The Week of 1000 Miles: Part Two

Tuesday, May 22nd: to Cleveland

I like all kinds of music. Some music I like enough to go see performed live; given the price, the night, and the proximity of the venue are right. Then there are certain bands I like enough to see regardless of the night and to some extent the price, and will see them as long as they wander into my region of the country. For a long time this category was a class of one, in the form of Pearl Jam. They last brought a tour to the Detroit area in May of last year and although the concert was great, I took away from that experience (my first concert since my accident) that choice of venue was now going to be a major deciding factor in my selection of concerts to attend; even if that concert is another Pearl Jam show. Pearl Jam played the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Detroit Pistons, an arena that seats 18,000+, hosts hundreds of events a year and—unbeknownst to me until that night—features shitty accessible seating options. The floor seats I bought in anticipation of Pearl Jam rocking my proverbial socks off were switched to the back of the house, concrete bunker on the concourse level that serves as the accessible seating area. Thanks for the accommodation. I wasn’t anticipating Row 1, center stage, and I understand the limits placed on seating availability based on architectural design quirks, but the Palace isn’t even a twenty year-old venue, in my mind if a stage can be erected on the floor of an arena then there’s a way to get my wheelchair in the same area code as my purchased tickets. Had I known I was going to be viewing the concert from a pill box I would’ve bought nose bleed seats and considered the move to the concourse level an upgrade. I bet that when Bill Davidson’s crotchety ass is finally stuck wheelchair at the very least an attempt will be made to get him to his courtside seats. So, the Palace is off the list of places I will go to see a concert at from now on; which is fine because it sucks to have to drive out to Auburn Hills anyway. But, what do Pearl Jam and the Palace have to do with last Tuesday and Cleveland? As much as it pains me, Pearl Jam at the Palace is the bad taste in my mouth I will remember when considering all future concerts I want to attend and the venues at which the band or bands I’m interested in are going to play.

Back in April a young band of brothers named Kings of Leon released their third album. Kings of Leon have been on my radar for a while now as I thoroughly enjoyed their two previous album releases. I’m not in the music review business, but hailing from Tennessee, Kings of Leon write up-tempo rock songs about no-good girls and the lead singer mumbles about 80% of the lyrics; it’s a recipe that puts a smile on my face. A recipe, coupled with a great appreciation of their new record that made me decide I wanted to see them in concert on their current tour. When I checked their tour dates I was disheartened to see that the closest the Kings would be to the Detroit area was either Chicago or Cleveland. Well, shit.

So, I thought about it and I thought about the fact that I’ve only been to one concert in the last three years and that shouldn’t be the case. I also thought about the fact that it’s summertime now and it’s time to do summertime things. Summer is a time for carefree, impulse-based decision making—which I haven’t done enough of in the last three years—and so I bought two tickets to the Kings of Leon show at the House of Blues in Cleveland. I convinced my buddy Jak to come with me despite his protesting of being too poor to go to a concert. Jak, you see, is an aspiring screenwriter, aka part-time bartender, aka part-time student, aka currently unemployed, thus the perfect candidate to ride along to a rock show in Cleveland, on a Tuesday night. It’s not like he had to get up for work in the morning or anything (actually, he did have to meet with someone but not until after 11am).

We left town around 4:30 in the afternoon, high-tailing it towards Toledo, the afternoon sun chasing us across the sky. The drive to Cleveland requires a trip eastward on the Ohio Turnpike, a pay road of limited access, and I have wondered for some time now how much difficulty I’d experience getting on to the turnpike. In my recollection of past eastbound trips on the turnpike the toll tickets were dispensed from automatic ticket booths. Parking structures in Ann Arbor all utilize these machines and as I cannot grip the ticket to pull it from the machine, I always need to call for assistance from one of the cashiers. Having Jak with me meant I wouldn’t have to worry about this problem as he was able to jump out of the passenger door, grab the ticket and jump back in as the toll gate swung open; a Chinese fire drill without all the switching of seats. For future reference though, even thought the toll tickets are dispensed automatically, I saw at least one attendant on duty at the toll station and a honk of the horn should bring that person out in case anyone needs assistance.

We pulled into downtown Cleveland in a just over 2½ hours. The House of Blues is situated in close proximity to both Jacobs’ Field and Quicken Loans Arena and the area seems like it could be pretty fun to hang out in with the right activities going on. After parking my van in a structure across the street from the concert hall we made our way over to pick up our tickets. I have to say that all the event staff at the House of Blues were incredibly accommodating and helpful. The tickets I purchased were General Admission and I was anticipating finding accessible seating at the back of the house on the first level as that is what was diagrammed on the House of Blues website. When we picked up the tickets the person at the box office window suggested that we sit up in the second level reserved seating because we would have a better view of the stage from that vantage point. Acting on his tip, we found ourselves about fifteen rows from the railing, with a bird’s eye view of the stage. The House of Blues only seats 1200 people to begin with and the close quarters of the second balcony, put us right on top of the action with a sweet view. Plus, behind the seating in the second level are two bars with waitress service to all of the patrons with tickets up there. It ended up being a perfect set-up, better than I was anticipating, and just the right size club to see a young, energetic band like Kings of Leon rocking out 1200 of their closest friends.

