Colfax

The streets in Denver, so I'm told, are very organized. Those that run east <--> west are numbered (truth) and those that run north <--> south are alphabetized (lie).

This lie first became apparent to me in driving around my neighborhood. The streets in Capitol Hill/City Park West are not alphabetized; they are a random mish-mash of ego stroking. A few of the presidents made the 'A' list: Adams, Cook (not so much a president...), Madison, Monroe, Garfield, Jackson, Harrison (...was Harrison a president? Oops. Yes. And yes again.) and some of the Midwest: Clayton, Detroit, Fillmore (Minnesota? Nebraska?), Milwaukee, and St. Paul. In order to find the organized sections of the place, one must be east of Colorado Boulevard or west of downtown. (Where, in fact, the alphabet works well, according to this explanation by Wikipedia.) Oh, but wait. I've just discovered in reading Google maps that the street west of Broadway are alphabetized, too, although that run appears to be missing 'H' and 'P-Z', though they probably pop into and out of existence. It is this popping behavior that causes navigational confusion.

You come to a park and sometimes the road continues on the other side, but sometimes not. Or, a highway bisects one section of the street from the rest, but it's all the same street with continuous numbering. Or the street abruptly ends in a jersey barrier just to continue right... over... THERE. Who does that? I have been told the streets are organized and logical; they aren't allowed to just end!

And here, folks, is another case where the Buddhists are right: expectation leads to suffering. Each instance of my getting lost can be chalked up to the expectation that the streets are consistently organized and logical when they are not, which causes suffering in the form of lost time and gained anxiety. Well, you say, you claim to get lost in a paper bag, why is doing so in Denver different than doing so elsewhere? Allow me to use Boston as an example.

Despite this article in the Boston Globe, I maintain that Boston streets were laid out by cows. Once one is informed of this historical 'fact', navigational disarray of the city is a given, and from the moment one leaves the house to the moment one returns, it is expected that some degree of 'lost' will be encountered. But not so in Denver.

Upon learning I have navigated a car in Boston, a Coloradoan's first statement is, "You'll find Denver easy then!". Thus setting me up for unmet expectation and the aforementioned suffering. If it was just one iteration, perhaps I'd be able to buffer myself against it. But every Coloradoan I meet says it; I don't have the energy or the will to argue with every one of them! So, let me close with a note to the natives in hopes that my advice will be promulgated to the masses.

Deluding newbies is not helping your cause of convincing everyone in the US to move to Colorado. It is causing distrust and excessive CO2 emissions. Be honest. Be up front. Live up to your reputation for friendliness and buy us a GPS device. Or at least a map.

It's you and me against them, and they're presently winning

Alas, my local REI is not currently hiring. But I've had meaningful communication with one potential employer and am moving forward with the screening process prior to being hired. And quite a process it is, although that's all I'm going to say about that.

In other news, I am volunteering for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, which is a cause near and dear to my heart. I hope to provide patient education and perhaps some form of direct patient care, but, for the moment, am pleased to be pulling charts, calling to confirm appointments, and learning from the uber-friendly and knowledgeable staff.

In addition to working in the health center, I am also a member of the 'street team', which provides staff for booths at public health fairs and drops 'goodie bags' off at local bars at apropos times of the year (ahem, New Years' Eve, ahem). Finally, I worked with the political action arm of the organization (in addition to volunteering with NARAL) and helped to defeat Colorado Constitutional Amendment 48, which sought to expand the definition of 'person' to include a fertilized egg (NO GOOD!). So very pleased to have this opportunity to work with such an upstanding and positive organization.

As my friend J.H. observed, I'm not getting paid for much that I do. However, I enjoy it and feel that it is a good use of my time as I wait for the puzzle pieces of paid employment to fall into place.

Photo: The full moon from approximately 5800 West 50th Ave. Denver, CO

Have master's degree, will work for food

There might be something to be said for playing by the rules, something at which I often fail. For instance, in my first year of university, I decided to take an upper level philosophy class. Even with the help of my friend and classmate Stephanie I was lost the entire semester (although did retain understanding of some of the concepts, which was useful in graduate school eight years later). I took the lower level classes in my final semester of uni and realized the error of my ways. But that hasn't stopped me from succeeding at making the same mistake twice.

I took the most direct way into nursing I could find: the entry-level master program. This is a relatively new concept in nursing education. One, I've realized, that hasn't quite made it to Colorado, which usually translates into curious and confused interview questions despite the explanation I offer in my cover letters. So, graduate level education was your mistake, you say? No, no, I assure all of those amassing copious amounts of debt for a string of letters after their names the education wasn't the mistake; it was my employment choices during and after that could prove to be my professional demise.

I had an interview at a local correctional facility during which the administrator told me she'd hire me, but she was afraid I'd be bored working as an RN when I'm trained to work as an NP. She used herself as an example of a person being happiest when she's met her professional goals. I appreciated her example... but where does that leave me?

