I struggle through Tuesday at work because now I'm having some doubts about some of the results from the simulation. So I debug and try to find if there are any errors or innaccuracies in the models and the simulations. WHen I get home I go for a one hour long walk and then I almost finishing cutting up the downed tree branches for disposal. There's probably 15 more minutes of cutting to be done later this week. And now we are into hour 73 of the silent treatment from Person Ti_Ca. Later I wire up a toy motor controller with an Arduino board that I bought a while ago. I guess I had high hopes of building robots or things and now I'm just back on lesson number three. Person Ti_Ca comes into my office and gives me a hug, but I say, "I'm not ready yet", and I hold him by the shoulders and direct him back to his room. I should go to sleep, since the alarm goes off at 5:15 am, but I'm down on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor and then waiting for it to dry to give it a final wipe down.
On Wednesday I go back and pour over details from the models and simulations and possibly discover some anomalies that I want to explore a bit more. After work I jump on the mountain bicycle and ride down to the pier and back. I'm up a gear today (over a month or so ago) but I'm not really "on top of" the gear as much as last week. After a shower I actually send a text message to Person Ti_Ca in another room of the house saying "Whenever you want to talk..." So Person Ti_Ca and I have a good talk and we were both receiving the silent treatment from the other for different reasons than we each thought. But we still have a long discussion about "I" vs "we" in a relationship. So we'll see how this works out. I also say "One more silent treatment and we're done".
Thursday is a boring day at work because I have to sit through a design review and get little chance to do much productive. WHen I get home I lift weights, trim the roses, water the impatiens, water the greass, and relax. But I also notice a bit of pain in my shoulder that shouldn't be there from lifting such light weights. I also note that Person Ti_Ca is not at home when I get home and is still out when I go to sleep. I hope that he is out with friends and not staying away because he is over-thinking the previous day's discussion. Though I do hope that he keeps thinking about "I" vs "we".
Friday starts with a 42 mile ride on the steel-framed, Campagnolo-equiped Ciocc that I bought in December 1985 for $1100. At the time it was more money that I had paid for my used car (as I attended UCLA) and my friends thought that I was crazy, but who gets the last laugh now after 27 years of (more or less) faithfull service? After the ride, which might be my last in the Ciocc, I mow the lawn and clean the lawn up and realize that the lawnmower is having another problem. (Sidebar: I bought a Murray lawnmower and it lasted without problems for 20 years. I bought a Sears Craftsmen lawnmower a few years ago and it never ran right from the start and now, possibly, has major problems. Is this typical of the traditional "American brand" of products?) On Friday afternoon a plumber comes by and we struggle to remove some pieces that have failed but we cannot. Thus I email the producer of the products and they will replace them for no charge but they cannot get them to me until the end of September. For the remainder of Friday I relax and just become a vegetable. Until Person T_U calls and states, "You're not going out clubbing like you said the other day, right?" And I categorically deny it and say that I am going and I'll pick him up at 10 pm.
I have not been out clubbing in the USA for more than a year, so Person T_U and I hit three different clubs (with no cover charge) over the course of the evening. The long-existing clubs are about what we expected and we spend most of our time there. The new club has cordoned off half of the club and even the open half is very empty and the music is lousy, so we only spend 20 minutes there. One of the other clubs is so packed with people, but has such great music, that we spend a fair amount of time being pushed and shoved around and pretending to dance when we can. The other club does not have the DJ promised (that encouraged me to go out in the first place) but has good music until about 1:35 am on Saturday morning. Suddenly at 1:35 am the music changes from house/trance mixes to hip hop. What the heck just happened? Thus we end up leaving the club at about 2:15 am to head for home.
Saturday starts with me waking up (unalarmed) near 7 am. I'm barely coherent, but I get out of bed and put on cycling clothes and get on the new bicycle to ride. I meet up with Derrick and we have a good ride together. There are a couple of adjustments (mainly seat height) that I make after the ride, but considering Friday's busy day and 3.5 hours of sleep, the new bicycle is going to be incredible! After a shower I run a few errands and put the car away and just relax around the house and do little chores around the house.
Sunday starts with a ride up the Los Angeles river to meet up with Derrick and then a ride with Derrick for a total of about 45 miles. I am tired from yesterday's ride and very little sleep and he is a bit tired from yesterday's ride, so we don't ride excessively fast today. The new bike (with lowered seat) feels good though I amstillg etting used to it. After the ride I do some grocery shopping and watch the Moto3 race from Indianapolis where my favorite younger rider wins. And I watch the MotoGP race where I don't really have a horse in the race, so to speak, but it's a fun race to watch. I spend some of Sunday afternoon cleaning up the roses and the house and reading. And when Person Ti_Ca goes out to eat with his family I manage to watch an exciting Moto2 race and then prepare for work on Monday morning.
