Well…damn, sitting here watching Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia and that is a shock….just like the US drawing with Wales yesterday…and that sucked….I only have about 15 minutes before I need to get on the bike downstairs to get a ride in before I head out to do the grocery run a day early…don’t want to be in the stores the day before t-day since it will be pretty nuts….my damn back started to hurt again yesterday and the anticipation of it going back to hurting again today is deflating…I really thought the heat had fixed it but no, it’s never that easy for me as I get older….a lot of the snow has melted and it’s supposed to be 44 for a high today so most of it will be gone in the next couple of days….I may try to get on the outdoor bike this afternoon to just take a look at the trails and hope that they will clear and I can ride out there for a few more times…it looks like I’ll have about 5,700 miles for the year after I’m done and that’s not bad…only about 300 miles under my goal and I can live with that….didn’t get a damn thing done yesterday but I have to do laundry today since I’m running out of clothes and the sweats I’m wearing ar getting a bit ripe….not sure how much else I’ll do with the WC on all day….I was planning on watching the matches today and for the rest of the month and I’m really trying to not feel guilty about it….more later….

Well…running really late today with not getting out of bed til 7:35 and I’m not sure how that happened….well…yeah, I do know how that happened but I’m not going to admit it….after heating my back muscles last night, they loosened up and my back cracked like crazy and that continued this morning and I wonder if that will keep it from seizing up like it has been doing for the past month…I do know that it does feel better and I’ll take that…must have slept okay last night with not getting up til after 7 but I don’t feel like it….it’s going to be a slow start to the day today and I do need to get on the bike at some point…but England is playing their first world cup match right now so that will have to wait…I am getting my freezer down to manageable levels before I cook the next turkey Thurs but I think I’ll go down to one meal a day until then since I feel like I’ve gained a bunch of weight and I don’t like that one bit….going to make some pork loin today if it thaws but that will be later…will probably make some chicken strips for lunch if I do two meals today and I probably should with how I feel right now….not much to do today…just going to ease into it and have more coffee as I watch the match and then figure things out….I did take the day off the bike yesterday so that’s not an option for today no matter how much I want it to be….more later…

Well…when I was doing some reading today, I came across an article about snow amounts from this lake effect storm we just had and I was shocked when I saw that EGR got the most snow of any place in Michigan…and get this, they got 31 inches of snow out of this storm while right here next to the lake we got maybe 4 inches if that much…so when I saw that EGR amount, I immediately texted T since she lives there…and yep, she said she couldn’t get out of her driveway or street for the past couple of days….she was a little shocked that we didn’t get any snow out here and I even went out to get the paper this morning and a lot of the streets didn’t have any snow on them at all…and they have not run a plow out here once…they were forecasting over a foot out here but I’m not complaining at all….and what we did get will be melted by the end of the week….just too damn strange…

Well…it didn’t snow as much as they forecast so I went out to get the paper and the roads were fine…and now I’m sitting here with the heating pad on my back again since it still hurts but I expected that…it’s nowhere near as bad as it was and I am going to keep the heat on it for the next few days to see if I can move around here without it seizing up…slept okay last night but feel worn out this morning and that’s to be expected since I wasn’t good last night and I won’t be tonight….it’s pretty damn cold out there at 23 degrees and I’m glad I’m taking the day off the indoor bike….going to go back to the indoor bike pattern of taking Sundays off as a reward for riding all week…but I may be able to get out on the outdoor bike this week with the temp getting into the 40’s….didn’t get anything done yesterday and with the F1 race and the world cup starting today, I probably won’t today either….there have been lots of birds on the feeder and that’s a nice change from last winter when I only had a few…keeps me entertained as I sit here and do this…not now since it is still not light out there but soon…not much to do today…just going to ease into it with another cup of coffee and a little news…the last F1 race starts in a half hour and then into the world cup at 11 so I have a plan for the day….going to take it easy…have an e-mail from my daughter about the UK trip but I don’t want to deal with that right now…later today….more later…

Well…finally, I got the stuff I ordered from amazon this afternoon and the first thing I did was put the heating pad on my back and I think it’s working…haven’t had a seize up of the muscles since I had the thing on for a half hour and I even went out to shovel the snow so I guess we’ll see in a little while if I can deal with the pain I have left…had the thing up to 160 degrees and it felt pretty good…I really like the digital readout on it, too…the beard trimmer is pretty nice and I’ve already trimmed my beard once with it and it’s so nice to not have to hold the cord in the trimmer like the old one…so, a nice 40 bucks spent and it appears worth it…

