Well…this is a day I have been dreading for months now…another election day and another news blackout to try to maintain my sanity….slept through the night until 6:04 and I’m not sure why that happened…but I’ll take it…sure don’t feel like I did but I hope the coffee will fix that…I did go into the 20+ mph wind yesterday so I only did one ride but my back feels like I did 12…I am so damn sore today…but I’ll be on the indoor bike here in a minute to get a ride in before I head out for my dentist appointment at 10:20…and that will be the last thing I have to do for a couple of months…and I am looking forward to that…I do need to get moving on this place and finish up the leaves in the next couple of days but my only goal today is to get through the appointment and get back here…I have all week to do the leaves so there is really no urgency…I did get the microwave and coffee maker cleaned yesterday and I’ll probably continue to work on the kitchen today…I did do a lot of reading yesterday and finished up the first book and started another one…haven’t done a lot of that for the past few years and it’s because it seems like a waste of time when I have so much to do…not much to do today…just the dental appointment and bike rides so far…other things may come up later but right now all I want to do is have more coffee but I won’t read any news…more later…

Well…had a good start to the day with getting out of here to run my errand by 8am or so…and there was no one in line at Meijers to get powerball tickets so that took about a minute…and I won 4 bucks from Saturday’s drawing so the three I got this morning only cost me 2 bucks and that is a bargain for a drawing that is going to be almost 2 billion dollars tonight…and I got a 13 pound turkey for only 7 bucks that will go into the brine Wed and I can cook it Thursday…now I’m just sitting here having my last cup of coffee before I suit up and try to get a ride in outdoors…it is a little windy but sunny and that is good enough for me…going to try to get two rides in before noon and then get to work around here….still need to clean the kitchen and will probably try that after lunch…need to use up the leftovers before I cook the turkey and I am finally going to use some of the breaded chicken tenders I got a couple of weeks ago…with steak fries and ranch to dip them in….yummy…

Well..darn, this was to be expected…up at 4:14 which is really 5:14 and then out of bed at 5:54 which is actually 6:54….yeah, I’m doing the math on time with the change to normal time yesterday…but that won’t last much more than today…slept okay last night but I’m just worn out again today and my back and sides still hurt…damn, I’m getting old…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get anything done but I am going out to run an errand this morning…need to get my powerball tickets and I’m going to buy a turkey if they have them at Meijers so I can cook it later in the week…starting my run up to t-day and all turkey all the time for the next few weeks….I do need to do the leaves again but my big tree hasn’t even started to drop them yet but that will probably happen later in the week when the weather is turning cold and we are going to get a hard freeze…I still have a couple of weeks that they will pick them up so no big hurry….and I have my fingers crossed that the wind will blow them away so I don’t have to pick them up….I was laughing last night when I got the final package from my daughter and it had a puffy jacket in it….she is trying her best to make me stylish and I kind of like it….and this jacket folds up into a small packet that will pack well for the UK trip…not much to do today…am I going to take the day off the bike? Nope…but I am going to delay it until I do the run to Meijers and I may even just do an indoor ride today if the wind is too strong….there is a total eclipse of the moon tonight that I think I’ll stay up for if I have the energy…and it is supposed to be red so that may be cool….more later….

Well…when I was riding home about a week ago, I noticed that part of a shingle had blown off my roof and that really sucks…the last time it happened, I at least had the shingles that I could have put back on but that still cost me 150 bucks…but this time, the part of the shingle is nowhere to be found…and the first thing that came to mind was that the roof would be leaking but I climbed up in the attack with a flashlight and, even with all the rain we had yesterday, it is still dry…and it looks like there is an underlayer under the part that’s missing so I am going to try to get through till spring and then probably buy a tall ladder and try to climb up there myself and replace it using my tall folding ladder as steps…but that means I’ll have to nail a two by four onto the roof to keep it from sliding off when I climb up there and then fill in the holes when I pry it back off…I’m sure it would cost a couple of hundred bucks to have someone else do it and I can buy a tall ladder for less than that…just hope it doesn’t leak over the winter…I don’ think this is a job to leave for the next owner…damn…

Well…damn, how the heck did this happen? How did I go from taking the day off the bike to getting two rides in outdoors? Okay, I’ve only done one so far but the plan is to go back out after Man U plays right now…it does amaze me how fast things changed with just seeing that the wind was blowing only 12 out of the south and I can handle that easily…well…not easily, but I survived the first one with no damage so I will be going out again in a couple of hours…and I think I’ll put one of the new fleeces on since I have so many of them now and might just as well use them…the people on the trail probably won’t recognize me since I always wear my black one and I’m going to go for some color next time….okay, going to watch the match…more later….

Well…survived the fall back last night but I’ll still probably be doing conversions of the time for the next few days as I always do…man, the wind was howling out here yesterday and it is still blowing out there right now so it’s another day of riding inside if I ride at all…I really could use a day off to heal up since I am still sore from going into the wind Friday….lots of branches down and there is a tree almost blocking the alley that I had to drive around to go out to get the paper this morning…and it’s at the back of a rental so I’m sure that no one will do anything about it until I do….I think I slept okay last night but sure don’t feel like it right now…still pretty worn out and I think I’ll need to ease into it today…if I do ride, I need to get it done before 9 when Man U plays so that gives me an hour or so to decide….didn’t get much done yesterday but laundry and cooking but I have leftovers for today so I don’t even have to do that…I am getting tired of the normal stuff of chicken and brats and I’m looking forward to getting a turkey this week but I’m not sure I want to go through all the effort of doing the entire t-day menu of stuffing, green bean casserole, and potatoes and gravy….if I do that, I can toss the turkey carcass from last year that has been in the freezer for a year…so that will be a wash and I’ll have fresh turkey to make soup….I have to remember that turkey is not bad for you and low fat but I’ll have to eat nothing but turkey for a week…and I’m okay with that…not much to do today…can I take a day off? Still pretty darn sore and really can’t envision getting on the bike downstairs…maybe I will in a half hour but I need more coffee first and to try to read the news….I will be back for a political one later or maybe one on another topic…who knows? More later….

