Well…just can’t get motivated to do politics today and politics itself may be a component to why I feel depressed today…I know there is plenty of good news for our side but I still have a sense of foreboding that something is going to happen to install the idiot trump again and the result will be the end of the US…can you see why it is affecting me so much? But that is not what this is about…after thinking a little this morning, the thought dawned on me that another reason for the depression today is the realization that riding the bike used to fix things and it doesn’t anymore….if I felt like crap from a cold, get on the bike and take a hard ride and I’d feel better…if I had a hangover, I’d get on the bike and feel better after going like crazy for 15 miles…if my foot was swollen, get on the bike with my shoe laced up tight and take a hard 15, and it would be better…if my back hurt, get on the bike and lean over the bars and it would crack and the pain would go away…you get the idea…but lately it doesn’t work anymore…haven’t been able to get my back to crack in months and my foot is puffier than ever…and I hurt so much after doing the 36 miles daily that I constantly take ibuprofen for the general pain and my foot…and I very seldom come back feeling better mentally than I did when I started out…the bike used to be my oasis from life and the crap going on but it just doesn’t work anymore and I can’t figure it out….and that is depressing as hell…so what’s the point of the bike riding if it doesn’t help? Yeah, still pretty depressed but I can’t even self medicate with cocktails anymore…crap….and the bars are closed again so no more pool for a few more weeks…ick…
All posts by James DeVol
July 2nd
Well…crap….the depression came howling back yesterday and it’s still here this morning…I think it may have something to do with my foot not healing and even getting worse and the realization that I’m going to need treatment of some new kind for it since nothing I’m doing works…and I know they are going to tell me to stay off the bike for weeks and that is something I just can’t do….and the unrelenting heat and humidity is keeping me from getting any work done outside since I know that will make my foot worse and working outside in 95 degrees is just too dangerous for an old guy….or anyone for that matter….hey, and let’s add in not sleeping for crap lately and I think you can see why I’m depressed…oh, well….I did make it to 2,500 miles yesterday and need to keep up the pace of 36 miles a day if I’m going to get to 5,000 miles…but that goal may have to go away if my foot keeps up hurting…it looks like the trees are even starting to wilt from the heat and no rain…there is a maple across the street that is turning yellow and dying and there are leaves falling all along the trail…and it looks like this keeps up for at least the next two weeks and that is depressing, too….not much to do today…going to get on the bike here before 7 and then I need to run out to Meijers to get a bunch of stuff I forgot yesterday but I really don’t care about food right now so maybe I don’t need to go? More later…
Mich, mitch, mitch…
Well…gee, I wonder what happened over the past couple of weeks to get ole Mitch McConnell finally start thinking about the fate of the senate and warning the dems that they shouldn’t get rid of the filibuster to keep the senate in the “middle of the road” and not make it like the house. Yeah, first his “middle of the road” is to appoint unqualified hard right judges and allow the most criminal president in the history of the country go free without an impeachment trial in the senate by blocking any witnesses against trump…by stealing a supreme court seat with tactics that were never seen in the senate before, and supporting all of the right wing wish list that he has jammed through the senate without any input from the dems at all….so no, Mitch, no one should listen to a thing you say about the senate with the damage you have done to it and our country…oh, back to why now? ole Mitch sees the writing on the wall that the senate is going to be in dem hands come 2021 or why would he admonish them about doing something they can only do if they regain control? And by extrapolation that means that he expects trump to lose and lose badly in November and then the dems will control the entire government and if they get rid of the legislative filibuster that means the ole Mitch will have no power to effect anything in the senate anymore and he will be completely sidelined as the dems enact their agenda which includes statehood for DC and two more dem senators to add which would essentially keep the senate out of repub hands for a generation or more. The writing is on the wall and even the myopic mitch can see it…I am going to celebrate on the 4th of November…
July 1st
