Well…I guess that was okay…only up twice overnight and then out of bed a little after 6 and that is pretty normal for those days when I am good…but my back hurts constantly and that is new…it has been hurting off and on for the past month but having pain just walking around is new…and it’s is going into spasms right now just sitting here…I probably should talk to my doctor about it Tuesday to see what can be done….and I need to work outside today to chop up a huge rotten tree branch so I can get it out with the leaves along with trimming some other branches that need it…and that is not going to help my back..although, doing all the leaves the other day didn’t really make it worse so maybe I can get away with it…damn I hate talking about how I hurt….and I hate hurting like this….oh, well….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but the two rides and laundry and today I’ll throw some cleaning in before F1 qualifying and the other races….and there is some soccer in there, too, but Man U doesn’t play til tomorrow so I guess I can work around the other games…not much to do today…have about a half hour before I need to get on the indoor bike since it is too cold to go outside right now at 35 degrees but I will be out there by 10 or so when it’s above 40…it was nice to get the zoom meeting for the trip done yesterday and it is starting look like a lot of fun…going to be good for the next three days to try to get my blood pressure down for the doctor’s appointment and I have to remember to not have coffee Tuesday morning…that should help, too….oh, it’s a leftover day today so I don’t have to cook so I don’t have to talk about it, either….more later…

Well…I forgot to talk about this weird little thing in the earlier post this morning…late in the day yesterday, I checked the mail and had a small envelope from Spectrum Health that was hand addressed and that was weird in itself, but when I opened it, it got ever weirder when it was from the staff that worked on me when I had my colonoscopy…and they thanked me for being such a nice patient and for doing the prep so well that it made their job easier…and every person that I came into contact that day signed the card, too….that sure seems a little strange to me…but a nice little touch…

Well…running a little late today with getting up at 5:41 but getting back down until 7 or so but I sure don’t feel like I slept at all….the two rides and doing the lawn and leaves took a lot out of me as did the zoom call that lasted an hour and a half…way too busy of a day for me and I don’t want to do that again today…but I am going to do an indoor ride today and an outdoor one so I need to get going soon…okay, I really don’t need to get going since I have all day and I think I’ll ease into it this morning…after starting out cold, it turned into a pretty nice day yesterday and today is going to do the same thing with highs in the 60’s for the next few days…and it’s almost November and it’s supposed to be much colder than that….but I’ll take it….don’t need to cook today but I will need to plan food for the next few days and start getting stuff out of the freezer….I did take my next to last container of ham soup out of the freezer the other day and it should be thawed by tomorrow and that will start to make room to make another batch so I can use the three ham bones I have in there….don’t think I’ll be doing a turkey for t-day this year since they haven’t been coming out so good and the prices have tripled with the avian flu that has killed millions of birds and that means they are not the bargain they normally are….not much to do today…just the rides and some cleaning since my kitchen needs work and I should do that….but right now, I just want more coffee….and to read some news…although it’s not good for our side lately so I may be doing a blackout for a few months…more later…

Well…after having problems with my back for the past few weeks from just riding the bike into the wind, I knew that mowing the lawn and picking up leaves was going to make it much, much worse…and it did…just had the biggest spasm I’ve had since this crap started and I could not move in any direction without breathtaking pain stabbing at me….and now it has spread even farther up my back so it is almost to my shoulder blades now and extends all the way around my sides…damn…I hate complaining about this crap but it is limiting what I can do and I don’t like it…I did get 7 big bags of leaves picked up but more than half of them are still on the trees so I’ll be back at it in a few days to pick up some more…will have to go out and get more bags, too…still have three in the garage but it doesn’t take long to fill three of them so I’ll get 10 more and hope that will be enough for all of the rest of them…I did get two bike rides in today to go with all the outdoor work so I think I can take some time off until we have to talk to the travel agent at 5….not sure if my laptop will work for a zoom meeting it is so old but I can try my tablet if it doesn’t work….ouch….

Well…that was okay I guess…only up once at 2:51 and out of bed just a little before 6 and that’s pretty normal for nights when I’m being good…and that was number two on the way to seven getting ready for my doctor’s appointment next Tuesday….so I feel okay this morning and have plenty of time before I need to get on the bike by 7:30 or so to get the first indoor ride in…it’s only 32 out there right now and I’ll need it to warm up some before I make the first pass on the leaves today and bag them up to go out next Monday night….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but the grocery run and working on the notes for the trip…and we have the zoom meeting with the travel agent this afternoon and I hope my laptop will do the job for that…if not, I have my tablet and phone that I can try….and I did use my tablet to watch an episode of the Rockford Files last night and it was clear as a bell so I’m sure it will work….I did forget about a side trip to Liverpool from Manchester on the trip since I do want to do a Beatles walking tour and Liverpool is only 35 miles from Manchester….so that’s now on the agenda and we will finalize most of it today….I have been trying to crack my back for a couple of days to deal with the lower back pain with not much luck…and I aggravated it going into the wind yesterday and I’m sure I’m going to make it much worse today with working on the leaves….not much…okay, that’s wrong…have lots to do today…starting with getting 8 miles done downstairs in an hour or so, then out for the leaves, on the bike for an outside ride, more work on the trip, watching Man U play, and then the zoom meeting….geez, I’m going to need a break later…and I do need to make lunch and dinner…so yep, a busy day that is going to start here in a little while…but right now I need coffee and to look for a topic for later….more later….

