Monday and Tuesday (Christmas Eve) are pseudo-productive days at Northrop Grumman. Monday night I head to a resourcescout meeting where we discuss the chaos going on with Los Angeles county's social service system and we talk about the rapidly-evolving adoptions database and search capability. We talk about an appropriate date to get on the calendar of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors calendar.
On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, I leave work early enough to mail some last things out, rent a video, and do some last minute grocery shopping. I'm rushing to get into the express lane (with less than 9 items) and I bump into a small display - spilling the contents on the floor. I stop and put the display back together and put the contents back in the display. (To this minute I don't even remember what the items were.) In the time that I picked up the spill and walked the two steps to the express lane, there is an older couple who get in line in front of me with their cart full of items - probably 5 times the 9 item limit. It's Christmas Eve and the "9 items or less" sign is difficult to see, so I find myself defending the older couple when people in line start making comments about the number of items that they have. The trip is followed with a good 20 mile bicycle ride as I beat the falling sunset.
A quick shower is followed by the video presentation of "Traffic". I recall that I saw this movie at a theater with someone when we were going out and it spurred a conversation about past drug use. "Traffic" is one of my favorite movies because nobody knows who the good and bad guys are and because the four different story lines are so intermingled and intertwined.
Christmas Day starts out with a good 40 mile bicycle ride. It is a bright sunny (but cold) day and I don't see any other cyclists for the first hour of the ride. And then the floodgates open as I see a fair number for the second hour of the ride.
After carbo-loading with spaghetti, I'm out rollerblading. I see a number of little kids riding their Christmas present bicycles for the first time with the greatest smiles on their faces. This is the same smile that I have on my face every time that I get on a bicycle or a motorcycle. After the approximate hour rollerblading session I'm driving home and I see Dao walking on the street with a friend. So I circle back and stop and make small talk before I continue home.
In a moment of weakness I stop at a liquor store and by a small bottle of whiskey for the night. Conversations with Person J_VKPI, Dao, Joe, Daniel, and Brandon are a bit blurred but I still know my schedule for the next few days.