On Monday I get to work early, work an extra hour, and head for home following a fairly non-productive day. I get in a good session with the weights as I pretty much equal the maximum weight that I lifted before the Hepatatis B. It was a struggle, but it feels good. And this comeback road has been a struggle, but has been worth it. On Monday night after I impulsively sand both sides of a door and paint just one side (so that it can dry before I turn it over), I handle calls from Joe and Person M_Fl and I miss a call from Person T*. I had not heard from Person M_Fl for about 6 months and things are going well for him.
On Monday night I also realize that I missed celebrating Tsubasa Imai's birthday on October 17th. I hope that he forgives me for forgetting.
On Tuesday I get out for a short run before work (according to the marathon and half marathon training schedule). I stay at Northrop Grumman late and contribute where I can before heading off to a ResourceScout meeting.
Wednesday, surprisingly, turns into a ChiChi day! After work I lift weights with the heavy weights though a couple of exercises are down a repetition or so. I slap a quick second coat of paint on one side of a door, take a shower, and head to see "Voces Inocentes" (or "Innocent Voices" if you read the subtitles) at the Art Theatre in Long Beach. The Art Theatre is near downtown Long Beach near some of the palces that I used to hang out at. It is a gem of a theatre that plays the limited distribution films. The movie is about the civil war in El Salvador from 1980 through 1992 seen through the eyes of an 11 year old boy who is about to be forced into joining the army. As I'm paying for my ticket a ChiChi walks up and smiles at me and I smile back and we exchange friendly "Hi's" as I head into the theatre. The ChiChi is with his father (who is probably from El Salvador) and they sit a row or two in front of me. The ChiChi sneaks occasional glances at me before the movie starts and afterwards. But I am brought back to reality by the movie and the harsh struggle of life in a war-torn third world country that the US government decided was the "last defense against the spread of communism".
After the movie I do a quick walk-through of a coffeehouse near the Art Theatre but it is crowded so I drive over to another coffeehouse. This place is also fairly crowded so I take a seat next to a guy who's on the phone (and after I sit down I realize that he was talking to me when he said into the phone "There's a seat here for you"). I grab some sections of the newspaper and read as I have my 7-Up. Soon a number of the guy's friends come in and pull up chairs to chat with the guy. There are introductions made all around and I'm included in the introductions. There are five new people introduced to me and I make it a point to try and remember each name.
As the conversation floats around on subjects I occasionally tear myself from the newspaper to chime in. As I take irregular breaks from the reading and the chat I notice three ChiChis present - one of which is included in the "ring of friends". I notice that this ChiChi, Person G_T, seems to be paying more attention to me then anyone else, though maybe that's just because I'm a newcomer. The other ChiChis are engaged in their own conversations, doing homework/paperwork, or working with their laptop computers. Midway through the evening I realize that Wednesday's used to be CSULB night at this coffeehouse where a number of CSULB students would gather to socialize and otherwise.
During the conversation Person B_PA, the guy who I first sat down next to, spills his Snapple lemonade and a lot of it gets on my (old) shoes, socks, and pants. And of course there are a number of comments by the "ring of friends" towards Person B_PA, such as "Cut this guy's lemonade off", "You just met this guy and you've already spilled your drink on him", "You're going to try and get his phone number by spilling a drink on Ray and offering to pay for the cleaning?" Well, we laugh it off and there is no harm done because I am wearing old shoes, socks, and pants.
Later in the evening the "ring of friends" leave and just Person B_PA and I have a nice long conversation about all sorts of things. By now it is 11:15 and I need to leave. All of the ChiChis have left previously and I need to get up and run before work. Thus I tell Person B_PA, "I haven't come down here for a long time. But I think I'll start coming down here once a week to get some reading done and to have a change of environment". In the end as we are leaving Person B_PA gives me his card and says that we'll see each other around or we should have dinner. And I go back to the standard, "I think I'll start coming down here once a week and maybe I'll see you then". When I get home I read for a short time and the lights are going off at midnight.
On Thursday I get in a 4 mile run before work. The day at Northrop Grumman is sorta productive.
On Friday I stay away from work at Northrop Grumman. I get out for a fast loop ride (almost 30 miles) and complete it within a couple minutes of the best overall time. Afterwards I finish painting the door, grab a quick shower, visit the ATM, and give blood to my health care provider (to check on the Hepatatis B state). The technician has the needle in my vein before I've sat down and has the blood painlessly drawn. And I tell him, "You're very good!" And he just smiles. I stop off and get the car washed before I do some grocery shopping and head for home. At home I start piling through old paperwork and discover that my passport will be expiring in February 2006. So I fill out the renewal forms online and get two passport photos taken to go out in Saturday's mail. And a few other little miscellaneous errands like laundry, spraying the juniper bushes for spider mites, and starting on washing every interior door gets me to 4:30pm. And then I'm down for a nap until 6 pm.