Exiting the House of Blues into the warm night air I felt thoroughly satisfied with the entire experience and then slowly, as the jubilation and the crowd dispersed, there was the realization of the impending drive home. Any ride home from a concert can be a bit of a chore, let alone one that is over 2½ hours long. Dawdling would only further delay the inevitable. We ended up pulling into Ann Arbor after 3am and my head hit the pillow sometime after 4. My alarm going off a scant 4 hours later was less than pleasant, as was the prospect of facing a full day of physical therapy and other assorted appointments later that afternoon. The staff at my PT clinic was amazed at my previous night’s itinerary, and it’s always hilarious to recount such tales to those who would never think of doing such a thing, but such is the price we pay in the name of Rock.

Round trip mileage: 342

Cumulative mileage: 440

The Week of 1000 Miles

Sunday, May 20th: to Detroit

Driving to Detroit hardly accounts as a significant trip, but it became the first of the series of events in what became an eventful week.

The occasion for driving downtown was Game #2 of my six-game Detroit Tigers season ticket package. Game #1's balmy, sunny 74 degree reason-to-be-alive weather was replaced by 62 degrees, cloudy with a consistently chilly 15 mph wind that made me thankful I decided to grab a jacket just before heading out the door. The forecast for a break in the clouds and afternoon sunshine came to fruition around 5:00pm, after already returning home from the game. As it turns out, the right field, upper deck seats near the foul pole my friends and I occupy, not only provide a great vantage from which to watch the game, but also a great spot to pick up a wind burn.

Despite the lackluster weather, the Tigers got a strong outing from Justin Verlander and Brandon Inge hits his 8th home run. In the three Tigers' games I've attended this year, I've now witnessed 25% of Binge's home runs and his batting average fluctuate from .139 to .128, .122 to .156 and from .225 to .227. Way to knock the cover off the ball, Slugger!

Tigers beat the Cardinals 6-3.

Round trip mileage: 98

Mail Bag!

Long time reader Joe D. questioned the necessity of a temperpedic mattress in space. To see his query and my response check the comments on the last post. But in my quest to make sure I got the right info for him, I stumbled across some entertaining tidbits about space and sleep and this gem:

The astronaut Wakeup Call playlist. Nothing says, "Up and at 'em," like Kenny Loggins "Danger Zone"

The Future of Sleep Is Now!

Apparently, she doesn't come with the bed

I am now the proud owner of a Tempur-Pedic® Swedish Sleep System™. Well, exactly how proud I am of this new development I will find out, as I have not yet slept on my new mattress, but it is here in my possession. Before the Future arrived at my doorstep today, like many of you short-sighted Cro-Magnons, I too slept on a pathetic innerspring mattress. In the fall of 2001 when I moved out of the tiny, two bedroom apartment situated in the student ghetto, near the campus of the University of Michigan, with its landlord-furnished twin bed, and into the palatial accommodations of my new housemate Doug’s 1100 square-foot ranch home in Ann Arbor’s bustling Urban West Side neighborhood, I needed to buy a new mattress. So, I ventured over to the local Art Van furniture store and lay down $500—of the first paycheck I had yet to earn from my new teaching position—on a full size mattress and box spring. Why the upgrade from twin to full size? A kid has to grow up sometime, I guess. Plus, I had a lady-friend; I needed the extra space.

That mattress served me well (and the ladies better), but as with seemingly every other aspect of my life my accident in January 2004 altered my bedroom landscape. In the hospitals and medical care facilities I found myself convalescing in throughout the first nine months of 2004, I slept on a variety of mattresses and beds designed to maximize the administration of my necessary medical care. These beds featured numerous adjustability functions to assist the various attendant staff that got me dressed or undressed, in and out of bed, to and from my wheelchair, with a practical level of ease. When the time came for me to finally move on into my own apartment there was a question of what I was going to do about my sleeping accommodations. I was still in need of assistance with dressing and undressing care as well as the need for a nearly equal height differential between my wheelchair and whatever other surface I wanted to transfer on to. Furthermore, there was a concern over the type of surface I would be sleeping on in regards to how I was going to deal with proper pressure relief. I was warned on many occasions about the dangers of sleeping in one position all night long and how if I was unable to move around at night, I would be highly susceptible to pressure sores; which if I got one, I would almost certainly end back up in managed care.

