Well…after getting the two indoor rides in and the temp coming up, I decided to try out the new gloves and get on the bike at 36 degrees outside and it was fun…no ice on the trail at all and I went as hard as I could go the whole 12.5 miles…the new gloves were better than the old ones and I can live with them…only about 5 minutes of pain in my fingers after I got back here and I can live with that…the beach road is closed and covered in sand along with the trail by the beach…had to walk the bike for about 50 yards but that was okay…it looks like I’ll be able to ride outdoors for the next few days and then back downstairs for the rest of the winter…need to reset the computers to zero next week and that is always a little daunting starting from nothing again…still haven’t figured out new goals for riding next year but I guess I can just wing it for a while….will be back for a political one later….Man U is starting…

Well…this used to be my favorite day of the year after all of the christmas duties were over and I could finally relax…with not celebrating anymore it’s not the same but the normal stuff starts up again and I am looking forward to soccer and football today…Man U plays at 12:30 but they have been so terrible that I wonder why I even watch anymore…I did take my BP when I got up this morning and it was 120/71 and I don’t know how I feel about that when I took it late in the day yesterday and it was 155/78…I thought the medicine was really working but I guess not…oh, well…didn’t get much done but the rides and cooking yesterday but I am going to try to get an outdoor ride in today after the Man U match with it getting up to 44 this aft…it will give me the chance to try out the new gloves but I am ready to be disappointed as I have been with every pair I’ve bought the past couple of years…I’ll have to drag the air compressor out to air up the tires on the outdoor bike since I haven’t done that in more than a month and that means they will be down to 30 psi or so and they need to be 60…don’t have to cook today with leftover burgers and ham in the fridge and that will last me for a week or so…then I start my healthy eating again with nothing but chicken and pasta…need to get moving by 7 to get two rides in before lunch and then break down boxes to get this place organized and cleaned up….more later…

Well…it’s 12:45 and I have everything done I wanted to do…I was going to skip one ride today but had time while the ham was heating so I climbed back on the bike for number 3….then I fixed the big meal for lunch and cleaned up and put everything away…it is really nice to not celebrate the holiday anymore…no presents to buy, no gatherings to go to, just doing what the heck I want…and really, I’d be a hypocrite if celebrated any religious holiday and I don’t want to be that…I have enough ham bones for two batches of ham soup after I finish this one since the spirals stop about halfway through the ham so that leaves about 4 1/2 pounds in one big lump…it does look like I’ll be able to get on the outdoor bike at some point this week and then I’ll use my new indoor hose to wash it up when it gets cold next week…but right now it’s time for football and to read a bit…

Well…damn, two days in a row of getting up at 4:53 and I’m pretty worn out from it…I am going to take a nap later but I just need to think about getting moving right now…I did take my BP when I got up and I am amazed that I’m down to 126/71 but my eyes are bad again and that is disappointing…crap…but that could be from sleeping on my side and putting pressure on my eyes from it…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I am going to get three….no, two rides in today and I need to make the BAH for lunch and that takes a lot of work…will put it on the grill by 10 am so I’ll need to get on the bike by 6:30 or so and that gives me 45 minutes to drink coffee and plan the day…don’t really need a plan other than to cook and watch some football…since I don’t celebrate christmas, today is Wednesday to me and I may have overdone the cocktails a bit last night…and probably will again tonight…going to really try to just let the day flow a little but you know that’s just not me so I’m not sure how successful I’ll be…I really do want to try to get outdoors on the bike in the next few days with the temp getting to almost 50…the snow is almost gone and we have rain coming in so I’ll have to dodge that….more later…

Well…okay…my last BP check is pretty good at 143/68 and I noticed something just a few minutes ago that is weird but good…my eyesight is so good right now I can almost do one of these without my glasses…and when I look at the tv without my glasses, it is as clear as I can remember it and I can read the streamers at the bottom of the screen with no fuzziness at all…and all of this has to be a result of my BP heading down…so I’ll take that…there were days on the bike outside that everything was fuzzy and the pressure must have been distorting my eyes and causing them to go out of focus…man, I probably should have done this before….oh, and with the diuretic that is included is making me have to go all the time…more weirdness…

Well…just as a lark, I took my blood pressure a minute ago and I am shocked…down to 140/75 and that is even with having three cups of coffee already… I really don’t think the meds are working that well to get to that reading but I’ll be curious to see how it goes later today…the irony is how much work I’ve done for no result and now just two pills in and the BP is dropping like a rock….need to get on the bike here in 20 minutes or so and get started on today’s 24 miles….one more cup and then the torture machine….more later….

Well…up at 4:54 this morning but I slept okay so I’ll take that tradeoff….just made some coffee in the french press from the whole beans I bought and it’s a nice luxury to have to start my day…man, I am so happy that I have the doctor appointments done for three weeks and can just hang out for a while here and enjoy my house and my life…it is getting short and I can see the end coming but I’m not going to think about that right now…going to grill some burgers for the second meal today and that will last me into the weekend to go with the BAH I’m making tomorrow…I really do need to get the empty boxes taken care of from the 150 bucks of amazon orders I’ve gotten in the past two weeks…damn, sneezing like crazy this morning and I need to take some allergy meds soon…along with the BP meds…and that is going to be my life from now on….I do need to clean at some point but that will wait til I get the rides in…have been thinking about taking some time off but I’ve gained 10 pounds in the past month and I’m not sure how that happened…I sure don’t eat much so I need to think about that…not much to do today…I started the 1,000 page “Lord of the Rings” trilogy last night and that is going to be a slog and will probably take all winter to get through…it looks like it is going to warm up the next few days an I am going to try to get outdoors on the bike to try my new gloves…it might get to 48 and that is plenty warm enough if the ice melts…more later….

Well…just got back from the doctor appointment and yep, I’m on BP meds forever starting today…it’s a tiny hexagonal blue pill called Lisinop that is supposed to be the “gold standard” of BP meds…and I actually laughed out loud when the clerk told me the cost for 30 days…2 bucks…so I think I can afford 24 bucks a year…only got 30 days so they can check to make sure it’s working correctly on January 13th and then they will give me 90 days at a time…so I guess it’s no big deal…there was no winter storm out here as was forecast so it was a breeze getting in and out of the alley and now I’m in until late next week…I did break down and buy one more BAH to make Wed with all of the other fixins…stuffing and green bean casserole with mashed potatoes and gravy…oh, and some Hawaiian rolls to go with it…so now, it’s cocktail time tonight and I may eat a handful of pretzels, too, since nothing I did had any effect on my BP…