Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Monday, October 9, 2006 9:00 PM

Fort Wayne Again!


I get in good workouts with the weights on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. These workouts relieve some of the stress of not knowing when I will return to Fort Wayne for more sensor vibration testing.

On Tuesday I receive a phonecall from Person J_T who I have not heard from since about March or April. He says that the guy that I tried to set him up with flaked on him and that I need to help him find somebody else to go out with. I return the phonecall to Person J_T late at night and offer two suggestions and then explain that I will continue to go through my list of numbers and see who I can find for him.

On Thursday I am tired. I make it through work with a fairly productive day. When I leave work I have scheduled a redeye flight to Fort Wayne for Monday night, told everyone that I would not be coming in on Friday, and have a nice motorcycle ride home. I am tired - so tired that I don't lift weights or anything. I just get out for a 40 minute walk and head for home.

Friday starts off with the (almost) 30 mile loop bicycle ride. It starts at home with the sun shining, has lots of fog and dew in the middle of the ride near the ocean, and finishes with the sun shining. But the sun doesn't actually re-appear until almost 1 or 2 miles from home - the morning fog is that thick. And with the fog and dew I have no brakes on the bicycle so that I even stick out my foot (thinking that I'm going down) as I brake and make the turn on the bride over the San Gabriel river. But it's a good ride. When I get home I pull out the ladder and rake and trash bags and go into the atic to remove two giant bird's nests. I've been dreading do this task, but I just take my time, make sure that I have good footing and clearance, and quickly get the two nests cleaned out. I was thinking (based upon other people's descriptions of the sizes) that I would need many, many trash bags to clean the nests up. But it only fills three large trash bags. Afterwards I grab a nice warm shower and relax with bread, cheese, and diet Coke as I catch up on email and check out the first two practice results from the Grand Prix of China.

On Friday there is talk between Person C_T, Person L_M, Person T_U, and myself whether to go out clubbing or not. In the end we decide not to.

Saturday starts with a good aquarium ride and wacthing (wet) qualifying for the Grand Prix of China. Afterwards I run errands and get the car washed. And then I wax the motorcycle and wax the rims of the car. Later Person C_T comes over and we go for a 90 minute walk into gangland territory and stop in at an auto parts store for brake disks for Person C_T's car. When we return home I start to unfasten the bolts holding the wheels to the rotors. Somebody has tightened these bolts so tight that I end up breaking the lug nut wrench. Who was the braindead that did that? We decide to buy new tools on Sunday morning. But now we head out to West Hollywood and meet up with Person T_U. The music is only decent today and all of us are bored. So Person T_U heads for another club while Person C_T and I head for home.

On Sunday I watch the (wet) Grand Prix of China before Person C_T and I get out for another 90 minute walk. Just before the walk starts we run into a neighbor and he has a lug nut wrench that we can borrow. He comes over and we get all 8 bolts loosened up on the two front wheels. When we return from the walk I start in on the brakes except that one bolt still does not want to come out. I try to muscle it out, I stand on the wrnech to get my weight behind it, and I try everything. But it will not come. As Person C_T and I plan our next course of action, I grab a quick shower and then decide that this brake project is so roadbloacked that it is an omen. I tell Person C_T that he needs to have a mechanic do his brakes. Though I've done many sets of car, truck, and motorcycle disk brakes before, none have ever hit roadblocks at every step of the way. It is an omen and, unfortunately, he needs to pay someone to do the brakes this time.

Afer Person C_T leaves, I relax. Except that I continue to feel more and more depressed and have feelings of failure over not being able to a set of disk brakes. And I know my final decision was correct, I still have the failure feelings. I continue to dwell on the feelings so much that I don't really accomplish much for the rest of Sunday except to take the trash out. As I finish up some Sunday night reading I finally turn off the lights for sleep before 10 pm.

Monday and Tuesday see postponed flights each night between Los Angeles and Fort Wayne, Indiana as the contractor is having some problems. I get in good workouts with the weights each night and mow the lawn on Monday and go walking on Tuesday. Tuesday during the day at work I'm leaving the bathroom when a co-worker/friend says that I look tired. So I turn around and stare at myself in the bathroom mirror with my friend standing next to me. I stand motionless - staring - for about 30 seconds before I tell him that I am tired and stressed out and I saw the fatigue in some pictures that Person C_T took of me a couple weeks ago. We both agree that I need a vacation and I head back to my desk.

On Wednesday night I just work abdominals and lay around the house. And, of course, I wake up in the middle of the night and cannot fall back asleep for a few hours.

Thursday and Friday see pretty heavy sessions with the weights as I approach my maximum lifts again. And I keep thinking, "These lifts shouldn't be as easy as they are". And as a result of lifting heavy I sleep very well and deep on Thursday and Friday nights.

On Saturday I wimp out and only do the aquarium bicycle ride even though I had originally planned to ride longer. As I'm heading for a home I see a "dog" scavenging along the hillside that borders the cycling trail and the Los Angeles river. As I get closer I start to realize that it is not a dog but a coyote. There are no people around, so this confirms that it is a coyote. As I ride past keeping an eye on the coyote I kind of startle it and it jumps a bit and looks up at me. I keep going as the distance between me and the coyote is about 30 feet. (And I know that coyotes are more scared of people than vice versa, but why risk it?) After qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, laundry, and grocery shopping, I relax for a bit.

In the afternoon I edge, trim, and mow the lawn. During the gardening my neighbor catches me and we look up a high blood pressure medicine on the Internet for her. She merrily goes off to read the information that we have found. When I finish the backyard I get down for about a 90 minute nap. During the day I've handled phone calls from Person J_T, Person T*, Person M_C, Person C_T, and Person T_U. Person T_U will be going out to a club in Long Beach so I agree to meet up with him later. Near 8 pm I get in a good, heavy session with the weights before I get cleaned up to go clubbing.

I'm walking a few blocks from my parking spot to the club when another guy is headed in the same direction. We start a conversation and he is headed a few blocks farther down the street to another club. We talk about the music and atmosphere of the two clubs and I can see him eyeing me up and down. Thus, before I have even entered the club, there is an offer put on the table (which I dismiss) with, "Have a fun evening tonight at the other club".

The evening starts slow with old music (about 6 years old) and a small crowd. Before the evening is done there is a pretty good crowd and visits with Person T_U, Person T_CT (who I haven't seen since before Christmas), Person W_V (who I haven't seen in multiple years), Person D_V, and Person S_V. There are many acquantances that Person T_U knows and that hang out with us for a few minutes before proceeding to other activities. I leave near 1:30 am and start watching the taped Japanese Grand Prix when I get home. After the first pit stops I head for sleep near 2:45 am. When I take my clothes off there is a phone number that is in the back of my pants. I can only recall a cute girl and guy who were smiling a lot at me and who would put their hands on my lower back (or that general region) whenever they would pass by. I do not call the phone number.

On Sunday I watch the remainder of the Japanese Grand Prix before getting out for the aquarium ride. Other than a long walk later in the afternoon, Sunday is a low key day of working on an evolutionary alogirthm, watching football, and relaxing. I get hold of Fort Wayne personnel early in the afternoon and then re-schedule my flight from Sunday night to Monday night based upon the latest schedule. The evening ends with the viewing of "Desperate Housewives".