Sgt. Pepper's Mini-blog

This is me, Sgt. Pepper. I am an almost one-year old Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound. Many of you have met me, some of you may have hung out with me and others may have even dog-watched me (thanks grandmas)! My birthday is coming up on July 4th, thats right I am an Independence- Pup. For my birthday I am taking gifts of bone and raw hide. You know where I live.

Since dad and mom are hogging all the attention on this blog I thought I would sneak on and make a post. It has taken me some time to adjust to the NYC style. For example, back in Minnesota I had a gigantic yard to play in (thank you Ford and Amy). There I would do my "business", and I don't mean trading stocks, in the grass. Here in NYC grass may be found two places. First, growing through the cracks of the sidewalk. Second, in parks. Actually, green can also be found surrounding some of the sidewalk trees. Anyway, I have two complicated routines when I get walked. When I perform the number two I usually have to do it on or near what little green or grass I can find. Most of the time this means I must compromise and put my rear end into a small shrub or weed growing on the walkway simply to get the job done. The other thing I do is urinate. . . on EVERYTHING. I will start by eliminating mostly in one spot. From there I will attempt to squeeze every little drop of pee out on trees, fire hydrants, parking meters, road signs, walls, and anything else within my leash's reach.

Recently I experimented with pooping in the pee position. . . AND IT WORKED! You can even ask mom and dad, I tricked them. I was also a little drunk when I attempted this. I think i may play around with some dismount positions after pooping and peeing you know, in recognition and honor of the 2008 summer Olympics.

I know all of you were just yearning to hear about my "duties". What was I supposed to do? I was getting jealous of the fact that mom and dad have a blog and I don't. I would like to sign off by giving a bark-out to Molly, Lady, Lucy, Oreo and my girl Penny Lane!

We love you all!

P.S. Without opposable thumbs, this blog took me approximately 11 hours to write, which in dog hours is 77 hours. Just thought you should know how much I care.

No longer counted in the unemployment rate!

That's right! Alan has a job!

After four weeks of living here to the day and three weeks of interviewing I am now a clinical social worker on the inpatient psychiatric unit at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. Its quite the train ride from Brooklyn...but that is beside the point.

I will be responsible for intake procedures, diagnosis (of mental illness), psycho education (educating patients and their families about the illness their loved one has and the medication they will be taking) and discharge procedures. A couple great things about this position is that it provides clinical supervision that will help me get my clinical license down the road. I will also be a part of the 1199 union, which is a union for service professionals. I'm not sure how many of you belong to a union but they have PHENOMINAL benefits!

I am looking forward to finally being able to use my education (which has been 8 years in the making!) and providing others with opportunities to improve their quality of life while living with a mental illness.

I was born to do this work I can proudly say that I am in a line of work that both pays the bills and makes me happy.

Brooke has been so patient and supportive concerning my job hunt. I have to apologize to her (along with Chad and Nicci) for my increased level of irritability during my search. I also Thank those of you who supported me through prayer in my job hunt!

Love you all!

Alan and Brooke.

Baptized by the personality of New York

So public transit is the only way to get from point A to point B in the city. Unless you have excessive disposable income. The trains are nice, we like them--most of the time. This city is filled with people who are in a hurry, thinking solely about themselves. We are tolerant of this as long is their need for expedited travel doesn't result in rude behavior.

Case #1

Brooke was waiting in a subway station in Manhattan one day after work when a crowded F train pulled up to the platform. The doors slid open revealing a car packed full of people. One women in Brooke's sight proceeded to enter the crowded car. As she did, the women she would have had to squish next to blurted out something like "What do you think you're doing?" to the women trying to enter the train. The women entering the train ignored the her. The women in the train then proceeded to say "Do you want me to slap you?" the women who entered the train continued to ignore her. Then out of the blue the women who was already in the train wound up and smacked the women she had earlier threatened. The women who got smacked, backed out of the train in complete shock. Brooke asked the women if she was OK, the women said she was dizzy from the slap but fine. Though this is an extreme example, it does happen. 

Case #2 this will be more of a description and an over generalization rather than an actual case, but hey at least I am aware of when i overgeneralize. 

People on the trains here can be divided into one of three categories. The first would be the Normal category. These people either listen to music, read, or sit quietly and stare straight ahead. The second category would be the Abnormal category. These people do identical activities on the train as people in the Normal category but on a somewhat socially awkward level. They listen to music but they sing very loud and obnoxiously, they may not even be listening to music and they will still sing in the same manner. These people also read out loud and talk out loud in a monologue directed to no one in particular. The last group of people I would like to put into the category of Cracked-out. They would be the people I could diagnose with some form of mental illness with very little effort. These people will fight with a hallucination in the middle of a car, stare at you for train stop after train stop, they will inform the entire train of the delusions they have, and they will freak you. Now I have only been here for a week and a half so I may need to expend on this at a later date. But for now that was your intro on "The people who ride NYC trains".

Well there is your update from the Hunts in NYC. My (Alan) job search is still going, I continue to have first and second interviews. We will keep you posted

Love you all!

What up from Brooklyn!

It has been two weeks to the day since we pulled the 16 foot yellow moving truck, which contained every possession we own, onto 3rd Place in Brooklyn, NY. Our 4th floor apartment is a 15 minute subway ride from Manhattan! With the help of Chad and Nicci, our move into the new place went with only one hitch...our couch set wouldn't fit through the door of our apartment! With a little "New York" thinking, one of our wonderful Italian neighbors instructed us to remove the legs from the couches, and they got through--just barely. Our place still isn't 100-percent put together but its getting there.

Brooke loves working in Manhattan, she is in her element working there with CBRE. This is the same company she was with in Minneapolis. She works at 200 Park Avenue, a.k.a one of the sweetest area of the city! Her building is only 10-15 blocks from Central Park. 

I have applied to a plethora of jobs throughout the area and interviewed for two of them and am setting up a third at this time. The ones I have interviewed for were both in the Bronx. For those of you who don't know the lay of the land out here, the Bronx is quite a ways away from where we live in Brooklyn. The jobs are actually an hour and fifteen minute train ride away. I know what your thinking, "Holy crap thats a long commute!" What you may not know is that in NYC many people have one hour plus commutes to work...each way, so I won't feel too bad if I get one of the positions. We just need to get used to this whole public transportation thing, which in Minnesota many people consider to be "ghetto", but here if you drive a car your the exception...and you also probably have money or kids. So the job search will continue and we will keep you posted.

So there is your first update on the Hunts in NYC. All is well, and yes Sergeant Pepper is adjusting well to the big city. He is taking well to the pooping and the peeing on concrete! We are going to keep all of you up to date on how things are going here through this blog. 

Love you all!