That leaves me with my big principles and little income since I bucked nursing tradition and chose not to be a nursing assistant (moved to Colorado for a summer instead) then a floor nurse (hospitals make me nervous) thereby, in the eyes of nursing traditionalists, leaving me completely unprepared to work as a nurse practitioner (although I can make a good argument that one is not related to the other). So, if employers won't hire me to work as an RN or an NP has my disobedience to 200 years' worth of nuring 'rules' damned me right out of nursing?

Undetermined, but the application to be a sales associate at REI is completed and in the car. Although the discount on gear may very well negate the paycheck.

The election has set things right

I am impressed with the US's efficiency during this election. Granted, I moved timezones, but I was able to know the results of the presidential election before I went to bed; heck, several hours before I went to bed.

Indeed, I imagine that there were some wrinkles in the national fabric of the election though I can only speak for Colorado: voter records were purged that shouldn't have been, mail-in ballots weren't mailed because the NGO to which the task was farmed out failed to deliver, the lines at the polls were anticipated to be hours long and at least 1000 voters were sent home from the polls without voting for one reason or another.

Though I had a feeling of dread going into it...
Though I had a feeling of resignation going into it...
Though it took me months to want to get involved in a campaign...
(because the election is all about me...)

Barak Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States.
Amendment 48 to the Colorado State Constitution was defeated, 75% NO to 25% YES last numbers I saw.
Colorado is a 'blue' state.
My friend and his mom (no joke) somehow got those 1000 voters back to the polls and they successfully voted.

My life's cloud suddenly has a silver lining.

Fall photos

The eggplant for which I'm still trying to find a recipe.

Sunrise looking East (duh!) on 13th Ave at Sherman St.

The view from the 29th floor of a building downtown where I did a flu shot clinic earlier this week.







Farmer's market bounty. I attended the farmer's market instead of Obama's rally... Not entirely sure I made the right choice, but it was the last farmer's market of the season, so in a sense both were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Language abuse

I have recently noticed that I over use the phrase 'thank you'. For instance, after I have given someone a flu shot, they often say thank you. I respond to this with, 'thank you', but why? Why am I thanking them? *I* did *them* a service, not vice versa. Sort of.

It is true the person chose to get a flu shot from me and by extension the Visiting Nurse Association of Colorado. In these times, when one has many choices of where to get a flu shot, it is nice that they have chose Colorado's only not-for-profit nursing agency, thereby supporting their community, etc. If this is actually that for which I am thanking them, however, I should be specific, so they remember the substance of the thanks and don't just brush it off as a stock answer. Although after saying to 70 people in a two hour period, it could very well be considered a stock answer.

I have also caught myself in situations where the 'thank yous' being exchanged seem to negate each other. For instance, after a colleague and I had finished a flu shot clinic the other day, we thanked the other -- for what? For doing our jobs? Or was something above and beyond the call of duty done for which to thank the other person?

I worry that 'thank you' is going the way of 'how are you?', which long ago became a generic greeting and not actually a question to which the other person wanted an answer. To lose this most basic expression of gratitude would be a shame. Then again, perhaps English speakers have always been too polite and this is just a move in the opposite direction to correct the problem. Now, before you give your top five examples of English-speakers' rudeness, hear me out.

In the three non-English languages I have taken at least a moment to study, there is no direct translation of 'you're welcome'. French and Spanish both use the equivalent of 'it's nothing' as a reply to 'thank you' and in Nepali one does not use the actual words for 'thank you' unless the person has done something truly spectacular. So, maybe against the backdrop of English-speakers' acute politeness at the back end of the interaction, a more casual use of the phrase at the front end is acceptable...?

On that last point, I disagree with myself, actually, and shall take pains to watch my language when it comes to the use of 'thank you' in order to preserve its integrity. Please join me in my quest to avoid the bastardization of our fine language.

Photo: Self-portrait of me and my newest scarf, patter courtesy of Vogue knits (I think) by way of Nine's grandma.

More than one would expect at the grocery

On a daily basis I am astonished that I have the privilege to live as I wish; today this feeling came over me at the grocery store. I was shopping for molasses at King Sooper's, a local grocery chain. Just before I located the molasses, I came across a bottle of fruit-flavored syrup bearing a sticker of the image at left.

Though I had no need for this syrup I nearly bought it because I am so stinkin' excited that I live in Colorado (finally) and that that local goods initiative exists, which makes it possible for me to easily show my support of local businesses by purchasing their wares at my major grocer. In addition, it's empowering to communicate via my puchasing power to the management of my local grocers that I prefer to buy local. Finally, it's heartening to know that people at a more powerful level than the one at which I exist also care about supporting local businesses (and perhaps the environment, too, though I don't know that the environment was a consideration).

Indeed, it was quite a powerful moment in aisle 7 of the King Sooper's at 10th and Corona.

Image from: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Agriculture-Main/CDAG/1167928162081