On Tuesday there is a delay in testing since some test facility personnel have a medical issue that they have to deal with. Thus on Tuesday morning I decide to completely re-order the simulation events because they don't match up with the parent document and I'm sure this will lead to confusion in the future. By lunch time I have (almost) completely re-ordered the events though this has been somewhat tedious and needed some clever thinking to be compact. As I'm talking with my project boss after lunch I get a call that says that we are ready to test. SO I rush to the test facility and find that the basic run, prior to testing the unit, has not been performed. I inisist on it being performed and during the run they blow up an amplifier that cannot seem to be re-started. If we had our unit on the shaker during the blowup it could possibly, though low probability, have been catastophic. Because the amplifier is blown and they cannot reboot it, we conclude testing for the day and I ride on home. I ake work phone calls when I get home as I'm walking to the grocery store and try to arrange some contigency plans in case the amplifier cannot be repaired in a timely manner. And then I relax, do some web programming, and help Person Ti_Ca with homework. Typically I have a lazy day of no workout or a trivial workout on either Monday or Tuesday and this week it is Tuesday.
On Thursday I have a fairly productive day and solve my model and simulation problems. I start a script that will run over the weekend and hopefully produce lots of good results. I run off to a number of meetings and just wait to go home to start a weekend. Today at work there is a sewer line break or backup and all of the bathrooms in our building are out of service. So everyone has to walk to the next building over to find a bathroom. When I get home I find that I have ordered the wrong connector off ebay (for $2) and I am mad at myself for making such a silly mistake. Thus the weights workout is a bit extra intense to try and burn off the frustration. I'll just have to order the proper connector off ebay for another $2 and wait another week.
Saturday is a productive even before noon! I start by watering the grass and trimming, feeding, and watering the roses. Near 8 am I head out for a mountain bicycle ride to the pier and back. My legs feel strong today and not tired, but I only push a couple of sections of the ride so that there will be something left for Sunday's ride. After a shower I buy a new backpack (the old one was ripped and torn from everyday use and many overseas travels), get gasoline for the lawnmower, and clean out the paper shredder that has become slow and sluggish from too much use. Person Ti_Ca has gone to workout with a friend, so I relax in the early afternoon. I spend a lot of time on Saturday reading and I've already finished one of the books that I got from the library yesterday.
Monday and Tuesday are fairly productive days at work. On Tuesday we go finish the vibration test that was halted last week due to facility and equipment failure. We make it through the test though the post-test optical shift is more than desired. Though I drag myself through Monday at work, I get in a good workout with the weights after work as I increase the weights just a bit again. On Tuesday after work I take my 27 year old Ciocc road bicycle over to the bicycle shop and they adjust a new bicycle and let me test ride it. The brakes are so strong that I almost end up on my face the very first time that I apply the brakes. But I get a nice little test ride and then we discover that they don't have my size. So we talk quite a bit and I end up putting a deposit down on an all carbon fibre bicycle that is a bit more expensive (but they discounted some because they didn't have my size in the other bicycle). As I'm at the store with my old bicycle a lot of people come buy and look at it and say "You can sell that bike for more than you paid for it" and "You should sell it in pieces because you can make a lot of money". But I'll just get the word of mouth out and put it on eBay and see what kind of offer I get to offset the cost of the new bicycle.
I feel horrible throughout Friday. I have a nasty headache that I take two Aleve for and my stomach is upset. Nonetheless I end up finding the last of the little, niggling problems with the modeling/simulation that had been bugging me for almost a week. When I am finally happy that everything is suitable, I start a script to run over the weekend that will run 84 different load cases and get us a plethora of data to look at starting on Monday. When that is finished I turn my attention to another problem that others cannot solve - the gap/slop in the root hinge of a structure. Soon I have a conceptual simulation running but the results are not believeable, but by the time that I call it a week I have the framework built and I just need to hone in on the particulars to make it more realistic. When I get home I lift weights and because I don't feel well, some of the lifts are a struggle. And then I mow the lawn. I'm feeling a bit better later in the evening and Person Ti_Ca and Frank and Jeanine and I go have a birthday dinner and catch up on old and new times.
I have a bit of trouvble sleeping on Saturday night, but get up On Sunday and start riding. I don't run into Derrick (who has later sent me a text saying that he is still sick), but I run into a couple of riders and I help drag them up to the WHitter Narrows dam and we take a break. Of course we talk about my old bicycle, but then we start back for Long Beach and these guys are fast! I have trouble staying up with them but I get to the end of the trail and turn back to head for home as they head for a cafe for a break (I've declined their invitation to join them because I want to get back home). I don't have any plans for today, so when I get home I trim two bushes, grab a shower, eat lunch, watch some of the PGA golf tournament, watch parts of movies, trim the roses, and spot water the grass (where the city has dug up my yard to install new gas valvaes but has turned the grass entirely brown). I have a brief phone call with Person T_U because I need to ask him when the silent treatment from Person Ti_Ca started. We both estimate 6 pm on Saturday. Thus it is approaching 24 hours since a word has been spoken to me from Person Ti_Ca and I'm just giving the silent treatment right back.