Well…the rides this morning were really nice with getting out in the dark and having Orion hanging over me the entire way along with lots of other stars and planets…I had to remember that I was riding in the dark when all I wanted to do was look up…and today I dressed for the cold and the rides were good…I did ride out to the road construction site this morning and it looks like it won’t be finished before the end of the year…and that sucks since the damn oak trees on the detour are dropping so many acorns that I have to ride in the road with the bike lane covered in inches of them that throw the bike around…no fun…after I got back here I read some news and then right out to work on the yard…started with trimming my one shrub next to the house and then taking a bunch of branches down that needed to be removed…then I bundled those and put them out for pick up and after that I cleaned the top on the car with the new cleaner to get it ready to treat tomorrow…got done around 1pm, had lunch, and read for a while until I started the dinner of chicken, carrots, potatoes, and rice…a one pan meal that I’ll be eating from for the rest of the week…have to pick up 2 prescriptions and do the grocery run tomorrow and may even run back over to DD for some more honey ham and salami…we’ll see….

Well…up and moving at 5:38 this morning and that is better…thought I was back to getting up at 4-5 am permanently and this is a relief even though I’m still tired and my neck hurts like crazy from sleeping wrong…it’s only 50 here right now so it’s into partial thermasuit for the rides this morning…not going to freeze my butt off like yesterday and be cold all day…and I even think it’s time to put the comforter on the bed to replace the thin wool blanket I’ve been using…the heat is on after all and that feels like winter in here…need to get some stuff done on the yard today and figure out how to use the top cleaner and dressing and get that done this week…going to take before and after photos of it just to see if there is a big difference…the trash needs to go out tomorrow for the first time in a month and I’m going to struggle to fill a yard bag to put that out, too but I guess that can wait til next week…so I need to ease into today but get going, too…need to toast a bagel right now and cook chicken, potatoes, carrots, and rice in pasta sauce this afternoon for meals that will last 5 days or so and that means I’ll have to buy more chicken at aldis this week…more later….

Well…you know, I really have to stop going out in shorts when it’s 53 degrees out there…that’s just what I did this morning and it took me 3 hours with the heating pad on before I could start to feel warm again…it’s damn hard to warm up when you’re old…but, the adjustments I made to the bike worked perfectly and the rides were good even if they were too darn cold…tomorrow morning I’m going out in long pants and regular gloves along with my stocking hat…not going to be cold anymore…but I will probably go out in the dark since I have the lights charged and ready to go…other than the rides, all I did was watch sports on tv and took it easy…I do have yard work to do tomorrow with trimming the flowering bush next to the back door and branches off the trees so I’ll have a full bag to go out Tuesday…not enough leaves down to pick them up so that will wait a week…they should be falling soon with the freeze we had the other night…tonight is going to be just catching up on some tv I have waiting in plex…and that starts right now…

Well…the string breaks this morning with getting up a little before 5am and that is almost an hour earlier than it has been…ick…so I’m pouring down coffee to get ready to be out on the bike by 6 and get both rides in before Man U plays at 9…not sure why I’m even watching them anymore since they are playing like crap and are in 13th place…I’ll be out in shorts for the last time today since it’s 54 right now but the lows are going to get more normal starting tomorrow and be down in the 40’s…going to make my chicken, potatoes, carrots and rice today with pasta sauce that will last 5 days or so…haven’t made that in a while and need to get my big cast iron half dutch oven out to use…might even throw some pork medallions in, too since I don’t have a lot of chicken…but that won’t be til later today since the chicken needs to thaw…I did put the lug nut I painted with chrome back on the car and it looks good…and I put one coat on the rest of them and I think I’ll leave it at that since I put 2 coats of the silver on before and don’t want the paint to be too thick…they do look so much better than the corroded coating that was on them…and I still have most of the can of paint left…so now I’m ready whenever I need to put the winter tires on…but that won’t be til after Thanksgiving….more later…

Well…up at what is becoming the normal time for me and I’m okay with 5:30am…but it was damn cold at 34 when I got up and that meant I had to fill some time from 5:30 to 10am to let the temp come up some but it really didn’t…I did fill the time with doing the weight work and cleaning the bathroom and even had some time to read the Baldacci book I’ve got going…but I had to get out and it was only 36 going out for the first ride so I was in almost full thermasuit other than no long johns under my long riding pants…so it was darn cold but I got a nice ride in and the adjustments I made to the front shifter worked and I was able to do a normal ride…and the second ride was warmer at around 50 so I could remove some layers and got back to my riding gloves and baseball hat that I normally wear…and that was a better ride sine I need the bill to shade my eyes from the sun…I took the afternoon off after not getting the bike rides done til almost 1 and I really wanted to read some…so I watched some football and then read all afternoon…but now it’s time for some tv before the race starts at 7:30…

