Tuesday is another hot day - it's almost a good thing to have to go to work. But I start the day with a 32 minute walk and then get on the motorcycle for the first time in about two weeks. Traffic is a mess getting to work and I end up splitting lanes on the freeway for quite a while. I also realize that, being off the bike for two weeks, I am a bit out of it. Thus I take my time and don't hit anything this time. After work I get in a session with the weights where I struggle. Why is this a struggle? A cool shower ends the day's activities before I get some scientific and geopolitical reading done.
Wednesday and Thursday are blah days. There are more meetings and teleconferences to put up with. At the end of one teleconference two of my co-workers ask why I didn't say anything. And I just say, "If I opened my mouth I was going to start yelling. And that wouldn't be good." Because neither has heard me yell, they don't quite believe that it could happen. But it could considering how these meetings and teleconferences have gone lately. On Wednesday I'm late getting home from work and don't even get in a workout. But on Thursday I walk before work and then mow the lawn and work abdominals and lower back after work. Probably to relieve the stress of having to go back to Fort Wayne Indiana next week.
Friday is another day off. I start the day slow but get out for a good loop ride on the road bicycle. Because there isn't much other cycling and skating traffic today I am able to crank along nicely. Afterwards I go visit the acupuncturist for more help with a slight sciatica problem and buy speaker cable. Now I just need to find the time of day when the attic will be cool enough to go up there.
After trying to take a nap and failing, I get up and lift weights. Enough of the high repetition workouts - I start to increase the pounds and decrease the repetitions. Now this feels more like it! A few phone calls later and I'm out the door to head for the ATM and a club or two.
I ask the parking attendant, who has become an acquaintance of mine, where I can park if I have to stay all night. She directs me to the appropriate places. I get a wristband at the herd/clone club and walk over to a second club. After a short bit I run into Person F_F. I have not seen Person F_F for years and we hang out for a while. Person F_F introduces me to a couple of friends and I use a few wordsin Tagalog to the lady who has a cute smile (and is half Philipino and half Puerto Rican). We kinda take a liking to each other and dance (more or less) to the good music even though this club does not really have a dance floor. But by now it is approaching midnight so I bid farewell to everyone and head back to the herd/clone club - Person F_F already having a wristband and possibly joining up later.
The herd/clone club is crowded tonight. I strike up a conversation with an acquaintance of an acquaintance by saying, "You need to keep an eye on that guy. He's a troublemaker". And we have a nice little conversation until I start wandering around. After a while I'm a bit tired so I grab a seat and start a conversation with Person S_T and Person KJ_T. And now I'm able to practice what little Thai language that I know. I share my Red Bull and 7-Up with Person S_T and Person KJ_T by stridently saying, "There's no alcohol in it". Both like the taste of the unique drink. Before I know it Person S_T and _erspn KJ_T are dragging me into the crowded midst of dancers and we somehow squeeze our way to find a place to move a bit - me being handicapped by holding the Red Bull and 7-Up. But the music changes and we only dance a few songs. I give Person S_T my phone number and suggest that he (and Person KJ_T she) can help me with my Thai and I can help them with whatever they need help with. The rest of the evening is uneventfull more or less. As the club closes I go hang outside the entrance to let traffic die down. By 2:20 am on Saturday morning it is time to go, but I see Person S_T and Person KJ_T still waiting around. I have another little conversation with them as they wait for their ride home. They decline my offer to drive them despite it being on the way home for me. Thus I rush on home and stop to call the local police at 3:00 am on Saturday morning asking them to come out at their convenience to give tickets to some illegal parking in the neighborhood. The lights go off for sleep at 3:30 am.
On Saturday morning I watch qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix from Monza Italy and then I start re-wiring the attic for the new speakers. This is a hot and dirty job as it involves crawling around in the attic. Some of the speakers are in corners where the roof line joins the ceiling, so I have to lay down and reach as far forward as I can to get the new wires through the hole into the living room. Also the air conditioning and heating ducts require me to contort. I have to crawl around on my big belly AND not let my big behind hit the ducts. It takes until noon to finish laying new wires, connecting things up, hanging speakers, debug, and clean up. But the new system sounds great!
After a cool shower I deal with phone calls from Ruby, Person C_T, and Person T_U before relaxing for a bit. I'm just content to play music and watch television shows with the new sound. The laundry manages to get done, but the crawling around in the attic and the up and down the ladder (to get to the attic) take it's toll. Thus I relax, catch a CNN special about opium production/farming in Afghanistan, and then head for sleep early.
Sunday is a blah day. I do get out for a bicycle ride and watch the Italian Grand prix, but I'm physicallu hung over from crawling around in the attic. And certain bodyparts that the acupuncturist worked on are also very sore. In fact, I don't know if the soreness is from the crawling or the acupuncture. Thus Sunday is a slow day.
On Tuesday, 911, I fly to Chicago and on to Fort Wayne. The flights on this day are very empty. Usually the flights between Los And Chicago are very full, but today they are not. As I'm waiting in Chicago for my small plane flight to Fort Wayne, an asian girl comes up to me and asks if the flight is boarding for Appleton. I tell her that they are boarding for Peoria at this gate, then Fort Wayne, and then Appleton. It turns out she is from South Korea and is going to high school in Appleton. We have a little discussion and I wish her well in her studies as I board. I show up at the work facility for a couple of hours and then I go for an hour run. It's good to be in chilly weather!
