On Wednesday after a long second day of teleconferences at work I walk out to the motorccle to ride home. I see something in the brand new tire and when I look closely it looks like one of those push-pins used to hold up flyers on bulletin boards. Probably not a problem. But as I pull it out the head is actually atatched to a very long nail and I keep pulling and pulling and pulling until 4 inches of nail comes out and the tire starts hissing. Oh crap. I put the helmet on and ride (more like wobble) over to the dealer and explain my situation. As I expect, they don't recommend patching motorcycle tires and now, after the rear tire has 100 miles on it, it has to be replaced. So now I wait around for a couple of hours as they mount a new tire and I head home to lift weights and work off the stress.
On Thursday I try to stay productive at work but it just disappears in the afternoon. Thus I leave work about an hour early to lift weights, mow the lawn, and trim the roses back by one third. (This is suggested by the Santa Clarita Rose Society for this time of year and I'm trying it for the first time this year.) A cool shower gets me ready for the ResourceScout meeting.
On Thursday I realize that the third death of the year has occurred: there was Person J_VKPI's grandfather, a co-worker, and now my cousin Paul. Do bad things come in threes?
Friday starts with the annual brithday bicycle ride: one mile on the bicycle for every year old that I am. The ride starts well and then I struggle a bit towards the end. When I'm three miles from home I get a flat tire on the bicycle. So I pull over and change it and then cruise on home for 51 miles. Do bad things come in threes? That's two flat tires on the motorcycle and one on the bicycle in the last couple of weeks.
The rest of the day is spent recovering from the long bicycle ride. Later at night I keep chaning ym mind back and forth regarding going out clubbing or staying in. Finally I decide to stay in, read, and go to sleep early.
Saturday starts with a ride down to the aquarium and back. As expected I am tired and slow. But it's always good to be on the bicycle. One year ago on my 50th birthday I spent part of the day doing laundry in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thus today I do the laundry after the bicycle ride. I relax for a bit and work on websites and then I get out skating. It's a warm day and my legs are tired, but it's good to get out skating again. When I arrive home there is a case of RedBull and a case of 7-Up sitting in my backyard. It is either from Ruby or Person T_U and my first call to Ruby finds her laughing: Guilty as charged!
Despite offers to go do stuff, I stay home on Saturday night. I watch some of the Olympics and work on Person C_T's website. And then I'm in bed for reading at 9:15 pm.
On Sunday I get up and work on the roses and carnations for an hour. It's good to get out in the cool weather. I notice that the roses, even though they have only been trimmed back by a third a few days ago, are showing signs of healthy growth and blooms. Maybe the energy is going into blooms rather than maintaining all of the extra third height. Late in the morning I get out for the aquarium bicycle ride as I'm back on the heat shcok protein kick. In the middle of the afternoon Person C_T comes over and we work on his website for the next 4 hours. I then relax as I feel the typical overtraining symptoms coming on in my mouth, my eyelid (the old flickering eyelid thing), and in other areas. I didn't need this right now.
Monday involves sitting in a lot of meetings. When I get home I relax for a bit before hitting the weights. This gives me a chance to rub pain reliever into the right shoulder before lifting. The session with the weights is very good and there's only a bit of pain in the shoulder. I turn on the Olympics for a bit but don't stay with them tonight.
Tuesday, again, involves sitting in lots of meeting and side discussions. I keep getting interrupted when I try to get some work done, so my progress is disjoint and slow. Today I also rub pain reliever into the shoulder a bit before having a very good session with the weights. Then I grab my passport and pack for the business trip to Phoenix. The flight is on time and my co-workers and I meet up after checking into the hotel and have a nice dinner. When I go back to my room I realize that they have given me a suite with a kitchen, living room, and two complete bedrooms/bathrooms. And three televisions. All of this for a 10 hour stay?
We get to the meeting on Thursday and start at 8 am. We get through a number of well thought out presentations with good quality work behind them. At one point an older gentlemen who I don't know who it is, turns to ask me a question and I exaplin what's going on. And he says, "Thanks. Somebody told me that you have all of the answers." I don't know who this guy is or whotold him that I have all of the answers, but I don't. We break for lunch and continue on. Finally the presentations are done at 3:30 and we break to caucus. We have this long caucus for an hour until we decide that we are not going to accept the results of the meeting. Our team leader calls the contractor back in and has to explain that they did a lot of high quality work but we are not going to accept the results. He does a very professional and sensitive job to let the contractor down as softly as possible.
Afterwards we rush for the airport and just barely catch the flight as the door is closing. The plane rolls out towards the runway and are told that there is a weather delay. Over the next 2.5 hours we're told, "Just a few more minutes until the rain passes", "We're going back to the gate", "We're still in line because there's a break in the clouds and rain", "We're going back to the gate", "We're at the gat e but you can't leave the plane", "We're re-fuelling and will be leaving shortly", and "We're next in line for takeoff". Eventually we get to Los Angeles 2.5 hours late due to weather and I'm home before midnight.
Friday isn't very productive at work. After my meetings are finished I go home and am surprised by Person T_U who is giving me my birthday present. We have a nice visit before Person T_U has to continue on with his errands. I get in a tough workout with the weights - it's a bit of a struggle today. And then I mow the lawn. There are some phone calls but I end up in bed early tonight.
On Satruday I start with the loop ride and have fun. Though I start tentatively on the newly repaired tire, I gain confidence as I go and finish strongly. The remainder of the day is spent doing little things around the house and watching some of the Olympics.
Late on Saturday I find myself driving up to West Hollywood to have some fun. I hit two different clubs and enjoy the music in both clubs. Both are fairly crowded with a few acquaintances present, but for the most part I just lose myself in the music and don't worry about offers. Near 2:20 am I decide to leave and head for home. The lights go out for sleep at 3:20 on Sunday morning.
Sunday starts slowly with a trip to the grocery store. I watch the second part of the women's marathon and enjoy the results. I jump on the bicycle and crank away quite nicely down to and around the aquarium and then back home. The 250cc and MotoGP races from the Czech Republic come on and I have this premonition that Rossi is going to win and his leading competitiors will drop out. After 5 laps Rossi is in second and behind one of his leading competitors when the competitor falls and breaks his motorbike. Rossi goes on to score an easy victory and double his world championship lead.
Monday is an unproductive day at Northrop Grumman. During an afternoon meeting my eyes start tearing up for no reason. It's just a slight tearing, but I have to keep drying my eyes. It's just a physical thing - there's nothing that is going on that would cause me to cry due to emotions. When I get home I have a good workout with the weights after work as I increase the weights and drop the repetitions.