ultimately go a greater distance with less strain on my body.

So far, I’m loving the Polar F11, and am glad I purchased it. I had wanted one initially that didn’t require the chest strap, but it looks like that the $80 savings for the non-strap models (of varying brands) don’t do the play-by-play heart rate, nor would they reasonably be able to protest when I’m over or under exerting myself. The strap is comfy, and for the most part, the readout is large enough that I can read it while jogging, with the exception of being the OwnZone details when I start up my exercise.

Today I’m taking a much needed rest day. I did two days in a row, two times last week, and my joints are complaining a bit. I have a natural tendency to push myself too hard (in about all areas), so thanks to my new gadgets, and re-reading the pertinent chapters, I’m learning to take it easy.

I’m also learning to eat a bit differently and remember my vitamins! This is especially important since I was diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency.

At some point this week I’ll try to blog about more than my running pursuits. My mini-goal for now is to sign up for a fun 5k sometime in September or early October.

I continued doing the “Week 2″ program for “Week 3″ because my endurance just hasn’t built up yet. It’s been rough, too, in the Chicago heat. I played with the time of day that I did my program, as well as what I ate, and where I went. The lakeshore offered very little protection from direct sunlight, but offered gravel and asphalt. The streets going up to Rogers Park from Edgewater offered shade, but concrete sidewalks and street traffic. Trying to do the program after a late night of beers and friends was near disastrous. Even worse was going along the lakeshore at high noon.

I ended the week with two programs solidly over 2 miles in 30 min. My endurance got a bit better, as did my breathing and posture. I’m probably going to continue at my current plan, but try to expand it a little so I can do the Week 3 properly around actual Week 5. I think I’ll do better in the cooler mornings of Seattle, and I also think that doing some strength training or stretching (yoga?) on my off days will be beneficial. I’m not sure how this will work with diving, which is also pretty intense at times, but I’ll find out, I’m sure.

Tomorrow I pack up and do my last little things and then on Tuesday I head back to Seattle. It’s been a fun trip - very tiring, though. I think another thing that’s kicked my butt has been the walking around the city when I wasn’t intending to exercise. I failed at having a bunch of time to myself during my trip, however I find that the wealth of friends I have here have given me more than enough things to chew on in my brain to set me up for some good thinking when I get home.

I’m in Chicago right now on a bit of a vacation. I completed my week 2 of this Walk to Run plan. I’m wiped out. I will continue with this week’s level next week to hope to be less winded before I move to the next level. Running in the midday in Chicago is HARD. I’m sensitive to heat, so I think I’ll try to limit myself to early morning. The lakefront trail has asphalt and gravel, which made my knees and joints happy. A new arch brace is helping my plantar fasciitis tendency. I’m enjoying my new running clothes that I got bargain shopping at REI last week. And most of all, while I’m still loving my Nike+ SportBand, I’m loving Trail Runner, which Jon found for me, and syncs to the Nike+ website. It does what I wish the Nike site did - gives me a better play-by-play of my varying speeds throughout the workout, on a timeline, where I can think about what was going on that was impacting my pace.

Anyhow - this is my new life of leisure. Hanging out in Chicago - talking about my dipping my toe into running, and wishing that Seattle and Chicago weren’t so far apart. If I could pick and choose between the two, I’d have my perfect city.

I’m loving my Nike+ so far - however, I really wish that the online portion for Nike+ gave me a bit more on the graph than a squiggly that vaguely represents speed and distance. I want to be able to mouse over points in the line and know what that pace was at a specific time frame. That way, I can think back to “Oh, that’s when I hit that intersection and I had to hoof it to keep from getting hit by that car…” The squiggle looks better than yesterday, and the end numbers are definitely improved, but I want more of a play-by-play from my little gadget. Maybe I’m asking too much, but the data is in there - I just want to see it expressed in more than a green squiggly line.

Tomorrow I take a day off from the walk/run so I can let my joints and muscles rest. I’ll try to do Tuesday and Thursday (though I leave for Chicago on Thursday.) Then, I plan to take advantage of the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan. To do this, though - I’m thinking I need to invest in more running wear. My Title Nine running shorts and tank are fantastic - but I need more than one of each. (And unfortunately, I’m not thrilled with their customer service.) Adidas and Nike have some interesting options available for running, but I just need to cough up the cash to get them. Not as easy being newly unemployed (by choice.)

