The wet weather is gone by Tuesday morning. I get to work early and try to make up for a semi-productivve Monday. I have meetings in various buildings today so I spend a lot of time walking across campus to get to the meetings. After work I ride to the motorcycle dealer for a tuneup and get a ride home from Person Ti_Ca. And relax later with a Los Angeles Kings win in Edmonton.
Thursday starts with Karl riding over to get a swim in. I lift weights and mow the lawn and clean up the yard a bit. When we gather for lunch we drive to the Cerritos mall and look at the labrador retriever puppies (they don't have any golden retrievers) and relax for a bit. When we get home we jump on the bicycles and ride up to the Whitter Narrows dam. It is a windy day but the more we ride the stronger I feel and I do most of the pulling on the way home. After getting cleaned up we get out for supplies for an evening of watching movies. There is wine flowing and pizza being cooked and a very touching movie called "The Rocket" playing. Person T_U drops by and he gets in on the wine and pizza act and hangs out for a bit. And then we finish the movie.
Karl, Person Ti_Ca, and I pick up Person T_U and we head for clubs in West Hollywood. We hit three clubs throughout the evening and run into a number of Person Ti_Ca's friends. I also see some clubbing acquaintances from a few years ago when I used to go out more often. At the third club Karl has picked up a friend that he can't get rid of. The guy is very persistent towards Karl and it takes a long time for Karl to convince the guy that he is married and not interested. The rest of us are just enjoying the music and hilarity of Karl's situation. We eventually drop Person T_U off at his home and then we return and get the lights turned off near 3 am on Saturday morning.
On SUnday morning I take Karl to the airport so that both of us can return to our usual lives. I go out and ride for just 90 minutes, but despite the last few days of hard riding, I feel pretty good. I spend the afternoon cooking lunch for the week, a bit of spot cleaning around the house, and relaxing.
I'm bored on Tuesday at work also but the boredom is broken up with a long meeting with a customer where they are confused and we are also confused. And I get in some standard work and need to start documenting the effort. When I get home I put on the new running shoes and do some walking and running - more than 90% walking actually. And I stop in at the grocery store for supplies on the way home. When I get home I help Person Ti_Ca with homework.
I have a difficult day on Thursday. I make progress on documents and results that I am supposed to generate, but I keep thinking of my blood pressure. In the afternoon there is a good meeting and I manage to get everyone on the same page so that we can start some testing soon (subject to a bit more work on the part of another co-worker). When I get home I lift weights and I have no joint pain even though I lifted weights two days in a row. As I'm relaxing on Thursday night and watching the Kings game I have this overwhelming feeling come over me and I lay down on my bed and start crying. I have not felt well emotionally for a while and maybe the crying will help. I manage to see the kings finish their win over Vancouver 4-0 and I head for reading and sleep.
Saturday starts with me sleeping until 7 am. I get up and drink a lot of water and drive to have my blood taken (as part of Wednesday's annual physical). When I get home I immediately change into cycling clothes and take the mountain bicycle down to the old yacht club and add in some extra miles at the end. It is starting to get pretty hot, but I finish beforethe temperature starts blazing. Again I work on my taxes and relax inside the cool house while the outside temperature blazes to 91F or so. Person Ti_Ca and other friends go to the beach but I just relax in the coolness at home.
I don't get out of bed until 7:05 on Sunday morning and I prepare everything for a road bicycle ride. I start north on the Los Angeles river and battle a pretty strong headwind as a result of our high temperature, high pressure system. There is nobody who goes past me on the northbound ride though today would be a great ride for a group of 5 or 6 riders to take turns pulling at the front and make a good pace (compared to my individual ride). I cross over the WHitter Narrows dam and head south on the San Gabriel river trail. I'm aided by a tailwid though this trail is more sheltered than the Los Angeles river trail. I'm just cranking along and keep saying, "Let me go catch that rider up ahead" nd I manage to do that continuously until my turnout to head for home. It's a good 40 mile ride and I can feel it in my legs. AFter a shower and cleaning the roses and watering the impatiens, I mail off my tax forms and do some healthy grocery shopping to try and lower my blood pressure. I finally sit down and watch the Australian Grand Prix and though it is good to get past the winter F1/MotoGP withdrawl symptoms, something is missingas I watch. It's a great race for positions 3 through 10 and some unpredictable events thrown in. In the mid afternoon I lay down for a nap and finally recover consciousness at 4pm to watch a couple episodes of Lilyhammer and prepare to go back to work on Monday morning. Soon these Monday morning "return to work" preparations will cease (in their current form, at least).