The entire work week is a blur. For the last few months I have not had much work to do and was always wondering what my next assignment was going to be. Now it is the opposite. There are three different sets of people with three different assignments and they all want their work done overnight. I keep my head down and make as much progress as I can.
The workouts for the week are bland. I get in reasonable high repetition lifting workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, but they are somewhat unmotivating. On Thursday I work the abdominals and lower back before taking a shower and heading off to meet Ruby and Joseph to talk about the business plan and the application and the financial dealings. As I'm riding the motorbike home near 10 pm after the meeting there are drops of rain at various spots though not enough to soak me or make the ride dangerous.
On Friday I'm up early to do a couple of house tasks before Person Ti_Ca and I take the train to downtown Long Beach for the Grand Prix practice sessions. We meet up with various co-workers of mine either planned or at random. The day is nasty with rain and wind and the various classes of cars get very little running. When it is clear that there will be no running of Indy cars in the afternoon Person Ti_Ca head for the train station and home. I get down for a nap when I get home and then watch the Los Angeles Kings playoff game on television as Person Ti_Ca goes out for dinner with his sister.
Saturday starts with a long bicycle ride away from downtown Long Beach where the Grand Prix is taking place under sunny skies. After a few errands some friends of Person Ti_Ca's come over to do homework. Both are from Thailand so I am able to practice my Thai language skills. Later we go out to dinner and wait one hour at the restaurant for a table. This is the last time that I will go to this restaurant or its franchises since last time I came here I was sick after eating and waiting for 45 minutes.
Sunday starts with a good ride up the Los Angeles river and the conclusion of the Chinese Grand Prix. Its a wild race with lots of overtaking and different tire strategies. Early in the afternoon I watch the Long Beach grand prix on television and then mow the lawn. I'm tired and sweaty now so I continue with trimming the bush in the front that has looked ragged lately.
Monday and Tuesday are blah days at work as everyone is packing up their belongings to evacuate the building by Wednesday. I just feel down during the days. After work on Monday I get in a good workout with the weights which helps me feel better and then I help Person Ti_Ca with homework. On Tuesday I go walking after work and then help Person Ti_Ca with more homework. There's adoptions web programming to be done so I work on that later into the night on both Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday I get to work and the movers show up at 6:40 am to move my stuff to another office in another building. These movers are nice and enthusiastic and we hit it off. Eventually I am left with nothing in my old office except a desk that I've had for 25 years (and is not to be moved to my new office) and an old chair. I sit back, pop open a diet Coke and a blueberry muffin, put my feet up on the desk, and look out the window and think about the last nine years that I've been in this office. I realize the last nine years have been a complete waste as the weather satellite that we were supposed to have built has been cancelled and we have nothing to show for all of the effort. I think about some of the fun times and more of the bad times. But I vow that the move to a new office is a new beginning and I am so happy to leave behind the last (wasted) nine years and to move on. I eventually get set up in my new office and am productive until I leave work for a high repetition workout with the weights and scrubbing the bathroom shower. And later I relax with the Los Angeles Kings ice hockey game playing in the background.
I have productive days at work on Thursday and Friday though I get stuck in quite a few meetings on Friday and I get yelled at by a co-worker. The co-worker has been problemmatic for various people lately and when I follow my boss's diretcions, she gets mad at me and accuses me of trying to undermine her. I just keep a calm demeanor and try to keep smiling and explain my position. But sh'es having none of it and eventually walks away from me while muttering something not so nice. On Thursday night I've dropped the World Rally Car off for a checkup and then hang out with Person Ti_Ca and his classmate Ben. On Friday after work I get in a good high repetition workout and clean the roses. At first Person Ti_Ca and I are going to go out for dinner but he changes his mind and goes out with his sister instead.
Saturday starts with qualifying for the F1 race from Bahrain and my favorite driver finally breaks through and gets his first pole of the year. I get out for a long bicycle ride out to the pier and back and then pull out an ax to pull out some dead juniper bushes (that were attacked by spider mites). Person Ti_Ca comes out and does some maintenance on his car and I show him how to swing the ax. He ends up cutting up all of the bush trmmings with the ax so that they fit in the garbage contained. After a shower I go get the World Rally Car and run an errand or two and then relax at home. Near 3:30 pm I am dropping off so I get in a nap that is interupted by Person Ti_Ca before an hour has passed. When I regain consciousness I get out and mow the lawn while Person Ti_Ca works out. Later Person Ti_Ca goes out with a friend and I eventually head for sleep early.
Near 2 am on Sunday morning Person Ti_Ca comes home. WHen I wake up I cannot all back asleep because I keep thinking about the co-worker who (almost) yelled at me and I almost thought that she was going to hit me. I get up and surf the Internet for a while and finally get back to sleep. I wake up late and watch the Bahrian Grand Prix where my favorite storms off from pole and manages a slim margin until the end. Thus I start out on the extended aqurrium ride feeling tired. In the first few miles I pass (go in the opposite dirction) three cycling aquaintances. But the legs eventually feel better an it is a good ride. As I return home Person Ti_Ca needs help moving a refrigerator to a new house and I drive over and help him move the refrigerator and move boxes around. I head for home and work on errands around the house until the Los Angeles Kings' ice hockey game comes on. I celebrate as the Kings win the game in overtime and knock off the top seeded team.
The streets are a bit wet on Monday morning and just as I'm saying to myself to slow down because the painted crosswalks will be slippery when wet, I find myself sideways going around a corner. But there's no harm - it just gets my attention! Monday is a good, productive day at work. When I'm done for the day I get in a high repetition workout with the weights where I throw in an extra set for each muscle group. Then I trim the roses and water some plants and relax with the ice hockey playoff games in the background.