On Wednesday I get out for a morning run. It's cold! Considering that we've had 100 F temperatures in Los Angeles and Long Beach lately, the 50 F of this Fort Wayne morning feels very cold! Wednesday is a productive and frustrating day. It's productive because we get the subcontractor back on track for what we want to see during a review in two weeks. It's frustrating because we find out how much the subcontractor wants to charge us for the work (that should be standard work and that they are claiming is new work).
After work on Wednesday I deal with many many phone calls. Everyone has come out of the woodwork tonight with work-related questions and others. Late in the evening, because not everyone knows that I am on east coast time, I get a text message relayed to me from Japan asking, "Do you know what a candy ass is?" I can see where this would be difficult to translate, but I do my best to give a clear description in English via text message.
On Thursday I work three different aerobic machines at the hotel before working on the abdominals. It's a short day at work but I'm productive and give guidance to the subcontractor. I return the rental car at the airport and the lady asks me how I liked the car. I tell her, "I really wanted to like this car - a Chevy Cobalt. I tried to like it. But it's crap. The trunk, the keys, the transmission, the door locks, and the controls all have issues. I really wanted to like this car when I first got it, but I can't." She asks me if I drive an American car and I respond with, "No, I drive a World Rally Car." She doesn't understand, but we both just drop it.
I catch a 1:30 flight from Fort Wayne to Chicago. We've boarded the flight from Chicago to Los Angeles and there's a mechanical delay. First the pilot says the left engine is low on oil and needs topping off. Then the pilot says that a false reading was taken and they have overfilled the left engine and it needs to have some oil removed. Finally, 30 minutes late, we push off from the gate. This flight is the typical crowded, every seat taken, Chicago to Los Angeles flight. In the middle of the flight I get up to stretch near the galley and tell the flight attendants, "I'm just stretching. Please let me know if I am in the way. Or put me to work."
The one flight attendant says that she needs a shoulder and neck massage, so I start in on a shoulder and neck massage in the middle of the galley as two flight attendants and me look at pictures of the one of the flight attendant's daughters. As people see us in the galley on the way to the bathroom they ask, "is this guy a professional masseuse?" We get a good laugh out of that and continue on. The flight is smooth from there on out and I get home before 8 pm on Thursday night.
On Friday night, after a good workout with the weights, I do the usual Friday night herd/clone club, other club, and back to the herd/clone club. I return to the herd/clone club before midnight to meet up with Person T_U. Tonight there are a lot of smiles directed from me and towards me. I even have a nice geopolitical discussion about Burma (Myanmar) and the tense situation in that country. The guy, Person D_B, is surprised that I know so much about the political situation there. As the club is closing and all of us are heading for the door, I feel a hand in my hand from behind me. I go with it as we play with each other's hands for a while. Until the other hand guides my hand to another bodypart. At first I don't quite realize what is going on, but then I understand. And I return my hand to the other hand. When I turn around I see it is a person that I've shared smiles with. But it appeared that he was busy with someone else. I don't worry about it and hang outside until traffic has died down and I can rush on home. Tonight I'm home by 3 am on Saturday morning and the lights go off a bit after that for sleep.
Saturday is a very productive day. I start with the laundry and some grocery shopping, watching qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, and a good bicycle ride around the aquarium. Today there's a guy chasing me until I put the hammer down - three hours of sleep or not - and ride away from him. A great workout! Afterwards I head to Northrop Grumman and make a lot of progress trying to help the subcontractor out. When I return home late in the afternoon I trim two bushes in the front yard and then relax. But then I continue working at home to help the subcontractor out. By 10 pm I am tired, but there have been phone calls or text messages from Person T_u and Person J_J, so I'm jumping into the shower for another night out.
This evening out is very strange! I find a free parking spot on the street and head for the club in Long Beach. Joe and Brandon are working the door! Thus I get in for free. I have not heard from either for a while, but both are doing very well. There are quite a few acquaintances present, so I mingle and enjoy myself. I run into Person D_B again and I give him my number with, "I would love to talk about and learn about the economic situation and political situation in Burma (Myanmar). I've tried to stay up to date with Aung San Kuu Kii and her house arrest and stuff". We'll see if I get a call back. Later I ask a friend of a friend for an introduction to one of his acquaintances, "I want to meet the guy in the white shirt". Unfortunately there are two people wearing white shirts in the surrounding area and, you guessed it, I get intoduced to the wrong guy. But I have a nice conversation with everyone involved including the one that I wanted to meet. Later I give my number to both of the people in white shirts with a "Call me and we'll hang out" to the desired one. And finally, in the most bizarre coincidence, I strike up a conversation with a guy who is visiting from San Diego. We're talking and he says he was born in Indiana. He grew up in Fort Wayne! So we're laughing at the coincidence that I just got off an airplane from Fort Wayne this past Thursday. We name drop areas and companies within Fort Wayne and both understand that we are both happy to be out of Fort Wayne. This has been a strange evening - but a fun one. Fortunately I am leaving at closing time at 2 am on Sunday morning and I'm home by 2:15 because it is a Long Beach club.
On Sunday I get up and watch the Belgian Grand Prix from Spa and wait until the sun burns off the morning fog before I get out cycling. It's a good ride around the aquarium in the warm sun and ocean breeze. The MotoGP race from Esotril, Portugal is on in the afternoon and it's a thrilling race as the Michelin riders are once again competitive. I stay busy in the afternoon so that I don't fall asleep until later when I get in a decent workout with the weights (and pump up the metabolism anough so that I don't have to worry about falling asleep). The weekend ends with early sleep.
Monday is a relatively productive day at Northrop Grumman. But by the end of the day I'm bored. I get home and have a good session with the weights before watching some football and reading.