I have a good Tuesday at work putting together a GUI for a previous shock response algorithm that a former co-worker developed. I also attend some meetings and contribute where I can. But today I hear from three different people, "I heard you are retiring. Everyone is going to miss you". The rumor is out. It is only a matter of time. When I get home I am tired and don't even go out walking because I've been walking to four different buildings throughout the work day.
Friday starts with a ride up the Los Angeles river to pick up Derrick and we continue north to the Santa Fe dam. It's a good ride and I come hime using the San Gabriel trail for about 60 miles. I rehydratea s much as I can until I go to recycle cans, go to the library for two more books, stop in at the ATM, and then the grocery store. These are the only errands that I have today so I spend the afternoon relaxing during a hot day and cooking some vegetables for next week's lunch. Since I got serious on Wednesday about eating right again and dropping some more weight my blood pressure has dropped to 121 over 72. The lowest readings I've had for years. I'm sure it will bounce around a bit for the next couple of weeks until I've firmly entrenched those types of numbers as my new normal.
I get out on the road bicycle on Sunday morning heading north towards the Whittier Narrows dam. A group of four riders catch me because my legs are slow today. Soon two riders go ahead and I stay with them as we maintain speeds above 23 mph to the dam. When we get to the top of the dam they are going to take a break and wait for the other two riders but I just say to them, "You guys are fast". I continue on across the dam and over to the San Gabriel river trail. My legs are tired from the miles over the last three days and trying to keep calories low, but I get into a good pace and finally get my turn off at Del Amo. As I stop for a quick fluid break I see two of the group of four riders go under the tunnel as they didn't catch back up to me all the way down the San Gabriel. I have a cool shower, start some laundry, and settle in for a slow day of some reading, some web programming, and whatever else comes my way.
Sometimes you have to work through tedious efforts no matter what you job title or status is in the company. Thus I grind through details of models and simulations on Wednesday through Thursday. Sometimes you just have to do it yourself. By Friday afternoon I am happy that the workweek is finished and that I've resolved some of the discrepancies in the models and simulations. In the meantime I've had good sessions with the weights on Wednesday and Friday and a long walk on Thursday after work. I am ready for my birthday weekend.
I start my birthday weekend with my bithday ride - one mile for every year old that I am. I overachieve a bit as I get in almost 60 miles by metting up with Derrick and pulling him along to the Long Beach pier and then back up the Los Angeles river. Today I feel strong and the miles click off quicker than I expected. After a quick shower I run some errands, grab Togos to bring home for lunch/dinner, and buy supplies at the grocery store. I'm a bit dehydrated but I don't feel tired today. But I do relax and read and do nothing special.
All the way around I have a great Monday. I get to work and realize this new tool isn't going to work in Excel. Oh it works, but it istoo slow and has memory problems. So I recreate the entire tool in Matlab in a few hours. And it runs fast. By the end of the day my boss is claiming that I've saved a lot of time and money with this tool and we have to get it into the hands of the manufacturing and assembly personnel to build the sunshield. At an appropriate time I go home to lubricate the motorcycle chain, have a great session with the weights, trim the roses, and then get down on my hands and knees to clean the kitchen floor. After a cool shower I catch some of the news and relax.