Well…one good thing about the aborted afternoon Meijers run…when I was leaving, a guy walked up to me to ask about my Miata and I found out he used to own one…then we got talking about mountain bikes and trails to ride around here and I found out he lives right next to the trail I ride outside every day…we stood outside in the cold for 45 minutes…these are the kind of things that make me smile after not talking much for a week….

Well…when I forgot to get a couple of things this morning to make ham soup, I decided to make a quick run out to Meijers to get the veggies and containers I needed and that was a mistake…starting with getting virtually the last parking spot in the lot, I walked in the door and the lines for the cash registers were all the way across the entire store and even the self checkouts had a line that snaked all the way through the produce area and would take a good half hour to 45 minutes just to get to the checkout…so I just gave up an turned around and walked out…I guess I can make soup next week…glad I got the big stuff in the morning but even then I had to wait in line for the self checkouts….it’s just nuts out there….

Well…running about on time this morning with getting out of bed around 6:30 but I’m not getting started and I need to…only have a few minutes until I need to get on the bike so I can start the prep day for the big storm that is coming…it is going to get ugly tomorrow and I want to be ready to hibernate for a week or so…and that means hitting three stores after the bike ride…didn’t get much done yesterday but laundry and I do need to clean with all of the dust in here that is coating everything even with not working on the house…I may even head out to DD to get some ham…yeah, do I need more ham? They have it for 99 cents for a half pound and I could use some for the freezer…we’ll see….my back didn’t hurt at all yesterday for the first time in months and I wonder how that happened….I did heat it once even without pain but I am going to put the heating pad away today if it holds up…damn, this is going to be a busy morning and I’m not looking forward to it…just frickin worn out and I’m having a hard time getting started….oh, goody…now my computer is flashing a winter storm warning at me…2 feet of snow is coming and I have to deal with that….not much to do today…just the grocery runs and then the second bike ride and I really can’t wait til it’s over…more later….

Well….don’t know why I did it but I just remembered to check my furnace filter and I just had to laugh…with all of the filling, sanding and dust in this house since I moved in, the filter has about a quarter of an inch of dust on it and it must have barely flowed any air….so I just took it out and will have to get a new one tomorrow during the grocery run…I need another bag of melting salt anyway with the big storm coming an now it looks like we are going to get almost two feet of snow starting Thursday through Saturday with high winds that will make for blowing and drifting and lots of damn shoveling…oh, well…

Well…running late and I really don’t know why…was up before 6:30 so I should have had this done 30 minutes ago…just had my first sip of coffee and it’s 7:26 and that is just wrong….not sure why I feel this compulsion to get going every morning but I think it’s the only thing that prevents me from becoming an undisciplined slug and melting into the couch….didn’t get a lot done yesterday other than the rides and today is going to follow that template…I do need to get the grocery lists done today so I can get ready to hibernate for a few days as the big storm comes in and I do need to hit depot tomorrow to get a furnace filter and a bag of salt to keep the walks clear….just looked at the weather and they are forecasting 15-17 foot waves and wind gusts of up to 50 mph from Thursday night through Saturday night….ick….the plows did come through last night and all it did was clear the snow off the streets and exposed the ice under it…so now the roads are a skating rink and I will be sliding around when I go out for groceries tomorrow….they still haven’t plowed the alley behind the house so I may have to shovel it out to 7th but that’s only about 20 feet and I can do that…..not much to do today…just need to drag my butt off this couch and get going…but that will need more coffee and that even seems like a lot of work right now….more later….

Well…the news just keeps getting more dire about the storm that is supposed to hit here Thursday and continue through the weekend with over a foot of snow and steady winds of almost 40 mph gusting to 50 or so and the high is going to be about 17 Saturday…so that will make the wind chill way below zero…so, I need to get my groceries Wed and have enough to get through the weekend which really isn’t that much since I don’t eat much…but I am going to get a turkey at 55 cents a pound to make Sunday and get the ingredients I need for ham soup if the weather is going to be crappy, but that will fill the freezer back up again…I will have enough soup for the whole winter, though, and that will be cool…not looking for ward to shoveling a couple of times a day for the next week or so…I suppose I could work on the dining room trim…we’ll see….

