On Wednesday I get to work near 6 am (as usual) and try to make progress on some tasks and archiving the data from the recently-cancelled weather satellite program. At mid-morning my boss calls and we start talking and finally he says, "I'm worried about you because you don't seem yourself lately. You don't have your normal smile and energy". I'm a bit taken aback that my boss has noticed this because I haven't had much interaction with him lately (seeing that he's in a separate building). And I spill my guts: I tell him that I am disappointed with the loss of the weather and atmospheric monitoring satellite. I tell im that I am disappointed that I worked on a program for so long and now it has disappeared. I tell him that I have friends who have been together for 25 years and are breaking up. And I tell him that I am not really enthused about the new assignment where the satellite is to replace the Hubble telescope and find black holes. "I want to do weather and climatology and atmospheric sciences" I finally say. Soon I find myself walking over to my boss's office and we are talking about many different things. At some point I think that I am about to breakdown and start crying, but I hold the tears off. I guess I am under a lot of stress and I didn't quite realize that it was affecting me so much. Eventually I head back to my office to try to make progress. Later I leave work and have a good heavy workout for the pull muscle group.
Thursday is a boring day. I'm finishing the last few tasks on the cancelled Defense Weather Satelltie System and trying to get hold of the people for my next assignment. But the people at my next assignment don;t seem very communicative right now. Do they not want me to come over? I finally get an email back saying they can talk with me on Monday - more than 10 days after originally planned. At home I get in a good push muscle group workout and walk to the grocery store for supplies. Dinner is leftover vegetable curry from the previous night. Later I walk over to a coffeehouse and meet up with Sim.
Friday is another day of trying to get the attention of the new assignment people without luck. I work off the last of the other tasks that I have and hope that Monday is better at getting my new assignment. I have a good pull muscle group workout with heavy weights and then I mow the lawn. After a shower I do some programming for the hospital network and then Person Ti_Ca and I hang out for a while, eat dinner, and then just watch some videos and older television programs. Since I've been up late a few days this week I am looking forward to a good night of sleep.
I'm up a bit late on Saturday morning after a night of deep sleep. I wait around for a while until the morning warms up and get out for the extra extended aquarium bicycle ride. Since there are Santa Ana conditions today some legs of the ride are bit windy. But it's always a great ride! After a shower I help Person Ti_Ca with homework and during a break I help Ralph's daughter, Sallia, with her Matlab homework. Person Ti_Ca and I are dragging so we take a nap - mine lasts 60 minutes and his lasts 120 minutes. And then we do some more homework and relax together.
I have a pretty good night of sleep on Saturday night and leave for a road bicycle ride just as Person Ti_Ca is leaving for work. I do well on the first two legs of the loop ride but then the wind is against me for the last two legs. So I struggle towards the end of the final leg up the Los Angeles river with a brutal headwind. When I finish the ride I have a quick shower and do some grocery shopping. When I return home a nieghbor, Person Eddy, visits and we have a little visit. And then I have a phone conversation with Sim to make sure that she is doing okay. And then I clean both bathrooms before I relax a bit and have dinner. (Well, it's mid afternoon so it isn't really dinner but I won't eat much again for the rest of the day so it is dinner.) Later in the day I do some more hospital network programming and just enjoy a nice sunny and warm day.
Monday and Tuesday are horrible days at work culminating in a 25 minute conversation with someone at work over the phone during which she talks for 24 minutes and I speak for 1 minute. During the conversation I'm berated and dressed down and (almost) insulted. And told, "I don't know how I can use you over here". Eventually the phone conversation ends and, as it's ending, my boss texts me and says "Meet me outside your building now". So I walk outside the building and tell the boss what happened. As I'm relaying the conversation he's taking notes and wants me to put the conversation in writing. And says, "You and me and my boss need to talk tomorrow or Thursday". When I go back to my office I pack up my thigns and go home. Person Ti_Ca and I walk to the store and run into a neighbor who's having his roof re-done and Dennis, my cycling acquaintance, stops in also. (Dennis is the roofer doing the job.) When we get back from the store I have a very heavy (1 rep set) workout for the pull muscle group to go with Monday's 1 rep set push workout. ANd I hope for as deep a sleep as I had on Monday night after the 1 rep set workout.
