Tuesday is a productive day as I get ready for y trip. I get in a good workout after work and pack for the trip.
On Wednesday Person Ti_Ca and I take two cars halfway to the Los Angeles convention center, park his car, and drive together in my car the rest of the way. Person Ti_Ca is taking his citizenship oathand his appojtnment is for 8 am. We get there early but now my work trip, that I was going to go directly to the airport after the oath ceremony for, is post poned. Thus I leave the oath auditorium and make calls with my administrator to change flights. But she is nowhere to be found, so I call American Express who does the travl for our company. But they cannot change my flight becasue I already checked in online. So now I call the airline directly and they eventually get things straightened out. By now I walk abck to the auditorium but the doors are closed and I am not allowed to re-enter. I text back and forth with Person Ti_Ca and he doesn't think its a big deal that I will mis his swearing in, so I have a seat and wait. Adter the ceremony we drive back to Person Ti_Ca's car so that he can go to school and I can go to work (instead of the airport). I have a goodd ay at work and then drive on home for a tiring Wednesday evening.
On Thursday I go to work half expecting to be told that the test and the trip are delayed again. But there is no call so I try to be productive at work and then I head for the airport. It's a smooth flight to JFK airport. There has been construction near the airport and now there is an Air Train that conencts the airport to the rental car counters (instead of a bus) as well as the subway system. Nonetheless I get my rental car, turn on the Android phone based GPS, and have little trouble finding the hotel. I'm dropping off for sleep after midnight.
I'm up at 6 am, meet my co-worker (for the first time) just before 7 for breakfast, and then we head to the work sight. At first I have trouble understanding the italian-baed new york accent of the people at the work facility, but then realize that I only need to understand a few of their words to know what they are talking about. We have a very productive day and I contribute an algorithm that saves an extra day of test setup and testing. By the time that 5 pm has rolled around the inplant workers are (almost) sad to see me go.
I hem and haw and try to decide what to do for the evening. I stop at a sports bar and have a veggie burger for dinner and then decide to go out. I drive to the Westbury (Long Island) railroad station, but a roundtrip ticket, and wait for the train. This train is smooth and takes me to Penn Station. From there I walk from 33rd street to 58thstreet to a club. By now it is 11 pm but the club is somewhat empty. The house music is very good so I enjoy the visit. I end up having two Red Bull and 7-Ups and talk with a few people. But mainly just enjoy the house music. In a lot of the clubs in Los Angeles the house and progressive house and tribal music has been replaced by pop music and hip hop. Thus I enjoy the visit here until I have to leave at 1:30 am. I walk back from 58th street to 33rd street and catch the 2:53 am train from Penn Station back to Westbury in Long Island. From there I drive 2 miles and collapse into my king size bed at the Marriott just before 4 am.
On Saturday I'm up enar 8 amand work on the trip report before I pack up and head to the airport. I stop along the way and do not fear getting lost since the Android phone-based GPS is typically very good. The return trip is looking smooth until we sit on the tarmac for almost an hour before taking off. The trip seems to drag on forever but eventually I make it home near 9 pm and get down for sleep near 11.
Sunday starts with a bicycle ride to the pier and back. On the return trip the rear tire seems to be softening so I keep cranking along to get home before it loses too much pressure. When I get home it is down to 20 psi (instead of the 45-60 psi it should have). After a shower I run some errands and watch the MotoGP and Moto2 races from the Cathedral of Speed - Assen, Netherlands. I do some work and hoem paperworkand then collapse for a two hour nap. Just after 4pm I get up and trim some trees, clean the roses, take out the trash, and have a refreshing cool shower to lead into a relaxing evening.
Monday is a good day at work as I catch up on reports, answer people's technical questions, provide guidance, and work away on some simulations. When the workday is finished I head on home and I'm ready for 6 days off. I get in a good abdominal and lower back workout and work a bit in the yard before taking a cool shower and relaxing.