Well…cripes…the damn computer updated last night and it has taken me a half hour to get it running again….didn’t sleep much last night and was up at 5:04 and out of bed by 6:23 and I’m pretty worn out…didn’t get on the bike yesterday but need to do two rides today to keep from getting fat….did the math last night and riding the bikes burned 240,000 calories this year and prevented me from gaining 80 pounds but I sure don’t feel like that’s enough…I wonder if I should do three rides a day? That would suck since even doing two downstairs take up a lot of time and uses up my whole morning…but what else do I have to do? Yeah, I could be doing woodwork in the dining room but I’m just not motivated to do that right now….hmmmm….didn’t get a damn thing done yesterday but I will try to do something today…the rugs need vacuuming and there is dust everywhere and I remembered that I do have to replace the furnace filter so I’ll get one of those Wed when I do the grocery run…we’re into that cold spell that was coming and it’s only 23 degrees out there and I feel cold sitting here…had to have a blanket over me last night just watching tv….not much to do today…just going to have more coffee and then get on the bike by 8 so I can get the second ride in by 10 or so…I do need to find out when the January 6th committee hearing is on so I can watch it…but I will just wing the rest of the day…don’t have to cook with making the big ham yesterday and still having soup in the fridge and I’ll be eating off that all week….I think I may get the ingredients for ham soup this week to use the three ham bones I’ll have after I finish this ham….but I don’t want to think about anything right now….more coffee….more later….

Well…damn, I am breaking my routine this morning with not going out to get the Sunday paper…they haven’t plowed the streets out here and there is at least 8 inches of snow on them and I don’t want to get the car stuck….and I only get the paper for the ads anyway and I got the ones I want in the little paper they deliver on Friday….feel a little crappy today and still think I’ve got a cold so I’m going to act like I have one and take care of myself today…and that means taking it easy and no bike rides…I am going to make a big meal today with a ham and all of the sides that I will need to get in the oven by 10 or so….and the world cup final is on at ten, too, so I’ll have something to watch…and the Lions play later so it will be a lazy day that I am looking forward to…will have to go out and shovel the snow again and I guess there is another big storm coming so I need to go out for supplies at some point but I’ll wait til they plow to do that….not much to do today….just need to have lots more coffee to get my brain jump started or maybe I’ll just let the morning unfold slowly and sit here a bit….more later…

Well…have been having computer problems today with it getting really slow…it wouldn’t even restart so I had to unplug it and take the battery out of it…and then getting my browsers reloaded took me about a half hour but here I am…I have a conundrum…just noticed that Meijers has turkeys on sale this week for only 55 cents a pound…so, what do I make for the holidays? I am going to make another ham tomorrow but do I buy a third ham later in the week or do I get a turkey and make that instead? I think I may do that since I can get a 12 pounder for around 6 bucks and I’m down to only one container of soup in the freezer from the last batch and I should make ham soup first…and I probably shouldn’t have anymore salty ham…so it looks like I’ll get a turkey wed and it should be thawed or close to it by Sunday so I won’t have to think about protein for the next two weeks….and then I need to just stop eating at all for about a month when I get off the bike for three weeks…ick….okay, time to shovel the slush off the walks….and then salt them…

Well….damn, I think I may have a cold…have been coughing and feeling a little worn out today and my head is completely plugged up, too…so how the hell could that happen with always having a mask on when I go out? It does feel a little like I’m not eating enough and I wonder if a chicken leg and a handful of baked fries is enough for the big meal today? All I’m going to have for dinner is a bowl of turkey soup and a couple of crackers and that is the same as I had yesterday…let’s see, how many calories is that? 300 for the leg quarter and probably close to that for the fries and 100 for a glass of milk…so 700 or so and the bowl of soup is about 200 and the crackers are about a hundred and a hundred for another glass of milk, so 400 so that makes it 1100 for the day for the past two days…but I’m still gaining weight and I just hate it…I did do two hard rides this morning but that’s only about 700 calories burned…okay the calculator on the internet says that riding as I do burns 700 calories per ride but that just can’t be…if it was I wouldn’t be gaining weight…crap…oh, well….