During the week I drag myself through as we have customers visiting at work and I have difficulty sleeping. I eventually get to present to the customers on Wednesday and have various other technical discussions with them on other days. The meetings and presentation go well. On Thursday I leave work a bit early and get in a great workout with the weights where I increase the weights a bit more. I thought I was ready for a break but this workout feels great and makes me want to extend the time before a little break because I'm making good progress and not feeling any pain in the joints (except maybe the right shoulder).
Since I worked last Friday on an off-Friday I take this Friday off and get out for the extended loop ride on the road bicycle. I extend the ride out to 35 miles for the day and call it quits. During the mid afternoon I get down for a two hour nap and when I wake up and regain consciousness I wonder, "Where did that come from?" I mow the lawn before the sun goes away and then relax for a bit. Person T_U calls and I'm headed for clubs in West Hollywood.
I arrive at the first club, grab a wristband, and head for a second club. The second club, where they might normally play good music, is playing crap music. So I don't stay very long and am back at the first club well before midnight. I run into a few acquaintances throughout the night but its really just a generic night out with no unique or substantial events. Thus I wait for traffic to die down a bit and then rush on home. The lights go out for sleep at 3:11 am on Saturday morning.
Saturday starts with qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix and my favorite driver again gets the pole. Hopefulyl his car will not let him down during Sunday's race where rain is expected. When the day has warmed up I head out for the extended aquarium bicycle ride on the mountain bicycle. I stop in at a foster children's event in downtwon Long Beach and listen to the speaker for a few minutes. And then I continue on the ride. After a shower I take the train to downtown Long Beach for the robotics competition.
The robotics competition is related to the competition where I helped out my friends' kids in high school a few years ago. Though I know nobody competing I just go to check out the robots and to watch some of the competition. I expect to run into people that I know, but I do not. Instead I just grab some the robots and the competition, and then head on home.
Sunday starts with a disastrous Australian Grand Prix. Not disastrous because of the rain, but disastrous because my favorite driver leads in a dominating fashion until he has a brake disk explode and he ends up in the gravel trap and out of the race. Two races in a row where he's lead in a convincing manner and he only has a single fourth place finish to show for it. At mid morning I ride north on the Los Angeles river trail - fighting a headwind the entire way until I reach the crossover bridge and turn around and come home.
On Monday I have a headache throughout the entire day. I cannot remember the last time that I had a headache, but today's lasts all day. When I get home I have a heavy workout with the weights for the push muscle groups and then start working on the old lawnmower. This lawnmower is 20 years old and I have a crazy idea to convert it to run on hydrogen (that is created via electrolysis as driven by solar power).
On Tuesday I try to be productive at work and then do the heavy lifts for the pull muscle groups. Afterwards I wash both bathroom floors and then continue incremental work on the future hydrogen-powered lawnmower.
Wednesday is an eventfull day. It starts with a good bicycle commute to work. It's supposed to rain in the afternoon and if it does I can always catch the train for home. I put my head down and make a lot of progress at work on things that aren't needed for a long time. By the end of the day it is very windy and chilly and my legs are tired, so even though it is not raining I take the train for home. I run into a co-worker waiting on the first train and we talk a bit about trains and bicycles and work and etc. Today there are many people who have bicycles on the train and near the middle of the ride an announcement comes over the train's public address system that says, "Bicycles are not allowed on the trains on Monday through Friday between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm. If you carry a bicycle onto the train during those hours you may be cited." A lady next to me starts saying how stupid that is - people trying to commute to/from work and not being allowed to use their bicycles (though she does not have a bicycle). When it is time for me to change trains a man standing near me says, "Oh, so you're going to heed the advice and get off now". And I respond truthfully with, "No, I'm going to to get on the blue line". Thus I grab the second train and get within a few miles of home and ride the rest of the way. It was a wise choise to take the trains today since my legs are very tired.
Friday starts with errands since the morning is a bit chilly. I hit a number of stores as they first open and don't have to worry about lines of people. When I return home I take my time mowing and edging the lawn. And then I mow the front lawn of the neighbors who do not live there anymore (and are doing a short sale or something). The neighbor on the other side of the house and I take turns mowing the front lawn so that the house does not look abandoned. In the middle of the afternoon I start out for the extended aquarium bicycle ride on the mountain bicycle. There's a strong headwind the entire way down the Los Angeles river and gives me a great workout. And though I don't just cruise home, I don't push as hard as the wind would allow.
Saturday starts with a wild and entertaining wet F1 qualifying session from Sepang, Malaysia. (The same track that I watched in person the MotoGP race last October.) There are quite a few surprises and it should be a fun race on Sunday (with more rain predicted). Before noon I get out for another extended aquarium ride with a headwind against me again all the way down the Los Angeles river. Always great to be on a bicycle! After a number of fixes around the house I try to get down for a nap near 4:30 pm, but I don't get much sleep. Late on Saturday I get in a great workout with very heavy weights - where did that come from? I expected to struggle because of the two consecutive days of cycling and no nap.
I head to two clubs in West Hollywood on Saturday night. On this evening I run into a number of acquaintances/friends inlcuding Person F_F, Joe and his boyfriend, Person K_J and his girlfriend, Person M_M, and a new friend, Person W_CT. TOnight there is no good pattern to the msuic with some excellent mixes broken up with some lousy ones. But I end up staying fairly late. I get down for sleep and turn the lights out at 3:11 am but I toss and turn a bit until 4:00 am before I fall asleep. I wonder why.
Sunday is a great day! It starts before 7 am for the Malaysian Grand Prix where my favorite driver grabs the lead at the star and never relinquishes it. Because of the topsy turvy qualifying there are a number of great battles throughout the field. When the race ends I jump on the mountain bicycle and ride down to CambodiaTown for the Khmer new years parade. It's an okay parade and I enjoy the smiles and the cheering. As I'm about to leave I strike up a conversation with Person S_Kh and Person J_Kh. They are, of course, both from Cambodia and have been here about 4 years each. We enjoy each other's company for a while and we agree to get together another time. I ride back home, grab a shower, relax a bit, and then head for the train station for the Thai new years festival in Thaitown, Hollywood. I wander around and enjoy the Thai culture and eventually Person C_T joins me. When I dig into the spicy papaya salad I rememebr everything that I've missed for the last few months. Eventually I get tired and head for home - noting that since there is construction on the train lines the trip requires people to one train, catch a shuttle bus around the construction, and ride the second train the remainder of the way. But it works.
Monday morning starts with rain - perhaps our last rain of the season. So unfortunately I drive the World Rally Car to work. I have periods of high productivity at work followed by periods of no productivity. The drive home is not bad and I jump right into a good workout of slightly reduced weight (to ease the joint stress) but higher repetitions (to increase the time that the muscles are under load). This workout almost kills me! But it feels good to complete.