Well…darn, it’s only 35 degrees out there and that blows a hole in any schedule I might have had….oh, well…so it won’t be warm enough to go out on the bike til 10 or so when it will be 44 but that still means I’ll be in full thermasuit for the first time since March…so, I’ll be sitting here with nothing to do but drink coffee and watch soccer unless I decide to do one ride indoors but I may just wait and try to get away from having to go, go, go and get things done…who knows? I did just check on the two lug nuts I painted with the chrome paint and they really do look like chrome…much better than I expected so they will look cool on the car…going to put one of them on the right front wheel where I’ve been using it in place of the real chrome one that is missing just to see how it holds up in the weather….I sure hope I have the bike fixed so I can get some good rides in today but I do need to start thinking about getting the black bike up and running again or figuring out how to replace the worn out bottom bracket on the grey one…have the tool for it but just couldn’t figure out how to remove it…not much to do today…just going to sit here drinking coffee and doing a couple of these as I wait for the temp to come up…more later…

Well…just had the chrome paint delivered and then, of course, I went down and painted a couple of lug nuts and it really does look like chrome…and that is pretty cool…and the can is big enough that I can repaint the nuts for years or probably til I die…the day didn’t start out so well with the weather being really crappy…52 degrees, raining, and wind of 25+mph from the north…after I got the first ride in, I started out on the 2nd one and got about halfway when the front shifter stopped working and I was stuck on the center sprocket and nothing I did would get the chain back on the big one…so I came back here and put on some warm clothes and flipped the bike over to see what was going on…after screwing with it for a half hour, I noticed that the clamp that holds the shifter to the downtube had come loose and the shifter rotated out of alignment…so I fixed that and it now works again…and the rear shifter was skipping to go with it and I found a length of cable wrapped around one of the idlers that was keeping the chain from seating on the idler right…so I pulled that out and took the bike for a short ride and it appears fixed…I’ll find out tomorrow morning but not til late…the low is supposed to be 37 tonight and there is a frost warning out so I’ll wait for it to warm up a bit..I did find my winter gloves and hat if I do want to go out in the cold but right now being cold is the last thing I want…time to read a bit before tv…

Well…damn, didn’t get out of bed until after 6am today and I’m not sure why…I mean I was pretty exhausted yesterday but not more than normal so that couldn’t be it…I wonder if it’s all the crappy sleep catching up with me? Whatever it is, it made me late for getting the day started and the weather widget says it’s raining but I’ll have to look to see if that’s true….just need to pour coffee down and maybe start another pot since it’s a leftover coffee day and I may not have enough for a jump start this morning…it looks like an easy day today with nothing to do but the rides and I am looking forward to that…the chrome paint for the lug nuts is getting here today and I’ll have them painted this afternoon…I am curious to see how much it looks like real chrome…I may have to use the rain gear this morning if it’s still spitting rain but it’s warm enough to go out in shorts here in a minute…man, I am having a hard time getting moving today so I need to grit my teeth and get off my butt and get started…more later

Well…it rained her finally and I’m glad I got the lawn mowed this morning before it started…I’ll be picking up the leaves at least once a week now that they are falling steadily…oh, well…that comes with owning a house…I did take the one winter wheel nut I had on the car off today and cleaned it and painted it with 2 coats of the silver so I can paint them all when I get the chrome tomorrow…I did get the top cleaner and dressing today and I’ll have to read the instructions on how to use it before I get started…it’s supposed to make it completely waterproof and I hope it lasts until I die so I don’t have to replace the top…a thought came to me when I was on the run to DD today and enjoying the car…it has no cowl shake at all…compared to every other convertible I’ve owned, it is solid and I can hit a big bump and nothing…my first convert, a 71 Fiat 124 spyder, would shake like a dog when you hit a bump and you could see it in the windshield moving…just like my old Miata…it took me while to figure it out…I did finish the 2nd book out of the haul today and I may have overestimated how much time it will take to read them all…okay, I need to pick another book to read…

Well…the computer did a hard reboot overnight and what a pain…and it looks like there is a new version of firefox running…I just wish they’d leave me alone and just let the computer be…didn’t get out of be til 5:46 this morning and that makes me late for the whole day…so I need to run my ass off to get on the bike by 6:30…okay…need to stop thinking like that…I have nothing to do but mow the lawn today and maybe make a run to DD after that’s done so who cares if it’s done by 10 or 11am? I still need to toast a bagel after I got done here so I’ll have some fuel to get me moving…I did get a few things done yesterday and even after I mow the lawn I have shrub trimming to do along with some tree branches to take down…but that won’t be today since it’s supposed to rain this afternoon…ha,ha…it never rains here…not as sore this morning but I still may take an ibuprofen before I get on the bike since I’m mowing when I’m done…not sure why I’ve hurt so much on the bike but I think it’s just getting used to it again after 16 days off…but it’s been over a week and that should be enough…I do feel the pain from running the string trimmer and doing the weed walk yesterday so I think an ibuprofen will help with that….more later….