Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Monday, June 26, 2006 9:00 AM

False Restart 2


Monday and Tuesday are blah days. But at least on Monday I get in a good workout with the weights. The floor refinishing guys come to put the last touches on the floors. Now I just have to give them time to dry before painting the trim and moving the furniture back on them.

On Tuesday I go directly after work to the Long Beach city council meeting where a discussion on the modernization/expansion of the airport is to be held. I arrive just before 5 pm and the airport discussion starts near 5:30 pm. An hour into the discussion I see a co-worker arrive and I get his attention during one of the breaks and he comes over and sits with me. During another break I get the attention of Person T_U and we have a three way discussion (Person T_U, my co-worker, and myself) about the airport and the neighborhoods. The city council hearings and discussion about the airport are still going on at 9:30 pm when my co-worker and I decide to leave. (It turns out that the city council did not vote on the environmental impact report until near 11:30 pm. And they only postponed a final decision until next week's city council meeting.)

On Wednesday and Thursday I'm a bit lazy because my right leg still hurts. I don't know what is going on. But when the ResourceScout meeting is cancelled on Thursday (Joseph was given Angels tickets for all six of his kids) I get in a good session with the weights. And continue painting baseboard trim.

Friday is a very productive day away from Northrop Grumman. I get out for the aquarium bicycle ride in the cool early morning. Right away I pull out the lawn edger, mower, and trimmer to mow and tidy up the front yard. And then I continue with the lawn spreader to lay down some fertilizer for the summer. After a shower I start moving some furniture back onto the hardwood floors - mainly the office furniture and computer and VOIP phone. By 1:15 pm I am tired so I get down for about an hour nap.

I wake up from the nap refreshed, so I skate over to the automobile dealer to pick up the car and return home. I paint baseboard trim for about an hour before sitting back and relaxing during this hot day. I have a long conversation with Person T_U about the city council meeting and other things, but then I head for sleep early.

On Friday I utilize many modes of private transportation for fun and errands. In the morning I went for the aquarium bicycle ride on the moutnain bicycle and also used the motorcycle to take care of a few errands. Later I starp on the inline skates and skate over to the automobile dealer to pick up the car from a tuneup. And then I drive home.

On Saturday I'm lazy, so I do the laundry, do some grocery shopping, and paint some more baseboard. Then I get out near mid-day for a sunny bicycle ride down around the aquarium and back up the Los Angeles river to home. I managed to get a couple of pieces of furniture oiled with lemon oil before I take a cool shower and refeed with diet Coke, bread, and cheese. I call Person T_U to come over and help me move some furniture. Person T_U, though he lives only about two miles from my house, has never come over. And he's curious to see all of the remodeling efforts. We get four heavy pieces moved and Person T_U takes note of the remodel - complimenting all of the features that Person C_T has picked out. Late on Saturday I call Person T_U and thank him for helping me move stuff and then I collapse into bed.

Sunday starts out lazy as I read the newspaper. Seeing that I have time, I squeeze in a very good, strict form session with the weights before the MotoGP race comes on. The race sees a nasty accident at the start and there are bikes and bodies strewn all over the place. And one of the riders, as he's riding in an ambulance to the nearest hospital, is banged around more as the ambulance gets into an accident right near the hospital entrance. This weekend certainly changes the chase for the MotoGP world championship.

After the race I get out skating. As I'm heading west towards the Queen Mary I hear a cyclist following behind me for a couple minutes. After a while the cyclist pulls alongside me to pass and says, "Nice gait." And then he continues ahead and says, "I'd break my neck if I tried that. So I stick with cycling".

As he rides ahead I resignedly say, "I do both". But it's a good skate. Later I relax and read more of the newspaper and get ready for another workweek.

On Monday and Tuesday I get in good sessions with the weights (after work). And then I work on the house - either moving furniture to where it should be, oiling wood furniture, or painting the last of the baseboard. On Tuesday before work, as I'm getting back on my motorcycle from stopping for morning muffins, a police officer stops me and wants to talk about my carbon fiber exhaust. Am I going to get a ticket for being too loud? But no, it turns out the police officer has a Yamaha R6 and wants to know how I like my pipe, how loud it is, how the performance is, and etc. We have a 5 minute conversation and then I'm on my way to work.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I just drill the muscles while working out. On Tuesday I'm already feeling the soreness an hour after the workout as I've pushed to the highest weights ever and felt that there is more to come for Friday. Tuesday the weights are pushed arounf after work and on Wednesday it happens before work because I have to drop the motorcycle off at the dealer for a tuneup after work.