Well…as you know, I am trying a news blackout until after the election so getting topics in politics is getting to be pretty hard…so, I’m not sure if I’ll get to one today…damn, this feels just like when Putin installed trump and I knew this country was going to be almost fatally damaged…and we’ll see if it is fatal by Wed of next week…but that’s not what I wanted to talk about…have been busy again today and I started if off by riding the indoor bike since I hurt myself again going into the wind yesterday and my back and sides are pretty sore…after that I got the laundry done and put away and made some chicken with mashed potatoes and corn and made some gravy to go with it but doesn’t have enough flavor for me…will probably add some garlic and onion powder when I have some of it tomorrow…I did start taking a supplement of calcium and vitamin D since I only have my face uncovered on the bike and I’m not getting enough sunlight to make my own D…and I got it buy one get one free the other day at Meijers so I thought I’d give it a try…I’m not sure if I’ll be able to tell if it’s doing anything…the data is all over the map but in general, supplements do appear to help with broken bones as you age so I’ll give it a try….I am going to buy a turkey this week since it is cheap at 55 cents a pound and I like turkey…but that means I’ll have to buy another one if I want to have one for t-day…I really do need to get the freezer cleaned out but I put 4 thighs in it today and that just about fills it again…I wonder if there is going to be any spiral sliced ham on sale this holiday season? I usually do ham for christmas but won’t if the prices are up around 2 bucks a pound instead of the 99 cents I’m used to….not sure what I’m going to do the rest of the day since I’m basically done with what I wanted to do other than the kitchen…but right now all I want to do is watch a little football…and yeah, I may read some news if I can stand it….

Well…a few minutes ago I had entertained the thought that I may be able to get outside on the bike today with it over 60 and no wind to speak of…but just a few minutes ago, the wind has started to howl out there…just sitting here in the quiet and all of a sudden it got really loud outside and I went out to take a look from the porch…the wind must be blowing almost 30 right now and I can see it gusting to 50 today….so, I have a decision to make…do I go downstairs and ride or do I take a day off to heal some? And do I have toast and peanut butter before I do that or do I not need the calories? Way too many decisions to make before 8am….yeah, you know me…I’ll go down to ride in a minute and then get at the laundry…and I want mashed potatoes to go with the chicken I’m going to make for lunch…do I use some chicken broth to make gravy? That would be good and I have two containers of it in the cupboard that I don’t know what else I’ll use it for….okay, I need to get moving…well… don’t need to get moving but I really should….I may take tomorrow off….ha, ha…yeah, I find that funny, too….

Well…that was a 4:51 and 6:07 night last night and I feel just damn worn out today…as I have the past few days and that immediately starts me counting the calories I had the day before to see if I was stupid or not….yeah, I know I’m just about always stupid about that but it’s working with getting my weight down under 180 for the first time in a long time….I did get two rides in yesterday but going into the wind hurt my back again and I’m already in pain this morning….I wonder if I should take a day off the bikes today? I really have earned one with going over 5300 miles yesterday and it’s raining out there right now with even higher wind than yesterday….I could do the indoor bike today and probably will but I don’t want to…the waves are supposed to be 15 to 20 feet this afternoon so I may just hop in the car and go out to the beach to see them…we have storm warnings and gale warnings on right now and that means gusts of up to 50-60 mph today and I hope that wind blows the leaves out of my yard…but my big tree hasn’t even started to drop it’s leaves yet so it may be a couple of weeks until I can get them cleaned up….not much to do today…I did get the bathroom cleaned yesterday and I am going to do the kitchen today but I don’t feel like doing anything right now…I think I’m going to buy a turkey this week since Meijers has them on sale for 55 cents a pound and that is some cheap protein….might even go out to get one Monday so I can cook it later in the week…have been disappointed with them lately and there is no room in the freezer for it so I need to continue to empty it before I need to freeze the carcass….and I have one in the freezer from last year that I think I’ll toss and just use the new ones for soup….more later….

Well…that wasn’t too bad…slept through til 5:41 and then was able to go back to sleep for an hour….still feel a little worn out but that is my fault and I’ll accept that…damn, the inside of my right forearm hurts like crazy right now…how the hell did I hurt that just sleeping? Weird….had a good day yesterday but didn’t get anything done but the rides and trying on the clothes my daughter sent….I am going to try to get some cleaning done today but that won’t be til later…have to make a run out to Meijers to get my powerball tickets for tonight…the jackpot is up to 1.5 billion dollars and I really could use a piece of that…and I need to get some calcium and vitamin D tablets to see if I can get the bone loss in my jaw reversed….there is a gale warning on for tonight and all day tomorrow with winds forecast to be 25-35mph with gusts of up to 55 so that may keep me off the outside bike…I could use a day off to let my back heal up some but I am going out today even with the with being able to hear the wind right now…yeah, I’m stupid but it’s already over 60 out there and I want to take advantage of the last few warm days of the year…the highs are dropping into the 40’s next week and will be like that the rest of the year…not much to do today…coffee, coffee, and coffee first….the the errand and on the bike after that…it’s supposed to rain this aft so I’ll need to get on the bike by 9 or so to get two rides in before that….have another care package coming today and I wonder what will be in this one….more later….