Tuesday is a long day! After going to work for a few hours I'm on an airplane to the middle of the country for all day meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. I arrive at my destination near 9pm even though both flight were late.
On both Wednesday and Thursday I get out for good 5 mile runs along a river trail that cuts through the center of Fort Wayne. The meetings are boring and have very little detail in them. But since I was requested to be here by our Washington, DC customer, I sit here with a smile on my face, contribute as I can, and talk offline with people about issues and things.
The string of late flights continues as both of my flight home on Thursday night are delayed. I end up getting home to Nopey near 1 am on Friday morning due to the delays.
I work a short day on Friday and go home to help a repairman, trim the bushes, mow the lawn, do the laundry, get out for another 5 mile run, and relax. I decide agaisnt going out tonight, so I'm in bed and ignoring telephone calls near 10 pm.
On Saturday I get out for a great bicycle ride up and over the dam. It is close to 40 miles and I equal my best ever time. My mind is daydreaming about resourcescout and clubbing and algorithms and people and before i know it the ride is half over and then rather shortly thereafter (it seems) the ride is almost three fourths finished. After a quick shower I have soup and corn and potato chips. (This seems rather odd - having potato chips after a great biycle ride. But the chips are baked potato chips with less than 15% of the grams from fat.) I pick up the mountain bicycle from the bike shop after it's tuneup.
Person N_C calls and we get together at his new apartment in Pasadena. We hang out for a while and then we go see "Freddy vs. Jason". (Don't ask - it wasn't my idea.) We also go browsing CD, electronics, and sporting goods stores before I head for home.
On this night I pick up Person J_VKPI, since we haven't heard from Brandon who was going to accompany us after his trip to Vietnam and Thailand, and head for a club in West Hollywood. Before we are into the club I've smiled at a guy, Person F_F, and we've started a conversation on the corner of the street. He finally says, "I might be in to your club later. I want to try and meet up with my friends".
There are many, many friends and acquaintances present tonight, the music is fantastic, and it is a fun evening. Present are Person Roy and his partner of 3-4 months, friend of a friend, Person Roy's roommate Ralph, Person Ray, Rene, Person M_P (who doesn't stay around long), Person E_C, and Person E_F. With Person E_F, when I get the chance, I have a brief conversation with him during which I tell him that I bought something for him in Japan and I again whisper in his ear, "I have the softest spot in my heart for you, your smile, and your cute little nose". This is met with the biggest smile and Person E_F responds with, "Text message me and we'll chat".
Later in the evening, after Person F_F has come to the club and we've been hanging out, I feel somebody...um...grabbing my...um...behind. After a minute or so I realize that it cannot be Person F_F because one of his arms/hands is entwined with mine and he has a drink in the other hand. So I turn around and see that it is a cute young asian girl (CYAG) who is...um...touching me. I smile at her and shake my head "No" and she leaves. About 30 minutes later the same thing happens - I'm standing with Person F_F and somebody is...um...playing with my behind. Both of Person F_F's hands are accounted for and I see the CYAG on the dance floor but insipidly staring at me. So I turn around and now there's some random guy who has his hand on my behind. And I smile at him and shake my head "No" and he leaves. At one point Person Ray comes over and asks me if Person F_F is my boyfriend. When I tell him that we just met a few hours ago, he seems a bit shocked.
The rest of the evening is filled with great music and a fun time. After dropping Person J_VKPI off I head for home and lay down for sleep at 3:15 am on Sunday morning.
On Sunday I'm up after 7 am to ride. I squeeze in the Aquarium ride in a time that almost matches my best time. After a shower and reading the newspaper, I spend a fair amount of time on the phone with Person F_F and others.
At noon I go to finish trimming the side bushes (that get trimmed about once eevry 5 years) and cleaning up the sideyard. Nopester gets out of the gate and roams the neighborhood. A few minutes later I hear some barking and so I go out to see what is going on. Nopester is playing with the neighbor's new 1 year old dog. Except that the other dog has lots of energy and Nopester has to sit down and rest occasionally. The neighbors mention how his hips will occasionally collapse and I note out loud that that has been standard for about a year now. But Nopester is really tired and no amount of coaxing will get him to come home. So after about 10 minutes I pick Nopester up - all 75 pounds of him - and heave him over my shoulder and carry him two houses home. The neighbors and I both think that this is pretty funny.
I get out for an hour of rollerblading in very good conditions. After a shower I am headed to West Hollywood to meet up with Person F_F for dinner at a place called Chin Chin. Which I, of course, shorten to Chi Chi. I follow the directions to the address and am surprised. For the 20 plus years that I've been in Los Angeles I've never been to this block of Sunset Blvd. Now I've been here twice in the last week - this is the exact restaurant that Person J_VKPI was in front of last week when he ran out of gasoline.
We have a nice dinner and I grab Person F_F's leftovers of chicken and beef. Nopester gets it down in about two bites! But he's happy.
On Sunday morning I eat and read the newspaper before cycling. As I was waking up it felt like an elephant had stepped on me - the sleep was that deep and sound. After a good Aquarium ride that equals my best time again, I work on a proposal and do a few other errands. And now it is time for some more rollerblading!
As I'm skating along I pass three ChiChis heading the opposite direction in one of those little peddle carts. So I trun around and catch up to them and start talking. The three of them are from Japan, so we talk about my trip and how friendly people were there, and the cities that I visited. I am glad to hear that they also feel that the people in the USA are friendly to them. We talk more about baseball and languages and music - the three ChiChis preferring American music whereas I want to talk about jpop music. The three of them start giggling uncontrollably when I mention Tsubasa Imai - it was worth it. I can see that the three ChiChis, two girls and a guy, will be coming as a package deal tonight. But I don't think that I am up for all three, so I eventually break off the conversation, turn around, and head for the truck. It is a good skate!