On Tuesday after work I get in another killer workout. One shouldn't have these workouts on consecutive days, but sometimes you just have to do it and maybe shock the body into strength gains. On Wednesday I can only manage a long walk and some abdominal and lower back work. The phone message on Wednesday night says that I have to report on Thursday morning for jury service in Compton, so I make the necessary calls and try and figure out how to deal with contractors who are coming on Friday afternoon. But I still clean the inside of the designated windows just in case it works out. On Wednesday some new sheets arrive from overstock.com to replace the ones that "are used up".
On Thursday I get out walking before heading to Compton for jury duty. The entire morning is wasted as the people describe the process and then we go to lunch. I call Person M_Fl, Person C_T, and Lori and inquire, "I'm sitting in a Burger King in Compton trying to decide whether to go back to jury duty. What should I do?". Person C_T is the only one that I get live and he says to go back. In the afternoon I'm called to potentially sit on a jury and we go through the questioning. But it doesn't finish, so I'll be returning to the Compton courthouse on Friday morning. I get in a great session with the weights, grab a shower, and head for the ResourceScout meeting.
On Friday morning I get out cycling before taking a shower and heading to court. Today the policeman at the parking structure directs me to park the motorcycle near the entrance and near the courthouse rather than where all of the other jurors are supposed to park. The potential jurors are eventually assembled in the courtroom and the judge informs us that a plea bargain has been reached and our services are no longer needed. This, to me, was not unexpected - the defendant usually starts getting nervous when he/she starts seeing who is responsible for his/her fate. I get my proof of two days of jury service and head for home. As I start to mow the lawn the two neighbor ladies pull up with a truck with new pool furniture. And, of course, they cannot unload it. But I volunteer to help and we get it done rather quickly and painlessly. I mow the lawn, wash the motorcycle, and grab a quick shower (more like a rinse) as I wait for contractors to show up.
During a break in the action I start thinking about recent comments towards me:
"You're looking really good now. You're bigger but getting slimmer." (A co-worker who used to
play professional football.)
"Ray, we're worried about you." (Two co-workers who heard that I had downloaded a Justin
Timberlake song from iTunes.)
"Are you still having mental health isuses?" (Person C_T)
"You have pain in yur heart." (Unassociated)
The comments are washed away when I download the only Hole song that I like from iTunes:
You should learn how to say no
They get, they want, then never want it again
Go on take everything, take everything, I want you to
Go on take everything, take everything, I need you to
I'm the one with no soul
I told you...from the start...just how this would end
Go on take everything, take everything, I want you to
Go on take everything, take everything, I need you to
(As was also mentioned here.)
On Friday I arrive at the herd/clone club near 10:30 pm to get a wristband and head over to another club. I enjoy just hanging back and listening to the music and checking out the fractal videos. Just before midnight I walk back over to the herd/clone club and instantly start enjoying myself more. For some reason, though nobody has joined me on this outing, I have an especially fun time. But I have a problem because one of the bartenders at the herd/clone club stops me before I can order and says, "Wait, I know what you want. Let me think back. I know it's kinda weird. Cranberry juice and 7-Up, right?" I correct him that it is RedBull and 7-Up, but it's probably not a good sign that the bartender remembers what I drink. On the other hand, I'm probably the only one of drinking age drinking a non-alcoholoic beverage. There are interesting conversations tonight, but it is a non-phone number night so nobody gets my phone number. After the club tosses everyone out at 2 am I wait around again because I don't want to go home. I strike up a conversation with Person N_Tu who is a civil engineer in his home country. So we have a nice little discussion until the cab that he and his friends have called arrives. I head for home at a rapid pace and am able to turn the lights out near 3:15 am on Saturday morning.
On Saturday I'm out the door near 7 am for the aquarium bicycle ride. The aquarium bicycle ride is a good ride (in general) because it's a short ride from home, you get to ride along the Los Angeles river with birds and squirrels and jackrabbits running arounnd, you go past the Queen Mary and Catalina landing, you make a loop around the aquarium and assorted boats, there's usually a nice ocean breeze, and you get to crank along undisturbed for about an hour. After the ride I watch qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, wax the motorcycle, do the laundry, and get the car washed. Afterwards I do some ResourceScout programming and figure out the bugs in the Google API mapping that had prevented me from going farther. Late in the afternoon "Beyond Rangoon" comes on the Independent Film Channel. I start watching it and keep bouncing between tears and normalcy. After about 30 minutes I have to quit watching because the tears are now overwhelmingly winning. But now I wonder whatever happened to Chris, the Burmese ChiChi from the coffeehouse (since I lost touch with him when he went to New York).
I meet up with Person T_U, Joe, Brandon (back from pharmacy school n New York), and others at the second club of the night. The first club was kinda slow and the music was getting bad. At this club the music is good, for the most part, except when they mashup up tired old never was 80's music. On this night I do give my phone number to Person M_HK and stay until about 2:30. I again rush on home and get the lights turned out for sleep by 3:20 am on Sunday morning.
On Sunday I get up a bit after 7 am and watch the Formula One race from Monte Carlo and then squeeze a bicycle ride in before the start of the Indianapolis 500. I miss the start of the race but that's okay - I just read the Los Angeles times as the race plays in the background. (And as the race is red flagged just past the halfway point for a rain delay.)
I get out skating to kick off the summer skating season on Sunday afternoon. My form is horrible today. Is it because I've only skated twice so far this, I'm operating on three hours of sleep each of the last two nights, or because I'm a bit unenthused? Regardless it's a reasonable skate on the sun and ocean breeze. For the remainder of Sunday I relax and read the newspaper. And have a 55 minute conversation with Person M_HK.
I certainly sleep very well on Sunday night into Monday morning. I stagger around the house to regain consciousness and read websites before getting out for a hazy morning bicycle ride. After the ride I do some more ResourceScout programming before running a few little errands. I consider going out skating again, but decide to decide later. Late in the afternoon I bake chocolate chip cookies, put on my skates, and skate to two sets of friends to deliver the freshly-baked cookies. One set, Sim and Jorge, are former co-workers who live close by and who I haven't seen for quite a while. The second set is Mom and the youngest kid (because Dad has just left for business travel). Both visits are nice, the cookies are appreciated, but my feet are starting to get tired from being on the skates for two hours. (No, I never took my skates off and had both visits on the front porches.) The evening winds down with chocolate chip cookies of my own and some reading.