Well…it’s 12:42 and it’s still only 47 degrees out there so it looks like it’s going to be a day off the bike for me…I know I’m going to have to get used to the cold here pretty soon if I want to keep riding outside but not today…I am going to use the pain in my back and sides as an extra excuse since it still hurts to just sit here and it won’t get better if I strain them more today….I do need to try to get the feeling of enjoyment that I used to have on days off back again but I’m not sure how to do that…I’m terrible about just living in the moment and my mind races to think about what I should be doing even though I accomplished a lot this week….I used to be able to sit in front of the tv on days off and enjoy an old movie or two and now I have thousands of them available on plex and other streaming services but I can’t sit still long enough to do that…maybe I should see a shrink? I should be able to figure this out since I do have a degree in psych but I haven’t been successful at it yet….oh, well….I probably shouldn’t bitch too much…life is still okay and, as I always used to say to my kids when they had a normal problem that they were blowing out of proportion, “you’ll live through it”…and I probably will…

Well…as I’m taking it easy this morning, I was looking out the kitchen window and saw the leaves start to fall and it always makes me think of the song “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin…”leaves are falling all around, time I was on my way, thanks to you I’m much obliged, for such a pleasant stay, but now it’s time for me to go, the Autumn moon lights my way, for now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it’s headed my way”….it’s funny how much the events of living trigger me into thinking about music that I like….time is passing and I know I’m getting closer to the end but I’m not sad about that…maybe more introspective but not sad…I do find it kind of odd that I’m almost 70 and I’m still out there working on my car, cleaning the garage, riding my bike, and working on this house…when I was young, 70 was ancient and there were no old people doing this kind of stuff so I consider myself lucky….but I have done the work to stay healthy…I mean how many other almost 70 year olds ride their bikes over 5,000 miles a year? Here’s the weird thing….the other day I put my height and weight into a BMI calculator and, at 175 pounds, I am still considered almost obese…overweight at least, and I can’t figure that out….oh,well….more later…

Well…that was a strange night…woke up at 4 or so but went back to bed until 7 then just laid there until 7:44 and wanted to just not get out of bed at all…and I still feel that way…just frickin worn out and I may take the day off the bike today since it will be a long pants day if I don’t…it’s barely going to get over 50 this afternoon and I really need a day off after all the work this week….it’s only 40 out there right now and there is no way I can take that right now…I’m still very sore and moving gingerly today and that could be another reason to take a day off the bike…I wonder how that would work? And how do I cope with the guilt? Hmmm…I did get a lot of work done yesterday as I did all week and I should clean in here today and I just might…the bathroom can use some work as the kitchen does and I still have all of the tools to put away after working on the car yesterday….I really like the new electric toothbrush but it feels weird like you have a bunch of bees in your mouth as it vibrates….and it does clean better than the spinbrush….and I do like my phone a lot better with the new case on it…I can feel where the on button is when I had to look at it before…and it’s pretty grippy feels better than the naked phone that was just too thin….not much to do today….it’s 8:25 and I don’t want to do anything and my back and sides still hurt like crazy just sitting here so I am heading toward a day off….I think I may have done enough work this week to hold the guilt at bay if I do just hang out and do nothing…but, we’ll see…..more later….

Well…damn, getting old is literally a pain….after working on the car and garage the past couple of days, I can barely move my back and sides hurt so much…I guess bending to get in the wheel well to lube the parking brake is not such a good idea when you are getting old…but it has to be done at least once a year or they will hang up and leave the parking brakes on and you go nowhere….and I had to hit the rear suspension bushings with some wd to keep them from squeaking..again, at least once a year….and I think all of the sweeping and cleaning didn’t help much but I have been planning on doing that to the garage for quite a while now…and I just walked out to look at it a few minutes ago and it makes me feel good to have a clean space to store my car and tools in…I probably should have taken some ibuprofen when I finished up at 2:30 since it hurt to just reach for my laptop on the back of the couch but I still don’t want to take any more of them than is absolutely necessary…and the dust from all the sweeping has plugged my head up and I should have taken something for that, too…but, I’m an idiot and I would rather suffer and be able to bitch about it…yeah, I’m that weird…oh, well…I am done for the day…no more later…

Well…I’m still drinking coffee at 2:30 in the afternoon and there is something wrong with that…but I am not going to dump out good coffee or make it last for a third day….it’s been somewhat of a theme of being busy lately and I did it again today…I was able to get out on the bike as soon as it was light this morning so that meant I could get two rides in before 11 and then get the last of the lawn food on before lunch….right after lunch I got started on the car and while I was waiting for the rust preventer to dry, I thought it would be a good time to finish getting the sand out of it and then wash the glass and the plastic inside since that needed to be done…I had planned on doing that tomorrow but I had plenty of time just standing there so I thought I’d finish the car today….once I had that done, I decided to sweep the garage floor and that turned into sweeping the interior walls, too, and I could not believe how much dirt was on them…they probably had never been cleaned since the garage was built and there were so many cobwebs that I think they were helping hold the damn thing up….that took quite a while but it was worth it to have a clean garage for the first time since I bought this place…that took until 2 or so and I have just gotten cleaned up and here to do this one…so, I really do need to take a day off here soon….the rain just came in and that’s why I put the food on the lawn today…I love it when a plan comes together….now it’s time to relax and read some news…I think I’ve earned it…

