Well…damn, no sleep again last night and I am going to have to take a nap later today if I can…that is getting really old and I think the one cocktail I had last night did it so I won’t be doing that again…it stayed over 70 last night and it’s so damn humid that I’m sweating just sitting here but it’s not going to get much warmer today and that is not normal for this time of the year…don’t really think I ate enough yesterday so I really do need to have a bagel before I get on the bike here in a few minutes…need to get the rides in before the F1 race at 9am but I am getting tired of going so hard all the time…not going to take a day off but I may cut back to one ride some day just to give my legs a rest that they haven’t had in months…I am going to hit 4,000 miles for the year tomorrow and it looks like I’ll get to about 6K for the year and that will be the least miles I’ve ridden in year since I moved out here but maybe that’s enough…not many people my age can do that and I’m wondering if this is the start of my decline..sure hope not…more later…

Well…yeah, took it way too easy today…after doing the rides, all I did was watch races and read…didn’t even have to cook but I made a couple of chicken breasts to use for chicken tacos Monday…so, do I feel guilty? Yeah, a little since I know the trim on the back door needs to be painted…again…but I just didn’t feel like working on it today…maybe tomorrow…I do have to replace the seals in that door since the sun has dried them out and cracked them and they’ll need to be done before winter…the rides were really good this morning and it was fun to be out there…lots of people on the trails and I think people are figuring out my secret that I have been enjoying for 5 years now…the nicest trail I’ve ever ridden and the wildlife makes me laugh every day…even saw 14 turkey babies the other day on the road up to the beach being tended to by 3 females…pretty cool…going to try to go to the beach Monday but I just saw that the weather widget just said we are supposed to get an inch of rain Monday…ha,ha,ha…yeah, that’s never going to happen…it hasn’t rained out here in more than a month and it’s not going to start now…okay, want to go back to reading…

Well…you know, have I said I’m really tired of not sleeping…yeah, I think that’s funny, too…but I need to pour the coffee down and get my butt moving since it’s already 5:35 and I just heated my first cup of coffee…yeah, leftover coffee that I poured out of the carafe into my pourover to store it so I could set up a new pot since I know I’ll want some for the 2nd ride and there just wasn’t enough left over from trying to open my eyes yesterday…diddn’t get anything done yesterday and today will probably be the same…I do need to scrape the flaking paint off the back door trim again and I hope I have enough paint to paint it again for the 3rd time since I’ve lived here…don’t think I’ll water the lawn today since there is rain in the forecast for tonight and into Sunday but I’ll believe it when I see it…I did pull weeds in the lawn as I was moving the sprinkler around yesterday and I feel fortunate that I can still bend over to reach them…haven’t had to mow the lawn in three weeks since it stopped growing with the month long drought we are in…at least it’s 60 out here right now so I won’t need a fleece to ride this morning…as time goes on, sunrise gets later and later…duh…and it’s darker and darker when I go out a little after 6am every day…had a weird dream about broken sunglasses last night and gluing them back together which I do all the time with the cheapies I buy to ride…the ones in the dream were broken in 5 places and I didn’t have enough glue to fix them…and I was on vacation on a beach somewhere and that was weird…okay, time to get on the weight work to get it done before the rides….more later…

Well…it was a severely boring day today with no beach run or anything else but the bike rides and errands this morning…dropped my primary ballot off at the cop shop and hit the library then over to Meijers to pick up a prescription and then all I did the rest of the day was move the sprinklers and read…not sure if that accomplished enough but it’s all I did…didn’t even have to cook with leftovers for the next couple of days…I will have to put lots of chicken in the freezer tomorrow since I bought thighs and breasts this week and really don’t know what I want to cook…made 4 thighs yesterday and those ill last me through Sunday with the mashed potatoes I made so maybe I’ll make some potato soup Monday…or maybe some chicken tacos again…we’ll see…or maybe I’ll take a couple of days off eating just for the hell of it…who knows? I did figure out why the fan on my laptop wasn’t working and reset it to “cool” and it started to run for the first time in weeks and the computer is not overheating anymore…so that was cool…ha,ha…cool…need to heat up some food and read…

Well…that was a little weird….had some dreams last night that I ran over something with my car and tore the exhaust off it…and I can do without any ones like that…watered the lawn for the 2nd day in a row and will probably do it again today as I see money running out of the sprinklers and onto the ground…it’s another cold one out there with it only 54 this morning and I don’t think I’ll attempt going to the beach today because it won’t be above 70 this morning and it was pretty cold out there yesterday…I do need to drop my absentee ballot off and hit the library to get more books this morning then over to Meijers to pick up a prescription for one of my BP meds that I hope they called in after I called my doctor the other day…then the rest of the morning is just reading and cleaning a bit…have to freeze the chicken I bought Wed since there is no way I can get to it this week…need to stop buying food or eat more and I’m not sure which…have leftovers for the weekend so I don’t need to cook again til next week and I’m not sure what that would be yet…something with potatoes since I got 10 pounds for 2 bucks Wed and I may try my hand at scalloped potatoes for the first time….more later….