On Tuesday night I have very deep sleep until 2 am when I wake up and cannot sleep. I toss and turn and finally get up and then try for sleep again. I finally fall back asleep a bit before 4 am. Wednesday is another "I'll get back to you today" day that the person doesn't get back to me. Just before leaving I work I finally get a conversation scheduled with someone at 6:15 on Thursday morning. I decide to base my entire workout around 1 rep sets for a coupel of days and enjoy the push muscle group workout though some joints are getting sore from the heavy lifting and from not taking a week break since Thanksgiving. Person Ti_Ca comes over later in the evening and we work on mathematics homework for his Thursday quiz.
I'm at work just after 6 am on Thursday and the phone rings at 6:20. I've finally received a call back and the discussion is not good. I struggle through work due to the uncertainty. When I get home I walk to the grocery store for supplies and then have a 1 rep set workout for the pull muscle group. I'm happy to finish this workout and have the next three days off from lifting. I relax around the house for the evening and read a paper on Monte Carlo simulation just to stay up to date.
On Friday morning I milla round the house until 10 pm when I take the road bicycle down to the aquarium and sit and wait. After a 15 minute wait I see a group of riders and figure this must be it. I tag on to the rear until I recognize some people and startle a couple riders who I know with, "Hey, is this party still happening or what?" My co-workers are surprised to see me since they've invited me to ride a number of times and I didn't quite make it. But I enjoy the 50 mile ride up to the WHittier Narrows dam and back down the San Grabirel river trail. When they break for lunch I just continue on home because I rarely stop during rides for anything but a snack. Needless to say after the long ride I'm wasted for most of the day and try to help Person Ti_Ca with homework and relax.
Saturday starts slowly but soon Person Ti_Ca and I are heading out for a bicycle ride. Person Ti_Ca does very well on this ride and though I have to ride slowly, he stays close and doesn't complain. We get down to the aquarium and the lighthouse and see a few other sites before we head back for home. The incessant headwind a hill in the park do Person Ti_Ca in, but he does very well on this ride. After a quick shower I go to the library and get four books to read and then Person Ti_Ca and work on homework. It's a slow day and for a while I drift off to sleep on the couch in front of the television.
On Saturday night at 1:30 am (really Sunday morning) I wake up and cannot sleep again. This matches yesterday's inability so sleep. I get up and surf the Internet for a while and then try again for sleep. But it isn't going to happen so I go lay on the couch and read for a while. By now it is near 4 am and I finally am able to drift off to sleep when I return to bed.
On Sunday I get out for the extended aquarium bicycle ride as Person Ti_Ca goes off to work. It's a good ride though a constant headwind on the way back makes me work hard. Towards the end of the ride some lady is beeping her horn at me and motions to me that I should be farther over to the right side of the road. Seeing that I have a legal stance to take up the entire lane and only ride where I deem it is safe, I ignore her for a bit and then I give her the finger. It has been a long time since I've made the gesture but the way she beeped the horn at me so many times and motioned at me set me off. She responds with a finger of her own and she turns right a little way in front of me. And I just continue on home. After a shower I run some errands and then sweep and clean the hardwood floors. I just plug away at it and soon they are bright and shiny and gorgeous!
I struggle through work on Monday not knowing my fate. But I'm productive since a number of people need my help. And my boss asks me to come over at noon and give him some free help as we work on a new website for our department (and he knows that I know how to geenrate websites. When I get home on Monday night I hem and haw and finally decide to have another 1 rep set for the push muscle group. I feel this one and I'm glad that I didn't just do an abdominal workout. Person Ti_Ca comes over for a surprise visit and his sweater smells like smoke. He says he's been at the Starbucks and it smells like coffee. But it smells like smoke to me and maybe he was outside at Starbucks where the smokers congregate. But we have a nice short visit before he takes leave and I go back to working on websites.