Well…crap…that was a bad night of sleep and I have been up since 5:24….oh, well…I guess that had to happen sometime….or every time when I think about it…but, I feel okay this morning so maybe 5 hours is enough sleep for me? I really tried to eat more yesterday and we’ll see if that had any effect when I get out on the bike when it gets light…I discovered that I really like vinaigrette dressing so I need to get more today when I do the grocery run and more fixings for salad too…okay, the eating more was just a small salad that only added about 150 calories but it is something to support the almost 40 miles I’m riding every morning….and I will get to halfway in my quest to ride 5,000 miles this morning….I did the math and if I keep up the daily 36-40 miles…it will only take me about 90 days to get to 5,000 and maybe 6K could be attainable? But that means no days off or slacking at all and I’m not sure I want to work that hard….and I’m not sure my old body can take that pace with how it feels every morning….I feel a little better about my garden after taking a look at the better boy plants yesterday…while the celebration tomatoes have had blossom drop to where they have very few on the huge plants, the better boys have twice as many on one plant as on all four of the celebrations…so there will be salsa by the end of the month…and pickled jalapenos that I may just get to this weekend since I have a half dozen peppers almost ready to pick…and a few beans but I’m not sure how many of those I’m going to get….I will have cukes to make pickles since they started to set this week and I have lots of tiny ones on the plants….not much to do today…I’m still being careful about the heat but I think I’ll need to just ignore that if I’m going to get anything done….I do need to weed the gardens today and start cleaning up behind the garage so I can wash the siding back there to paint it….and I have the grocery runs to do around 9 but need to get a ride in first….it’s 6:20 and it appears that it is light enough to get out but I do need one more cup of coffee before I head out….more later….
What a clusterf****….
Well….we all saw the idiot trump’s poll numbers fall into the basement when people realized what an incompetent moron he was with not handling the coronavirus crisis at all and government agency after agency that he runs just give up even trying, but over the past two days, his approval rating has descended past the sub and into the sub-sub basement as it was revealed that he was briefed about Putin and Russia putting out and paying bounties on the murder of American soldiers in Afghanistan. Of course all they did was lie about getting that information and sitting on his fat ass and doing nothing with the press sec lying to the country that neither trump nor Pence had heard anything about it and tried to blame it on our intelligence agencies not doing their jobs or that the evidence was under “dispute” and not clear…even though commandos in the field had found stashes of money that was used for the bounties and had interrogated Taliban fighters who said “yep, that’s what the money is for”….and trump and his idiots continued to lie and say trump had never been briefed…but, in a just glorious turn, John Bolton came out with a statement yesterday saying that he told both Pence and trump last year that the bounty program was going on and that something should be done about it….we all know that trump’s reaction to anything Russia is that it is all a hoax and he trotted that same lie out yesterday…I don’t think it’s working too well this time though, as scads of former officials are all piling on trump saying his is delusional in damn near everything and yes, his malfesence is just as bad as it looks. So, keep it up donnie…the country has gotten so tired of your bullshit that every time you open your mouth you go further behind and the November election is looking more and more like a historical landslide for Biden and dems up and down the ballot…
June 30th
Well…cripes it’s going to be pretty miserable for the next week or so with the temps getting to around 95 every damn day and the lows not much lower than 75…oh, well…I’ve always liked the heat but this may be a bit too much…although it’s not too bad with a fan on me while I sit here…but, that means the work outside has come to a halt since I do need to be careful about dehydration…I am going to try to get the siding on the garage washed today so I can paint as soon as possible…it’s a nice big slab that I can use to figure out the new paint sprayer before I get to the siding on the house…didn’t sleep too hot last night with my allergies going nuts so I feel pretty worn out today…but I still need to get my 36 miles in this morning so I can make it to 2500 tomorrow….I do feel the extra miles that I added yesterday but it is in my back and that is a little strange…normally my thighs take the brunt of extra miles but they feel okay today…stiff but no too sore and that will work out once I get out on the bike…I do almost have Jalapenos ready to be picked and I think I’ll make pickled peppers with them since that will go with almost everything and the sugar in the pickling process will take the heat down a notch…haven’t tolerated them too well lately but I’m sure not going to waste them…not much to do today…just going to have a normal day with bike rides and Man U to watch this afternoon…and I am going to clean the kitchen since I got the bathroom done yesterday and that made me feel good….more later….
