On Wednesday morning I am headed to Fort Wayne, Indiana for a business trip. The trip to Fort Wayne is smooth and the weather is a bit chilly, but nice. The Thursday morning meeting is productive even if a final decision on the future direction is not made. There are only so many things that I can influence and control and I am beyond worrying about the ones that I cannot control.
The Thursday afternoon return trip is to take us through Dallas instead of Chicago. Even though I got through LAX security with the passive reaction wheel isolator with no problem, the security at Fort Wayne is tighter. They see the isolator in the x-ray machine and ask me what it is.
"That is a passively damped reaction wheel isolator with amorphic, moderately-crosslinked, polycrystalline material along with a polytetraflouroethylene coating to attenuate high frequency disturbances", is what I rattle off in rapid fire.
There is a blank look on the security person's face and a request for another explanation of what the device is. So I repeat, much slower this time, "This is a passively damped reaction wheel isolator with amorphic, moderately-crosslinked, polycrystalline material along with a polytetraflouroethylene coating to attenuate high frequency disturbances."
Secondary security people are soon near me as they inspect the device and try to figure out what it is - even if I've already told them twice what it is. We eventually come to an agreement that the device is harmless to be carried on a plane and I am allowed to pass through security and board the plane.
The Fort Wayne to Dallas leg goes smoothly in a small jet that holds about 60 people. It is a nice flight because we keep chasing the sunset as we proceed towards Dallas. And then the fun begins.
The small plane lands and we are routed to the A Annex terminal. A shuttle bus gets us to the A terminal. Seeing that the Dallas/LAX flight leaves from terminal B, we take the inter-terminal train to get to terminal B. We board the flight on time, take off, and get ready to turn back towards Dallas as a cabin pressurization problem occurs. We return to the exact same B terminal gate that we left from and wait on the plane while the maintenance people decide what to do. After 20 minutes we are told to leave the airplane and go to gate C20 where a new plane will be ready for us shortly. We catch the inter-terminal train to terminal C. Thus on this peculiar day we have made a complete tour of the Dallas airport terminals from A Annex to A to B to C. Eventually we get in the air with the replacement airplane and have a smooth flight to LAX - arriving 3 hours after we had originally been scheduled to land.
There is a cute little ChiChi on this last flight that keeps smiling at me and I, as I want to be friendly, smile back. I also violate the first safety rule - I look directly into the eyes of the ChiChi. But I do not say a word to the ChiChi - there is no reason to right now. I manage to escape from the front of the plane and get to the carpark shuttles long before the ChiChi can even think about trying to catch up to me from the rear of the plane.
Saturday is a productive day. I get out for about a 30 mile bicycle ride, mow the front and back yards, run some errands, and take a quick trip to downtown Los Angeles for a little thing that I need to do. Unlike typical trips to downtown where I'll walk around and visit my favorite areas, this one is quick. I take the motorcycle and cruise along at about 95 mph on the way there, jump into the shop, discover that they don't have what I want, make an alternate purchase, people-watch for about 15 minutes, and cruise home on the motorcycle at about 95 mph (with only a few bursts of speed above 110 mph). After a one hour nap in the middle of the day I lift weights, do laundry, pay some bills, and consider what to do for the evening. This would be a good evening to stay home because the Indepdendent Film Channel is playing a triple header of Gimme Shelter, SLC Punk, and I Shot Andy Warhol. Instead I go clubing with Person J_VKPI.
At the club, unexpectedly, are Person Roy and friends as well as Person N. It is a relaxing evening with Person J_VKPI as we have discussions about relationships and various issues. There are a number of people who want to make offers but who don't. Possibly Person J_VKPI keeps them away. On the way home both the 101 South and the 110 South have construction and there are delays. But I am laying my head down for sleep at 3am on Sunday morning.
Sunday I get up after 7 am, lift weights, read the newspaper, watch part of the race, and do some miscellaneous tasks before a 3pm ice hockey game. We win the game, 4-3, even after giving up a goal in the last minute to make things uncomfortably close. After a shower I am headed for Irvine to have dinner with Person Dao. We have good conversations about the various people in my life, relationships, work, misunderstandings, broken relationships, and a host of other things. It is a good dinner conversation that we have. It is only marred by the waitress who insists that I have the eggplant even after I have ordered the penne pasta. She seems disappointed when I stick with the penne pasta. I am back at home right near 10pm to get ready for an exciting Monday morning at TRW.