Double Header in Richmond
I love the Richmond Nia community. I always get big, enthusiastic groups there and the way we handle my payment is unique. I teach for free. The regular teacher, who's class I'm subbing, gets her regular pay for the class. We place an offering jar and when I'm being introduced to the class by the teacher, she mentions that I'm doing it out of the kindness of my heart and if anyone wants to return the kindness, they can drop some money in the jar. I'm not sure if that technique would work in most cities, but here it works like a charm.
I taught twice in the ACAC fitness center today and I made $288 for the two classes. All in 'tips'!
The morning class was scheduled for 10:45am, but I somehow got it in my head that it started at nine. So I woke up early and was there, at the gym shortly after 8. River and I played around on the grass for about 45 minutes and then I set up his cage near the front door and waited for the crowds to gather. At 8:55, I was starting to be concerned that I didn't see anyone. My producer, Felicia, said she was going to be there half an hour early.
So I went inside and asked the people at the front desk what was going on. They looked at me, perplexed. They said they didn't know a Felicia and that there was no Nia class until 10:45am. Well, that was a relief in one sense. At least it explained why it was now 9am and still no one was there.
So I packed everything back into the car. I was going to recline the seat and take a nap in the car until class time, but then I had the idea that it would be the perfect opportunity to go to the post office and mail that check to my producer from Charlotte. Fortunately, a post office was nearby and the line was only one person. I was in and out of there in five minutes and was able to mail off the check and get that project off my to-do list.
Then, I thought, I still have time to fill up with water. I only had one empty jug, but since I have all this time, I might as well fill it. So that was easy. Then I stopped at a Shell station and picked up a fig bar cookie to assuage my intensifying hunger.
By that time, I was able to head back to the gym and wait outside the door again. This time, everything went as expected.
Class was awesome. I'm experimenting with changing the orientation of the room periodically throughout class. Since the focus is partially on 'Directions', it makes sense to play around with facing in different directions.
After class, I headed back to the motel room, not realizing I had left my phone and water bottle at the gym. Not a big deal, because I was due back there for another class, but daunting to think that I'm starting to lose my grip and leave things behind that are that important to me.
I had planned to eat something quickly and then get cleaned up for class and head out to one of the riverside parks that are running all through Richmond. James River has quite a big presence as it runs right through the center of town.
After eating, I noticed that River was acting strangely. He kept shaking his head and scratching his left ear with careful precision. So I went over and smelled his ear and got a good whiff of that familiar corn chips smell that he gets when he's yeasty. I smelled his right ear and it smelled fine. So I stuck my finger in there to wipe at his out ear canal and it felt waxy. I pulled out a fingerful of brown sludge and River was eager to smell and then eat it.
I attempted to wipe his ear clean with a tissue, and in the meantime, he was still scratching it with his back foot. So, at some point, he must've scratched himself pretty good because the tissue I put in there came out with blood on it.
So now I'm operating under the assumption that he's got a yeast infection in his ear. It's probably from those two times he found himself completely under water. The one time when he fell into the swimming pool and the other time when he was surprised by a big wave in the gulf.
I'm going to attempt to clean it out myself with household products and then progress to OTC medications before going to see a veterinarian. That is sure to be a traumatic experience, and I'd like to avoid it if I can. I'm confident in River's ability to self-heal.
Also, the housekeeper hadn't been to my room, so I didn't have the clean towels I was hoping to get. It took me a while to track some of those down.
I ate a quick lunch from stuff I had in my bag. I had the leftover roll from my BBQ dinner last night, and I had some canned chicken breast. So that, with some of my fermented cucumber slices made a nice light lunch.
Then I fed River. And the next thing I knew it was time to start heading back to the ACAC for class number two. It was a little bit strange to be back, so soon, in the same place, teaching the same thing, to a whole new group of people. It felt almost like deja vu, with a twist. But the class was fun and I continued to play with changing orientation in the room.
I left my water bottle behind once again! This time, Felicia was on the ball and saw that I was using it during class, so she picked it up and brought it out to my car. What is wrong with me?
Then, I got back to my room and couldn't find my room key anywhere. I turned my bag inside out and searched all over the car before finally resigning to the fact that I had locked myself out. But on a whim, I thought I'd try something. Without inserting the key, I just pushed really hard on the door. And to my surprise, it swung open. (Real secure, huh? LOL) And there was my room key sitting on the bed. I swear I'm losing my mind.
Richmond reminds me a little of Portland. The downtown area has the same feel and it is made up of a lot of outlying suburbs. There isn't a straight road in the entire metro area. A river runs through it. And they both use the airport code as a nickname for the city. PDX and RVA respectively. They both have the same number of letters in the name and both end with 'nd'. Ok so I'm reaching a little bit.
It was getting late, so I ordered Dominos and scarfed it down with one inhale.
Then I did laundry. The machine stole two of my quarters and I'm too lazy to pursue getting reimbursed for them. What a racket, huh? Make a million; Just steal 50 cents at a time and no one will care.
I think some pictures were taken in the classes today, but I don't have access to them yet. If I see them, I'll post them here. The only picture I took today was when River was trying to get away from me and my prodding fingers. He hid in the bathroom.
One thing I hate about this motel room. And this is something I see occasionally that baffles me. Why hide the electrical sockets? Every socket in this room is behind something. The nightstand hides one, the desk hides another. There's none in plain sight or easy to access. I can't plug anything in without moving furniture. There is one behind the TV set, which would be easy to access if it weren't for the TV set. So I took the TV set off the desk and put it on the floor. I'm just happy it wasn't fastened to the desk like most of them are.