Finally got caught up…
Well.. with actually getting out of here for the past couple of days, I had been letting things slide which annoyed the hell out of me so today I decided to stop that crap and get working again…got the downstairs stuff done that I had put off a day, got the hardware put back on the front door so I can lock it again, and cleaned up the front door sill to get rid of the cobwebs and the dust from sanding the filler in the door…got the package of chicken I bought Wed broken up and in the freezer, cleaned the bathroom, and cut up some carrots and celery for snacks later…oh, and took care of the gardens…I have Jalapenos that are almost ready to pick along with some beans, and now have some cukes growing and even have some tomatoes that will be ready before the end of July…which was the goal of starting everything downstairs in Feb. Now I am finally caught up and I am going to watch some soccer in a few minutes…I think I’ve earned some downtime….
Not sure if this is a good idea…
Well…in trying to get to 2500 miles by the first of July Wednesday, I added a three mile loop to each ride today making them 18 miles instead of the 15 I had been doing…and I’m not sure if that is a good idea or not….with the problems I’ve been having with dehydration and the gout it causes, I may just be tempting fate by working harder every day…I have been trying to drink enough water to avoid that problem and how do I know if it’s a good idea or not unless I do it? I do know that adding that 6 miles finally made me feel like I’m working hard again and that is not a bad thing…the rides had gotten too easy and the idea even floated into my head that I should just make every ride an even 20 miles and leave it at that. That will be something I’ll need to think about a while and just get used to the 18 miles first…I will get to 2500 wed after raising the mileage so we’ll see how I feel after a couple of days and then decide….
Don’t think John Roberts has suddenly turned liberal…
Well…with today’s ruling handed down from the SC saying that a Mississippi law that requires that doctors providing abortion services must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic is unconstitutional, the breathless pundit class is falling all over themselves to try to brand Roberts as a closet liberal who will continue to protect a woman’s right to choose…don’t believe a damn word of it…while Roberts sided with the more progressive justices in this case, his reasoning was that they had already decided this issue in an almost exact case from Texas a couple of years ago and he went out of his way to telegraph how a case needed to be brought that would pass muster and put an end to Roe v. Wade. With Kavanaugh’s vote and dissent in this case, it is clear that he lied to Susan Collins when he said that he would follow precedent in every case and it was important to the integrity of the court to do so…he was just waiting for the opportunity to set women back 50 years and his dissent and that of Clarence Thomas showed that they are chagrined to say the least that Roberts didn’t help them kill Roe. So, let’s not praise Roberts too much for following the constitution, that is his job after all and he should do it in every damn case as they all should…but, I guess we’ll have to take our wins where we can get them for now…
June 29th
Well…cripes, I’m running late today but I got up before 6 and I can’t figure that out…slept kind of iffy last night and woke up with my back sore for some reason and it may be the sanding I had to do on the front door when I repaired it Saturday….but, it came out okay so I guess I can live with the pain…or I’ll take something for it…we’ll see after the first bike ride…I wonder why I feel like I need to hurry in the mornings when I really have all day to do what I need to? I’m already getting antsy that I’m not out on the bike yet and it’s still before 7 o’clock…weird….I did get out to hang out with K at her place for the first time since this whole mess started…and I realized that it has been 4 years since I’ve been out there…boy, two days in a row that I was able to talk to someone and after being cooped up here for so long and it took a lot out of me…I wonder if the isolation is having the same effect on other people? I am so used to being alone that I think I’m losing my interaction skills….but I guess it’s just like everything else, you need to practice to be good at things so I’ll just need to practice more….not much to do today…it is going to be hot all week so I’m going to have to get most of the work done in the morning along with riding…going to have to be careful on the bike to make sure I don’t get too dehydrated…don’t want my foot to go nuts again….but I do need to cook today so I should get that done for lunch and it is going to be cleaning week since I have slacked off on keeping this place clean….more later…