On Tuesday I get a text message at 5:30 am and Person Ch_C needs to come over for a hug. So we hang out together for 30 minutes until I leave for work. And today is another day where I get fairly wet on the motorbike on the way home - it isn't raining when I leave work and it isn't raining at home, but it is raining fairly heavily in the middle of the ride. When I get home I go for a 45 minute walk (hampered by a blister) and stop in at the groceyr store for some supplies.
Wednesday is heavy rain so I drive the car to work. I try to stay productive and work on some process-enhancing tools for my department. I leave work early (to beat the rain traffic) and get in a great, heavy session with the weights for the push muscle group. Person T_U and I are supposed to see a movie tonight but we cannot decide on what to see.
Whereas Thursday is a productive day at work (followed by a good heavy workout with the weights and a visit rom Person Ch_C), Friday is completely unproductive. Thus I head out the door early (and note that I owe work an hour or two) and have another heavy session with the weights and then mow the lawn. Person T_U has mentioned going to a high school football game (a big inter-Long Beach rivalry) so I grab a quick shower and get some food. We get to the game and it is a fun game. I'm cheering for Long Beach Poly high school and they dominate the game to win 27-14. Their opponents only score twice when they recover a fumble and when they return the second half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. I'm introduced to a few of Persn T_U friends or friends of friends and hear how one played professional football for a few years and one played professional baseball for a few years. I enjoy the game and the experience on this evening. Before the game I've received a text message from Person K_J who wants to go party but I'm occupied and then, when he is at the club and texts me again, I'm already laying in bed reading and ready for sleep.
Saturday starts with a monsoon in Japan and postponement of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Though the F1 cars do run in the rain, they cannot run in a monsoon. So qualifying will have to take place on Sunday morning (in Japan) before the afternoon race. I get out for the extended aquarium ride today and enjoy the clean air and bright sunshine and feel strong throughout the ride. After lunch I'm dropping off so I get down for a 90 minute nap. After the nap I lay in bed more because it takes me 10 minutes to regain consciousness and blood flow to bodyparts to even think about moving. Late in the afternoon I get in a heavy pull workout and that is it for the day.
Sunday starts with the Japanese Grand Prix where my favorite driver starts from pole and stays in the lead the entire way. After the race I get out for thee xtended aquarium bicycle ride and feel very strong throughout the ride. Today is a warm day, so I spend time reading and watching football games and then watch the MotoGP and Moto2 races from Sepang, Malaysia (That I attended last year). I notice that the attendance is announced at 62,000 people and the stands look exactly like last year - every seat taken. In the MotoGP race my favorite rider gets a bad start and is in 11th place after one lap but he's on a mission today. So he starts turning in fastest laps and taking positions one by one until he leads the race and wins. Late in the afternoon I feel that I want to cry, but I don't give myself the chance to. Instead I try to remove these thoughts, read more, watch more football, but maintain a fairly lazy Sunday (after the bicycle ride).
The workweek is a very productive week! I get handed some non-typical work and I just put my head down and buzz right through it. It takes all four days to accomplish, but I have a good sense of accomplishment when the week is over. Except late on THursday I get called to a stupid meeting and after 30 minutes I just stand up and say, "I'm going home. Get hold of me Monday and I'll deal with it then". Because it is going to be one of those unproductive, talk forever meetings that I cannot stand anymore.
On Tuesday after work Person Ch_C calls me and picks me up and we go walking/running up and down Signal Hill 6 times. I have not run since May when the Achilles tendon started hurting, but it feels good to climb the hill an sweat a lot. Though I know I will be very sore for the next few days.
On Wednesday and Thursday I get in heavy workouts for the push and pull muscle groups, respectively, as I maintain a high level of weight without joint pain. I can see productive and positive gains in strength from a few weeks ago. On Thursday after I've left work to skip out of the unproductive meeting, I lift weights heavy, mow the lawn, water the lawn, take a quick shower, do the laundry, and entertain Person Ch_C as he visits after his run (up and down Signal Hill again). We talk about the trip that we'll be taking on Friday and Saturday.
Friday starts with the extended aquarium ride and packing for s short trip. Near 11 am Person Ch_C and I are headed towards old town San Diego. We check into the hotel and then spend a few hours walking around the area. The hotel was converted from a historic San Diego bank building into a Marriott, so the building and architecture is very cool but the room and facilities are only adequate. I have not been to San Diego since I met up with my visiting cousins probably 15 years ago, so nothing looks very familiar. After a while we return to the hotel to rest. And then we go out alking some more. By 10 pm we are very tired and back to the hotel to watch a silly movie (The Hangover) and then get sleep.
On Saturday Person Ch_C and head for the San Diego zoo and meet up with Person T_SD. Person T_SD lives near Oceanside and we wander around the zoo and take pictures of many animals and do a ton of walking. My 7 year old camera starts acting up with the "infinite loop" problem, so after 71 pictures I am done playing tourist. It's actually approaching 3 pm anyway and the three of us are tired, so we conclude our tour of the zoo. Since Person T_SD doesn't drive and has taken mass transit to get to the zoo, we save him two hours on his return trip by dropping him off at his place in Oceanside on our way home. Person Ch_C and I hang out at home for about an hour before Person Ch_C goes home and I clean up the mail and bills and other things. I drop off to sleep before 10 pm assuming that all of the walking will enhance my sleep. But at 2 am I wake up and cannot sleep, so I surf the Internet for a short while, read, and try for sleep again.
Sunday starts with the MotoGP race from Australia. The race is a bit processional except for a couple battles for 3rd and 5th places. I wait for the morning drizzle to subside and then ride north on the Los Angeles river - avoiding all of the Long Beach marathon traffic and street closures near downtown. During the ride there are still sprinkles and drizzle and I end the ride a bit wet and cold. It's another lazy Sunday of reading, the Moto2 race, some football, and little errands around the house.
I get to work on Monday morning just a little bit wet from riding the motorbike in the rain. I put my head down and make good progress on a couple different tasks at work. And then I'm called into a meeting where my boss's boss is not happy. I explain the untenable and difficult situation and pretty soon my boss's boss and I are yelling at each other. Until a third party butts in and tries to calm us down. I'm frustrated with the obejctives and perspective being taken. EVentually I ride on home and have a great heavy workout with the weights where I've increased the weight again and get to a 1 one repetition set with maximum weights for each of the push muscle group exercises. Person Ch_C stops by for a brief visit and I tell him that I yelled at my boss's boss and we talk about that a bit. Eventually I'm headed for good sleep.