Well…boy, my crappy sleep is getting pretty consistent….always up between 4 and 4:30 and then out of bed around 6 or so…and I just can’t get going…and that is pretty consistent, too….didn’t get a damn thing done yesterday and I am going to do the same thing today…I am going to try to  clean my freezer today and maybe even work on the dining room if I can keep my head out of books today….but that may be harder than I think….I am getting concerned that there may be a big underlying problem with my back since it still hurts and I haven’t been on the outdoor bike in a few days…but one weird thing is that it didn’t hurt shoveling the snow yesterday and it should have….but it does hurt now just sitting here and that is is just so damn annoying….I am watching Canadian tv right now and the ads are so different than the US…just like watching UK tv…have stopped using the generic flonase to try to get my immune system working better and now I’m suffering for it….might have to try something else…I am running the hepa filter and that seems to help a bit but not as much as the flonase…damn…not much to do today….I do need to get on the bike after F1 qualifying and then I need to figure out what to eat today….still have leftover chicken and some ham but I am getting tired of them both so I may make some chicken tenders and tots…yeah, I know that’s bad for me but I’m not frying them so I guess that’s a plus….more later…

Well…just read the weather warning that popped up on my computer and it looks like we have a winter storm warning on from tomorrow morning until late Sunday…supposed to get 5-8 inches more of snow with winds blowing around 40 so there will be lots of drifting and this is the earliest I can ever remember having a warning…I mean damn, it’s not even thanksgiving yet and we are going to have 10 inches of snow over two days? Crap…at least I’m glad I got everything done for groceries and don’t need to go out again until after the snow melts next week….looks like it’s hibernation time…sure hope my heating pad and beard trimmer still get here tomorrow…at least I may have the last leaves from the big tree blown away with this storm….

Well…darn, this book reading is taking up all my time and I’m not sure if it’s a good use of it…just finished up the latest 500 pager that I started yesterday afternoon and I think I may have to take a break from it to let my eyes have a rest…I did get the snow shoveled and the walks salted today but that only took about 20 minutes…and I filled the bird feeder and have had the most different birds I can remember…but still no sparrows…had chickadees, bluejays, cardinals, juncos, nuthatches, and a titmouse…so I’ll have to remember to keep it filled….and I have about a half dozen on the sill and feeder right now…it’s pretty cool that the bird tv is working so well…

Well…damn, up at 4:07 this morning and then out of bed a little after 6 and I feel pretty worn out…had to stop the allergy spray yesterday since it suppresses my immune system and that may be a reason why the infection in my teeth is not healing…and I am miserable from my allergies but that’s something I guess I’ll just have to live with…I may have to go out and clear my sidewalks today but the snow is stopping soon and the temps are going to be above freezing for the next week so maybe it will just melt…I did talk to my daughter for over an hour yesterday since she texted me but didn’t get the text I sent back and she joked that I may not be alive…that made me laugh…I was successful in keeping the calories down yesterday and I need to keep that up today or suffer the pangs of guilt that have been plaguing me lately….I finally got notice that my heating pad is going to be delivered tomorrow and I hope it will help with my back pain but it has been getting a little better without it.;..I may be able to get on the outdoor bike next week with highs forecast to be in the 40’s all week and that will get me close to my 6K goal…won’t get there but it will be close and I guess that’s all I can hope for…not much to do today….and that’s true for the first time in a while…the only thing I really need to do is ride the indoor bike a little later and maybe clean a bit but I’ll probably waste the day reading again…but is it a waste? Not sure but I like it and am going to finish the 9th book today….more later…

Well…as the snow stopped for a couple of hours, I decided to go out and get the second turkey that I’m going to cook next week and get it thawing in the fridge before the snow starts up again…we’re supposed to get 4-5 inches over the next couple of days and I really didn’t want to have to go out in it….this time the turkey cost 8 bucks and it’s 14.5 pounds….and that was the smallest one I could find…just read an article of dire warning for upstate NY near Buffalo where they are expecting the most snow ever over a two day period once the lake effect starts rolling in off Lake Erie…that will be something to watch along with the far southwest corner of Michigan where they are forecasting over a foot of snow through Saturday….yow!