On Monday I start back in lifting weights with 15 repitition sets. It feels good to be back at it after almost two weeks away.
Tuesday is a fragile day. Person N_V spends most of the day looking at apartments and other places to live. We have a couple of discussions about the places that he has looked at as well as where each of us made mistakes in the relationship. The emotions of Tuesday are kept in check with a 6 mile run (the longest since I ruptured the L4/L5 discs back in November) and hanging freshly-painted cabinet doors. Later in the evening I receive word from a mutual friend of mine (Person LGB) and Person W that Person W has always been interested in me. (Recall that Person W and I hung out a couple of times approximately 18 months ago and had fun conversations about primordial soup, atmospheric sciences, and weird-geeky stuff.) This news is not welcome at this time.
On Tuesday night when Person N_V comes to bed we continue our discussion about where we made mistakes. And suddenly in the middle of the conversation, Person N_V drops off to sleep. And tonight Person N_V is the one that snores loudly. (Usually I am the loud snorer according to Person N_V.) Seeing that I cannot sleep with the noise and seeing that I'm a bit perturbed with Person N_V about the conversation, I go sleep in the other bedroom. This is the first time that I have ever slept in this bedroom in this house. A little after 4 am Person N_V comes into the room and joins me in bed. But we can't get comfortable so we go back to the regular bedroom and both say words to the effect that we should be helping each other get through this difficult period rather than looking back and being critical of each other's mistakes.
This period of time has been so all-consuming that we have reached stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia and I have not seen a single stage yet.
Thursday is the National Bike to Work day. At work I've told my coworkers that I will have to share a ride to another facility because I'll be cycling to work and nothing will get in the way of my participation. Almost nothing. On Wednesday night I help Person N_V with a website and we are up late trying to finish it off before he leaves for his conference in San Francisco. But I'm still up at 5:30 am on Thursday to cycle in. Two diet Cokes at my desk (after a shower, of course) help prepare me for the day.
On Thursday night, after the bike ride home, I go have dinner with Person M_CC. I'm back at home by 8:15 pm. I send an email to Person M_Fl saying that I am giving a dining room set to Goodwill and that he can have it for free if he wants it. About 2 minutes later Person M_Fl coincidentally calls - he isn't currently online and doesn't know anything about the email. We have a little discussion and he decides that he'll need to see it and that I'll have to hold it for about a month until he moves.
About 2 minutes after we hang up the phone rings and it is Person M_Fl. When he asks when he can see the dining set and I respond with a "Now!", he hangs up and heads on over. After showing the dining room set we sit down and talk about the chaos that is present in both of our lives. When Person M_Fl leaves near 12:30 am my bedroom is in a state of chaos also with wrappers and blankets and things all over the place. I only remember things on the dresser banging around and a "supply bottle" kept falling off the bed ledge and hitting me in the head.
-->On Friday I leave work to lift weights (the final 15 rep session), mow the lawn, do the laundry, and perform a few other errands around the house. Other activities during Friday will not be discussed here but entails getting to sleep near 3 am on Saturday morning.
Late on Friday night I am picking up Person M_M (What is it with all of the Person M_something's latey?) at the train station. We go back to my house and have long discussions about school and life and work and stuff. Eventually Person M_M has to leave, so now at 2 am on Saturday morning I'm leaving the house to give Person M_M a ride back to South Gate where he lives. And I'm laying down for sleep just before 3 am on Saturday morning.
-->On Saturday morning I'm up early to run 4.5 miles over to Long Beach airport to pick up Person N_V's car from longterm parking. He had to park in longterm parking because I was unavailable to give him a ride (due to National bike to work day). After retrieving the car I get the bicycle ready for the long ride, buy interior paint, get moving boxes, paint three ceilings, and try to relax. Later I get out for a walk and buy chocolate chip cookies to reload blood sugar levels after the ride.
On Sunday I'm out the door on the bicycle at 5:30 am to ride to Griffith park, register for the ride, ride down to the bikestation in Long Beach, and then back home. The annual 72 mile Los Angeles river ride. I expect to quit a bit short this year because I haven't had many miles on the bicycles due to the ruptured L4/L5 discs. The ride starts strongly and I struggle for a just a bit past the halfway point as a headwind picks up. I latch on to a four bicycle freight train (with me making the 5th bicycle) and get started again. The freight train energizes me and I'm able to finish the full ride with very little difficulty. Whereas last year I was able to pull other riders along, this year I graciously accept the tow from others. Sometimes one has to give and sometimes one has to receive.
After the ride I reload with tons of spaghetti and chocolate chip cookies. And head to a party by meeting Person J_VKPI at the train so that we can ride down together. We run into Person T_U, Person JJ_P, Person John, and a few other acquaintances/friends. But I'm tired so I'm home and thinking of sleep at 8:30 pm.
On the train ride between the party and my house, I strike up a conversation with a 17 year old girl and three 18 year old boys about the party and about other things. They're jabbering away and I get in a few comments occassionally. But they are friendly and respectfull of me. As I'm leaving the train, I get their attention and tell them, "Don't let us old people run your world. Go out and make your own world." They like this advice. I do too.