When the phone calls start I try to arrange the entourage for the night of clubbing. Right near 8pm I hit the weights with a good session - I dropped the weights just a bit to concentrate on form and to give the joints a slight respite from the pounding. After a shower I drive on up to West Hollywood. Over the course of the evening I jump into and out of three clubs. At the second I get a number of offers even though I am only there for about an hour. Present are Person M_P and Person E_F (who I have the softest spot in my heart for). As my phone rings (or vibrates) to let me know of the arrival of Person C_T and Person L_M at a nearby club, I stop on my way out to say to a ChiChi, "I like the red streaks in your hair". The ChiChi acknowledges the compliment and I continue out. I also wanted to say this to another ChiChi who had long hair and a set of asymmetric spiral streaks that I really liked.
Person C_T, Person L_M, Person E_A, and another friend, Person T_Something meet up with me at the herd, clone club. I make the best of the evening and kinda enjoy the Halloween costume contest, though the ChiChi dressed as cupid didn't win (as I would have hoped). Near 1:40 am I'm leaving and, wouldn't you know it, there's construction on the 710 that delays my arrival home until near 3 am on Saturday morning.
On Sunday I'm up near 7 am to continue the half-marathon training run. After a shower I work around the house, send off the passport application, do some grocery shopping, and relax a bit. Near noon I set off for the loop bicycle ride of almost 30 miles. It's a good ride though a bit windy and I'm a bit tired from the running and lack of sleep. After the ride I barely make it through edging and mowing the lawn before a quick shower and a nap. When I wake up about 50 minutes later it takes me another 10 minutes to be able to move, to stand in a stable manner, and to continue the day's activities. Dinner is vegetables and salsa and crackers and cheese and diet Coke. And now the phone calls start again for tonight's celebration of Person L_M's birthday.
I'm at the designated club a bit early and I run into Person T_CT. We hang out together for quite a bit of time as we each wait for our friends and acquaintances to show up. And this helps out because there are one a couple of offers made - the hanging out with Person T_CT tending to ward off extraneous offers. Both the ChiChi with the red streaks in his hair and the ChiChi with the asymmetric spiral streaks are present, but I don't take the opportnity to say anything to them this time. As we speak about work, I tell Person T_CT that our company built a satellite for his home country and Person T_CT asks a number of questions. And I finally say, "If you keep asking so many pointed questions, then I'm going to have to report you as a spy".
To which Person T_CT responds, "But I'm from Taiwan, not China. I couldn't be a spy".
But I persist with "It doesn't matter". And now Person T_CT, either fortunately or unfortunately, stops asking the questions about our satellites. The club is very crowded tonight with many people in and out of costume. The music has it's ups and down on this evening though the music gets better as we approach the 2 am hour. Person C_T, Person L_M, and Person T_U get to the club near 1 am and we hang out for a while before each of us seems to go our own way - Person C_T going back outside to hang out with Person E_A and another friend who don't come in.
Outside the club at 2:30 am the sidewalk is packed with people in and out of costumes. And there is a huge line to get into the club for the after hours - this being the only club with after hours for a few blocks (or miles - I don't know which). It's fun to stay outside with my entourage and watch the people laughing and playing and stuff.
As I'm leaving the club at 2:30 am on Sunday morning Person E_Ice catches me. We have a 10 or 15 minute conversation about ice hockey and Halloween and going back into the club. But I'm tired, so I head for the car and race on home - taking an alternate route to avoid the construction delays.
On Sunday I'm up a bit after 6 am to continue the half marathon mileage buildup. As can be expected, it takes a bit of time to get started since I've only had about 4 hours of sleep each of the last two nights. But the run goes well.
After reading some of the newspaper, painting some doors, and painting a motorcycle fairing, I get out for the aquarium bicycle ride. My legs are tired, but it's a good ride inspired by "Sanctuary" again. This mix, the Lemon Mix by the way, starts with an ominous but persistent beat and synth runs as sharp and searing as shards of glass. It's a good alternative to the Moran mix that I like (but don't have in mp3 format yet). By the end of the ride my legs are very tired (from lack of sleep, three good bicycle rides, and two good runs in the last three days) and so I struggle on home - except for the slight uphill sprint to make the last traffic light. Now I'm done for the day as I replensih my energy supplies with a big plate of vegetables, salsa, bread, cheese, and diet Coke.
The rest of the evening is spent organizaing candy for Halloween, reading the newspaper, and relaxing. I'm in bed by 10 pm.
On Monday I get to work early so that I can leave early. Right near 3 pm I leave work to do some abdominal exercises (to help stabilize the lower back), get out for a long walk, and finish washing and trimming out doors. Except now I find a bit more trim that could some painting so that will occupy some evenings through the next weekend. By 6:30 pm the kids are arriving for trick or treating and I end up passing out candy to about 70 kids before the evening closes.