On Tuesday I'm almost enthused to get up and go to work. When I get to work there are many meetings to sit through and other than contributing during the meetings, I am fairly unproductive. I notice as the day wears on that the right side of my face keeps getting sorer to the touch - my right eye, right cheek, the right side of my mouth, and the right side of my neck. When I get home I take my temperature and I have a slight fever but nothing to panic over. But when I try to lift heavy weights it is a real struggle. I get in a pretty darn good workout considering, but it is a struggle. I relax with a cool shower and hope some rest sends my health problem away soon.
As the workweeks rolls along I struggle to stay awake and enthused since my little illness is dragging me down. It doesn't help that I have to sit through a number of meetings where people insist on discussing, at length, the minutest details when we don't even have the big picture converging to a solution yet. And on Thursday at work two different projects specifically ask for help from me by name and my boss assigns me to both of them (in addition to the one I'm already working on). This is heading for a disaster but I just go with the flow and try to make progress.
The workouts through the week are pretty good dispute my illness. Though I struggled on Tuesday, on Wednesday I have a great abdominal and lower back workout and on Thursday and Friday I split the routine up into push and pull muscle groups and increase the sets and weights. It feels good to struggle and grunt and groan and make some heavy lifts. After lifting on Friday I mow the lawn, clean the roses, glue a piano stool back together, and relax. I hem and haw about attending the First Friday celebration so I pump up the tires of a mountain bicycle hanging in the garage just in case I decide to ride over and hang out for a bit. I ride over and it's kinda boring today. So I head for home.
Saturday starts with qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix from Monza and my favorite does not do well since his car is always down on to speed (which counts for so much at Monza). Since my cycling friend Derrick is going with his family to San Francisco, he has begged off from riding so I take the mountain bicycle out to the end of the bicycle trail in Long Beach along the ocean and home. It's a great ride! The afternoon is kinda slow since I did not sleep well on the previous night ad I end up getting down for a 60 minute nap. Person Ti_Ca get dressed up and go shopping for some household things, have a nice dinner at Mimi's Cafe, and then decide to come home (instead of seeing a movie). When we return home there is a live concert by Linkin Park that Person Ti_Ca likes so I watch for a while until I head for sleep.
Sunday starts with the first half of the Italian Grand Prix. The first half of the race is starting well for my favorite but then some questionable steward's call gives him a drive-through penalty in the pits so I take off for a bicycle ride. Today I go down to the pier and back and cross path with co-workers along the way. When I return home I feed and water the carnations and then I hard-trim the roses back by one-half to one-third. This is a suggestion to enhance the second bloom of the season in about 6 weeks. We'll see how it works out this year. I take a cool shower and finish the Italian Grand Prix with my favorite dropping out near the end. It's a hot day so I take it slow, watch some football, do some web programming, and just be lazy.
On Monday I get to work enthused and ready to go. I have a lot of things to do and other than one morning meeting that I attend (and an afternoon meeting that I skip), I concentrate on work and have a very productive day. I'm even looking forward to being back at work on Tuesday morning to finish some tasks off. I get home and have a very heavy session with the weights for the push muscle group and a cool shower. Tonight is very warm and muggy So I take it easy and help Person Ti_Ca with his homework.
On Tuesday I don't have a single meeting at work. Instead I just put my head down and make a lot of progress on two fronts until I run out of information. Now other people are holding me up. Forutnately it is time to leave so I go on home a shade early and have a heavy workout for the pull muscle group. I can tell I've gained strength because these lifts are a bit easier than last week even though they are very heavy. Today has cooled off a bit and work on the roses and polish some shoes before having a relaxing evening.
I just keep having productive days! Wednesday and Thursday are great days because people leave me alone and let me produce models and simulations. And after work I get in great, heavy workouts with the weights - again separating push and pull muscle groups. I have great nights of sleep as I usually do when I lift heavy.
I start a hot Friday with a long bicycle ride to the end of the bike path along the ocean and back at home. Near the end of the ride I even throw in three intervals to make sure I'm dead for the rest of the day. When I get home I mow the lawn, clean the roses, and attend to the carnations. I get in a cool shower, have lunch, and do some web programming. Today it reaches 99F in Long Beach and so it is a very slow day. I relax with a movie or two and an afternoon nap. In the evening I go to a local coffeehouse and have a strawberry smoothie and just relax. Person O_X texts me and joins me for about an hour as we talk about his recent family trip to San Francisco.
A blazing hot Saturday starts with a 36 mile road bicycle ride up to the Whittier Narrows dam and back. I don't go over the dam and down the San Gabriel river trail because there is construction over there and I don't want to deal with detours and/or flat tires. During today's ride I get two compliments on my bicycle. One is from a guy going in the opposite direction who just gives a "Nice bike" shout out to me. The other is from a guy who catches up to me at the end of the ride and as we talk,he says, "That's a beautiful biccyle" three times during the conversation. It's a coincidence because I'll probably ride this bicycle for another year before I get another compliment. Person Ti_Ca and I have a slow day since it is so hot but we try a different Japanese restaurant for dinner and we like it.
Sunday starts with a long road bicycle ride with Person D_HK. There are no compliments related to my bicycle today. We ride back down to the ocean where there is heavy fog (trying to break the heat) and a mini-triathlon going on. Person D_HK has never rideen in the fog so it is new for him and we stop and check out the triathlon for a short break. It's another 35 miles or so for me - topping off three hard rides in three days. When I get home I wash and dry the bicycle, work in the garage a bit, water the impatiens, and finally take a cool shower in order tow watch the MotoGP race from Misano, Italy. It's a weird race with a false start, riders not allowed to take their grid positions because a tire warmer got caught up in a wheel, and a motorbike that won't start. As a result my favorite rider gets second in front of his home crowd and my next favorite rider gets third. I watch the Detroit Lions on national television and am disappointed when they look flat. And I don't even get to the Moto2 race - that will be for Monday.
Monday is semi-productive at work. It is always hard to get started on the Mondays following a three day weekend but I persist and make some progress (though not nearly as much as last week's progress). When I get home I lift weights heavy again but I struggle with them - maybe still being hung over from the weekend's heat and bicycle rides. After the workout I take a quick shower, walk to the grocery store, watch the Moto2 race from Italy, and then help Person Ti_Ca with homework.