Well…darn, I could get used to this…out to the beach again today to take advantage of the lake being just perfect to swim in and the center of the lake buoy says it is even 68 degrees all the way out there…so it must be over 70 inshore by the beach….all I know was this was the first day I didn’t have to get used to the water at all and it was completely flat and nice to walk in and out without getting beat around like you’re in a mixer….but I do think I made a mistake…normally when I go out I have sunscreen on from riding the bike but today it was cloudy and I forgot to apply it so I was out there with bare skin and I got pretty scorched so I think I’ll need aloe later….I do need to put a tube of screen in the cooler just in case I want to stay out there longer than two hours….I think I’m going to need a new beach chair since mine is starting to come apart in place and it should with being 15 years old…probably will have to buy a nicer one but it still has to be small so I can fit it in the trunk….hmmmm….

Well…darn, another 5:04 morning and that makes it another 5 hour night of sleep and that sucks…but is pretty normal for me…at least I’m not depressed this morning…or not as depressed I should say…not sure if I’ll ever not be depressed completely since I don’t remember ever being that way….I did sleep okay even if short and need to get moving here in  few minutes if I want to get on the bike by 7am to get the first ride in before the grocery run…it did rain again last night but the weather channel missed it completely and didn’t have any rain in the forecast…but now that means no more rain for the next 10 days or so and that means more cash going into the lawn…the flowers I planted along the back of the house are blooming now and it looks pretty cool to have all of the styles and colors back there…and my sunflowers are getting close to opening but they are going to be small since they are only about 4 feet tall right now but are supposed to be “giant” and 8 feet tall or so….might have to feed them more….need to look for garden fertilizer at menards when I hit there this morning….didn’t get much done yesterday other than getting the phone thing straightened out and today will probably be the same….I do have the two store grocery run to do along with menards this morning and I want to get started on that around 8 or so after I get back from the first ride….I was counting on it raining tomorrow to get a day off and get some rest but that is not happening now so I may have to schedule one…yeah, I laughed at that one, too….not ever going to happen and I still need to ride my age here in the next week and I do need to start planning for that today…only 5 laps of the 15 mile route but that will keep me on the bike for 6 hours or so and I’m not sure if I’m eating enough to support that…I do have the electrolyte drink mixes my daughter sent and those will be a help but I probably should have some pasta for a couple of days before to load up…more later…

Well…got everything done and have started to feel a little better and thought I’d come here and do one as I wait for lunch to warm up…I have been thinking about this for a month or so and it is strange enough that it has stuck with me so here goes….after watching 8 or so swans grow up last year along Muskegon lake along with many ducks, I noticed that there aren’t any this year…there have been lots of baby geese that are already changing color to look like adults, but not one swan or duck baby…and with all of the swans out here, we must have over 50 of them, you would think that there would be one cygnet from the 25 pairs…or a few ducklings. I wonder if this is a natural cycle or maybe the eggs got eaten by predators? Just something to ponder and maybe do some research on….more later…oh, the political one is going to be a little late today…going out to the beach for a while after lunch…it is hot and humid out here today….

Well…damn, got whacked with depression again last night and that continues this morning….couldn’t drag myself out of bed until almost 7 and doing this physically hurts….at least it rained a bit out here last night so I won’t have to water the lawn today….I may have slept okay but I don’t feel like it right now…and I’m not sure if I’m going to get on the bike today…maybe it would be a good day to take the day off and just veg a while….didn’t get much done yesterday and today looks the same…I have a splitting headache and need to do my teeth after making popcorn last night to try out  some white corn I got a couple of weeks ago….there are still shortages of everything and I can’t figure it out…peanut butter and popcorn? I do need to run an errand this morning and that is going to take all the energy I have just to get in the car and drive a couple of miles….so I probably should get in the shower and get going….more later….

Well…when I got started today, I didn’t really have any plans other than to get the bike rides in….but after I did that, I decided to mow the lawn since it was looking pretty shaggy and uneven and I had to do a small weed walk to get at the ones I missed the other day as I waited for the pizza I made for lunch to bake….after lunch I decided I had time to hit the beach for a little while but I forgot it was a holiday so I thought it might be a pain to find a parking spot…but, it wasn’t….even though my little beach was the most busy I have seen it since I moved out here….and it still was only about 40% filled…and now, I just laughed since I was going to write that I am waiting for the rain to come but it is going to fall apart when it hits the lake just like every damn time I get my hopes up that my lawn is going to get a drink…so, it’s 3:20 and I am done for the day…I did get a few things done so I don’t feel too badly about not getting more work done…there is always tomorrow…

