My phone alarm has been restored and I'm out of bed at 5:45 am. This includes, as always, taking my blood pressure and temperature first thing in the morning. I get out and have a very good 65 kilometer road bicycle ride feeling at times that I should push harder and at other times holding back to make sure I don't overstress hip flexures or knee tendons or ligaments. During the southbound ride on the San Gabriel river trail I look to my right and see the shadow (from the sun rising in the east) of a thin rider and I assume there's a rider that's sucking my wheel. Weird - because I didn't hear anything back there and you usually hear or feel a rider near you. I take a longer look over and there is no other rider. The shadow of the thin rider is me! I'm used to seeing a big old ox on a bicycle when cycling. Now I see a stick ox. After a shower I relax and check on the retired schoolteacher neighbor who is doing even better and is on the phone with her nephew - so maybe she can get some help other than me. I go to the A-train station (formerly blue line) and pick up a former student of mine from CSULA. We go have Italian food (his choice) for lunch and then to a coffee shop for tea or juice. We talk about all sorts of things until his friend comes by and picks him up to go look at a possible car to buy. At home I just relax with ice hockey playoff games and the news since Wednesday will be a busy day.
On Wednesday I'm out of control in productivity. I start with a recovery mountain bicycle ride to the old yacht club and back towards home. On the homebound leg a road bike rider passes me but he's not going that much faster than me. I let him go for a bit because he's got music playing out loud and I don't want to listen to his music. But then I pick up my pace and follow at a barely non-sound distance. And then I put in a surge in the last kilometer to get within twenty meters of him before my turn onto Del Amo. I don't know if he knows that there is a rider sorta behind him and I don't know if he knows its the mountain bicycle rider that he passed five kilometers back, but I just take my turnoff and head for home. At home I mow the backyard and trim the roses and carnations. There are some nice carnation blooms that come into the house. After a short water break, I edge, mow and trim the front yard and sweep up the sidewalks and walkways. The neighbor across the street asks if I can weedwack her curbside grass since it is overgrown and her weedwacker won't get it. So I go weedwack her curbside grass overhang and I also scold her for not wearing safety glasses even though she is only sweeping up the debris that I'm causing. Now I'm getting tired, but all of my physical tasks are done and I have a quick shower, meditate, and then go check on the retired schoolteacher. I broach the subject of her requesting home healthcare from her primary care physician and she understands and will try. I go back home and get to the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force Zoom meeting a bit late, but I put my name on the attendance list (with an apology for being late) and listen to the panel discussion on grief and trauma informed practices near the Mother's day and Father's day holidays. It's now near 1pm and I haven't eaten yet and I skip food and watch parts of an early start Dodgers' game. I take the time to cancel my dental insurance because they have never paid a dime towards my claims - what the hell am I paying premiums for? And finally, near 3:15 pm I'm starting to cook lunch. Lunch? Well, I guess it's brunch. Brunch? Well, I guess it might be brunchinnner because it's probably going to be a combination of brunch and dinner. And later, among other little things such as two loads of laundry, I watch the two ice hockey playoff games.