I am losing sleep left and right over the difficult assignment at work. Other people have worked for months on the simulation and not been able to get satisfactory results. But late on Monday, after about a week of work, I have something promising. I'm excited over the discovery and start some simulations before going home to workout. I have a great abdominal and lower back workout on Tuesday evening.
I make more progress on the simulations and discovery on Wednesday and am almost ready to tell people what I've found out. Just after noon Person Ti_Ca calls since his car is over-heating. I tell him to park in a safe place and walk to class. I'll get to his car when he gets out of class. Thus I leave work a couple hours early and meet up with Person Ti_Ca. We fill the radiator with water and then he limps the car home to deal with it there. We start debugging the problem and I've got the thermostat disconnected but there is no water coming out. Person Ti_Ca says he filled the car with water a week ago, but it is all gone. So I start to fill up the radiator with water until it comes out of the thermostat. In the midst of the refilling Person Ti_Ca sasks, "Is that where you fill the water?" I stop and look at him and wonder where he's been putting the water all of this time. It turns out he's been refilling over overflow bottle and not the radiator. Thus I put the thermostat back on, fill up the radiator with a lot of water, and start the car. There is no overheating. I get out for another great weights workout before Person Ti_Ca ad I ride our bikes over to the concert in the park. Dring the concert I find my city councilperson who is moving on to other things, giveher a big hug, thank her for the last eight years, and have a nice conversation until I introduce her to Person Ti_Ca (and ask for her help in getting Person Ti_Ca paid for his election day work 6 weeks ago) and introduce him to the owner of a nearby Thai restaurant (who wants to cater the future concerts in the park). Later Person Ti_Ca stop by the Japanese restaurant to get food to go on the bicycles and go home.
I drag through Thursday since I couldn't sleep the previous night. I ended up falling asleep after 12:30 and still got up before 5:30 am. But when I get to work I'm excited because I've got good overnight simulation results and the solution to the difficult problem has been found. I share the promising solution with two co-workers and they are enthusiastic also. But then the novelty wears off and I'm left with work on no sleep. As I'm leaving work for home there are a few drops of rain. Rain in July? During the ride home it is dry, but as I get home there are a few more drops of rain. I get home and do some yardwork, work the abdominals and lower back, and watch another mountain stage of the Tour de France. In the early evening it is actually raining good - a tropical thunderstorm from down south having pushed into the region. And later I hope for good sleep.
On Thursday night I get in 3 great hours of sleep and then I am awake. I get up and surf the Internet for a while, go back to bed, try the other bed for a couple of hours of sleep, and theng o back to my own bed for a short bit of sleep. I stay in bed until 6 am and then go to work. At work I actually feel good and make good progress on the simulation and other tasks. When I'm done for the day, I leave work and get in a great workout with the weights, mow the lawn, have a refreshing shower, and then relax for the evening. Since the day is so humid with the presence of the tropical storms, I am sweating like crazy when I'm working out. But it feels good and I'm hoping toxins are being sweated out.
Friday night into Saturday morning is the best sleep that I've had in a while. I wake up a time or two but the sleep is deep. I get out for the extended aquarium ride. As I'm approaching WIllow I see a rider from the other direction who has stopped to change a flat tire. I see that he has things under control so I proceed. As I cross under Willow I hit something with the tire and now I have a flat rear tire. I proceed to change the tube and have quite a few people offer help today. After the tube and tire are back on the bike I continue down to the pier and back. I see other riders with flat tires near Willow on the return trip. I stop in at the DOminguez wetlands nature reserve since I see a co-worker there and we have a little conversation. Finally I start back for home and see a rider with a broken chain. I cannot help him but I tell him that there is a bicycle store two miles away and I give him directions. An eventfull ride today! When I return home the neighbors are having a yard sale and I stop in and buy a kite for $2. Later in the early evening Person Ti_Ca and I go to the Long Beach car and dragster show that they have near home each year. We meet up with Person T_U and run into friends and acquaintances and wander around looking at the old cars and drag cars. We've done a lot of walking, so we're back at home just after 9pm.
Sunday starts with the MotoGP race from Mugello, Italy. After the race I get out for a ride down to the pier and back and today there are no flat tires for anyone. Only one rider is stopped and adjusting his seat post because it keeps moving on him. After the ride I clean up the roses, clean the bathroom,s sweep the hardwood floors, and wipe down the kitchen for Dr. Karl's visit. I also see the stage of the Tour de France where many riders get flat tires because a spectator has thrown many tacks on the road. Appropriate for yesterday's ride. Dr Karl comes to visit from Florida (via Japan). On Sunday evening we go eat middle eastern food and catch up.
Monday and Tuesday are productive days at work as I start announcing that I've solved the difficult problem. One of my co-workers asks a question such as, "And we spent months trying to solve this problem. Why was that?" And I just respond with, "Because you didn't ask me to help". And he smiles and knows who to call first next time. When I get home Dr Karl and I get out for a long bicycle ride and we catch up again on recent activities and plans for our future. After a quick shower Dr Karl, Person Ti_Ca and his friend, Person T_U, and SIm meet up at the Thai restaurant. We enjoy a nice dinner and stay very late at the Thai restaurant. The manager of the Thai restaurant, who I put in touch with the 8th district city councilperson recently, feels he owes me one. But I just smile and I know that someday I might need to cash it in.
On Tuesday Dr Karl heads for work in Nevada and after the productive day at wrok, I get in a great workout with the weights. On Wednesday we have a productive day testing at work and finsih two axes of testing. When I get home I am tired so I hlep wPerson Ti_Ca with a homework project, go walking for 40 minutes, and then watch a mountain stage of the Tour de France.
Wednesday and Thursday are productive days at work testing. We scream through the panel test and have reasonable reults. On Wednesday I've been walking all over the work campus so I get out for a 35 minute walk after work and call it quits. On Thursday, the hottest day of the year thus far, I get in a great heavy workout with the weights and then work in the yard a bit.
The off Friday starts with a long ride to the pier and back. Since it is a Friday there are not many cyclists runners or skaters out today. After the ride I go right into the edging and mowing the lawn. And then I get a cool shower and relax for a bit. Person Ti_Ca and I work on homework and get him signed up for his classes in the fall before Karl returns after 6 pm. We drive down to an Indian food restaurant and afetrwards walk around a Barnes and Noble bookstore. When was the last time that I went and browsed through a bookstore?
Satruday starts with a dry and then wet qualifying for the German Grand Prix. My favorite driver qualifies second despite making an error on his fastest lap - he should have had the pole. Karl finally wakes up and we get out for a bicycle beyond the pier and back. I take a quick shower and go to a meeting at the West Los Angeles Pepperdine campus with Ruby and Joseph and others. When I return home I relax for a while and wait for Person Ti_Ca and Karl who have gone to the mall and to see the new Batman movie. Afterwards Person Ti_Ca's friend Erich comes over and we go have dinner at Shoreline Village in Long Beach. We get to wait for 40 minutes for a table and then we get to wait another 20 minutes to get our order taken. But the worst part of the evening is that there is a group of people seated right behind me that are so loud and incosiderate that we cannot hear our own conversation or (sometimes) what the waiter is saying. There are many people at the restaurant but it is only the one group that is loud - everyone else seems to be having nice dinenrs and being considerate of other diners. At one point I put my ear plugs in because they are so loud. Eventually we are able to get outside the restaurant to some peace and quiet. We return home and hang out for a while before everone heads for home or sleep.