Well…another 5:35 morning and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to sleep in again? I did sleep okay so I guess that’s something….and I don’t hurt much this morning…had a pain in my chest yesterday that was a little concerning but it was just a muscle problem since it changed as I moved and was not affected by riding hard…but it worried me for a bit since all of my brothers have had heart problems…and even a couple of my sisters so the time bomb is ticking….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but cleaning and today will probably be the same…I do want to mow the lawn with the mower set pretty high just to even it out…haven’t mowed it at all in almost two weeks since it went pretty dormant with no rain out here…I do need to go to menards for more lawn food, some weed killer, and some grass and weed killer that I use to keep the sidewalks clear of grass growing in the cracks….but that won’t be today with the holiday and everyone having the day off…..not much to do today….just the two bike rides and some more cleaning…want to do the bathroom today after I get the lawn done….I’m really hoping the rain that is forecast actually happens today…or tonight….it’s been almost a month since it last rained here and everything is brown from it….even the tall grass along the trail is dying and the trees look wilted…it would be nice to not have to water everything all day long for a change….more later….

Well…after eating smoke from all of the damn campfires around here, I have found my next project…getting the city to enforce the open fire ordinance that tells people they have to put out fires when the smoke or smell enters someone’s house…as it does here almost every day. It’s a pain in the ass to not be able to open my windows on an 80 degree day and have some breeze blow through here…so today, I sit here cooped up with a fan on since some ass has had a fire going on since Friday…but it’s not just one person…it’s basically everyone up here and it reminds me when I moved in and everyone played their damn music all day long…with my efforts, that is much better…still making noise calls but I can get 3 or 4 days in a row where I don’t have to….so, starting Tuesday, I am going in full force on shutting the fires down up here….wish me luck….

Well…darn, after getting the bike rides in, I feel so damn worn out that I have just laid on the couch for the past two hours and that is just not normal for me…but, I guess I can take it easy every once in a while…the TDF was on for a bit and then right into race day with the F1 race and now indycar is going to start here in a few minutes, then IMSA, and after that nascar so I could just sit here the rest of the day and watch races and I just might…and I don’t think I’m going to feel guilty about it at all…but I might do some cleaning since I haven’t done any in the past week and the kitchen could use some work…the back steps need to be cleaned, too, along with the mats so I may just do short little bursts to get the bad stuff done…and I should scrub the stairs while I’m at it….and the stove has gotten pretty ugly so that should be done, too….maybe I’ll squirt some cleaner on it and let it soak a while…but the race is starting so I need to see that first….more later….

Well…damn, I’m getting tired of getting up at any time that has a 5 in front of it…and today it was 5:14 and that kind of sucks…I mean I just read a study that says anything under 7 hours means that you are going to die earlier that people who sleep well but I really don’t know what to do about it…don’t want to take the otc sleeping pills again since they make me sluggish all morning so I guess I’ll have to think about it a bit…I did have a pleasant surprise this morning when the car sounded normal when it was kind of loud when I went to the beach Friday….okay, I floored it in 5th at about 20 so that could have done it…I would like to get a new car before this exhaust goes so I can save 4-500 bucks…I did see the fireworks from my front porch last night and that was kind of cool…was not going to go down the hill to see them….have seen enough fireworks in my life and I’m not going to make any effort to see them again….I had a laugh yesterday when I steamed my first batch of green beans out of my garden…had a half a plate of them and, as always, I had to check how many calories they have in them…each bean has about 3 calories in it so the plate full only had about 60 calories….I had estimated that it would have been about 150 so I stayed under a thousand for the day, not that it was the plan but it worked out okay….I do need to get on the bike right now at 6:45 if I’m to get two in before the F1 race on at 10 but it is not too attractive sitting here right now…I could use a day off at some point but I’m not sure what the point would be…not much to do today….oh, the damn weather force field that keeps the rain away worked again last night when a storm with thunder in it was heading right toward us but fell apart just as it was hitting the coastline…and that really sucks since my lawn is dying…I think I’m just going to wing it today and not plan anything….have missed the tour de France that started a couple of days ago so I’ll have to remember that for later this morning…more later…

Well…didn’t think I would be able to get two rides in before F1 qualifying came on but I gutted it out and got on the bike by 7:30 and got back here by 9:45…went like crazy for both of them and started to run out of steam on the way back on the second one but I kept going as hard as I could…the dredge was back at the beach this morning putting more sand on the beach but it looks like the wave action took about 25% of what was put on before and washed it away yesterday…where it’s going I don’t know but there are a bunch of new sandbars that made me walk out about a hundred yards into the lake before the water was deep enough to swim…..it will be interesting to see what happens if it storms like forecast Monday and Tuesday….but right now I need to finish up the coffee and watch the last 5 mins of qualifying….more later….