Well…as I had planned this morning, I went over to the Hackley library this morning to get a new library card and to look at the used book sale…this library is in a cool old stone building that has been there since the 1800’s and the people were so nice and it only took about 5 minutes to get my new card…and they don’t cost anything and that is so cool…I did get down in the basement to look at the books and found 12 books that looked interesting…a couple from George RR Martin, Patricia Cornwell, Harlan Coben, Lawrence Sanders, and even found a Larry Niven that I had never read so I’m pretty happy about that little trip…and it’s only 5 blocks from here and I was able to park right across the street so I think I’ve found a new happy place for the winter months…they even have the NYT that I can go in there and read every morning if I want….and I even got a ride in today in almost full thermasuit but I’m not sure if I’m going out for another one with the wind blowing 25+ out of the NW…my legs really hurt from the first one but if the wind comes down, I just might…who knows?

Well…damn, feel like crap this morning and I’m depressed after looking outside after hearing the rain/hail pounding on my siding…the cars going by are leaving trails in the slush it’s so cold out there and it just reminds me that winter is coming….ugh….slept okay last night but I wasn’t good so that offsets it pretty much…have no motivation right now but I need to get off my butt and load the slow cooker with carrots and potatoes right now….using one of the pork loins I got Wed instead of chicken and it will be better with no bones to pick out of it….but I’m not going to put the pork in til the last hour so it’s not overcooked…should have food for the next 5 days or so after running the cooker today….but I do need to figure out what the second meal will be for that time….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but clean a bit but I want to go to the library today to check out the used book sale they have going…and I need to get a library card since the one I have is for the Kent county library system and it won’t work out here….but they don’t open til 10 so I will have time to have all of the coffee since I’m not getting on the bike til the afternoon…I really hate this transition time when I can’t get two rides in every day so I guess I’ll work on the downstairs bike today and get it lubed up so I can start riding down there again….and I’ll need to get the full thermasuit out…don’t want to be as cold as I was yesterday….not much to do today…just need more coffee to get going but I don’t want to….it would be easy to be a slug today and sit here..oh, one pretty cool thing…my daughter was in Rome yesterday and sent me pictures of the Colosseum and the Vatican…they have been on a cruise through all of the Mediterranean over the past week…and it looks like they are having fun….more later…

Well…the first ride this morning was so damn brutal going into a 15 mph wind all the way out to the beach…and with it only 48 degrees, I was frozen by the time I got back here and worked so hard going out that I am calling it 1 1/2 rides with only doing one…and that was a really good decision with the rain starting up again and, if I would have gone out, I would be getting wet along with being frozen and I just couldn’t take that today…going into the wind was so hard that everything hurts from my back down and I’ll never heal if I don’t take care of myself….not sure how much work I’m going to get done today with the Jan 6th hearing going on at one and then Man U plays at 3 so I may just take the day off other than a little light cleaning….and I am going to try to not feel guilty about it…more later….

Well…that was okay…tossed and turned a bit but slept well and had dreams all night…and I can’t remember the last time that happened but I take it all day long….I wonder if it was the late bike ride yesterday? Had a good day yesterday and got a bunch done and want to continue cleaning up the dining room just to make a mess of it again with starting on the trim in there today….it has been so nice not living in dust over the summer but that has already ended with doing the bathroom door and frame and the dust settling on the stove and everything else out there but I’ve learned how to clean it up quickly…I do need to figure out why the vacuum is not pulling the dust out of the sander anymore and I may have to blow it out with compressed air to clear it….it looks like I’m going to wear gloves on the bike today with the high of 51 happening right now and it not getting any warmer…and the wind is already blowing over 10 out of the west so the out runs are going to be brutal again but I will do two runs today…I should get the bike out when it gets light to hose all the grit off it since it was interfering with shifting on the ride yesterday…I do need to drop my ballot off at the drop box this morning on the first ride to make sure it gets counted but it’s 3 weeks before the election so I think I’m okay….the January 6th committee’s last hearing is on today at 1 so I need to have everything done before that so I can watch the whole thing….not much to do today…don’t have to cook since I have leftovers but I may make a last batch of pasta salad since I still have a green pepper and celery that needs to be used and don’t want to throw that away…and I like having an easy side to go with sandwiches….more later….

Well…damn, never thought the rain was going to let up enough to get out on the bike, but at around 5:30 I looked at the radar and then out the front porch and it had stopped…so, like an idiot, I suited up and got on the bike and it was cold, wet, and dirty and the wind that was supposed to be blowing at 3 out of the nw was actually blowing 10-12 and that made it  a bit of a slog going out…and by the time I started back from the beach, the temp had started to drop like a rock and by the time I got back here my hands were frozen and I was nearly shaking…but a hot shower fixed that and now it’s time to settle in for a little tv…feel a lot better with getting one ride in at least….

