Let's start with a knee update. I've reached the phase in my recovery where the healing stops accelerating, so while I continue to get better, it's not at the same speedy rate as before, so I can get tricked into feeling like I've taken a step back.
I'm getting more little pops and cracks in the knee in the last several days, and I'm pretty sure that's actually a good thing, meaning that the swelling has finally gone down so much that the tendons and ligaments are actually sliding directly over bone and such, with the pops representing the inflammation still there.
I tested it out with some running-like activity(1) on Monday (that's 16 days post-injury) and to my dismay, the patella tendon is nowhere near strong enough to support real running. It is strong enough to support all the weight it receives when walking, but running requires each leg to absorb almost all of the body's weight with each step, and I'm not ready for that unfortunately. I'm going to give it until perhaps next Tuesday or Wednesday and try again.
Sara actually took the time to ask her doctor about my knee during a visit this week and the response(2), while typical, actually reminded me that I was forgetting something: therapy. Since I'm no longer an "athlete," it's easy for me to forget that when I hurt myself like I did, I actually need to rehab the muscles and tendons around the injury or else I will never fully heal.
But I did notice this morning for the first time that I'm back to being aggressive with the flashing Don't Walk signs, so at least my head has come all the way back.

Our move to Brooklyn finally happens this afternoon. I say "finally" because Sara started packing things about a week ago, so it's felt like a neverending exercise. Basically, Sara moves backwards from everyone else: she lives out of boxes for a week prior to moving, then unpacks all at once as soon as she moves in. Clearly this is exactly the opposite way I do things so it's been a little stressful lately. Also, I'm a little unsure about how everything will situate itself. We've gotten used to extra space over the past year and suddenly it will be an issue. To complicate things, my sacred measurements were just a few inches off in a couple spots but those few inches will be enough to wreck some havoc.

Finally, from the Please Move Out of NYC file: a younger woman called out from a point where she could not be seen to "hold that elevator" this morning just as the doors were closing(3). So the other guy in the elevator with me reaches out and saves the damsel from a purgatorial 20 second wait. She barges in with two large purses/bags flailing and a large coffee in one hand and a bottle of water and a large set of keys in the other. Exactly two seconds after the doors finally close she sneezes twice, both times with mouth open and naturally without even feigning like she was trying to cover it. Thanks.


1. I did three round trip jogs from the front to the back of the apartment. This may sound pathetic but remember our apartment is huge, especially front to back.
2. Huge props to this doctor for actually answering Sara's question, since most doctors would naturally straight refuse to consider giving advice outside of the comfort of a billed visit. The actual advice given was far less impressive: for me to come in so she could show me therapy exercises. No shit. As luck would have it, I actually had tendinitis in my right patella in college and so already know exactly the right exercises to work it properly, so I'll do it myself. Josh Folger: keeping FMCG's insurance premiums down, zero doctor's appointments at a time.
3. Please note there are six functional elevators in my bank serving a total of 17 floors. What I'm saying is that missing an elevator ain't like missing the L train back in the day.