On Tuesday night after work I'm the only student in class so I get personalized attention from the teacher. I get to have all of my questions answered without feeling that I'm interupting others. It's a great class!
On Wednesday after work I just drill all of the push muscle group with the weights. This will be the last push workout until at least Tuesday, so I push as much as I can. Afterwards I get a phone call asking for me to make a 6 am teleconference on Thursday morning.
Thus on Thursday I am awake before 5 am and at my desk before 6 am. It is another starnge day of constant teleconferences, meetings, and interuptions. At 4 pm I rush on home to get in a great final pull session with the weights before a few days off. And then I mow, trim, and edge the lawn before watering and taking a shower. Tonight's ResourceScout meeting has been pushed back to 8 pm so I can grab a quick dinner beforehand.
Friday starts with an almost hour long walk/run. I'm taking my time and adding running periods and increasing the running periods. This time I'm going to take my time and build up slowly and not hurt anything. I do the laundry, grab some food, and head to Los Angeles International airport.
It takes a car ride (to work), a train ride, and a bus ride to get to Los Angeles International airport. From there it takes an airplane ride, a bus ride, and a train ride to get near my hotel in downtown San Francisco. I walk around the area near the hotel and realize, as I expected, that the neighborhood is pretty nasty. But I don't really care.
On Friday night I meet up with Person JT_X and we have a nice dinner, go see a movie, and then hang out some more late into the night. Person JT_X is as nice as ever and we have all sorts of conversations about work, family, domestic violence, relationships, and etc. I eventually head down for sleep near midnight. Because the neighborhood is nasty I put my earplugs in so that surrounding noise will not bother me.
I get up late on Saturday. I guess I needed some sleep. But I am still able to catch a train and a ferry out to Sausalito to visit Person Dan_SF and Ron_SF. Dan_SF had a throat cancer a while ago and now is cancer free. We have a nice lunch and then I help Dan_SF with some errands and installing a drip irrigation system. By now people are starting to arrive for dinner so I help out where I can. Person Dan_SF and Ron_SF have a beautifull house in canyon in Sausalito and they have a fantastic view of San Francisco bay from every level of their house. It's a fantastic house and even better for entertaining! The dinner guests are great people, but I take leave near 9 pm to catch a bus back to the city. The bus goes over the Golden Gate bridge and gets me close to my hotel in a single shot. Why don't we have mass transit like this in Los Angeles?
On Saturday night I change clothes and walk up Polk Street to a club. The club is somewhat empty to start with, but gets pretty crowded later in the evening. The music is reasonable though there is no new music played. Because I'm a stranger here I really keep to myself but have a nice conversation with Person A_I. I kind of hope that things will develop with Person A_I but I also hope that they don't. On this evening, they don't. Eventually the club closes and I walk through the nast neighborhoods to my hotel after 2 am on Sunday morning.
On Sunday I get up at a reasonable hour and meet up with friends to see the Detroit Lions play the San Francisco 49ers. This game is out at Monster Park (formerly Candlestick Park) and, except for the last mile or so, is easy to get to via mass transit.
Person VV (a co-worker) and I have met up at San Francisco airport and start heading to the stadium very early. We get off BART and start walking a bit because we know where to pick up the next bus and Person VV wants to drink. We stop in at an Irish pub with the early football games on and Person VV has a beer while I have a Red Bull and 7-Up. (Here's another bartender that gives me a strange look and says, "I've never mixed that drink before".) As we are watching the game and Person VV starts in on another beer, a lady running for the San Frnacisco school board comes in to talk with business owners and patrons. I stop her and start asking herabout the most pressing issues within the district even though I've prequeled my question with a "I'm from Los Angeles" descriptor. But she takes the time to answer my question before she moves to other patrons. As Person VV and I walk over to the bus stop we run into the school board lady twice more. Each time she exclaims, "Not you again!" But we're all smiling and having a bit of fun as we try to get to the game and she tries to get elected to the school board.
The game is a disaster as the Lions can do nothing right and end up losing 31-13. One of my co-workers/friends has brought his paper bags to wear over his head (to hide the shame of being a Detroit Lions fan) and puts it on shortly after halftime when the game is (almost) iced. In San Francisco there are a number of 49er fans who want to take his picture with the bag over his head. This is opposed to down in San Diego last December when very few Charger fans paid much notice. Eventually I head back to the city and wander aimlessly around the union square area. As opposed to the area near my hotel, the union square area has less heroin addicts to walk around. I consider whether to go change clothes and head out for a different club on Sunday night, but I eventually just keep wandering around and get to sleep at a late hour.
On Monday I get up early to catch a train, a bus, and airplane, another bus, another train, and the car to get home to Long Beach from downtown San Francisco. When I get home I take care of the things that have been missed for a few days. As the weather cools down a bit I trim the bushes on the side of the house and then get in a good abdominal workout. A warm shower gets me ready for a Monday evening of relaxation.
A long walk gets the blood pumping on Tuesday. I work on some websites until just before noon when Person M_Fl sends me a text message. Soon he is visiting and we review the results from his anatomy exam (where he names me the bones in the human body). Person M_Fl is between classes and work, so it's a short but nice visit. When Person M_Fl leaves I get out for the aquarium bicycle ride. It's been more than a week since I rode so it feels good to be back on a bicycle. Near 5 pm I start the motorcycle ride up to class. It's a good class (again) and then I race on home for sleep.
I finally go back to work on Wednesday. In between meetings the customer from a three letter government agency walks into my office, closes the door, and has a private and honest conversation with me. He says that he can rely on me to tell the truth without a management taint. We have a nice conversation about our satellite project. After work I work the abdominals again today since my shoulder is still hurting and shouldn't be worked.
There are disastrous meetings at work on Thursday and Friday. I cannot believe some of the decisions and direction that we are making/taking. I would normally say that I work off stress with good workouts, but this is over the top. I leave work a bit early on Friday (because I got in extra early and because I have some time stored up) to do some grocry shopping, mow the lawn, work the abdominals, and watch the presiential debate. After the debate I work on websites and do some homework. And call it an early evening. Except that text messages come in at midnight, at 1 am, and again before 7 am on Saturday morning. It's a 24 hour life these days.
Saturday starts with the laundry and qualifying from the first ever F1 race at night - the Grand Prix of Singapore. After the qualifying I get out for a foggy ride down to the aquarium and back. And then I am off to work. I go to work so that I can get some work done without being interupted by emails, people walking into my office, teleconferences, and "must attend" meetings. I notice as I ride the motorcycle to work that the Yamaha YZF-R1 passes 45,000 miles. After a while I load data on a memory stick and head for home. I run a few more errands and soon I am playing in the dirt with the roses and carnations.
Sunday starts with a wild Grand Prix of Singapore and a surprise winner (again). After the race I get out cycling up the real Los Angeles river. I am a bit tired today and it is an un-inspired ride, but it is still always good to be on two wheels. Person M_Fl comes over to visit near noon when he hears that I have chocolate chip cookies. So we have a nice visit until he has to go back to work. I catch the two motorbike races (MotoGP and 250cc) from Motegi, Japan and then relax for a bit. Late in the afternoon I get out for a long walk to close out the weekend.
I struggle through the Monday at work. When I get home I work the abdominals and relax with some football. In the midst of the game and flipping through channels I see that I wanted to see a few years ago about a mother who abandons her four young children in the middle of Tokyo. I only see the last 15 minutes of it and I'm glad that I never saw it because it is very sad and very depressing. I finally call it an evening with some reading in bed before sleep.