On April fools day I don't play any practical jokes on anyone and don't see any played on anybody else. After a lackluster day at work, Person Ti_Ca and I meet up at the car dealer and test drive the used Scion TC that we looked at the other day. We try to negotiate a lower price but are stuck with the original price. Nonetheless we buy the car and will pick it up on Wednesday after work. When I get home I go walking to the grocery store and then just be a vegetable at home.
On Thursday night I have trouble sleeping because the inside of my lower left leg - just below the knee - is hurting. I surf the Internet for a while and read for a while and try to figure out why my leg hurts. And then it hits me (literally). On Wednesday when Person Ti_Ca and I brought the new car home, we opened up the hood and I was looking through the engine compartment again. Person Ti_Ca started the car and the next thing I know he's let the clutch out and stalled the car - but not before the car bumped into my left side. This would be 36 to 48 hours ago which is exactly when the pain would be a maximum. While not sleeping I put an ice pack on the leg and eventually get back to sleep.
Saturday starts with a great mountain bicycle ride down to the old yacht club and with an extra extension. Today there are many people at the old yacht club with windsurf boards and kayaks and fishing gear, but I don't know what is going on there. After getting cleaned up Person Ti_Ca go to the bank and to the insurance agent and to the library and to Home Depot. Near 2 pm I finally get tow watch qualifying for the Grand Prix of Bahrain. Later on Saturday night my riding partners start whimping out on me for a Sunday morning ride. And I'm kind of glad because I'm dragging and feel like I need a day off or a short ride for once.
My lower back on the right side is hurting a lot on Monday morning. I struggle through the day and note that it feels good on the motorcycle since the riding position is stretching the back. So I take creative breaks at work to try and stretch the back whenever I can, but it still hurts. I ride on home and lift weights. There is one lift that is hard on the lower back so I don't lift the heavy weights for that lift. Other lifts are okay though I note that the lifts are a struggle today. Afterwards I take a strong anti-inflammatory that I have left over from the shoulder problem and within an hour my back is feeling better. Is it from the anti-inflammatory or the lifting or just time? My neighbor calls me and we talk about the elections because neither of us can find anybody good to vote for mayor in tomorrow's voting. So we both agree to write my name in for mayor.
Wednesday is a fairly-productive day as I've set up some analysis that my boss and I spoke about the previous day. She's surprised when I show her some raw data, but then she realizes that she shouldn't be. We talk about the data and how to post-process it to draw conclusions from it. When I get home I water the impatiens and have a heavy session with the weights. The lower back is still noticeable but much better. Today is the day that I start to lose a few pounds and I have a good day keeping the fat content and calorie content down.
On Friday I get out for a mountain bicycle ride near the track for the Long Beach Grand Prix, out near the Queen Mary, and then down near the port of Long Beach. A real mishmash ride today. When I get home I edge and mow the lawn and clean up more of the juniper trimmings. Maybe two more weeks and they will be gone. After relaxing for a bit I go send my taxes off, mail a "Ben is Dead" zine off that I just sold on eBay, get two more books from the library, and pick up a couple of things from the grocery store. In the afternoon I'm going to lay down on the couch and read but Person Ti_Ca wants to wash his car and claybar it. So as he washes the car I spray down the junipers in front to prevent spider mites from attacking and then we claybar the car. It looks better but still needs a little bit of detail work. Later on Friday I ride a bicycle over to a coffeehouse and read for a while. Person Ti_Ca walks over from work during his break. And later I ride home in the dark for sleep.
On Sunday I'm lazy, so I mill around the house fora bit and then take the mountain bicycle north on the Los Angeles river trail. On this ride I cross over to the real Los Angeles river trail that heads towards downtown Los Angeles rather than the Rio Hondo that goes to the Whittier Narrows dam. When I get to the end of the trail I slow down and make a sharp u-turn and hit some gravel and fall onto the ground. My right knee/shin is scraped up, my right elbow is scraped up, and my right hip took a hit but is not bleeding. I have to straighten out the seat of the bicycle and then when I start riding for home I cannot shift gears. Regardless I make it back home spinning in a lower gear than usual, clean off the scrapes, and apply an antibacterial. This is my punishment for being lazy and not riding long on the road bicycle - I would not have been on this trail which is overgorwn with weeds and sometimes dirty. (But provides interesting viewing with all of the graffiti and metalworking shops and yards.) After watching Moto2 and motoGp races and some of the Long Beach Grand Prix, I get restless and ride a bicycle to a nearby coffeehouse to read and work on web programming. I end up jus doing some web programming and no reading.