Thank God for low centers of gravity. Sometimes being short has its perks. Susannah, Ethan and I defying hurricane-like winds to complete the 2004 Walk for PKD on 9/18/04.  

Neither Rain Nor Sleet...

This past Saturday was not the most ideal day to schlep around Liberty State Park with the remains of hurricane Frances or Ivan or whichever wreaking havoc on the weather, but we managed to complete the 5k Walk for PKD nonetheless. Fear not, generous donors--your contributions did not go to waste. In fact, the NJ chapter more than raised its goal of $42,000, making the walk a complete and utter success. We were all glad to be a part of it!

We woke up at 8:00 am to heavy rains and flooding, but, thankfully, the skies cleared in time for the actual walk. The wind, however, was another story. For the first 2.5k it was our friend, pushing us along our way. The way back was brutal. I felt like a mime, except with real wind. So I guess that's not really miming, but you get my meaning...

Who knew walking 5k was such a workout? We were useless the rest of the day, relaxing and watching movies. Sunday we slept until 3:00 pm, did laundry and then visited the Shingletons for a bit.

My first two days at the new job have gone relatively smoothly. Right now I'm in charge of booking CME presentations on Stress Urinary Incontinence (check out the "clinical tools" on www.stressui.org for a good giggle. I highly recommend the pelvic floor muscle assessment and physical exam tipsheet--I can laugh, I've had Stress UI). I have 4 all but booked out of 9. Apparently I'm doing better than my two counterparts working on the same project, so I may need to reign it in so as to a) not piss them off and b) keep my bosses from expecting so much effort on a regular basis. At least I know I'm making a decent impression.

I barely have a cube. Since I'm on the end I have no back wall, so my back is completely exposed. I hate that. I have a Wild Bill Hickock complex, I always like to have my back to a wall so I can survey the entire room. I feel unprotected. I also startle easily, so maybe they'll move me to a better cube after 2 or 3 occurrences of someone coming up behind me and me screaming "JESUS!!!!" at the top of my lungs.

In other news: This Friday at sundown begins Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and (sigh...) fasting. We'll see how good we do on the second half of that--the atoning we have down pat. It's the not-stuffing-our-faces-for-24-hours that needs some work.

I'm off to bed. The only reason I'm still up this late is because I passed out on the couch from 8:30-11:00 pm. Getting up an extra half hour early really f's up your whole groove, man.

Good Yuntiff!

Technically, Rosh Hashanah ended at sundown, but l'shanah tovah to any readers of the Jewish persuasion.

Tonight we went to Ethan's Uncle Joe and Aunt Eileen's in Brooklyn for Rosh Hashanah dinner. There were about 16 Jews gossiping and stuffing their faces with gefilte fish (I tried it for the first time ever. Not a fan, frankly), brisket, turkey, kasha varnishkas, potatoes, etc. etc. We had a blast. It was my first opportunity to see how a normal(ish) Reform Jewish family spends the holidays so I know what to do when we have our own family. I'll be leaving out the gefilte fish, however.

As Ethan mentioned on his blog, we were at their house on Tuesday as well--which was another first for me, my first live boxing match. I was excited to go as we're all big fans of the main eventer Dimitriy "Star of David" Salita. He's an up and coming Jewish boxer. Cute kid originally from Odessa, Ukraine now fighting out of Brooklyn. As Ethan says, he's a great technical fighter, but it's difficult to tell if he has any power punches.

I love watching him because, as an observant orthodox Jew, he often comes out to the ring with his spiritual advisor/rabbi with stars of David containing his initials emblazoned on his robe and trunks. This night the rabbi didn't accompany him to the ring, but in his stead were what can only be called a "hardcore klezmer band." Maybe even "hardcore surf klezmer." Imagine Korn, The Beach Boys and The Klezmatics rolled into one. He really likes to push the Jewish angle. It amuses me greatly. If you go to his website, www.dsalita.com, and go to the photo gallery, among the photos of him training and beating the crap out of his opponents, there's one of him in his prayer shawl strapping on his tefillin.

