On Monday through Wednesday I re-do some analysis and simulation that was done about a year ago by somebody else. The results of those simulations are driving performance down and costs up. As I'm generating data I'm getting lower numbers, which mean that performance will be better and costs down. I share the data and methodology with some co-workers and we continue to poke and prod the data to see the differences. We see some things that were done wrong previously and are hopeful that these results will help us out. But I continue to call for a detailed peer review of my results because we don't want to be basing decisions on wrong information again. I keep plugging away with the data and cross-checks and sanity checks and can find nothing wrong with the results.
On Thursday and Friday I put my head down and make some great progress. As I get home on Thursday, I realize a way to make the scripts running faster. Thus I am excited to get to work and try it out. Sure enough - I'm able to do the last week's worth of work in less than one day. Everyone is surprised that I "pulled a rabbit out of the hat" and found a way to make things go so fast. After a good day at work on Frdiay, including an all-hands talk by one of the bosses to a few hundred people during which he speaks for one hour and doesn't say a thing, I get in a heavy session with the weights. Possibly my elbow hurts, so I put some ice on it. I wonder what kind of workouts to do next week before I (probably) rake a week off at Thanksgiving from lifting.
On Saturday morning I ride the mountain bicycle for a standard two hour ride to the old yacht club and with some extra distance thrown in. I see a few of the usual faces that one sees riding, but I don't run into any riding partners. And that's how I want it because I want to be elft alone. I get some thinking done and actually think of a couple of good Christmas gifts for people that I know. After a shower I'm quickly out the door to the library to return a book and get another one, miscellaneous shopping, picking up lunch for a bit later, and some grocery shopping. (I should note that I am buy and not a shopper. I go buy things when I need them, but I'm in and out of the store in minimal time. I don't go shopping for sport or recreation as so many other people do.) By noon I'm relaxing and listening to some good electronic dance music (EDM) and getting pumped up to do some cleaning around the house. Is there something wrong with me that I actually (somewhat) want to clean?
I have a very productive day on Monday. We've had to tell some people to go find other assignments because they are not working out and the company is trying to hire people, so I have extra work to do. I rush through three separate but intricate analyses throughout the day and send draft results for people's comments. There are some comments and I'll address these on Tuesday. When I get home I lift weights heavy though it is a struggle today because I'm still worn out from Sunday's long, windy ride. I watch some football and relax and get restless, so I go out into the garage and try to fix the rear seat and helmet holder on the motorcycle. It will work fine for some time and then will decide to not work - so I cannot lock my helmet to the motorbike if I have to go inside a store or restaurant or someplace. We'll see how this repair, more like lubrication and work-in, plays out.
I start Friday with about a 40 mile bicycle ride over the Whittier Narrows dam and back down the San Gabriel river trail. As it is a typically working Friday, there are very few cyclists out today. But just as I'm approaching the Del Amo turnoff, I ride with a cyclist and we talk about cycling and Michigan and retirement and MotoGP. I probably should have kept riding with him for the conversation, but I have other things to do today. When I get home I edge and mow the lawn and then get out the chainsaw and bush trimmer to trim back a sidebush that I told the neighbors that I would cut back "near Thanksgiving". Im tired now, so I take a shower and eat the Japanese food left over from dinner with Person W_HK and then I ride the road bicycle over to the bicycle store. "Do you think I need a new rear tire? I have about 4000 miles on it." So my friends at the store, Brian and Ryan, look at the tire and say I need a new one and as Brian puts the new rear tire on he keeps inviting me to ride with them on their Saturday morning rides. (Recall that I rode with them once before and it was a good, hard ride.) As I'm getting ready to leave the store and young teen (I'm guessing) and his father (I'm guessing) come in and say, "He's crashed again and needs you to see if everything is okay". It turns out the teen is hearing challenged and speaks in a difficult to understand manner, but Brian and Ryan and I do understand him and all three of us keep encouraging him to get back on the bicycle after the accident and keep riding. As they are leaving, the older guy says "Thanks for being positive and upbeat with him". We just want to see everyone on a bicycle! After the new tire is installed I do some grocery shopping and trim the rosesand now I am really tired. So I sit back and relax and try to read some news for a while. But then I get up and fix the chain saw chain that has popped off during the bush trimming. And when I get cleane dup I collapse into bed in the middleof the afternoon for a two hour nap.
I am so sore and tired on SUnday morning that I start the day with the final Formula One race of the year from Abu Dhabi. When the race finishes, and the guy that I wanted to become world champion doesn't make it, I go out riding on the mountain bicycle. The legs are tired for the first couple of miles but then they "come in" and I am able to crank along quite nicely to the old yacht club and back home with a few extra miles thrown in. After a quick shower I finish claybarring the World Rally Car and then set down for lunch with some football on. After lunch I get restless again, so I go rake leaves in the backyard. And then I relax for the rest of the afternoon.