Well…with the lack of snow removal up here, I just sent an e-mail to my city commissioner to see if she can light a fire under the public works department to get them to do their jobs…and it is especially galling when I sit here and see my tax bill of a thousand bucks sitting on the table in front of me…so I guess we’ll see if that will do anything…it is such a pain to have to bitch about everything to get anything done up here…grrr….

Well…when I used to celebrate christmas, this was my favorite day of the year….after all of the present wrapping, traveling, and family, it was the day that it was all over and I could finally relax…and I normally had the week off….but now, it’s just a day I have to get off my butt and get on the bike here in a minute….had the day off yesterday but I don’t feel like it…had to put heat on my right hip last night since it hurt so much and while that pain is not new it is surprising at the intensity….slept okay last night but was up at 3:04 and out of bed at 7:22…and no, it doesn’t feel like I slept in at all….just want to sit on the couch for a second day but I won’t….the EPL starts back up today and I have soccer on right now and that is a good thing to have running in the background….I did discover a new show to watch yesterday when a writer that I follow mentioned it…it’s called Station 17 and it may be a good one….it’s already all the way up to 22 out there right now and it didn’t snow last night so I guess that’s a plus….but I am going to call the city today to get them to plow the damn streets and alley up here…they haven’t plowed since the snow started in November and that’s bullshit with the taxes I pay….not much to do today…got laundry done yesterday so I really don’t have much to do today…and with no snow last night I don’t have that to do so I guess I’ll just clean a bit after the bike rides….more later….

Well…I think this almost qualifies as a sleep in day with getting up at 3;04 and not out of bed til 7:45….and I’m taking the day off today other than cooking and that is a luxury that I am going to revel in…no bike rides but I am going to have to do the snow again since it is still snowing out there…but the wind is much lower and it’s 17 already so that is going to feel balmy compared to the past two days…I am pretty damn stiff today from shoveling through all the drifts yesterday so it will take some time to get moving this morning…going to get the turkey in the oven around 10 so I can have it for lunch at by 1 or so and the just fall into a turkey coma and veg the rest of the day…I did take a look at my gas bill and it is up over a hundred bucks but I planned for that so no big deal…the next one could be 150 or so with how cold it’s been….but my power stayed on through this storm so I guess that’s something….didn’t get much done yesterday but shoveling and the bike rides and that was enough and with taking the day off, cooking will be enough for today….not much to do today….just going to watch Doctor Who christmas specials for now and have more coffee…I will need to fill the bird feeder one last time and they still haven’t plowed the streets up here so I’m going to be in for the next few days…oh, well…more later….

Well…crap…almost forgot to come here and do another one of these for today…I haven’t been able to find a topic that grabs me so I’m just going to do what I normally do when that happens…just wing it and see what happens…man, did another couple of hours shoveling today and had to remove the 4 foot tall drift that was blocking my garage door…but that doesn’t matter since the alley is drifted in and I couldn’t get out if I wanted to…and there was another waist deep one over the sidewalk that goes to the garage that I had to wade through to get to my snow shovel in the garage…heck, every walk was under a drift out here that I had to shovel through and I am sore from it…I did get my first sparrow on the window feeder today and I still think it’s weird that I used to get hundreds of them when I lived in GR…so I wonder if this one will communicate with the others and I’ll get some now? I also had another Northern Flicker on the feeder today, too and they are cool looking birds….I am going to continue to try to find a topic for later before I settle in for the night…I am pretty excited that there are some new shows to watch out on plex but I’m not sure if I’ll finish up one that I been watching instead…it’s a good conundrum to have….

Well…damn, the wind is still howling out here but it’s all the way up to 11 degrees so I guess that’s something…it’s not snowing as it was yesterday but I still do need to dig my driveway out…woke up at 5:03 this morning and then out of bed by 7 and I’m not as sore as I should be with digging through all the drifts yesterday but there is still lake effect snow right now that looks like it’s going to go on for a while….I do need to get the turkey in the brine this morning but I’m not feeling it right now so that will wait until I get the second ride in around 10….the temp is all the way up to 15 so it will be easier to go out to do the snow later….not sure what I’m going to have for food today with running out of ham but I do have an open jar of pasta sauce so maybe some spaghetti and garlic bread? I have a couple of dinner rolls that I can make into garlic bread to go with it….at least my eyes aren’t blurry this morning as they have been for the past few days…damn, I’m getting old…not much to do today…just need to get going here by 8 and get on the bike…I feel fortunate that the power stayed on through the day yesterday but it did blink a couple of times and that was concerning…so I’ll sit here with my fingers crossed all day today as I hear my furnace run….more later…

