Monday and Wednesday are, again, bicycle commute days. I see the broken spoke on the rear wheel after the Monday morning bicycle but continue to ride the bicycle knowing that it should be okay for a couple of rides (until I can get it to the bicycle shop for repair). Tuesday and Thursday are lifting days where I start to increase the weight of each lift again while dropping the repetitions.
On Tuesday before the ResourceScout meeting I buy the
new CD from The Kills, but don't listen to it until Wednesday morning
at work. I like the new CD. It's dark, it's morbid, it's alternative, and
it just hits the spot right now. Some excerpted lyrics:
No Wow
You're gonna have to step over my dead body, before you walk out that door
Get the guns out. Your love is a deserter.
You got one eye as white as a bride.
The other eye, as black as the devil.
It's alright. Crosswed wires, sparking a little, start a house fire with us in the middle.
If I'm so evil, why are you so satisfied?
On Wednesday I am in a review with the customer and leave for an hour to interview a prospective candidate. I am interupted 30 minutes in to the interview by my project boss who wants me to come back to the review because "...all hell has broken loose". So I apologize three times to the interviewee, turn him over to the acting department manager, and rush back to the review. We are having a discussion and I contribute the truth. It is not what some people want to hear. During the discussion there come out discrepancies in our story and finally the project boss, who made me rush back to the review, points at me and says, "Because he wasn't doing his job." At this point you can hear the proverbial pin drop and even though it is not entirely my fault and there is plenty of blame to go around, there is no point in getting into an argument amongst Northrop Grumman personnel in front of the customer regarding who is at fault. So I only say, "Duly noted", and try to move the discussion along. One of the senior senior senior people who is well respected by everyone mutters under his breath, "People in glass houses..." By now I am thinking over this entire little exchange and cannot believe that my project boss has sold me down the river like this.
When the topics relevant to my presence are finished I leave the meeting and there are a few people who make comments about the "...not doing his job" comment. I keep a smile on my face and "...don't say an effing word" though there are plenty of words that come to mind now. I excuse myself, get into my cycling clothes, and head home on the bicycle. The words, "...not doing his job" echo in my mind during the entire ride home. I try to find a train to throw myself in front of, but all of the train tracks are elevated.
As I'm riding down my street I run into the neighborhood punk rock ChiChi. I stop and tell him about the new Kills' CD even though he has not heard it yet. He tells me that his band is starting a North American tour in a week and they will be in Los Angeles near July 4th. I ask him to drop a flyer in my mailbox about the Los Angeles stop and I head home.
When I get home I strip the two wheels/tires off the bicycle, take a shower, and drive over to the bicycle store to get the broken spokes fixed and just have the wheels "trued". For a few minutes nobody helps me at the service counter and there is an extra, empty service ticket, so I start filling it out with my name and phone number and then I continue on to filling out the work description. Finally somebody helps me and I say that I need help making my own estimate for the repair. And I beg and plead for the repair to be done by late Sunday afternoon. Thus it shall be.
I keep thinking about the "...not doing his job" comment on Wednesday night and realize that in the old days, this is what would threaten my sobriety. But I know that this is not an option, so I just deal with it the best that I can. And wondering what I can expect on Thursday.
On Thursday morning I wake up at 4:44 am to the sound of a huge downpour. I lay in bed for about ten minutes listening to the rain beat down. And seeing that the alarm will ring in a few minutes, I get up and start my day. I'm at work at 5:40 am for a 6:00 am telecon with the East Coast.
I'm interupted a number of times during the telecon which lasts until at least 9 am. With earth-shattering surprise, Person T* brings her son by my office to say hello (since today is bring your son/daughter to work day at Northrop Grumman). And Person T* doesn't even have a hatchet or ax with her.
Early in the afternoon Person T*'s son walks into my office alone. He starts playing with the toys in my office as I finish up a telephone call. About ten minutes after the phone call is done, Person T* comes into my office and finds me sitting on the floor with her son - playing with the toys and robots and stuff. Person T* is mad at her son for going off without telling her where he went. But everything is okay. And a few co-workers come into my office to find Person T*'s son and me sitting on the floor - playing with toys - as Person T chaperones us.
When I get home on Thursday I lift weights, grab a quick dinner, paint more doorway trim, measure a room, and relax. This has been a long and difficult week and I want Friday to be here and over with very quickly.
Friday is a productive day at work since a lot of people are out and cannot interrupt me. There are four meetings to attend, but I'm productive the rest of the time. After work I get in a session with the weights, trim and mow the lawn, take a quick shower, and do some grocery shopping. Person C_T calls and says that he will come and visit after he gets his roommate, Person L_M, ready for her date.
I wake up on Saturday morning with Person C_T. I want to get out for a bicycle ride, but the road bike, with the tire that I just repalced, has a flat tire. So I put on running shoes and get out for a 7 mile run. Later in the afternoon, after visiting a bathroom contractor and babysitting the Charter Communications people at home, I fix the flat tire with a new inner tube. Hopefully I'm set for a good long Sunday morning bicycle ride. Person C_T and I spend a quiet evening at home with the television on and homemade cupcakes (courtesy of Person C_T). Phone calls from Joe and Person T_U are handled politely with, "I need a break from clubbing".
On Sunday I get out for the almost 30 mile bicycle ride. After a shower I do the laundry, watch the MotoGP motorcycle race from China in torrential conditions, re-arrange some office furniture, pick up the mountain bicycle wheels with fixed spokes, and relax around the house.
I wake up in the middle of the Sunday night/Monday morning with my lower back stiff and sore. It's either from the long Saturday morning run or from the pulling/pushing/tugging/lifting from re-arranging office furniture on Sunday afternoon. Either way I hope it goes away quickly.