Tuesday and Wednesday are rollercoaster days at work as it looks like things are good (and we'll meet our big deadline), then it looks like things are bad, and finally on Wednesday afternoon we convince ourselves that the product is ready for shipping. But we'll sleep on it and ship it out on Thursday when it's due.
I leave early on Wednesday to go to the dentist. (I was in my office at 5:30 am, so it's not like I'm missing hours.) The dentist and I have a good visit and she can see from the things in my mouth that I'm under stress and am probably having an auto-immune response. At least that's what we hope is going on. So she does a good job cleaning my teeth (I didn't do as well as usual this period since I was in Thailand/Myanmar, working over Christmas holiday, in Fort Want for a month, and under extreme stress for this week's delivery) and prescribing a rinse for me to use. I'll come back in a couple weeks to see if the rinse is helping the auto-immune response or if it might be something else. Nonetheless I get in a great workout with the weights though a I come up a few repetitions short a couple times - probably from getting out of bed at 4:30 am and having a long day.
Thursday is national Bike to Work Day so I'm on the bicycle early in the morning and at my office (after a shower) by 7 am. There's a disaster at work regarding our product and I make a work-around suggestion that we decide to use. The rest of the day is slow because it's disappointing the way we had to work this. I'm on the bicycle for the ride home and enjoying almost every minute of it. When I get home I have a warm shower and try to get enthused with music from favorite DJ. But I am tired and just have plenty of chocolate chip cookies and milk and relax.
Friday starts with some gardening so that I can finish it before it gets too hot. And then I take the mountain bicycle out for a ride that includes going past a potential new job sight as well as a continuing ride into Compton. Because it is so hot I take the afternoon relatively slowly and get a nap in and pick up an electric chainsaw from Person T_U for short term use. Person M_Fl comes over and hangs out for a while to let traffic die down before he heads for home from work.
On Friday night I lift weights to the "best organism effort". I am tired and many of the lifts are struggles. I'm supposed to meet Person A_U, but Person A_U cancels at the last minute. After a number of phone calls I decide to go to sleep early.
Saturday starts with the laundry and the aquarium bicycle ride. It's starting to warm up already before 9 am, but I manage to get the lawn mowed and to use Person T_U's chainsaw on the tree branches that need cutting. Near 10:30 am I am drenched in sweat, I have no blood sugar left, and all of the tree branches are down to a manageable size. A cool shower and food helps me regain equilibrium. Because it is so hot this weekend I spend the afternoon relaxing and catching up on non-physical tasks inside the house (with the air conditioning finally turned at near 2 pm).
For the rest of Saturday I am out of it. I have a one hour nap, but this doesn't quite bring me back to consciousness. I start thinking about the possibility of insulin resistance that was spoken to me about a little while ago.
By 9 am on Sunday morning I've fungicided, trimmed, fed, and watered the roses, had a nice even-paced aquarium bicycle ride, and missed one phone call. Later I ride the train to downtown Long Beach and meet up with Person T_U to hang out at a festival. It takes a long time to get in and is boring.
FOr the period of Thrurday through Sunday, the tally is: car - 18 miles, motorbike - 0 miles, bicycles - 80 miles, walking - 5 miles, and train - 10 miles. (Recall that Thursday was a bicycle commute day.)
Monday is a standard day at work and standard day with the weights at home. On Tuesday and Wednesday I feel myself sinking into a bit of a depression. A few things that shouldn't bother me as well as eating poorly and wondering what is causing my autoimmune response get me down. On Tuesday I feel a bit better after I'm on my hands and knees for an hour cleaning up the rosebeds and playing in the dirt. Additional abdominal work on Tuesday and a good heavier weights session on Wednesday try to pull me along and out of the depression. But it doesn't quite happen.
Thursday and Friday are productive days at work as I just put my head down and make progress on the things that have been put on the back burner lately. I also get in good workouts to try and de-stress.
On Friday night I stay at one club because it is raining outside and I don't want to get wet walking between the various clubs. There are many acquaintances present and I am joined by Person T_U and the visitors, Person E_T and Person C_Ma (who was referred to in previous diary entries as Person X_Ma). It's kind of fun tonight. After the club closes at 2 am I hang out for a while before taking my time getting home (because it's raining and I've already seen an accident or two that I don't want to add to). The lights are going off for sleep at 3:07 am on Saturday morning.
Because it is threatening rain on Saturday morning I skip the early bicycle ride and do the laundry, watch qualifying for the Grand Prix of Monaco, cleanup the roses, and wax the motorcycle. By noon there are pacthes of blue sky so I head out for a bicycle ride. During today's ride in windy conditions I throw in some intervals, stay on top of a big gear on the way home, and thoroughly enjoy the ride. (There is a small slowdown period during the ride as a number of police cars and a dozen police officers have arrested two men and are scouring the area for evidence near where the killing was a few weeks ago.)
Late on Saturday I'm driving up to West Hollywood to meet up with Person E_T and Person X_Ma to try out a new club. After meeting up at one club we head over to the new one somwhat early - we've heard the club gets crowded and sometimes has a long line. They were right - there's already a line this early and the place becomes very very corwded throughout the night. One has to squeeze and push and lean on people to get to the bathroom, for example. At one point I tell my friends, "I'm the oldest person here" and though they try to arugue with me, I can see that they know that I am right. But later in the evening I see some guy who is probably older than me and I point him out to my friends. But I don't really care. The music is reasonable with very little hip hop and I finally announce to my visitors at 2:10 am on Sunday morning, "I have to go home and go to sleep." When this is frowned upon but allowed, I add, "You guys are trying to kill me. Remember I'm twice your age." (This isn't quite mathematically correct, but it's close. Person E_T finally lets me go with, "I'll call you or text you tomorrow to see where we can go." I rush on home and do better than last night - the lights are going off for sleep at 3:30 am.
Sunday starts with the Grand Prix of Monaco on a wet track, a slight drizzle, but drying conditions. There's a lot of good action and stratgey and I enjoy the action immensely. Afterwards I look up to the skies and see some dark clouds looming, but I get on the bicycle and hope to squeeze in a ride before any significant rain comes. I again do a few intervals down towards the aquarium and push a big gear coming back - feeling strong despite only four hours of sleep each of the last two nights and a good hard ride yesterday. There are a few drops of rain as I ride the last couple of miles - perfect timing! I catch some of the Indianapolis 500 before having a deep two hour nap. It takes to regain consciousness, but some diet Coke helps.
Monday starts with another bicycle ride. The legs are strong to start with but then get slower as the end of the ride nears. In the afternoon Person C_T comes over and we spend a lot of time on the kitchen design - taking measurements, looking at websites, and holding paint chips up to the light. During the visit I go up in the attic to see if a wall can be removed. Though I don't really know what I'm looking for, it looks like the wall can be removed without compromising the structural integrity of the rest of the house. By the end of the visit there has been a lot of progress on the kitchen. Just a few more things and it's time to call contractors. By the evening the long weekend has been winding down and I am tired.