After I drop the motorcycle of at the dealer I take a different set of two buses than usual. Instead of using and MTA 128 bus and transfering to the Long Beach 7, I take the Long Beach 92 and transfer to the Long Beach 191A. I walk over to the corner to catch the first bus and I see it waiting at the stop. But I have to cross the major intersection twice to get there. But it turns out that the bus is just sitting there for a few minutes, so I step onto the bus, pay my dollar, and the bus driver closes the door and away we go. Nobody gets on or off this bus, so the first leg is quick. This is contrary to the MTA 128 bus where there is soembody waiting to get on or off the bus at every single stop. I wait for 10-15 minutes to catch the second bus, but things go smoothly. So a comparsion of the trips is $1.25 and 80 minutes for the old way and $2.00 and 45 minutes for the new way (to travel about 11 miles).

When I get home I do a bit more painting of the baseboard. I have one more hour of baseboard painting to do. And then I relax with Internet surfing, the television, and reading for the rest of the evening. And phone calls with Person C_T and Person T_U.

On Thursday I stay in bed for an extra hour or so because it will be a long day. I get to work and try to be as productive as possible, though I am a bit bored right now. At 6:30 pm I start the drive to La Mirada for the ResourceScout meeting. We have a long meeting and I'm not arriving at home until 10:30 pm. I quickly go to bed and read for a while. And then go to sleep. But at 2:30 am on Thursday night (Friday morning) I wake up and cannot sleep, so I do some more reading until almost 4 am. About an hour of sleep passes before the alarm wakes me and I'm arriving at work at 6:30 am on Friday morning.

On Friday at work we have an "all hands" meeting with the president of the company speaking. While hundreds of people jam into a large facility to listen to the president, he arrives 13 minutes late and speaks for 11 minutes. What is wrong with this picture?

Later I get in a great session with the weights, mow the lawn, and do the laundry. Now I can have fun during the weekend.

On Saturday I get out for a ride up the Los Angeles river and back home. It's a good ride as my legs feel extra strong today. Where did the extra stength come from? After a shower I grab the first bus to head over for the motorcycle dealer to pick up the motorcycle. As I get off the first bus and sit down on the bench for the second bus, I read the MTA sign for the 128 bus and see that it says that it only runs Monday through Friday. Oh crap, now what do I do? Well, I don't have a chocie, so I start walking towards the motorcycle dealer. It takes more than an hour with the sun shining hard, my helmet in hand, and motorcycle jacket and/or draped over my shoulder, but I finally make it to the dealer. And have a nice ride home with a quick stop at the bank.

Later in the afternoon Person C_T comes over and we hang out. While I go to lift weights - another great session - Person C_T makes dinner. And afterwards we just relax and watch television.

On Sunday morning I get out for the aquairum ride. As I'm riding around the aquarium and starting to head back for home a motorcycle police officer rides up behind me and says, "Cyclists coming from behind. Yield the course". And I nod my head and take my usual turn. It turns out that there was a triathlon that had part of the course around the aquarium. Person C_T heads off to do yoga and I watch the Canadian Grand Prix. When Person C_T returns from yoga we hop on the bicycles and ride over to a nearby street festival. It's pretty boring, so we ride over to wear Person T_U is holding an open house. And we visit for about 30 minutes before returning home.

The MotoGP race is a wild one. Valentino Rossi riding with a borken bone in his wrist from Thursday's crash, Marco Melandri riding with severe injuries from last week's horrible crash, and a close fight at the end. Near the end I just keep saying, "This is my worst nightmare" because Colin Edwards is leading and I don't like him at all. He gets passed one lap from the end but, to his credit, doesn't give up and repasses to take the lead. But then rides over the grass and crashes and finishes in 14th place. Justice is served. Melandri and Rossi ride home to 7th and 8th - their injuries obviously preventing them from contesting for the lead.

On Sunday evening I just relax and straighten up the house as I'm still putting stuff in it's place from the floor refinishing.