Tuesday starts with the threat of rain so I drive to work. I make it to work without the world rally car getting wet. And surprisingly today is a productive day at work. I just put my head down and make progress on the model update and the website that I'm working on. The afternoon passes rapidly (due to my being actively engaged) and I finally decide to leave. Though it rained during the middle of the day, there is no rain falling as I drive home. Thus I could have ridden the motorbike. When I get home I do a 1 rep set workout with very heavy weights for the pull muscle group and note that my left bicep tendon hurts a lot. It might be time for a break from lifting. Person Ti_Ca comes over after his classes and we hang out and enjoy each other's company.
On Wednesday I have another productive and quick day at work. I put my head down and make a lot of progress updating the model. By the time I look up it is almost time to go home. As I'm riding home today the Yamaha YZF-R1 turns past 66,000 miles. This occurring just a few days before it's tenth birthday. When I get home I work the abdominals today and consider what workouts I should do the next two days. After a shower I walk over to a coffeehouse and meet up with Sim again.
I'm glad that Friday is here. I drag myself out of bed and, despite having to do a lot of walking around the campus at work today to get to different buildings, have a productive day. When I get home I have another 1 rep set for thepull muslce group and agree to take some time off since every joint and every tendon hurts. Person Ti_Ca and I go to the grocery store for supplies and just hang out. But since I'm so worn out I drop off to sleep early.
Saturday starts with the extended aquarium ride. Though it is chilly and wet, I get out for the ride and enjoy fighting the wind today. After a shower I pack up a pannier and take the bicycle out again. I drop off two books at the library, I attend a community meeting with my city councilperson, and then I go to SIm's house to help her change the locks on her front door. We're talking away about many different things as we get the locks installed - only to find that the new handle doesn't allow the scren door to close. So we temporarily put the old handle back on and she will find a new one that fits. I also drag some old car and motorcycle tires out of the attic of her garage for her and then I ride on home. Since I'm tied up with other things, Person Ti_Ca goes with a friend to Buena Park to hang out.
When Person Ti_Ca returns we start on homework but then are sidetracked by the 25 year anniversary present that arrives in the mail. Person Ti_Ca has asked that I request a 23 inch monitor and we start watching "Friends With Benefits". When the movie shows the couple playing mini gold, Person Ti_Ca says "I want to do that". So we google a mini golf place and soon are driving over to play mini golf. On the first two holes Person Ti_Ca gets 2's and 3's and I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh - does he have a real gold talent?" But then I start getting 2's and 3's as I adapt to the speed of the mini golf carpets and Person Ti_Ca starts getting 6's or 8's. But we have fun as we keep jumping between all of the mini golf courses at this one facility and we get a lot of pictures for Person Ti_Ca to post online. And as soon as I get in the door of the house, but after helping Person Ti_Ca with more vocabulary homework, I drop off to sleep. It has been a busy and active day!
On Sunday I get out the door for the extended aquarium ride just as Person Ti_Ca is going to work. I have a good ride against a headwind for the first half of the ride and then enjoy the tailwind on the way home. The legs were sore at the start of the ride from all of Saturday's activities, but they feel good at the end of the ride. After a shower I go pick up lunch, get a newspaper for Person Ti_Ca's journalism class assignment, deposit a check in the bank, do some grocery shopping, and then make phone calls with Ruby and Person T_U (who is in Las vegas). I take some medicine to relieve the joint soreness and feel good throughout the afternoon as I clean some of the house and relax.
On Monday we are supposed to start testing but the first actual test run doesn't happen until almost 4 pm. All of the pretest activities just took longer than expected. When we make the first test run we see a few things to talk about on the next few days before we go to higher levels of testing. Today has been both wet and windy, but it was dry on the motorbike ride to work and is just windy and dry on the motorbike ride home. WHen I get home I do another 1 rep set for the push muscle group and no joints or tendons are sore. And then I start processing the test data to make a Tuesday decision easier.