I must say that watching boxing live is a lot different than watching on TV. Watching on TV gives you that extra layer of detachment that keeps you from really being affected by the violence happening in the ring. I was actually a little squeamish at first, witnessing it live. One of the Irish brothers who fought, whom Ethan mentioned on his post, was knocked out cold by a Puerto Rican fighter. I missed the punch, but when I turned back to the ring he was lying face down and his legs were twitching. For one second I was afraid he'd be a vegetable and I'd be traumatized for life--never being able to watch boxing ever again. Alas, he was ok.

As E also mentioned, this took place in very Russian Brighton Beach. Salita Being Ukrainian and Jewish, there were tons of Russians and Jews (and Russian Jews, I'm sure) in the audience. They were all rabid fans--they have their own cheers and everything. I was shocked to see so many orthodox (and I'm talking ORTHODOX, not this modern orthodox or metrodox bullshit) Jews were there. I thought the orthodox were strictly opposed to violence. I guess I was wrong. Maybe that's just the Chasidim. Or maybe there's some technical reason that it's ok that Dimitriy boxes that makes it ok for other orthodox Jews to watch. I have no idea.

Anyhoo, I'm sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy. Will write more when I actually have something interesting to say.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Sincoff...

I've been too busy to post the last week, but had to take a second today to say Happy Birthday to my dearest husband! He is 34 VERY SEXY years old today.

I've been telling him that all week, but he didn't believe me until his 32 year old best friend's 23 year old babe of a girlfriend said, "Ethan, you're looking JACKED!" Now his already huge pumpkinhead is even more inflated. Thanks, Kate--you bought me at least a day or two of not having to listen to him groan about his weight or how old he is! Why he doesn't believe his own wife is beyond me, however.

Anyhoo, happiest of birthdays, toots! Many thanks to your parents for having sex 34 years and 7 mos. ago. Where would I be if they hadn't??? I'd probably still be a single gentile living in DC. Perish the thought...

Business Ethics and Other Oxymorons...

So I got the job at the new joint. They made me an offer yesterday and I handed in my letter of resignation. Not a huge salary jump to start, but it's a lateral move after all. Their yearly raises are roughly 1 1/2 to 2 times larger than my current company's and we get a year-end bonus, so I figured it's worthwhile. On top of that, my friend and everyone I talked to there assures me that they're quick to promote people from within and recognize and reward hard work--none of which my current company does.

I've sat here for two years watching my company hemorrhage good people to competing companies who pay more competitively. Those who remain do so with little hope of promotion or a significant pay raise. My boss actually tried to convince me when I met with her yesterday that there was room for advancement here. There are three people ahead of me for promotion here looking to fill one management position--and guess what?? The company is looking to the outside to fill that position, completely overlooking its hardworking employees who are more than qualified and who have been slugging away at their current positions for at least two years now (some have been with the company for as many as five).

Management cannot seem to put two and two together. I don't think they're stupid, I just think their hands are tied by the parent company, Thomson. Thomson seems to be very big on downsizing and promotion freezes. They certainly don't care about employee retention. It's a real shame.

Still, I'll miss a lot of great people I've gotten to know here. I'll have to try headhunting them as the opportunity arises like my friend did me. I have no compunctions about stealing good people from a company that doesn't appreciate them.

In other news: I've decided Jenna Bush is REALLY weird looking. She looks like the worst possible combo of her mother, her father and a hideous elf. I get the feeling that of the two siblings, she's the "W" and Barbara is the "Jeb." She seems to have that same mischievous/clueless appeal her father has. I haven't heard her speak yet, so I've no idea if she also has her father's oratorical eloquence as well.

OK, so the heading is "....Oxymorons." What's this about the Bush campaing returning to its 2000 era compassionate conservatism spiel?? What's so compassionate about the 2004 Republican platform? There's certainly no compassion for gays or young pregnant women in crisis or public schools or....Bah!

Dick Cheney's snarling face will be all over the tube tonight, but I don't think I'll watch it. I'm surprised that kid managed to get so close to him at the convention. I'd be afraid he'd bite my hand off. If he were a dog, he'd be muzzled. Kudos to the Veep, however, for finally coming out in support of his gay daughter, no matter how politically motivated it may be.