Well…when I was out doing the grocery run this morning, I pulled into daily deals parking lot and in the corner was and old Ford Ranger pickup truck with it’s hood open and a sign saying “jump” stuck in the front of the engine bay…so after I got what I needed at DD, I wheeled over to the truck to see if there was anyone in it and there was, so I told him I could give him a jump if he had cables and he did, so I backed the Miata up to the front of his truck since the battery in it is in the trunk and he hooked his truck up to my car with some homemade jumper cables that were pretty thin and I sat there for a few minutes with my car running to get a little charge in his battery and his truck started right up…after talking to him a bit, I found out he had spent the night in that parking lot since he is basically homeless so I reached in my pocket and gave him the 9 bucks I had in it since I can afford it…the thing is, I’ve been in that situation before and could feel for the guy sitting there in the cold and rain…not homeless but stranded and broke with a dead car…and I can’t figure out why no one else stopped to help him…I guess people aren’t as nice as they used to be….I think I’ll buy a set of jumper cables to keep in the car just in case someone else needs help….

Well…it looks like the first ride today will be downstairs and I need to get to it in 15 minutes or so so I can get to the grocery run by 8:15 or so…and I have just started my first cup of coffee so that is going to be a stretch…slept okay last night but I am struggling with allergies and have had a sore throat from it since yesterday that is pretty damn annoying…had a good day yesterday but needed to work on the trip research but didn’t…so today will be all research, all the time so I can be ready for the conference tomorrow afternoon…should only take me a few hours for that and with the rain out there, I’ll probably not be able to ride outdoors so that will make it easier to get my work done…I thought my back was getting better after I took the day off Monday but it went right back to crap after riding only one ride yesterday so I need to figure out what is going on since it hurts to just sit here…yeah, I know I’m getting old but this shouldn’t hurt like this…I wonder if it’s from bone loss? Shouldn’t be since it feels like muscle pain and not the deep pain that comes with a disc problem…hmmmm…not much to do today…just the ride and grocery run are the only plans I have and I should be done with that by 9:30 or so and that will open up my day for the rest of the things I need to do…so, I should get at it….more later….

Well…you would think that with not sleeping at all Sunday night and all of the stress from yesterday, I would have slept like a rock last night…but no, tossed and turned all night and was up at 5:36 but was able to go back sleep until almost 7 so maybe it was better than I thought…feel okay today but have so much to do that I’m feeling a little overwhelmed right now…didn’t get on the bike yesterday so that means two rides this morning and that needs to happen as soon as it’s light because there is rain coming in later…and I really should start picking up the leaves on the lawn but once the rain starts, it is going to continue until tomorrow afternoon off and on…I just noticed that my back is better with getting it some rest yesterday…still has pain but it doesn’t make me gasp when I move so I’ll take it…one weird thing I don’t understand is the coolant leak on the car…checked it yesterday after lubing the bike and it’s still almost full after three weeks since the last check….so that means I’ll just let it go for the winter and not spend the thousand bucks to fix it…I’ll put that money towards a new car and start looking for that soon….I do need to get on the planning for the UK trip this afternoon since we are talking to the travel agent Thursday and I may even have lunch with T today but I’ll find that out later….right now I need to have another cup of coffee before it gets light but that is still a half hour away so I’ll be able to read some news to go with it…I am relieved with the test results from yesterday but there are new questions that trouble me a bit….more later…okay, I’m late…was on the phone with my daughter for two hours talking about our UK trip…

Well…as you know, I had a colonoscopy scheduled for today and I was a little concerned what they would find…to start, the new cleanse is so much better than the old stuff with  just 24 pills to take over 12 hours instead of drinking the gagging gallons of the old stuff…and it cleaned me out so well the procedure only took about 20 minutes and the good news is they found nothing…no cancer, no polyps but just a little bit of diverticulitis that is to be expected in someone my age…and that pushes the next one back 5 years if I have one at all…and he thinks my prostate was a little large on one side but with no symptoms he was not concerned at all…and that made for a pretty good day for me…and I had pizza when I go home that tasted great but I only had two pieces since I didn’t want to give up the calorie reduction that I’ve had with not eating for the past two days….I may have some cheese and crackers later to get over 1,000 calories for the day but we’ll see….right now I’m just going to enjoy not having any health problems and have a cocktail or two tonight…

Well…survived the night and just dumped the last 12 pills in me for the second round of cleansing and I am just frickin worn out….no food for two days and no sleep, or very little sleep is not a recipe for feeling good but the pills are just so much better than drinking the gallons of cleanse I had to do last time….9 hours from now it will be all done and I hope it’s the last one I have to do….finishing up the empty calories of the half gallon of apple juice I bought to keep my body idling over the past two days and I never want to see that again…and I’m going to have some coffee here in a minute since that is considered a clear liquid and I do need the caffeine to continue to move…but I have to be done with everything by 11:30 since I can’t have even water from 3 hours before the procedure and that is going to be a task…I can chew ice chips so I guess that will have to do…I am so looking forward to making the 4 cheese self rising pizza I bought just for this day and I am going to add olives, onion, and ham to it to bulk it up a bit….and I’ll probably eat half if it since that will give me a fast 1,000 calories and lots of carbs….and I am going to need to have a cocktail or two for tonight just to relax and try to make up for the sleep deficit from the past two days…okay, the pills are starting to take effect and I need to drink more water….more later….