Well…as you know, I got the new brakes for the back of the car yesterday with plans to install new ones on the side that failed and I thought things were going to go okay when the caliper retractor started to turn…but, it didn’t pull it back all the way so after turning it for ages…I got out my c clamp and pushed the piston back enough to get the caliper on the new pads…they had so much paint on the new pads that they wouldn’t fit over the slides…so I had to get my angle grinder out and take the paint off so I could install the pads…what a pain…but the car is back together and it will sit until Monday or so with the 8 inches of snow we got here and then I’ll take it out for a test run…at least I know it’s not going to grind and now I can relax and watch the races from Daytona tonight….

Well…darn, got 6 inches of snow out here and it’s still snowing hard so there will be shoveling later…I did get the brake pads for the car and am going to try to get the pad retracting screw loose after the bike rides today…if that comes loose, it’s an easy job…maybe 15 minutes to put the new pads in…I guess I’ll see…I did get an outdoor ride in yesterday but it looks like I won’t be back out there until late next week when the temp get back in the mid 40’s…only have 150 miles to go to get to 1,000 and should be there by the end of the month…and that will be the earliest I’ve gotten to 1K…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but the grocery runs where I got some bargains…I mean 5 pounds of pepperoni for 7 bucks? It’s normally 1.50 for three ounces but I’m not sure how I’m going to use 5 lbs…need to break it down into smaller bags as I do with the chicken tenderloins I got for 7 bucks…should have some of them with the o-rings I got in the next few days…not much to do today…just the rides, shoveling and working on the car…so happy I got the pads last night so I’ll have a dry car to work on…more later…

Well…one drawback of continuing to drive a 30 year old car is that the parts store don’t have anything in stock anymore for the Miata…luckily, they still have them and I should get them later today…but the pad release screw is not coming out so I soaked it in wd and I hope it doesn’t need a new caliper…one good thing that happened is I found the set of keys I’ve been looking for almost a year…they were in the pocket of the work coat that I must have had on the last time I worked on the car…and that one had my Statue of Liberty key chain I got when my daughter and I did the tour of the statue….

Well..damn, up at three today and out of bed at 5:30 and I only have 15 minutes before I have to get on the bike to get a ride in before the grocery run…I am just so worn out that it’s going to be a chore to get moving…just poured the first cup of coffee and need to choke that down for some energy before I get going…I think I may have figured out why the car has been leaking coolant…the overflow tube to the tank was plugged up so it was getting over pressure…at least I hope I’ve fixed it…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I’m hoping to get outdoors on the bike today…we are supposed to get rain/snow/sleet tonight with maybe 3- 4 inches of that stuff but it won’t stay around long…I hope…have to hit DD today since I have more to get there than anyplace else…how can you pass up 5 pounds of pepperoni for 7 bucks or two pounds of onion rings for 4 bucks? Damn, only 5 minutes to get on the bike…and I’m not ready for that…not much to do today…I did find three pounds of bacon in the freezer so I took one out for blt’s since I have lettuce and tomatoes in the fridge…and I’m going to fill the freezer again today with food that is bad for me…yay! More later….

Well…after getting the two rides in downstairs in the cold, I haven’t been able to get warm since…sitting here right now with the heating pad on my legs and this is the second hour with the thing going…I’m not sick or anything like that but I seem to be more sensitive to the cold that I have been…and I still need to go out and put coolant in the car so I can do the grocery run tomorrow…so I probably should get going…no outdoor ride today with it struggling to get above 35…way too cold…

Well…up at 4 am today but the weird thing is that I was able to lie back down and didn’t get out of be til 7:04…but that makes me late for getting on the bike that I should be riding right now…but I won’t do that without a good dose of coffee and that will take me 15 minutes or so to pour down…I did get three rides in yesterday with one outside so I should feel good about that but only doing two Sunday puts a damper on that…I am over 800 miles for the year but still behind for getting to 7K…oh, well…pretty darn sore today and my neck hurts from both riding and sleeping wrong…will probably have to treat it with biofreeze before I get on the bike…all of the ice is gone from Lake Michigan already and I think it’s one of the few times in my lifetime that there is no ice in mid February and I hope it stays that way…it looks like 1-3 inches of snow Thursday but it should melt with the temps in the 30’s to near 40 for the rest of the month…I’m not going to say that winter is over but we’re getting close…not much to do today…just the rides and figuring out what I need to cook for meals….should make some potato soup and get the ham bones out of the freezer for some ham soup and I may do that in a couple of days…more later…

