Monday is a very productive day at Northrop Grumman. And the production continues when I get home with a great 10-5-2 session with the weights, care of the roses, swinging an ax at a dead tree, and reovoing carpeting from a room in the house. Again, I pretend to be a lumberjack and get the tree down with just a bit of difficulty.
On Tuesday a lady makes a sudden lane change and almost hits me as I ride along on the motorcycle towards work. But I had placed myself away from the center of the traffic lane - as one should - and had plenty of time to react to her move.
Wednesday, after a visit from a bathroom general contractor, I hit the weights for the third hard session in a row. Though it is not recommended, I've gone three good 10-5-2 sessions in a row in order to try and shock the body for new growth. Late on Wednesday, after a nice call from Person C_T, I feel that I have to do something....anything. In desperation, I put on the Beatles "1" CD and play "Let It Be". Though I feel the feelings that I want to feel right now, I can't quite get the tears to come out now. They just won't come. There is no reason that I should cry or feel like crying now, but it's something that I feel has to be done. But it just doesn't quite happen.
On Thursday I jump on the motorcycle and ride 125 miles up to Santa Barbara for a meeting with a sensor vendor. The meeting goes fairly well. And now, near 1pm, I'm jumping on the motorcycle again to come back home. This motorcycle, Yamaha's YZF-R1, is not set up for long rides - it has a short wheelbase, a stiff suspension, and an aggressive riding position. It was built for pure speed. So that's what I have to do (occassionally) on the way home. When I get off the motorcycle I'm a bit tired and sore. There's nothing to do now except go drill various bodyparts with another 10-5-2 routine and take a long walk with stops at the ATM machine and the grocery store. I'll be ready for sleep tonight!
Friday is the typical leave work a bit early, lift weights, mow the lawn, take a shower, do the laundry, and do some grocery shopping for the weekend. Afterwards I relax at home.
Saturday sees a reasonable aquarium bicycle ride followed by taped qualifying for the innaugural Grand Prix of China. Later I head over to Northrop Grumman to work on deployed NPOESS models for onorbit analysis. After work I return home for a good session with the weights (a 5-5-2 routine), some care of the roses, more removal of carpet in a room in the house, and relaxation.
Later I deal with calls with Person N_V, Person C_T, and Person J_VKPI. Just after 9 pm I'm headed to pick up Person J_VKPI to meet up with Person C_T and his roommate at a club in West Hollywood. But Person J_VKPI has to abandon the evening before I can pick him up because he's been called for work at 7am on Sunday morning. I get to the club early and wander around until Person C_T and his roommate, Person L_M, show up. Almost simultaneously Person T_U shows up and all of us introduce ourselves and have a nice group conversation. Later Person N_V and Person Huy show up. Person N_V happens to walk by as I'm holding hands with Person C_T and we're in an embrace. Person N_V does not say a word to me for the entire evening.
Late at night someone asks me what I do for a living. After trying to explain about satellites that monitor the earth's environment and getting nowhere, I try a different approach. In a monotone and serious voice, I go with, "You've just discovered the hideout of a top ranking Hezbollah operative. And your closest ship is 800 miles away in the Gulf of Oman. Fourteen minutes later the Hezbollah operative opens the door and is staring at your cruise missile. The last thing he ever sees is 'Delivery courtesy of the USA' painted on the tip of the cruise missile as it goes right through his front door. I get paid a lot of money to make sure that cruise missile doesn't even nick the f#$&*%$ door frame.". This does the trick as the person thinks he knows what I do.
Person C_T, Person L_M, and I leave the club and wander around until 2:45 am when I decide that I have to go home. I rush home and get home by 3:30 am. There is nothing to do now except put on the running shoes and start my Sunday. I do the 4:30 run followed by 0:30 walk for twelve times. Then I watch the Grand Prix of China, walk to the store to buy the newspaper, read the newspaper, and fiddle around the house. At noon I lie down for a nap and get an hour in before the neighbors start trimming trees. So I jump on the bicycle and get out for a good aquarium ride. The rest of Sunday is spent relaxing, watching football games, talking with Person C_T via telephone, and chatting with online friends throughout the world. I'm in bed before 9 pm. But not before I do finally get a few tears with the Beatles "Let It Be", "Hey Jude", and Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major".