Saturday In Review

I had planned on attending/photographing the Halloween Dog Parade at Tompkins Square Park during the afternoon, but with threatening skies and pressed for time I had to 86 that from the agenda. I had/have no plans to dress up Riley for Halloween. I can pretty much guarantee he would bite off and chew up anything I tried to attach to him.

I did manage to hit the gym for a cardio workout. My feet and left ankle are still really bothering me but I'm trying to stay active despite the pain. Besides, I rarely feel the soreness during the actual workout. I'm assuming it's endorphins or some such. It's only first thing in the morning and after really long walks that the pain is really extreme. I've read a posting on The Body.com that fish oil supplements can be very beneficial in alleviating inflammation, particularly in joints and tendons, so I started taking a big dose of supplements twice a day. No improvement so far.

Saturday afternoon I walked over to Washington Square Park to a church on the south side. The 12th St. Workshop, which is my Gay-A home group was having an anniversary meeting/dinner/dance and I had volunteered to help with the set-up as well as the food service if needed. It was really familiar to me as it was pretty much like getting ready for the hundreds of events I've set up and run over the years. Once I got a sense of what the agenda for the event was going to be I just got busy arranging 100+ meeting chairs and then the buffet service tables and then tables and seating for dinner. It only took about an hour and a half. After that I helped hang a few last minute decorations and then sat down in a chair and nodded off for about 10 minutes. (Riley woke me up a bit early in the morning.)

We had a Gay-A meeting to start. Instead of the usual beginning they had everyone stand as they called out varying lengths of sobriety. You had to sit when your sober time was called, until the long-term sober vets were all that was left. They stopped at 25 years when only one man was standing. He had 38 years sober, and I still see him at meetings at least twice a week. Needless to say, at under two years I sat early. But not first! Three people spoke at the meeting, and I got a lot out of it, as I do when I'm receptive to things. I'm not always so generous of spirit. Last week I almost called everyone at a meeting I went to self-centered assholes. But I've been learning when I'm that annoyed at everyone, it's probably me who needs to be checked.

After the meeting, they opened up the buffet and I helped clear all the chairs from the meeting floor so they would have a dance floor for later. The food line was pretty long and I abhor standing in a long line waiting for food. It just feels really Oliver Twist/Government Cheese to me and I get very uncomfortable. So I skipped dinner and helped clean up the kitchen and re-stock the bottled water and canned sodas. I played to my strengths. Once it seemed that dinner was under control I grabbed my bag and left. I had no desire to attend the dance, I knew Riley was waiting, and I was in fact hungry. Just not hungry enough to stand in line.

So I headed home and got caught in a torrential rainstorm. I finally got back to my apartment soaked from the knees down and changed in to some comfy dry sweats. I heated up some leftover pork chops and mashed potatoes, and shortly after I ate, the rain stopped and Riley got a nice walk in a light drizzle.