For the entirw work week I'm in Boulder, Colorado again witnessing and contributing to another test. The Boulder people are some of my favorite people and on Wednesday I go out for dinner with two Ball employees: one who I used to know from the National Center for Atmospheric Research many years ago and one who I've become close friends with over the last 5 years. We spend 4 hours talking about all sorts of topics. It's a great time.
On Tuesday and Thursday I do 45 minutes worth of aerobics on the hotel's indoor machines because, as I write in my daily status report, "...I've become a California sissy boy and cannot take the cold weather...".
On Friday as we're finishing up the testing we have an anomaly and this mars the entire week of testing. But when the anomaly is under someone else's control I head for the Denver airport - there is nothign else that I can do. When I stop to refill the rental car with gasoline I spend 10 minutes looking for the gas cover release latch. I ask two people in line at the pumps and they cannot find it either. I finally (sheepishly) go into the gas station and tell the attendant what's going on and it takes us a few more minutes of pokign around to realize there is no gas cover latch. You just push the cover in towards the car and it pops back towards you and swings out of the way. A stupid design (by Saturn).
Saturday starts with a short visit from Person M_FL on his way to work. And then the visit is shortened even more when work calls and wants him to come and visit sooner than his normal start time. I get up and answer email and then clean both bathroom floors and the kitchen floor, pickup mail from the post office (on hold due to my trip), and then do some rose maintenance. The day is warming up nicely so by mid morning I'm heading out on the mountain bicycle for the extended aquarium ride. It's always great to be on the bicycle after being away for even a few days. Throughout the remainder of the day I spend a fair amount of time watching football games and crawling around on the hardwood floors wiping them down with a damp sponge and then with a hardwood floor cleaner. By the end of the night I've finished the entire house except for the living room. Late in the evening Person T_U and I have discussions on whether to go out clubbing or not. We both decide to just stay at home and not go out.
On SUnday I'm up early to finish off the living room hardwood floor. After I've warmed up (from the floor cleanign) I jump on the bicycle for the extended aquarium bicycle ride. As I've hit the halfway point and turn around I run into three visitors from Korea. They have just arrived the previous day and I have a chat with them to talk about their plans and where they might want to go visit. All three of their English is very good because they each stayed in England for one year to study English. They "get mad" at me for never having been to Korea yet, but I tell them that I will make it there someday. Before I ride off they want to take a picture of me so the two women huddle in on my sides as the man takes the picture. And then I wish them well and ride off to finish a great ride.
When I get home I work on reviewing data from the past week's vibration test. I want to make sure that we did not miss anything in the data. We did not. Near 5 pm I drive down to 2nd street in Long Beach and meet up with Joe for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant. I hear all about Joe's recent trip to Australia and we catch up on things. After dinner as it is raining I cannot find where I parked. I walk up and down a couple of streets until I find the car - a few streets over from the restaurant.
On Monday it just pours like crazy, so I have to drive to work. I have a productive day and it is good to be back at the office. When I get home there has been a power outage and there is some water on the kitchen floor. But I cannot figure out where it came from. Nonetheless I have a good session with the weights as I've dropped the weight back quite a bit to start back in after 9 days off from lifting.
Throughout Monday I feel that I want to cry. I think that I would feel better if I did. Life is going well right now. But I just feel that I want to cry.
On Tuesday I wake up just after 4 am to call Tree in Thailand. I heard that he had been in the hospital recently and wanted to see how he is doing. Work is semi-productive, so I leave a bit early and fight terrible traffic home. I get in a good workout for the abdominals and lower back, watch Desperate Housewives, and then work on some of the things that I missed by leaving work early.
Wednesday and Thursday are days of very heavy rain, so I'm driving the car to work again. Each day I leave a bit early and then do some work at home (after working out).
Friday is an off Friday and another day of heavy rain. I run some errands, do some reading, visit the acupuncturist, and late in the afternoon I get in an extended heavy session with the weights. For this workout, becasue I've been couped up in the house most of the day, I increase the weights and increase the number of sets. It feels good. And I'm rewarded with extra deep sleep.
Saturday starts with a long walk involving a stop at the post office and to return a DVD. The sun is breaking through, so finally we'll have a chance to clean up after all of the rain. The sun comes out and warms the day sooner than I expected, so I start out for an eventfull bicycle ride near 10:30. All of the gates to the Los Angeles river bicycle trail are closed, so I end up riding on streets until I find one that is open. When I get down near the aquarium a film crew is shooting footage so there's a detour. And the bicycle trail along the ocean looks like a tsunai has hit it - there's sand all over the trail. Finally when I get back close to home the gates are closed so I have to lift the bicycle over the fence and climb over. After the ride I take a television to the eWaste cleanup for proper disposal, get to the library for a few books, and stop at the grocery store. The afternoon is spent reading and relaxing. Late in the evening Person T_U and I exchange phone calls and decide not to go out clubbing.
On Sunday I wake up early and wait until the morning has warmed up a bit to go cycling. As from yesterday all of the gates are closed, there is still filming going on near the ocean, and the ocean trail is covered in sand. This time though on the way home I try a little-known gate off the Los Angeles river trail and find it open - thus no lifting the bicycle over a closed gate followed by climbing over. When I get home I mow the lawn and then use the afternoon to watch the two football games.