The week starts out miserably. I ride the motorbike to work since it is dry in Long Beach. But in the last five minutes of the ride there is a downpour and everything is soaking wet. Fortunately I keep an extra set of clothes at work so I can change into them and let everything else dry out. I make a presentation with some good quality data but the reviewers are looking for something different so we keep redefining the meeting. Afterwards the team talks about the experience and we have some positives to take away but it feels bad. I lift weights when I get home to relieve stress but it doesn't completely eliminate it.
Wednesday starts off with the blahs but I have a double Red Bull near noon and pretty soon I've got my head down and making progress on charts (for yesterday's redefined meeting), on someone else's test, and some technical work. When I get home the old roof is completely off the house and garage and the workers are cleaning up the (expected) mess that they made. It's weird to be able to look right through the roof and see sunlight. Later I get out for a long walk to relax and relieve stress. Though today has been better since I did make progress in the afternoon and I did solve a web programming issue that I had struggled with for a week.
Thursday is a day of demands on my time. There are tests to help out on, analyses to review and verify, and other meetings to attend. When the day is over I am happy because it has been a tiring and seemingly nproductive day. I get home and relax for a bit and check out the new plywood on the roof before heading to an adoptions meeting on the motorcycle. As I'm riding to the meeting I see a flash in the sky - but it cannot be lightning because it wasn't in the forecast. But then I see another flash and pretty soon it is raining quite hard. I get to the meeting and it is obvious that it is going to be a disaster. By the end of the meeting one team member has left in tears and come back and I just manage to hold my tongue the entire time and say a few words to Ruby and Joseph as we have left the meeting space and are trying to get home. When I get home I see that the roofers have come over and laid plastic over the plywood though it didn't rain very hard in Long Beach at all.
Friday starts with the mountain bicycle ride down to the pier and back. I'm late getting started because just as I am getting ready to leave Dennis, the roofer and cyclist, comes by to check on the progress of the job and we talk for almost an hour. The ride is good and clears my mind. When I get home I wait a bit for a big truck to get out of the way so that I can mow the lawn and trim the roses. After a shower I go grab lunch and than go to downtown Long Beach to geek-out at Work Evolution Laboratories - a community event, artists, geek space. Though it is quiet at the WE event space, I get a lot done on chasing down adoptions data as well as other web programming. Late in the afternoon I head back for home with a stop at the grocery store on the way. I relax at the house, admire the new roof on the garage, and watch some ice hockey to round out the Friday. Originally I was supposed to go with Person Ti_Ca and his family, including his Dad who I met in Cambodia, but that will happen another day during his visit.
Saturday starts with qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix and a mountain bicycle ride up north. I run into a cyclist friend and warn him that the Long Beach trails will be filled with cyclist for the Long Beach BikeFest (which I avoid since a lot of the cyclists crowd the trails and make my ride a bit dangerous). My friedn turns and rides with me and I take him up the real Los Angeles river trail since he has only been on the Rio Hondo trail. I haven't ridden on this trail for about a year and it is overgrown with weeds. But we enjoy the ride and it is a bit farther then I wanted to go but I had a responsibility to show my cyclist friend up to the end (before we turned around). I run a few errands on Saturday and do some web programming and think about going out clubbing but don't. Instead I end up in bed and asleep fairly early.
Sunday starts with the first half of the Spanish Grand Prix before I have to head out on the road bicycle to meet up with Derrick. I meet up with him and we have a good ride with calm conditions and we both finish before it gets too hot. I go get some trim paint for the roofers to finish up with on Monday and then get a surprise as Person Ti_Ca brings his father, his sister, her two kids, and another friend over for lunch. We set everything out and I cannot follow the conversation because it is in Khmer, but we make the best of the situation. Eventually everyone leaves to go see Iron Man 3 and I just relax at home.
It's a long week of work. I make some progress at the beginning of the week and I answer a lot of questions from people asking my technical advice. But it isn't my best week. With the chaos of the roof I miss workouts on Monday and Tuesday. But Wednesday and Thursday see good weights workouts and a ride to the pier and back, respectively, along with some work on the yard and roses. Person Ti_Ca is preparing for final exams so I do some web programming throughout the week and cheer on the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-0 lead in games in their series. I bet people heard me yelling from two blocks away when the Kings score two goals in 22 seconds in game two to take the lead and win.
I struggle through Friday at work and rush on home at an appropriate time. I lift weights and mow the lawn and trim the roses and do some other little clean-up work. I feel better. After a nice shower Person Ti_Ca and I do some homework and I try to decide whether to go out clubbing. But sleep wins out. Or at least some trying to look for data for the adoptions project. The deadline is next week and we're not going to make it no matter how much anybody yells and says "You're not committed to the project".
I start Saturday with a ride to the pier and back on the mountain bicycle. It's always great to be on two wheels! After the ride I get cleaned up, start some laundry, get out to the library to get Tyler hamilton's book about bicycle racing and doping (at the suggestion of Dennis, the cycling roofer), do some grocery shopping, and perform a few other errands. Now I'm tired so I relax with lunch and watching the Red Wings win their ice hockey playoff game to even up their series. In the afternoon I start in on the cycling book and do a bit of web programming. Person Ti_Ca and I go have dinner at a Koreantofu house and the food is pretty good.
Sunday is just a super day! It starts with the MotoGP race from France in rainy yet drying conditions. My favorite rider is in 4th and crashes but picks the bike up to finish 12th. But there is action throughout the entire race. I meet up with Derrick for a road bicycle ride and we fight a strong headwind down the Los Angeles river and catch up with another rider and we take turns beating each other up. After a short break at the pier we catch up with another set of riders who are very fast and we ride with them until it is time for me to head for home. When I get off the bicycle I can barely stand without losing my balance. I take a warm shower and relax a bit before cleaning up the roses. The Amgen Tour of California bicycle race is on television adn I watch the last few minutes of the race before watching a Moto2 race that starts in the rain but with the track drying rapidly. Another fun race! I have a low key day at the house cleaning up the roses and geocoding addresses and watching ice hockey playoffs and finishing up Tyler Hamilton's book about cycling and doping.
Monday is kinda blah. I get some work done in support of a presentation on Wednesday. Eventually I go home and have a great session with the weights, watch the Red Wings win their playoff game, and then relax.