Monday is full of meetings at work and I leave early for a doctor's appointment, but it is still fairly productive. And on Tuesday I make more progress towards integrating two different simulations into one. I visit my medical doctor for a phsyical examination, blood draw, shoulder x-ray, shoulder referral to an orthopedist, and a discussion with my doctor about genetic testing. After the exam I go on home and lift weights with heavier weights. I might as well give the shoulder a good set of workouts before seeing the orthopedist. I stay late on Tuesday to make up for leaving early on Monday to see the doctor. When I walk out of the office to get on the motorcycle to go home I see that the rear tire is bald and has cord showing through. It doesn't seem like this tire has lasted very long, but when I get back home and check the paperwork I see that it has lasted about 11,000 miles. A bit shorter than usual, but not far short. Since I'm late leaving work today I just clean up the roses and cut up tree branches for disposal. And then I go work on the paperwork for a will and living trust that I started.
On Wednesday I manage to be productive and get the motorcycle tire changed. Though I don't prefer to use the motorcycle repair shop near work, I figure "they can't screw up mounting a rear tire". So ride over, leave them the bike and walk back to work, and pick up the bike at the end of the workday. I lift moderate weights on Wednesday after work and note the shoulder starting to cause troubles. Later in the day Person Ti_Ca discovers a package on the front porch for me though I haven't ordered anything. It's the parts for the leaking faucets. They were not supposed to come until the end of September and they are here. Though when I examine them I am not sure they are correct. I'll have to send a picture to the plumber and see what he thinks.
On Thursday I just do a little debugging and sanity checking of work. And then I turn my attention to documenting the models and simulations and configuration control. There are rumors running wild at work about retirement incentives about to be offerred and I need to have well documented models and simulations ready in case the offers are too good to refuse. When I get home I go walking and stop in at the grocery store - I'm again a bit tired and other than the walk I dont' get in a workout of any sort.
After a boring Friday at work, at which I keep expecting to hear an announcement of some sort of reduction in force or retirement incentives but it isn't coming, I go on home to lift weights a bit heavier today and to mow the lawn to fill up the radiator fluid on the Yamaha YZF-R1. I note that the YZF-R1 doesn't need much fluid this time - what happened to the slow leak that we've been watching for many years? I get the results of my blood test and everything looks good: glucose level is down, triglcerides are stable, A1c is great, kidney functions are great, except that my total cholesterol level has jumped to the highest level it has ever been. But most of the increase was in the "good cholesterol", the HDL. The HDL jumped by 16 points since 15 months ago. Was it the increase in cycling that Derrick has dragged me (voluntarily) into? But my LDL went up a bit also, so time to be more diligent about what I eat. Person Ti_Ca and I go have tea or a strawberry cooler at a tea bar and relax for a bit before we head home and Person Ti_Ca heads out to a club with friends.
Saturday starts with a long bicycle ride where I meet up with Derrick and we run into Terry also. It's a good ride though the new bicycle needs a bit more adjustment. When I get home I trim the roses, grab a shower, and do some grocery shopping before doing homework with Person Ti_Ca. I catch a wild, semi-wet, semi-dry qualifying session for the F1 race at Spa, Belgium where the ever-changing conditions are just wild. And then I relax for most of the day while doing a bit of financial planning and just vegging out.
Sunday starts with the Belgian F1 race where my favorite driver takes the lead halfway around the first lap and stretches it out for an easy win. The Spa rain holds off just long enough to get the race in in the dry. Near 8 am I jump on the mountain bicycle and ride to the pier and back. I run into Terry and he rides with me for a while - the match in speed with me on the mountain bicycle is about right for him on his road bicycle. After a shower I cook rice and vegetables for the week and watch an exciting MotoGP race from the Czech Republic. The three top rides are "covered by a blanket" for most of the race and its exciting to watch as the tires wear out. Person Ti_Ca and I pick up Dennis and we meet up with Yov at the Los Angeles zoo. I've lived in Los Angeles for more than 30 years and never been to the zoo. I can see why - its a bit disappointing as a number of the animals have been "temporarily removed" but at least we get to see the three month old baby giraffe. Even at just three months old a giraffe is a large animal! Afterwards we eat Italian food and then rush on home to relax and prepare for another workweek.
On Monday I try to be productive but don't quite accomplish that goal. I keep thinking (hoping) for a good retirement offer from work this week and am not doing well at documenting my past work. When I get home I have a heavier (again) session with the weights and clean up the roses. Later Person Ti_Ca and I do homework before I collapse into bed.