Well…just got the new hats from amazon and I do have to say they are pretty nice…they fit well and the little slider clasp to adjust the size is made out of brass so it won’t rust when I get it soaked from sweat…I still don’t know how the heck they can sell a 100% cotton, washable hat for 3 bucks each but I’m glad I found them…how durable are they going to be? Who knows? But at 3 bucks, I can afford to use them a while and toss them when they fall apart…the riding hat I’m replacing has been in use for close to 20 years and it just gave up to age and my acid based sweat and has been repaired multiple times so it will be nice to have a new hat to go out on the bike so I don’t look like a homeless guy…and the last time I washed it by hand, it started to just fall apart and the iron on patching for it would have cost more than 3 bucks so it’s time to retire it…I did go out to the beach today but the water and air were pretty cold so I didn’t stay long…it was 50 degrees when I went out for the 1st ride…almost put long pants on but I just couldn’t do it…after I got back here from the 2nd ride, I watered the lawn again and now I’m cooking for dinner…some chicken thighs and mashed potatoes to use up the old potatoes that had gotten a little soft and sprouted…so now it reading time for the next half hour as the chicken cooks…

Well…damn, it’s only 50 degrees out there so that means I’ll have to stall getting on the bike until about 7am and that is going to be hard with how much I just need to get going on the morning…and the AQI is down to about 40 so no air problems today…and I didn’t get out of bed til after 5:30 so I’m running late anyway…so now the question is do I wear long pants on the bike or not? I put the fleeces away in the closet with the hot weather we were having and it looks like I’ll be dragging one out today…still waiting for my new hats to arrive that are supposed to be here between 4 and 8 am so the cold may keep me here until they do come…I did water the lawn yesterday and may do it again today to waste some more money…at least the lawn wasn’t crunching after I was done…I did get some chicken thighs and breasts yesterday and I think I’ll cook some thighs today along with some mashed potatoes to use with everything and to get a start on using the new 10 pounds of potatoes…and I think some potato soup would be a good idea to use the celery that is stating to wilt in the fridge…so, I need to get on the weight work right after I have a bagel and get the day started…more later….

Well…as I was sitting here last night, a huge weather change happened and the humidity just disappeared along with the smoke and we had a nice breeze blowing through here that lowered the temp down to a low of 56…and it barely got up over 70 today and I’ll take that after the heat of the last week…after the rides and grocery run today, I decided to bite the bullet and start watering the lawn to see if I can salvage anything from it…that should cost me at least 100 bucks if I keep it up but I guess it’s worth it if the lawn doesn’t completely die…my acidic sweat just cut through my last riding hat that I bought 25 years ago so I bought 6 more from amazon today for 18 bucks…they are washed cotton and machine washable and come in subtle colors that will work great for riding hats…and for 3 bucks each, you can’t beat it…and they are scheduled to be delivered between 4 and 8 am tomorrow morning so I may be able to use one on the rides…skipped the beach today since it was only 67 degrees when I normally go out and that is too cold for me…so, I’ll give it a try tomorrow since I don’t have the grocery run to do…now I need to figure out what to do with the potatoes I got at Meijers at a buck for 5 pounds… and the thighs for 1.49 a pound…also bought chicken breast at aldis so the freezer will be filled again…okay, time to read again…

Well…running a bit late this morning and need to get moving right now to get on the bike and get 2 rides in before the grocery run…the weather broke last night and the AQI is down to 23 so the air is clear and it’s all the way down to 56…it was nice sitting here last night with the humidity gone and a nice breeze blowing through the house…even had to close the place up to keep some heat in it…didn’t have enough leftover coffee this morning so I just made another pot to get me through the morning and I’ll be wired soon…I hope…need to eat a bagel here in a minute since I didn’t eat a lot yesterday and I need some fuel…not sure how hard I’ll go on the bike today but I’ll have to move along to gt the rides in before 8am…figured out why my hands have been hurting so much on the bike…the riding gloves I’ve been using have a long cinch that has been pinching the nerves in my wrists so I changed over to an old pair of shorter ones and that has helped a lot…go figure…more later…

Well…after the past week of dangerous smoke out here, finally it broke today and after mid morning the AQI was under 70 all day and I could breathe again without smelling smoke or having a mask on…and I got to go back out to the beach this morning and had a ton of fun playing in the 6 foot waves that beat the heck out of me but I couldn’t stop laughing…but I do need to stop thinking that going to the beach is a task to be accomplished and not a time to relax…have been adhering to a schedule when I go out there that needs to go away…they did come and replace the gas meter today and I had a nice youngster named Troy who did the whole thing in about 20 minutes and I found that yes, my water heater does have a pilot that re lit for me and checked out the furnace to make sure it didn’t have one…so pretty painless but when he called to tell me he was here, I was out at the beach and had to do a full 24th gear sprint all the way back so he wouldn’t leave…but it all worked out and now that’s the last thing I need to do until Italy…yay!