I spent many therapy sessions developing the skills and techniques associated with being able to change body position at night, and with the right combination of bed mobility equipment—hand rails and the like—I was confident I would be able to manage my own nightly pressure relief. My other goal was to not have to purchase a hospital-style bed for my new apartment as I had grown rather fond of my old full size bed. Although an adjustable hospital bed would allow me to set the perfect height for my transfers, elevate my head if needed and adjust to give my aides better positioning to help me dress, I wanted to limit the amount of medical equipment set up through my apartment and bedroom. I wanted as close a return to the normalcy I knew before my accident as possible. Besides, although it was irrelevant at that point in time, maybe in the future I’d have another lady-friend; a twin-sized hospital bed just doesn’t readily suggest “bacchanalian pleasure den.”

So, with a little ingenuity and a couple of two-by-fours my dad was able to construct a bed frame at the approximate height as to where I could keep my old mattress and would be able to transfer in and out of bed without too much trepidation…Ladies? Yet, as seen here, my limited mobility and the need to sit up in bed as I dress and undress put excessive strain of the innerspring coils in the left-center portion of my mattress, and even with numerous rotations and flips from one side to the other, a significant, uncomfortable dent developed. I also think with my old mattress was contributing to some chronic soreness I began experiencing in my shoulders and neck. With the comfort limitations and degenerating condition of my old mattress in mind, I set out looking to find a suitable mattress solution.

Thus, I’m banking my sweet dreams on the belief that the Swedish and NASA have come up with that solution in the form of a Tempur-Pedic® Swedish Sleep System™. That’s right, Bitches, you read that right—the Swedish. The inventors, in no particular order, of ball bearings, zippers, leggy blondes and turbo! And NASA: the North American Aeronautics and Space Administration; the people that brought you Velcro, faking moon landings on sound stages, and Tang. Believe you me; I can’t wait to wake up to some sweet Tang after an awesome night of astronaut-worthy of sleep (this whole post may have been an elaborate excuse to make an astronaut-Tang joke, of which I am extremely proud). But if those two sets of credentials aren’t good enough for you, let me allow Tempur-Pedic, Inc. to explain their own brilliance; from their press kit:

This breakthrough in sleep technology is viscoelastic, breathable and temperature sensitive. It self-adjusts to body size, using weight and heat to distribute pressure over its entire surface. This amazing material remains firm where needed and soft where desired–creating a custom fit for each individual body.

The original formula, developed for NASA, was not suited for introduction to the consumer market. After nearly a decade and millions of research dollars, Tempur-Pedic’s Swedish scientists introduced the perfected version of the material.

The vision of NASA scientists – a material that would provide pressure-relieving support to astronauts as they explored the universe – is now revolutionizing the future of comfort on earth. Tempur-Pedic’s dedication to producing the next “giant leap for mankind” is truly Changing the way the world sleeps!™

I’m going to sleep this shit out of this thing.

Laundry Episode One: The Whites

This will be the end of my fascinating video extravaganza for a while, as I am finally out of new footage.

These two laundry clips are rarities of sorts as I hardly ever do my own laundry. I suppose, if I had my own washer and dryer I'd do it myself, but the space in my apartment reserved for those appliances I took over for more shelving and a space for my microwave. The main reasons I don't do my own laundry are the time and effort it takes for me to get it done by myself; it is just not worth it. The laundry facilities in my apartment complex are in a separate building that, while within a suitable walking distance, require me to shuttle any clothes I want to wash back and forth in my van. On one occasion during the first year I lived here, I attempted to take a small load of dirty clothes to the laundry building. After some serious consideration and struggle as to how I would get the door (at which point still had a regular door knob) to the laundry room open without losing my basket of clothes on the ground, I discovered that I wasn't going to be able to get the washing machines to turn on. The coin box on the washers has a metal flange around its periphery that physically prevents me from being able to insert the necessary change into the machine.

Since that experience, if the person helping me with doesn't have time to wait out the hour-plus laundry cycle of washing, drying, and then putting the clean clothes away, I have had them just start the clothes in the washing cycle and then I can manage the rest. In essence, that is what is depicted in these clips. What is lost in the editing of the footage is that it takes me upwards of twenty minutes or more, depending on the size of the load of laundry, to unload each washer. The one time I did the whole process on my own, starting with unloading the washers through the drying cycle and then folding and putting the clothes away, I was at it for four hours.

Laundry Episode Two: Quarters

There was an act of filming footage (is it still technically "filming footage" if the visuals are digitally encoded on a plastic disc?) of me loading the clothes into the dryer and then later removing the clothes from the dryer, but a technical error (perhaps operator error; it's debatable) prevented those scenes from being entered into posterity. Thus the trilogy, as I envisioned it, did not come to pass. Spoiler alert: the clothes dry. Maybe twenty years from now, if there is still a demand for it, I'll go back and do the third part over again. Then again I probably shouldn't, because if Lucas taught us anything, it just won't be as good.

HHAC on the GFLMFRGM

The end result of buying groceries.