Monday is Day One of the Northrop Grumman buyout of TRW. Is it an omen that it is raining? Everybody gathers near noontime to hear the TRW head honcho on his way out and the Northrop Grumman honchos on their way in. Dr. T and I leave a bit early to have our own conversation about bicycles, ex-TRW people, houses, and dogs. Late on Monday I start heading home (from an offsite building). But the traffic is miserable so I take the first exit and return to my home building. I go for a five mile run and take a quick shower - getting in a reasonable workout on top of the morning session with the weights as well as letting traffic get out of my way.
The next few days are marked with little sleep, bad gut feelings, emotional trauma, and raised flags as Person G's visit nears. We have discussions to the effect of postponing the visit. Somehow this gets changed in the translation to "let's just forget about the whole thing". When sleep does come it is deep.
On Tuesday when I'm taking out the trash the neighbor of a neighbor stops me and asks if I heard/saw all of the police cars at our neighbor's house last night at 3am. After answering that I did not, I wonder what is going on because the neighbor isn't home and I'm watching her house and taking in her mail. The neighbor of the neighbor says that the police knocked on windows and doors last night during the pouring rain because there were 911 calls coming from that address. I go get my flashlight and checkout the nieghbor's house - the flashlight batteries dieing, of course, in the midst of the checkout. Everything looks fine, but I call the neighbor near Oakland to let her know what's going on. "Maybe the heavy rain caused problems with the telephone wires", is the best that I can offer. I meet the neighbor's son when he comes over later and he says that everything looks fine. The wet telephone wire theory will have to explain things.
Towards the end of the week, after a few co-workers have told me that I look terrible and that I need to rest, I do see some blood in places that it shouldn't be. One coworker asks, "What's wrong with your eye? It looks like it's trying to close." I do notice that the eye does look tired when I check it out in the Northrop Grumman bathroom mirror.
I take Thursday off from running in order to rest. As of Thursday night, even though I've asked/requested Person G to postpone his visit, it is unclear whether the request will be honored.
Nopey provides the next paragraph (in gold background because he's a golden retriever):
For a few days now we have not walked. And I have noticed that Ray was crying a few times again. Once when he was on the telephone and one other time. He went and laid down in his bed and was crying. Ray should take some of the little blue pills that he gives me. Oh Ray thinks he's being sneaky by wrapping the pills in bread or cheese or chocolate, but I know that they are there. And they sorta help my hips feel better. On Saturday Ray gets a lot accomplished but I can tell that he isn't feeling well because he is distracted. But we do go for a walk in the rain - so maybe he started taking those little blue pills. I hope that one guy comes back and visits again - the one that always wore baseball hats and that I scared so much when I pretended to be dead.On Friday night and Saturday morning I'm up to my hips in wallpaper. I rented a steamer from Home Depot to remove the wallpaper in the dining room and brighten it up with some light paint. After a bit of time I get pretty good at removing the wallpaper and going back and removing the adhesive. Now it's time to patch, prime, and paint for a new look.
The other activites on Saturday include a session with the weights, a long walk with and without Nopester, miscellaneous errands, an Ice Dogs ice hockey game, and a visit to a club. The Ice Dogs' game, courtesy of Person M_C, is exciting towards the end as the game is tied and both teams have good chances in the last five minutes. The game ends up tied and the Ice Dogs lose in the shootout. When the game is over I'm headed towards K-Town and West Hollywood to pick up Person J_VKPI and go to a club to listen to music. Person W is there (though we don't get a chance to speak) and a number of Person J_VKPI's friends are present. Person J_VKPI points out the people who are giving me the eye and I have to explain to Person J_VKPI that that is not why I am here. It is a good outing and I am in bed on Sunday morning just before 3am.
Sunday is a recovery day. I lift weights, do the laundry, read the newspaper, do a bit more non-creative Christmas shopping, dig a number of holes on the wet ground for the long-anticipated rose garden, and play my own ice hockey game. We tie the game 3-3 in a close fought game.
After the game Person G and I have another conversation about future plans. We're in a difficult situation due to my gut reactions and instincts disallowing Person G's trip. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I propose a radical plan so that we can both deal with the issues that we need to work on. The entire plan is rejected by Person G with the wonderfully articulate, "Forget it", and with no alternate plan being proposed. Thus Person G decides that we should have no contact for at least a few months until he recovers from the trauma that I have brought on.