Which brings up another point....
How much do TVs cost? This would be so easy to take. So for the cost of staying in the room, $39.99 plus tax, I could take a TV home with me. Not that I'd do that, but someone might.
I taught twice in the ACAC fitness center today and I made $288 for the two classes. All in 'tips'!
The morning class was scheduled for 10:45am, but I somehow got it in my head that it started at nine. So I woke up early and was there, at the gym shortly after 8. River and I played around on the grass for about 45 minutes and then I set up his cage near the front door and waited for the crowds to gather. At 8:55, I was starting to be concerned that I didn't see anyone. My producer, Felicia, said she was going to be there half an hour early.
So I went inside and asked the people at the front desk what was going on. They looked at me, perplexed. They said they didn't know a Felicia and that there was no Nia class until 10:45am. Well, that was a relief in one sense. At least it explained why it was now 9am and still no one was there.
So I packed everything back into the car. I was going to recline the seat and take a nap in the car until class time, but then I had the idea that it would be the perfect opportunity to go to the post office and mail that check to my producer from Charlotte. Fortunately, a post office was nearby and the line was only one person. I was in and out of there in five minutes and was able to mail off the check and get that project off my to-do list.
Then, I thought, I still have time to fill up with water. I only had one empty jug, but since I have all this time, I might as well fill it. So that was easy. Then I stopped at a Shell station and picked up a fig bar cookie to assuage my intensifying hunger.
By that time, I was able to head back to the gym and wait outside the door again. This time, everything went as expected.
Class was awesome. I'm experimenting with changing the orientation of the room periodically throughout class. Since the focus is partially on 'Directions', it makes sense to play around with facing in different directions.
After class, I headed back to the motel room, not realizing I had left my phone and water bottle at the gym. Not a big deal, because I was due back there for another class, but daunting to think that I'm starting to lose my grip and leave things behind that are that important to me.
I had planned to eat something quickly and then get cleaned up for class and head out to one of the riverside parks that are running all through Richmond. James River has quite a big presence as it runs right through the center of town.
After eating, I noticed that River was acting strangely. He kept shaking his head and scratching his left ear with careful precision. So I went over and smelled his ear and got a good whiff of that familiar corn chips smell that he gets when he's yeasty. I smelled his right ear and it smelled fine. So I stuck my finger in there to wipe at his out ear canal and it felt waxy. I pulled out a fingerful of brown sludge and River was eager to smell and then eat it.
I attempted to wipe his ear clean with a tissue, and in the meantime, he was still scratching it with his back foot. So, at some point, he must've scratched himself pretty good because the tissue I put in there came out with blood on it.
So now I'm operating under the assumption that he's got a yeast infection in his ear. It's probably from those two times he found himself completely under water. The one time when he fell into the swimming pool and the other time when he was surprised by a big wave in the gulf.
I'm going to attempt to clean it out myself with household products and then progress to OTC medications before going to see a veterinarian. That is sure to be a traumatic experience, and I'd like to avoid it if I can. I'm confident in River's ability to self-heal.
Also, the housekeeper hadn't been to my room, so I didn't have the clean towels I was hoping to get. It took me a while to track some of those down.
I ate a quick lunch from stuff I had in my bag. I had the leftover roll from my BBQ dinner last night, and I had some canned chicken breast. So that, with some of my fermented cucumber slices made a nice light lunch.
Then I fed River. And the next thing I knew it was time to start heading back to the ACAC for class number two. It was a little bit strange to be back, so soon, in the same place, teaching the same thing, to a whole new group of people. It felt almost like deja vu, with a twist. But the class was fun and I continued to play with changing orientation in the room.
I left my water bottle behind once again! This time, Felicia was on the ball and saw that I was using it during class, so she picked it up and brought it out to my car. What is wrong with me?
Then, I got back to my room and couldn't find my room key anywhere. I turned my bag inside out and searched all over the car before finally resigning to the fact that I had locked myself out. But on a whim, I thought I'd try something. Without inserting the key, I just pushed really hard on the door. And to my surprise, it swung open. (Real secure, huh? LOL) And there was my room key sitting on the bed. I swear I'm losing my mind.
Richmond reminds me a little of Portland. The downtown area has the same feel and it is made up of a lot of outlying suburbs. There isn't a straight road in the entire metro area. A river runs through it. And they both use the airport code as a nickname for the city. PDX and RVA respectively. They both have the same number of letters in the name and both end with 'nd'. Ok so I'm reaching a little bit.
It was getting late, so I ordered Dominos and scarfed it down with one inhale.
Then I did laundry. The machine stole two of my quarters and I'm too lazy to pursue getting reimbursed for them. What a racket, huh? Make a million; Just steal 50 cents at a time and no one will care.
I think some pictures were taken in the classes today, but I don't have access to them yet. If I see them, I'll post them here. The only picture I took today was when River was trying to get away from me and my prodding fingers. He hid in the bathroom.
One thing I hate about this motel room. And this is something I see occasionally that baffles me. Why hide the electrical sockets? Every socket in this room is behind something. The nightstand hides one, the desk hides another. There's none in plain sight or easy to access. I can't plug anything in without moving furniture. There is one behind the TV set, which would be easy to access if it weren't for the TV set. So I took the TV set off the desk and put it on the floor. I'm just happy it wasn't fastened to the desk like most of them are.
Which brings up another point....
How much do TVs cost? This would be so easy to take. So for the cost of staying in the room, $39.99 plus tax, I could take a TV home with me. Not that I'd do that, but someone might.
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