Well…damn, only 8 minutes until I have to get on the bike and I sure don’t want to…just poured the first cup of coffee so it hasn’t had time to work yet…up at 4 or so today but just laid there for another hour and half thinking and that was not a good idea…feel pretty crappy today and I found that the modern, anti bacterial toothpaste is causing me to lose my sense of taste so I’m going back to the old style peroxide stuff starting today…had an easy day yesterday with only two rides but I have to get off my ass and do three this morning before I run over to the library and get a couple of more books since I finished up the last two yesterday…I ate two meals yesterday and I feel so guilty about that….I may not eat anything today to make up for it…I think the water pump on the car has finally given up and started to really leak so I have decisions to make about a new car soon…and I need to schedule a PSA test to see if the cancer is back and going to kill me…what a happy way to start my day….more later….

Well…this is weird…my creaky old laptop is working like it should today and that’s not normal…it usually takes forever to get it started in the morning but not today…cool…I really do need a day off of everything…but, will I take it? Of course not…have 26 minutes before I have to get on the bike to get three rides in before Man U plays at 11:30…just so damn tired…didn’t get a lot done yesterday and today will be the same since I am not motivated at all and part of that may be only eating one meal a day for the past two days…have been under 700 calories for the past two days and I really don’t think that’s enough…I did splurge and buy some cheddar/horseradish cheese spread for the game today but I’m so concerned with the calories in it that I’m not sure if I’ll eat it or not…have celery and carrots in the fridge so maybe I’ll cut them up instead…man, I do think I’ve got an eating disorder….at least I’m not in pain today…at least not now…I wonder if I can get away with just two rides today? Not much to do today….just need to get moving in the next 13 minutes and that is pretty tough…okay…enough whining…time to get on with it….more later…

Well…yep, as you can see I haven’t found a political topic for today but I’ll keep looking til 7 when I shut down for the night…today was less busy that the days have been and I didn’t get an outdoor ride in since it never got over 35 and that’s just to darn cold for me right now…but I did do three rides indoors and that gave me 24 miles for the day which isn’t bad…but that took most of the morning since I sat here for an hour trying to figure out if it was going to warm up enough to go outside…I did make burritos for lunch and then got some work done around here…my kitchen trash can needed scrubbing so I did that…and I’m doing another one meal day today to keep the calories under 1K for the day to continue to lose weight…my son finally got emby working again after it being down for two days so I’ll get to see Man U play tomorrow and then the super bowl tomorrow night…need to do some maintenance on the indoor bike tomorrow since the tires need air and the chain needs lubing…and I probably should clean it since it has lots of dust on it after sitting down there for three years…it looks like the next snow here isn’t going to happen until the 22nd of the month and the daytime temps are going to be above freezing most of that time…dang, we could get out of this winter with no major damage…sure hope so…

Well…darn, another early morning with waking up at 4:04 and out of bed a little after 5 and this is getting to be a habit I don’t like much…I did sleep okay and don’t feel too bad this morning but have a fatigue that makes me feel like I’m weighed down by it…hmmm…just did the math and I’m behind on the miles I need on the bike to get to 7K this year…in 40 days, I only have 762 miles in and that should have happened about 4 days ago…10% of the mileage I need in 10% of the year…it’s going to be close and a long grind…won’t be riding outdoors today with the high of 38 and that is going to continue for the next 10 days…but only one day of snow showers on the 22nd so I have hope we get to March without any major snowstorms…have to call my doctor to get another PSA test done Monday since I’m late by a month and don’t want to let the cancer get a head start…but I really hate the waiting to find out what the reading is….only had one meal yesterday even with doing the 42 miles on the bike and I’ll probably do that again today with making bean burritos with sauteed green peppers and onions for lunch…but first two bike rides downstairs that I have to get started by 7…so that gives me 16 minutes to have coffee and prepare…not much else to do today…I may try to go outside for one ride if it’s sunny and I should clean the kitchen up and look for a recipe to make…but I want to make pasta so that could wait a couple of days…more later…