Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Monday, October 13, 2003 8:05 AM

More October


On Monday night I spend a lot of time on the phone with Person J_U and Daniel from San Francisco. I miss a call from Person N_V. I'm dead to the world shortly after 10 pm on Monday night, but at 3:00 am on Tuesday morning I am awake (after some deep sleep) and I cannot fall back asleep. Person N_V is on my mind. Finally at 4:30 am I get out of bed and go run. The 5 mile run is slower than usual, but it gets the day started. I'm in my office a bit after 6:30 am on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I get confirmation of what I expected - my throat is sore and my body temperature is up. Between the lack of sleep and serious September workouts, I have worn myself out. On Tuesday after voting I get out for a long walk, take some Kava root extract, relax a bit, and wait to drift away to sleep to help my body recover. I handle calls from Person N_V, Person J_U, and Person J_T (an acquaintance from a long time ago who probably has not been mentioned often in the diary). I'm in bed for sleep before 9 am and sleep almost continuously through until 6:15 am on Wednesday morning. I feel better, but my throat is still sore and I have a slightly elevated body temperature.

I get home Wednesday and lift weights. Even if I am feeling a bit under the weather, the lifts are still good. I dump Nopey into the bathtub and give him a good bath using shampoo and conditioner. I try to blowdry his fur dry as well as I can though he is still fairly wet when I pick him up and carry him out to the kitchen. Now Nopey is mad at me because he smells like phoofy shampoo and conditioner and all of the neighborhood dogs will be making fun of him. Ruby stops by and we talk about another ResourceScout opportunity that we will chase after. Before dropping off to sleep after 10 pm I handle calls from Person M_C (who complains that he has two houses worth almost $1M right now because one fell out of escrow) and another from Person J_U (as we discuss logistics for dinner on Thursday night).

I'm up on Thursday near 5:30 am for a good 5 mile run. I'm a bit slow, but it feels good. Person J_U and I go for a long walk along the ocean and then have a good dinner. Person J_U is nice. But...

Friday is a short day at work as I finish up the second week of the training class. I'm home at about 2:30 pm because it has been a long week, a sick week, a tiring week, and an emotional rollercoaster week. When home I mow the front and back yard and lift weights - this being the final day of 5's so I get to drill every muscle. It feels good. And now I relax before a 10:30 pm ice hockey game. We start off behind 2-0, climb back to a 3-2 lead, and are tied at 3 with 5 minutes to play in the game. I take a pass from a teammate, take a shot from the top of the faceoff circle, and score - hoping that with a few minutes left it will stand as the game winner. But it is not to be. We give up a goal with 30 seconds to play to allow the other team to tie the game. But we score during the 5 minute sudden death overtime to win.

On Saturday morning I'm out for the Aquarium ride when I hook up with another rider. We start a conversation but I can see him looking over at my legs regularly. Finally he invites me to join him and others for a Saturday 8 am ride next week and I accept. It's on my calendar now.

After I wash and wax the motorcycle, Person N_V comes over and we take a nap. Person N_V is feeling a bit under the weather and I could use some extra sleep also. Later we get out for dinner and see a violent movie, "Kill Bill". But at least it takes place in Japan! And we're home and heading for sleep near 2am on Sunday morning.

On Sunday I get up late and get out for a 5 mile run before watching motorcycle races from Sepang, Malaysia, and the Grand Prix of Japan. When Person N_V wakes up I tell him about Dajiro Kato and other emotional incidents and Person N_V can somewhat relate because he used to ride a motorcycle. After lunch Person N_V heads for home and I head out to skate. But the parking and traffic control from the Long Beach Marathon prevents me from skating. It doesn't matter because Person N_V calls and we have an emotionally confusing (yet good) conversation about where we are.

The rest of Sunday is spent trimming roses, finishing the waxing of the motorcycle, relaxing, and wondering "What the heck just hit me?" regarding Person N_V.