Well…it looks like there is a window to get out on the bike with no rain right now, but then sitting here, I heard the wind howl along the side of the house and shake it a bit and that is going to keep me off the bike with how bad my back has been lately….and there is only a small break in the clouds that is going to end in about an hour and I sure don’t want to get wet….I did spend a ton of money today with having to pay 60 bucks for the medication I need for the colonoscopy since it is not covered by medicare…even the liquid stuff that I took last time was over 40 bucks so 60 bucks three years later isn’t bad…Meijers didn’t have the Hatfield pork loins but they did have some small Meijer ones that I am hoping will be as tender as the ones I got earlier in the week…that may be the key, getting smaller ones but we’ll see when I cook some of one of them….and I still have room to cut these two up and put them in the freezer but won’t be buying any more protein for a couple of weeks…I did get the couch and living room rug vacuumed and laundry done so I have accomplished a couple of things today and will continue to do a few small things for the rest of the afternoon….will probably clean up the dining room, too since the table in there is covered in junk that needs to be put away so it doesn’t get dusty when I start sanding in there later this week…damn, I spent 147 bucks on prescriptions and food today but that included 13 bucks for paper towel that will last me the rest of the year and lots of staples that will do the same…and almost 12 bucks for the pork loins didn’t help…oh, well…won’t have to spend any money next week…

Well…darn…up three times overnight and I am running out of steam…but it looks like I’ll have the day off the bike today with it raining right now and forecast to continue all day…glad I got the lawn mowed yesterday and two rides in….my damn back is still hurting and this is the longest time it has hurt in a long, long time and I’m not sure how I continually hurt it but it is so stiff that I am trying not to move much….so the rain means I’ll be working on this place after the grocery runs this morning and I do need to clean the living room and rotate the couch cushions…and vacuum everything so I will have stuff to do even with the rain….don’t need to cook anything today with still having pork loin leftovers and a couple of brats to use before I make the pork stir fry later in the week…and I think I may even do the slow cooker recipe that I made with chicken last week but I think I’ll make it with pork this time since I like these pork loins so much…that is if they have any left at Meijers when I get there this morning….I do like hearing the rain hitting the house since it happens so rarely…it is kind of relaxing knowing I don’t have to rush to get on the bike…and I don’t have to get out of here until after 8:30 since I do have to pick up a prescription and the pharmacy doesn’t open til 9…so forced relaxation, how does that work? Not much to do today….still have two hours before I have to get out of here and it will be cool seeing my newly waxed and rain-x’ed car shedding the rain as I drive it…yeah, little things like that make me smile…and my garage door opener has worked for two weeks now without any problems and I wonder if it was my cleaning of the electric eyes that stop the door from hitting things that are in the way? Whatever it is, I’ll take it….more later….

Well…it was just so easy over the summer figuring out how each day was going to go and the routine was pretty consistent…but, as the weather has started to change, I’ve found I have to be much more flexible and that makes my days pretty disjointed…like today when I had to wait to get on the bike and had to find something to fill the time until that happened…so, I cleaned the bathroom and the new cleaner I bought to do the shower worked pretty well but I think it will need another spray and scrub to get all the calcium and soap off…after I got back from the second ride, I grabbed an already cooked brat and wrapped it in a slice of bread and ate that on the run for lunch as I went out to mow the lawn…it looks like it’s going to rain off and on for the next few days with some high wind and I wanted the grass to be short so at least some of the leaves would blow away and I won’t have to pick them up….after that, I got cleaned up and used my sparkling shower and finally had the chance to read the news and get a political one done here…finally…but I was still hungry so I got out the piece of leftover pork loin fro yesterday and sliced that up and had it with some horseradish mustard that I got from aldis…after having the other half of the pork loin in marinade for more than a day, I decided to cook up the other 4 pieces that were in the bag and I cut the other pork loin up and got it in bags in the freezer…so I really do hope that they have more and I can get another couple of bags in the freezer to have some that will last a while….so now I’m back here after this day of winging it with no plans and it still feels disjointed…like I’m missing something…and it looks like rain here for the evening and through most of the night that should start here around 5 or so and we can sure use it….right now it’s soccer time and then a leftover dinner of chicken, pasta salad and tomatoes…..that’s enough for the day….

Well…as you can see, there is a problem with getting out of bed a little after 6 and not being able to get on the bike til almost 10…have too much time to fill and I’m really not motivated to start on the windows in the dining room, so I sit here and do another one of these….when I should be cleaning the bathroom…hey, that’s an idea, I think I’ll do that here in a minute…have a new bathroom cleaner to try to get the soap scum and calcium deposits off the shower….and with the white trim, it needs to be washed all the time with how dusty this house is…and I have an hour before it’s warm enough to get out on the bike…that would be an accomplishment that I can build the rest of the day on….once I get started on the bike, I won’t be done til almost 1 and that will make for a late lunch but I still need to do an early dinner to try to work on my new eating pattern…think I’m going to cook the rest of the pork loin later and that will keep me eating for the rest of the week…need to get off my butt and get cleaning….more later…