Work is just out of control on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. People keep saying "Ray is the best person for this effort" and I keep getting tugged around in many directions. At the end of each day I've barely spent a couple of hours on each task. I have the mindset that I will do my best, put in some extra hours at work, but I can't do everything and I'm not about to try. After each workday I get in a good long walk, a great session with "sort of" heavy weights, and finally another session of lifting with "sort of" heavy weights. I shouldn't lift heavy on two consectuive days, but I try to be careful and maintain strict form. In the meantime there is another busienss opportunity for the non-profit, so I send off a congratulatory email to the recipients of new grant money and try to sell my services.
On another projected blazing hot day, I get out early and ride the mountain bicycle down to the old yach club and back with a few extra miles throw in. After a shower I get out to the library for three new books and grab lunch and buy some vitamins at Trader Joes. And then I return home and turn on the air conditioning and have a slow day. In the early evening ym neighbor comes over and we sit in the air conditioning and talk about a lot of things until I go try to look at her car and see what is wrong with it. Unfortunately my multimeter has died and I postpone the real work until I get a new one. But I also take back a very old computer that I had lent to her whe she was just starting out learning the computer.
Monday and Tuesday are super-productive days at work. I hope they don't expect this level of production regularly. I gather enough data for two big problems to be finally looked at and attacked. On Monday I am late at work and when I get home I can only grab dinner and watch the Moto2 race - I'm just spent from the day's intensity. And on Tuesday I get in a good workout with the weights in order to wind down from the intensity at work.
I have another good day on Thursday post-processing the results of a simulation into test levels. I get over to the lab and manage to get the teamback on track in terms of the objectives of the test and how to perform it. It is only much later that we receive word to stop this effort because it has been overcome by events. When I get home I get out fora 36 minute run. It's hot today and I'm a bit tired.
I start Saturday riding north on the Los Angeles river to meet up with Derrick at the Whitter Narrows dam. As I approach the dam I start smelling smoke. Derrick explains that they have lit fire breaks in the small hills in the area. So we turn around and go all the way back to the Long Beach pier and then turn around. I end up with about 56 miles today. When I get home I am kinda tired and watch a boring qualifying session from Spa, Belgium. Boring only in the results - but super for the track. I have a slow afternoon and even have a one hour nap. I get in some cleaning of the house and I open up the new multimeter that has arrived and make sure it works - since the 15 year old multimeter that was a Christmas present has died.
On Monday I get up at 4:30 to get to work and beat traffic. I'm driving the car today because I have to pick up Karl at the airport. I have a decent and sometimes puzzling day at work. Near 6 pm I pick up Karl and we have a good chat as we drive home. After a few minutes we walk to the Japanese restaurant and continue our discussions about travels and retirement and jobs and life and stuff. We eventually walk back home and just veg out in front of a television movie.