We’ll see how this experiment turns out. I’m thinking of trying a 5k sometime in August or September.

This is the third day I’ve done my walk/run with my Nike+ SportBand. The site has a way to post my progress to my blog, so I figured I’d try it out. So far, in my 30 min walk/run, I’ve shaved off over a minute since my first walk/run EVER (which was last Monday.) I took two days off, and wouldn’t ya know, I’m actually at a faster pace for a more sustained period. I’m very excited about this. There are some things that I wish were better about the Nike+ SportBand system and site, but I’ll save that for another post. For now - I’m just still in an endorphin glow just knowing that this is something I can do.

Today was quite a day. Or at least, I’m feeling rather triumphant. Last week I purchased Runner’s World Complete Book of Women’s Running. I read all the parts to get started, and today I went to Super Jock ‘n Jill and got a not-too expensive pair of running shoes. I even jogged in them before I bought them. I then picked up some sports bras and shorts (and a nifty visor.) The last thing was the Nike+ SportsBand, a nifty little gadget that clips to my shoe, and a wrist band that plugs into the USB of my computer that works as a pedometer and more. It connects to the Nike website and I can track my progress, and even set up a training program.

I’m pretty excited. I found out today that I have some pronation in my right foot, and my new shoes are supposed to counter that a bit. I’m glad I’ll have the sports bras, just because the brief jog I had earlier has made me a bit achey. I took my Nike+ out for a calibration walk, so I’m already having fun.

This is my last week at my current job. The week following I go to Chicago for 2 wks. I’m looking forward to a walk/jog down Lake Shore Drive. Tomorrow is diving again - with a smaller wetsuit.

Life is good, y’all.

I was going over my last.fm while trying to figure out what to listen to next. My top music picks are similar to what I was listening to 15 years ago, with some additions. One of those is the Afghan Whigs.

Growing up in the Cincinnati area, I knew who the Afghan Whigs were. They played them on local radio, and I heard they were pretty cool. I passed by the albums at the used cd store more than a few times, and I knew they were chocked full of latent awesomeness - and I had rocked out to “Honky’s Ladder” on the radio.

Despite my curiosity with the Whigs after I saw their CD’s easily available in Dublin, Ireland in 1996, it wasn’t until 1999 that I remembered that the Afghan Whigs were worth devotional listening. This I have Lev (of BoingBoing Gadgets fame) to thank. He and I made the long trek across country to Burning Man in 1999, and of course every good road trip requires good tunes. I got reminded of the awesomeness of the Whigs on that trip and became desperately hooked.

I’m still hooked to all things Dulli (Greg, that is). I’ve loved the Twilight Singers, his solo work, and his joint project w/ Mark Lanigan, The Gutter Twins.

Black Love - which I’m listening to now, is still one of my favorite Whigs albums. I feel a need to listen to it from start to finish, every song in order, as if there is some divine completeness to it. The first song, Crime Scene Part One is perfectly bookended by Faded. Love, violence, sex, drugs and alcohol with an intense reverence to classic R&B, funk and soul played - this is what I love about the Whigs, and Greg Dulli.

Just thought I’d share - because hey, it’s my blog, and I don’t write in this thing enough.

A colleague asked me how I got over my apprehension about diving (he was asking me in order to relate some of my current struggles in the workplace to my diving success, though he made that point without saying it.)

What I told him was that when I got anxious underwater, when I was scared or wasn’t sure of myself, I would stop, slow down, and just look at the world around me. Look at that fish - that anemone - that kelp - and breathe. I’d soon forget I was worried in the first place, and would move on.

Note: Diving in the Puget Sound is much more challenging than my recent vacation dives in Hawaii. There’s much more to be provoked by, from poor visibility, to cold water making your exposed cheeks a little numb, to realizing you’re over-weighted (you have to wear weights so you can sink under water) and you’re sinking too much, making it hard to compensate.

Just thought I’d share that.

It’s interesting that I find it easier to stop and breathe underwater…