The workweek after Memorial day and into the first day of June is an absolute panic. There is a program that is being reviewed all of the way up to the United States Congress and it is having difficulties. Our department puts a number of people on the program to rebuild a model that is giving bad predictions and to support a test which is not going well. By the time that I get home on Friday and workout and mow the lawn, there are already phone calls from work about more weird test results. I try to look at data and draw conclusions as I hope not to have to go to work on Saturday and/or Sunday.
The workout week is a bit bland. I do get in two good weights workouts on Tuesday and Friday and a good abdominal workout on Wednesday even though my lower back is hurting. The lower back pain is similar to that when I ruptured L4/L5 disks as it radiates down my right thigh a bit. When I can take it no longer I start in on a prescription anti-inflammatory and that seems to help quite a bit.
Saturday's morning bicycle ride is interuppted by tree events: the Wrigley 5k Neighborhood Run, the Long BEach AIDS Walk, and Sand Games down in Long Beach. Inf act, as I'm riding past the Sand Games a multi-colored ball actually hits my front wheel as I'm cycling along. But it's a good ride nonetheless. After a shower Person Ti_Ca run an errand or two and then I enjoy cleaning the bushes and roses and kitchen floor as Person Ti_Ca hangs out with a friend. Later I watch the Los Angeles Kings ice hockey game and its a nail-biter as it goes into sudden death overtime. But when the Kings score to win it is the loudest that Person Ti_Ca has ever heard me.
On Saturday night into Sunday morning I have trouble sleeping. Eventually I wake up almost at 8 am. This is the latest that I've slept in a long time. When I pull myself together and get on the bicycle for the ride to the pier and back I realize that my throat is very scratchy and my legs are fairly strong but the pedaling is labored. Thus I'm probably coming down with something. After the ride I watch the MotoGP and Moto2 races for some high quality fun and entertainment. And I have the Indy car race on in the background as I do errands and small things around the house. It's a slow day and Im hoping for good sleep on Sunday night.
Monday through Wednesday are chatotic at work as people come into my office and say, "Oh I forgot to tell you that you're presenting this week and we need your charts" or "I forgot to tell you that you're covering this test and we're starting tomorrow". I just cannot believe people's lack of planning and lack of consideration. Thus on Monday and Wednesday I have very heavy weightlifting sessions to relieve stress. On Tuesday I see the eye doctor and vote and then go walking to relieve stress. And on Wednesday I find out that the tests will be happening throughout the weekend as the program tries to make up time - thus I'll be working for two days for free.
On Thursday we start testing and make some good progress. We make rapid but safe decisions and keep moving along even though we have equipment conflicts with another program. I don't get home until almost 7 pm and I just relax and try to wind down. I don't even get a workout in today.
On my off Friday I go to work and we make more good progress. We keep pushing along on the test and try to jump onto the equipment when the other program is making decisions. Thus we almost completely finish the axis of testing. But we have to finish on Saturday. When I get home I have a good workout with heavy weights, get cleaned up, and have dinner with Person Ti_Ca at SoupPlantation. And then we both relax.
I arrive at work just before 8 am just in time to analyze test data. Throughout the day at work we make steady progress and finish the test. This article has taken one month to complete due to various problems with running the test, so everyone is happy that we are finished. When I leave work I stop at the library to return a book and get a new one, do some grocery shopping, watch qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix where my favorite drive romps to the pole, mow the lawn, do the laundry, and trim/water the roses. And then I relax for Sunday's long bicycle ride with the Los Angeles Kings' playoff game.
On Sunday I'm out the door at 5:35 am to ride the road bicycle to Griffith Park and back down to the ocean for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coaliation's 72 mile Los Angeles river ride. This is the 12th annual ride and I've missed one when sick. Today's ride goes very smoothly and I feel very strong throughout. I even manage to crank along quite nicely on the last stretch against a constant headwind down to the ocean. After the ride I take a nice soapy shower and watch the Canadian Grand Prix where my favorite driver fades to a 4th place finish. It's a slow day, as expected, so I do some reading and some paperwork and just relax after the long ride.
Monday is a slow day. I don't go to work today because I worked on our off Friday and on Saturday. Instead I relax a bit before Person Ti_Ca and I go to a nursery to buy juniper plants (to replace the two that got destroyed by red spider mites) and a hot pepper plant. When we get back home Person Ti_Ca grabs the vacuum cleaner and makes the inside of his car spotless as I dig holes and plant the two junipers and the pepper plant. In the middle of the afternoon I get down for a 90 minute nap and then I go to the health center for the pre-diabetes class that the doctor has enrolled me in. Perfectly bad timing since the class falls right on top of game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoff finals.