Monday, 8/5, sees me headed for LAX to catch an airplane to Washington, DC. Who scheduled a meeting in Washington in August? The United flight seems to be going well until we start making circles in the sky in the middle of the country. The pilot explains that there are thunderstorms over the destination airport and we'll be circling over Lousiville to allow the storm to go away. A half hour later we are out of the holding pattern and flying straight again. But not too long later we're flying in circles over West Virginia and the pilot announces another delay. We eventually make it to the airport about two hours late. There is some light rain in DC but the weather is nice at midnight as I drive to the hotel.
Tuesday morning brings a beautiful 80 degree, dry day to Washington, DC as we walk from our hotel to the meeting location - which has been changed on us in the middle of the night. After the meeting Stan (a former ice hockey goaltender of mine) and Brian (my most recent chiropractor) and I get together for dinner. Stan and Brian have recently left Long Beach for DC. We have a fun dinner talking about new possibilities and current affairs.
There are also many telephone calls from various people. How do they find me in Washington, DC? Person Daniel calls from Hawaii and is bored. I try to get Person Daniel to call Person G so that they can go hang out and have fun, but he doesn't. He thinks it would be too weird to call a stranger and say, "Hey, I'm a friend of Ray's. Let's go have soda or coffee."
Wednesday morning sees a continued set of presentations by...um...the company who shall remain nameless for now. (But it was not TRW that was presenting.) The company has obviously overrun their current contract, have no workable design, and are asking for more money under the guise of changed contract scope and enhanced capability. The colonel sees past their confusing, muddied presentation and asks the company to perform the tasks that they already should be performing. The company personnel are heated and disappointed that the colonel did not give them the $45 million that they asked for.
Now I'm rushing back to the airport to catch a flight. The rental car return attendant has her electronic device to make the return fast. And I have to start in, "Hey, that's wireless, isn't it?", knowing full well that it is.
The attendant responds with, "Yes. It talks with the transponder on the roof of that building", as she points to a small antenna.
I pull out my mobile phone and say, "I bet that I can hack into your wireless transmissions and change the amount that you're billing me". I start punching buttons on the mobile phone.
The attendant steps between me and the transponder and says, "We've had people try that. They couldn't do it."
"But I can. Set your watch for 60 seconds. I bet that I can change the bill in 60 seconds. And it doesn't help for you to stand in the way because I'm going off a satellite."
The rental car return attendant is still smiling at me, but she finally says, "If you change that bill and make me re-do it I'll break your fingers."
I turn and start running for the shuttle bus. "I have a plane to catch." And she's still smiling as I take a quick look back.
The return flight is delayed for an hour. In addition one of the flight attendants is cut and bleeding severely as we are boarding the plane. I try to calm him down by asking him to elevate the cut finger, apply pressure, and keep the ice on it. He's looking like he's going to faint from the blood but I keep asking him questions unrelated to the finger and pretty soon he's looking okay again. But his finger delays us a bit more as he has to leave the plane and paperwork has to be filled out.
It has been an eventfull trip and I am tired. I go stand at the back of the airplane, as I usually do on long flights, in order to break up the boredom of the flight and to keep the blood circulating. The flight attendants and I start chatting and pretty soon I'm helping them serve sodas and water to individuals who come to the back of the plane for extra refreshments. "Thank you for your patience", I say to each of the passengers as I fill up their cups. Soon I am dragged into one of the games that the flight attendants play to pass the time. It's the old write a famous name on a sheet of paper and stick on somebody else's forehead as each person tries to guess the name on the paper stuck to their forehead. I win the first round! (One of the passenegers came back and gave me an illegal clue, but I still win.) The flight attendants are mad at me in a friendly way, so we play again. I get my character narrowed down to a Disney animation character in three questions, but then I get stuck and lose. Later, as I'm leaving the plane to go home, I give my telephone number to one of the flight attendants and ask them to call for rollerblading or playing when they get in town in the future.
Friday is my birthday. I take the day off from work and ride the bicycle one mile for each year old that I am. Except that I am having so much fun that I get carried away and end up riding 52 miles. It was a great ride over the Whittier Narrows dam, through the nature reserve, down the San Grabiel trail to the ocean, across the ocean path, and up the LA river trail towards home. I saw birds and bicyclists, squirrels and skaters, rabbits and runners, and waterfowl and walkers.
But I am completely hung over when I finish. I rest for an hour and start in on the laundry and mowing/trimming the lawn. I keep having to sit down because I'm light-headed. But eventually things work themselves out and I'm on my way to Person T*'s house for birthday dinner. (I have not learned how to say no yet.) We have a good dinner in a former train station that has become a restaurant. There is, of course, the obligatory, embarassing singing of happy birthday by all of the waiters/waitresses. Afterwards we go back to Person T*'s house and talk and pretty soon her house becomes Grand Central station. Her sister drops off the three boys (Person T*'s son and two nephews - ages 4, 6, and 7) and we are soom playing with roller skates and watching a Peter Pan movie. I miss being around young kids! But I excuse myself at about 10pm and head for home - bypassing the night at Fire Island (or equivalent) that I was planning.
Saturday I'm up and starting on another bicycle ride. But I feel the rear tire going soft in the first few miles and so I turn around and go home. Instead I do housework. And answer email. Person L (Go look it up from the past!) has sent me a birthday greeting via email. I respond politely. Later I get out for about an hour of rollerblading. I do not run into Person J_M but I have conversations with other little ChiChi's who are out rollerblading. By 6pm I am home and ready for collapse. But the night is not over.
Person X_V calls and I am headed for West Hollywood. I stop and pick up Person J_VKPI but draw the line at picking up a friend of his because we cannot fit 3 in a small Toyota truck and because his friend is way out of the way. An argument ensues between Person J_VKPI and his friend (over the phone) and I just keep the L7 music in mind. We get to WeHo and have fun listening to music and mingling with the crowd. Between 10 pm Saturday and midnight I field 20 telephone calls from well-wishers and nay-sayers, friends and foes, and etc.
As I leave the bathroom, with a person in tow who has started a conversation in the
bathroom, I maintain a 10 meter distance to Person J_VKPI as I continue the conversation. The
guy wants me to come with him to his hotel. But what could Dr. Manning, a left coaster, have
in common with this wrong coaster? Not a thing. When I give Person J_VKPI the nod, he
comes over and drapes himself over me and manages to get the stranger to leave. Later, as
I maintain a distance between myself and Person J_VKPI, another person introduces himself
to me and we talk briefly. Later I find his email address stuffed in my pocket. A CD from
L7 is still playing:
When I get angry and when I get pissed
I take out some paper and I make up a list
Of all the a%$h*&#@ who won't be missed
You made my sh&$ list.
I'm in bed by 2:30 am Sunday morning. By 7:30 am Sunday morning I am waking up. I feel like an elephant has stepped on me. There is only one thing to do - get up and ride. It is just the 16 mile Aquarium loop but the new rear tire feels good and I feel good. After watching a race on television and working on a website I'm heading down towards the ocean for more rollerblading.
I rollerblade for about an hour until I can no longer stand up. I am still hung over from Friday's long bicycle ride and all of the other weekend activities. A rational and sane person would now go home, take a shower, and read a book. But this is not to be.
After the shower I'm headed up to Silverlake to visit Person C_P. We have some great conversation about how the other half lives, we talk about family and friends, and we talk about life outlooks. Near 10:30pm I have to excuse myself and leave. The circumstances surrounding my leave...well...are non-traditional to say the least.
The three day birthday weekend mercifully ends with only one dead body, many tired and sore joints/muscles, but my sobriety streak still intact.