Well…up at 5:30 again today and the sound of the rain hitting the house didn’t let me go back to sleep since I like it…and it always makes me think of “The ashes the Rain and I” by Joe Walsh….Slept okay last night but I’m worn out…again…and I know it’s from not eating enough…I mean a chicken thigh, small baked potato and some corn on a day where I did two rides outside? 500 calories is just not enough but I am losing weight so that’s a good thing….going to start with an indoor ride this morning as soon as I get some coffee in me but I guess I have 45 minutes to spare until then…I did get the bike lubed up last night and I might try to get outside for a ride to see if I’ve gotten the vibration out of the bike…I did discover that one of the pedals is noisy so that could be the problem…whatever, I have a nice clean bike….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I think I’m going to make the big ham today but it will have to be outside on the grill in my big roasting pan….want to make mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it…but I still have two chicken thighs and eggs to use so maybe I’ll wait til tomorrow….not much to do today…need to get everything done before Man U plays at 10 but if I get on the bike by 7, that should be doable….more later….

Well…have been having a weird vibration in the pedals of the bike that is super annoying so after the second ride today, I dragged the bike downstairs, put my biggest pan under the back wheel and got to work for an hour just cleaning the sprockets, chain, and idlers with my stainless steel detailing brushes and dish soap and now I have to let it dry before I can re-lube everything and hope that it was just sand that was making it glitch…there was so much gunk that I took out of everything that was full of sand so I have my fingers crossed…at least I have a really clean bike now and that feels good…wasn’t going to ride it tomorrow anyway with forecast winds of 20-40 and rain all day…

Well…it was a pretty sucky day yesterday and I am so damn worn out from it…I remember the days when I could take the stress from work days like that every day but now I’m used to a less stressful routine…and I like that…so today will be a recovery day where I just do my normal thing of riding the bike and cleaning a bit…tomorrow will be the day I cook the big ham with mashed potatoes and gravy…or maybe I’ll wait til Sunday since I do have leftovers to use up…I know I’ve said that little things make me happy and I do mean it…Wed when I was at aldis, I went down the condiment aisle as I always do to see if there is anything new…and they had a Burman’s stone ground mustard that is probably the best mustard I’ve ever had…the only ingredients are mustard seed, water, vinegar, and turmeric but it tastes like it has horseradish…might pick up a few bottles to put in the pantry since they only have specialty stuff for a short time….I do need to get out and work on the bike as soon as it gets light to clean the shifter on the bike….the idler wheels seem to be gunked up and they are sending vibrations through the pedals that I can feel and I don’t like it…not much to do today…going to have more coffee and ease into it…it’s warm enough to get out on the bike right now but I’m not motivated to do anything right now…more later…

Well…damn what a pain in the butt trying to figure out why I never got any paperwork for the renewal of my medicare advantage plan…so aft 4 hours on hold an never getting through to customer service and a 60 mile round trip to Holland to find a closed walk in office…I finally figured out to go through sales and got right through…but I still have a fear that they have cancelled my plan and they won’t let the new registration go through…so I could still be screwed for a year or have to back to regular medicare for a year…I guess we’ll see…just a huge pain….

Well…damn, up at 5:24 this morning and it’s one of those days when I know there was no point of even trying to get back to sleep so I gave up and got up…even started the coffee a half hour earlier than the timer so I could get going…and it’s warm enough to get out on the bike as soon as it gets light…the wind was howling last night but it’s come down to about 10 from the SW so that’s doable….don’t hurt as much as yesterday but getting back on the outdoor bike this morning is going to hurt again and I wonder if it’s connected to my surgery and how sitting on the bike is different now? I do need to contact Priority Health this morning since I think they have dropped me after having to pay 77,000 dollars for my surgery…haven’t heard from them and they normally send me renewal paperwork…crap….didn’t get much done yesterday but i do need to cook and clean today but not until after I get the rides in….not much to do today…got everything done yesterday so I can just hang out today…got the car washed and bought new riding sunglasses since I broke my last pair…making chicken today that will get me to Sat when I make the big ham…more later…

