Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Monday, October 20, 2003 8:05 AM

Another Fun Week


On Monday I take CDs of music to work in order to have a productive day. I take some weird 80's music as well as the Beatles anthology of number 1 hits entitled "1". I play, over and over, "Let It Be", "Hey Jude", "Yesterday", and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". During "Let It Be" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes and the lump in my throat forming. But theee are emotional tears of joy. I collect myself prior to running off to various meetings during the day. When I get home I lift weights and get ready for an early ice hockey game,

After the Tuesday night ResourceScout meeting I talk on the phone with Person N_V. We talk about our deepening involvement and the things that are standing in the way. I tell Person N_V, "Think about the things that can make it happen as well as the things that can prevent it from happening".

I arrive at work early on Wednesday morning. Somebody has rearranged the toy blocks on the floor of my office to read, "Get Ray some help". It could have been many people offering this suggestion.

On Wednesday I get down to Huntington Beach twice. Once during work hours to buy a launch vehicle from Boeing. Once after work (and after lifting weights) to help Person M_C move. When I arrive at Person M_C's house he's surprised to see me and says, "I'm moving next Wedneday. Not this Wednesday. I pick up the keys on Monday". We both have a good laugh and we both apologize and I put it on my calendar for next Wednesday. I handle quick phone calls from Person N_V and Ruby on the drive back home. At home, as I'm working on the ResourceScout proposal that is due to Los Angeles County this Friday, both Person T_V and Person K_K call. (Recall that both are exes from this year.) What's going on here? I have a nice conversation with Person T_V and we agree to get together one of these days. I actually miss Person K_K's call because I'm busy with Person T_V. What's going on here?

I take Friday off from work. By a bit after 9 am I have run 5 miles and cycled 16 around the Aquarium. After a shower I put the finishing touches on the ResourceScout cover letter and proposal. Ruby comes over near noon and we make a few more changes before we print all of the needed copies and she heads for the delivery. I hop on the motorcycle to discuss new tires and a tuneup with the mechanics. It's set for Thursday. Now I hit the weights with the next-to-last set of 5's and I protein load afterwards. This is not enough activity for the day, so I mow and trim both the front and back yards, grab a shower, and do the laundry. Phone calls from Person J_VKPI and Person N_V brighten my day. Person N_V and I make a momentous decision that is hard to believe is being made so soon after we met. But I am happy and he is happy.

On Friday night I am surfing the Internet and looking for a new motorcycle helmet. I want an AGV helmet because I've had good luck with them in the past, but I look at the Shoei brands also. And now I have a problem. Shoei is offering a Dajiro Kato Memorial helmet painted similar to his helmet. I get ready to buy it but then I realize that they want more than $600 for it. I put the credit card away and continue surfing. It is probably not a good idea for me to be wearing his helmet and be reminded of him everytime that I put it on.

On Saturday morning I get out for a good bicycle ride prior to Person N_V visitng. We have lunch together and buy a DVD player. But when we get it home it just doesn't function right at all. So we return to the store and get a different model that works perfectly. We watch "The Matrix Reloaded" and it is kinda fun. We order pizza in for the night and lay on the couch watching other movies before heading for sleep just after 11pm.

I tell Person N_V when he wakes up, "We're in Australia now". And he figures out that I have the Australian Grand Prix for motorcycles on the TV. So Person N_V sits with me and we talk about why the bikes are wiggling around so much (the track is half dry and half wet), how much it hurts when we see a couple fallers, and who is the best rider. As two of the riders are going around a blind 130 mph curve they both run into something flying across the track. It is two seagulls that have wandered away from their nearby water habitat and flown across the track at exactly the wrong time. Neither of the rider falls but both birds are now dead. And I explain to Person N_V that they cannot remove the dead carcases from the track because it would be dangerous for a course marshall to run onto the blind turn and try to get it off the track. Instead the course marshalls display the "oil or debris on the track" flag to the riders just before the corner and everyone else avoids the dead birds for the remaining 8 laps of the race. Person N_V leaves on Sunday morning because we both have lots of things to do. But I take the chance to go rollerblading for about an hour before working on websites - one for Person N_V.