Tuesday starts with a long ride to the pier and back. When I finish the ride I put on some gloves and clean up the sideyard bushes (that typically only get attention twice a year). I get in a shower and run some errands before relaxing in the afternoon. Near 5 pm Person Ti_Ca and I drive up to Union Station to catch a shuttle bus to Dodger Stadium. The logistics work out well and we get to walk through old Union Station too. The Dodgers start slowly and when the opposing pitcher bats, gets a lucky opposite field bloop single just over the first baseman's glove, I start laughing and can't stop. Then the opposing pitcher has a one foot lead-off and still keeps leaning back towards first base, I laugh even harder. People around me are looking at me. I start getting this weird feeling that the opposing pither is going to score the first run of the game. And he does. It turns out he scores the opposing team's only run. But the Dodgers come back with two innings of rallies to tie the game and later take the lead and win, 3-1. I get another huge laughing session in when the same opposing pitcher bats again and almost gets another opposite field bloop single, but this time the first baseman makes the play. Nonetheless the Dodgers hold on to the win, we get our free 50th anniversary Dodgers' hats, and we have an easy trip back home via the Dodger express shuttle bus and the drive. But it's midnight by the time I'm getting down for sleep.
July 4th starts with a ride to the pier and back. As is typical of July 4th bicycle rides, there are already people staking their claim to fireworks viewing areas along the beach. They will spend 12 hours at the beach for 20 minutes of fireworks show. When I get home I finish cleaning up the sideyard and then clean up the roses. Person Ti_Ca has scheduled a shaved ice lunch with some friends so we drive over to one of his friend's house and pick them up. We have a fun visit and we drop them back off. When I return home I get down for a short nap. Later in the evening as Person Ti_Ca attends a family party I take an actifed and am reading and dropping off for sleep as the fireworks and sounds for 4th of July are at their peak. I remember when Nopey was around and he was terrified of all of the sights and sounds of 4th of July, but now he is in a safer place. And I'm asleep before 10 pm.
I'm so physically hung over on Thursday that it takes me a while to get going. I get on the mountain bicycle before 9 am and go to the pier and back. The legs are okay but the entire organism is pretty tired. I change clothes and mow, edge, and fertilize the lawn. As class finishes I pick up Person Ti_Ca and we go down to Huntington Beach to hang out. After a two hour time period I drop Person Ti_Ca off at his old house (to pick up his car) and then I head for home. Because I am so tired now I take another actifed as Person Ti_Ca leaves to celebrate his Mother's and his niece's birthday.
The June gloom continues into July. As I'm riding down to the pier and back some of the other cyclists mention that it feels more like December than July. During the ride I run into Person A_Ph and I stop and chat with him for a while before continuing on. After a shower I get a smog check for the car and run some oter errands including getting the car washed. In the afternoon I get down for a 90 minute nap. Late in the day I walk over to First Friday but it's kinda boring. As I'm leaving I run into a co-worker and have a brief chat before walking home, helping Person Ti_Ca with some homework, and then dropping off to sleep.
Saturday starts waxing half of the world rally car before the weather gets too warm. I then continue with the pier ride. Today my legs have recovered and I feel good throughout the ride. When I get home I ask Person Ti_Ca to lunch at SoupPlantation and more than an hour later we are ready to go. Hmmm. After lunch I try to get down for a nap but it doesn't happen, so I wax the rest of the world rally car (including the gold wheels) and I just relax throughout the day with the first Tour de France mountain stage and other trivial things.
The MotoGP race from Germany starts the Sunday. On the last lap the rider that I don't like crashes out of second place. Life is good. I get out for another ride to the pier and back and ride along with a co-worker and his friend for a while as we talk about cycling and work and things. After a shower I watch the dry British F1 race that is interupted by Person T_U dropping by for a short visit.
I have trouble sleeping on Sunday night and into Monday morning. But I drag myself out of bed for a miserable day at work. There are simulations that refuse to work properly. There's a meeting that I go to and they don't even get to my presentation - I just sit there bored for an hour. And then, at 3 pm, the question comes out, "Are you going to Albuquerque tonight or tomorrow morning?" As this is completely out of the blue and there has been no warning or even hint of a work trip to Albuquerque, I just start laughing and give a number of comments about consideration and courtesy. But these fall on deaf ears. Somebody else is found for the trip but I persist in my mission for courtesy and consideration in business dealings and treatment of co-workers. It's falling on deaf ears but I'm on a crusade and I'm not going to drop this one. Needless to say I get in a great workout with the weights where I've dropped the weights some but added sets (since I haven't lifted for 13 days. After the workout and a shower I go over to Sim's house to help fix a door lock that is faulty. We get the door operational until the replacement parts come. Person Ti_Ca seems to also be in a bad mood today so we both keep our distance frome ach other until he heads off for a birthday party.