Well…I finally sucked it up, suited up and got out and shoveled my walks…damn, it looks like when the wind comes from the west every damn walk will have a snow drift on it…and my front walk was under 3 feet of snow as the walk alongside the east side of the house was…so a lot of damn work and even had to break it into two chunks since it was so damn cold out there my hands and feet got frozen and I had to come in to thaw them out…but it looks like the snow has eased up some and the winds are a little less than they were this afternoon….got the first sparrows on the feeder today and there was a steady stream of birds out there all day…had to fill it again today after filling it before the storm…and now I’m sitting here with the heating pad on my back to try to keep it from seizing it up…hey, it’s all the way up to 8 degrees out here…man it’s cold….my hands hurt…ow…

Well…damn, it cold outside…the temp keeps dropping and it’s at 6 right now with a -15 to -20 wind chill and it’s still snowing and looks like it is setting up some lake effect that is going to go on for hours…it’s noon now and I am going to wait a couple of hours before I go out to shovel…I did get to 6,000 miles on the bikes this morning and that leaves me 43 to go to get to my goal and over a week to do it…and that feels pretty good after not thinking I could get there this year…it has been a long haul and I can take Sunday off like normal to let my legs rest a bit…now I need to go read the news to try to find a political topic for the day….more later…

Well…damn, up at 5:23 and out of bed by around 7 and I feel really worn out in anticipation of the huge storm that is here…it’s 8 degrees and the wind is howling so loud I could hear it through the ear plugs I use to sleep….I did sleep okay, I think, but no amount of sleep seems to leave me refreshed any more….got through the night with the power still on so I guess that’s something and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I get through this mess without an outage…but the main part of the storm is not here yet…I will have to go out and shovel the snow later but I think I’ll wait til after I get the two rides in…I do need to get the turkey into the brine tomorrow morning so I can cook it Sunday…and I am looking forward to having something other than ham that I’ve had for the past few weeks…but I have two days more of it before I put the ham bone in the freezer….it looks like it has gone down to 7 degrees but this is as cold as it’s going to get…the high is supposed to be 13 today and only down to 11 tonight…not much to do today…just need to get going and that feels pretty hard right now….I am going to clean the kitchen today…or not…doing the snow might be all the work I want to do…who knows? More later….

Well…just filled the bird feeders and put the trash out and I guess I’m as ready as I can be for the storm…really don’t have to go anywhere for a week or so with the supplies I’ve gotten so I’m just going to relax and plan on not going anywhere until late next week…I did finally get the living room and my bedroom cleaned but I am coughing like crazy from all of the dust…I think I’ll make cleaning the thing for my time in and get started on the trim in the dining room along with that….I wonder how they are going to cope with the snow out here? They never plow the residential streets so I hope there is some traffic to pack the snow down so I can get to the main streets that they do take care of…but I’m not going to worry about that now….City and Liverpool are playing in 20 mins so I’m going to shut this thing off and just watch….

Well…when I got up this morning and we didn’t get any snow last night, I decided to head out to Meijers to try to get the ingredients I need to make ham soup and the store was still nuts…nothing on the shelves and long lines to check out…but I did get what I needed so I am ready to start hibernating and get ready to start shoveling snow later today….didn’t get much done yesterday and I’m not planning on doing much but clean a little later but I need to get on the bike first…only had one meal yesterday and I’m feeling it today…pretty worn out and feeling a little old….I had to buy 1% milk instead of non fat this morning since they were out of what I normally buy….maybe that will be good to put on the cheerios I’ve had in the cupboard for months….man, doing all the work of going out was really hard this morning and all I want to do is sit here and do nothing…but I won’t…need 75 more miles to hit my goal and it’s in sight….but it’s cold downstairs and I am not looking forward to it….not much to do today…going to clean the living room so I can hibernate in peace and not look at the mess…okay, not a mess but I do have books piled on the coffee table I need to put away…and I need to dust everything in here since it is bugging the heck out of me….and I need to rotate the couch cushions and dust it, too….more later….