Well…that’s 5 days now with the same pattern…up at 4 and then out of bed by 6:35…tossed the flat sheet and comforter off the bed so I may have to put the wool blanket on the bed tonight to add some weight…feel pretty worn out today but I think eating two meals was the right thing to do yesterday…going to make some chicken thighs  today and I’m buying a ham to cook later in the week….that will have go in the roasting pan and out on the grill…going to start thinking about buying a new stove to make my life a little easier….just need to get moving on a lot of stuff instead of just idling around here…I did look for painting supplies and found I have two packs of sanding paper for my small sander so I can get started whenever I want….not sure if it will be today or not….darn, it’s 7:30 already and I need to get moving in 45 minutes so I can do the grocery runs and get on the bike when I get back here….not much to do today…I do need to call Priority Health to make sure I’m signed up for my medicare plan before the 7th….they did pay for all of my surgery so I’m happy with them….77 thousand dollars would have put a dent in me….more later…

Well…when my new gloves came early in the afternoon, it was only 37 degrees but I thought it would make a good test to see how they work…they sure can’t keep hands warm down to -12 but they are better than the ones I was using so I can live with it…and my hands were just a little cold and not white like they used to get…so I got 31 miles in today and I’m going to try to get two outdoor rides in tomorrow or maybe do one indoor and two outdoor…we’ll see…didn’t get a lot done today and tomorrow will probably be the same since I don’t have a lot to do really…going to start prepping to paint the dining room starting with the trim and windows but I’ll need to get a drop cloth or two to try to control the dust and I’ll use my vacuum attached to my sander to help that…will probably have to go to HF to get sanding discs but I’ll figure that out tomorrow….

Well…up at the predictably normal time of 6:25 this morning and I’m sitting here trying to get moving at 7…I like this hour between pouring the first cup of coffee and needing to get on the bike…it didn’t snow last night and it looks like all of it stayed to the south of here…I did control my eating yesterday with only having a bowl of soup for the day and that would be about 400 calories….need to lose more weight and get back to about 160…slept okay last night but no dreams and I wonder why I even talk about that anymore since they never happen…didn’t do a lot yesterday and today could be day three of that if I don’t get off my butt and get something done…and that is weird since I was just bitching that I couldn’t take it easy but it looks like I can…but I’m still stressing about it so maybe that’s not taking it easy….it looks like I’m going to be able to get out on the bike for the next few days and I can’t wait to ride outdoors…and I’m getting my new gloves tomorrow and I hope they are warm as they advertise…and that order has the flonase in it that I really need…not much to do today…as always, I just need to get the rides in and then figure out what the meals will be…I have some chicken thawed that will last me a couple of days and I think I’ll buy a ham tomorrow at 99 cents a pound…and I do need to make potato soup again after I use up the turkey soup…more later…

Well…damn, up at 4:04 this morning and that started the long process of getting out of bed that ended at 6;47…and I am tired today…cripes, I’m tired every day…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I really need to get off my butt and do something or I’m going to fall into a doom loop of inertia and guilt….man, doom loop would be a good name for a band…have been sore the past few days and I have no clue what I did to hurt myself…only have 40 minutes before I have to get on the bike and the coffee is not working at all yet…and I ran out of shows to watch on the bike so that sucks…okay, I need to stop bitching and get doing…still don’t need to cook today with having one more portion of ribs and a full container of soup in the fridge and I am on the fence about buying a ham this week…have 3 ham bones in the freezer to make soup but they are small and I could use a little more…but Meijers doesn’t have Cooks ham anymore and they were much better than the Meijer branded hams….not much to do today…I am still working up to taking a day off and I’m running out of time to do it…I’m getting really old and I don’t know how to shut off my guilt to allow it….more later…

Well…was just sitting here doing some math in my head and thinking that I must be getting close to my new 4,500 mile goal on the bike for the year…and I just hit it today…3,032 outdoors, 1,124 inside before the battery on the computer went dead, and another 352 since then for a total of 4,508…and I still have all of December to ride still with the potential of getting another 448 miles in if I keep doing 16 per day…and that’s not too bad with having to take 12 weeks off for health reasons…never thought I’d get near to 5,000 miles this year and that’s only about 1,100 miles less than my all time record…next year the goal is going to be 7,000 miles and I’m not sure if my body will allow me to do it…I guess we’ll see…