Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Monday, February 25, 2002 8:21 PM

Some Weird, Random Events


It is Wednesday, February 13th, 2002 and I leave work at TRW early. Today is the day that will change my life. I drive over to Bellflower and when all of the negotiating is done, and I see the results, I have the biggest smile on my face - a smile that just won't quit.

There it is - and I now own it. The new, 2002 Yamaha YZF-R1 - the fastest production motorcycle on the planet. (See the pictures page.) I ride off and it meets and exceeds every expectation. I'm up to 92 mph in the first 22 miles of riding (you have to break it in slowly) and it feels ultra-stable.

Flashforward: I'm up to 111 mph on the bike in the first 150 miles. The bike weighs 375 pounds, churns out 155 horsepower, and tops out at 180 mph. It is obvious that the engine is producing plenty of grunt: I have trouble keeping the front tire on the ground on acceleration, trouble keeping the rear tire on the ground on braking, and trouble keeping the footpegs off the ground on cornering. It is an amazing machine, though I have to figure out how to program the dashboard to give me the right displays and shift lights.

Person T* and I visit Huntington Library on Sunday. We have a good time even if all of the roses have been trimmed back for later growth. We talk about fun things and gardening and life and Buddhism and life and work and life and tastes and life.

Monday is President's day so there should be very little traffic. I put the road bicycle in the truck and drive to work - hoping to finally get the rear hub and other things repaired. At noontime I'm walking the bicycle to the bicycle shop after parking around the corner. The head mechanic is test riding another bicycle and he passes me going in the opposite direction - but he does notice my bicycle and does a double-take and starts drooling. Later, as I'm finishing writing up the work order, the head mechanic returns from his test drive and has a huge smile on his face as he comes over and looks at my bicycle. He starts talking - he's Italian - that's why he loves my bicycle so much. I start telling him, "It's not just a run-of-the-mill Ciocc. No, this one has the 1984 Olympics limited edition Campagnolo grupo with the Italian flag colors painted onto the components." I know this will get him going. He alternates between tears of joy and drools of uncontrollability. "Just take good care of it and fix it back up, please." I hope that it is in good hands.

Person T* introduces me to her brother on Tuesday the 19th. I have a problem. Person T*'s brother, who works at TRW, is someone I've made eyes at (i.e., flirted with) over the past few weeks. I have a problem.

Person L comes over on Wednesday night. This is the night after one of those frustrating work meetings that lasts all morning, after a visit to the chiropractor, after a reasonable 5 mile run, and after, yes - it's happening again, a number of wine coolers. Person L and I disagree as to the night's activities. And I receive a not-nice email from Person L the next morning. I ignore it.

The chiropractor, on the other hand, notes that my tailbone has been pushed sideways. This is the cause of my pain lately. He provides some electro-stim therapy, adjusts the base of the spine, and makes a comment about the activities that I've been engaged in lately that would push this region of the body out of alignment so severely. I keep my mouth shut.

Over the course of Wednesday the 20th through Friday the 22nd, TRW CEO Dave Cote resigns to run Honeywell (Get out of here you lying cheat. Get out of MY company!), Moody's downgrades our debt status, and Northrup-Grumman makes a $5B offer to purchase TRW (with the intent of separating the automotive and aerospace units). I start putting together my resume and mission statement prior to applying for the TRW CEO position. Is there any coincidence here that we have been put on a document destruction program lately?

Over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th I get out for two bicycle rides and drink heavily on Saturday - silently turning down an invitation from Joe and Brandon on Saturday because I can't find the telephone while drunk. I also receive two invitations to help children ice skate (either friend's daughters or nieces) and one invitation to babysit Person T*'s 6 year old son. Because of prior committments only the ice skating with Person L and Person L's nieces happens.

On Monday the 25th I leave work early, pick up my road bicycle from it's repairs, and go for a good bicycle ride to test it out. I get myself nice and dehydrated and come home and rehydrate with wine coolers. Plenty of wine coolers. Finally here is a day when no expensive gifts, no books, no flowers, and no friendship/love cards arrive in the mail. When I've got my nerve up, I call Person L and we have a one hour telephone conversation that starts with, "I cannot be the other woman". We talk about it and now, again, here is another person that I have disappointed. At the end of the conversation I want to take a warm bath and drop the hair dryer into the water with me. But I cannot because the electrical cord on the hair dryer is too short to reach the bathtub.

Time to be a celibate hermit for a while.