Well…damn, that was odd…slept all the way through the night and didn’t get up til 7:07 and that hasn’t happened for a long, long time…but I wasn’t good last night so that’s probably why…and I sure hope that’s not what I have to do to sleep since there is a trade off of how I feel…darn….it looks like I can get out on the bike as soon as it gets light for the last time this year since it is already 55 out there and that means I can work on the car this morning, too…and that’s good since it is supposed to rain this aft and then get cold for the next few days….it looks like today is not going to be as busy as my days have been lately and that is a welcome relief…after all, I’m getting old and that pace was really tiring….but I do still have a lot of work to do today to start on the dining room…and I should put the rest of the fall food on the lawn before it rains so I may do that before I work on the car….I do need to plan meals for a few days and get that out of the freezer since I only have food for two meals today…I am going to have a burger today to try to use up some more tomatoes but I can see the end of my crop coming…it was a good year for them and I didn’t have to throw any of them out….not much to do today…I need more coffee before I read the news and get out on the bike…it’s still not light enough but that is coming fast so I need to get going….more later….

Well…after I wrote that title, it occurred to me that a lot of you out there may not know what a stuck record is…or what a record is for that matter, but a stuck one is where a record sticks and plays the same few seconds over and over….and that is what my days have seemed like since I got back to work around here…busy, busy, busy and today I didn’t get done till almost three after getting going about 7:30….started out with getting out to do the grocery run this morning…hit 3 stores that would have been 4 but the dollar store was closed and I wonder if it is having business trouble? After the run, I got back here and got straight on the bike at 10 and finished the rides at about 12:30 and then straight into working on the car…got the rust treated and painted over on the drivers side and then vacuumed the trunk and drivers seat and floor, then repaired the mat that was frayed and that took me til almost 2:30 and I have the passenger’s side to do tomorrow but I did put the first coat of the rust treatment on and will do another one tomorrow before I paint over it…after I got that done, I got the laundry started and then made a batch of pasta salad since I like it and it is handy to have with anything instead of chips or fries…after I got that done, I checked on the front steps for the package that was due and it was here, so I opened it and put the new case on the phone…I really like it, the phone just didn’t have anything to grip or to tell you where the buttons are and this case takes car of that…pretty cool…and I got my Phillips sonicare rechargeable toothbrush and I can’t wait to use it later…it really vibrates and I sure hope that it helps with keeping my teeth clean and infection free…it’s very slim and is supposed to last 14 days on one charge and that would be cool…so I retired my spin brush pro battery powered one that I have been using for almost 20 years….damn, I’m getting pretty modern and it’s all by accident…now it’s time to take it easy for a bit…long, busy day…again…

Well…running about on time this morning and I have settled into a sleep pattern where I wake up at 4, then back to bed til a little after 6…and it was my 4th night of being good so I feel okay today if a little sore from the work yesterday…and I have more to do today after the bike rides but it is easy stuff…just working on the car and it is a pain but  it has to be done to get the car through the winter….amazon is working really fast this week and the phone case and Phillips electric toothbrush I ordered are coming today instead of Saturday and the allergy meds that weren’t getting here til the 18th will be here tomorrow…and just in time since I’m running out and the ragweed is nuts out here….fun to get new stuff but I spent 65 bucks and that is a little hard for me…oh, I can afford it but the habit of not spending is pretty strong…one day I would like to just buy something without having the guilt that comes with it…I do need to make the grocery run this morning and hit menards for some stuff along with the dollar store so that means a 4 store run this morning….it’s going to be another busy one today with trying to beat the cold weather and get the car done…I did have some chickadees on the feeder yesterday after I cleaned it and put fresh food in it and that was pretty cool….very few of those last winter and I hope that the sparrows discover it this fall….more later….

Well…when I started the day, I knew I had a lot to do and it was going to be a busy day…after I got the two rides in by noon, I mowed the lawn and then washed and waxed the car and then repaired the top in 4 places…but the repair caulk I have been using has gone bad so I think I’ll have to get more at menards tomorrow and will probably have to replace the patches with new stuff…and tomorrow I need to clean the car and try to treat the rust with rust preventer and repaint some of the matte black on the rockers…then I got a couple of bills ready to be go into the mail tomorrow and found that I had skipped a booklet of checks so everything is out of sequence…don’t think that matters…I hope….so tomorrow will be car work since sand is piled up in the trunk and both footwells and both seats and need to  vacuum the heck out of it since the sand is everywhere… so it looks like every day this week is going to be busy and I am already a little worn out from it….or I’m just damn old…that’s probably it….

Well…I sure would like to break this pattern of tossing and turning all night and getting up a little after 4 and then out of bed around 6…still feel okay so maybe I should just get used to it as sleeping well through the night fades into the past….got a lot done yesterday and even hung the door to the bathroom and, even with how old beat up it was, the door came out pretty good and looks clean…still doesn’t fit that well since it is 82 years old and a little warped but it opens and closes so I can live with that…have a lot of outdoor work to do the rest of the week so I won’t get to much inside…I do want to get the shades down in the dining room and plan what needs to be done to the windows in there and even choose the color I want…the bedroom grey may be a little too dark in there so I could go with the same color as the living room but I wanted some contrast between them so we’ll see…maybe switch up the colors and do the living room in the darker grey? Who knows? I do need to mow the lawn and wash the car today to get it ready for the top and rust repair tomorrow and I need to get all the damn sand out of it and start looking for a new one over the winter…if I do buy one, I’ll need to get a cover for it and park it next to the garage since I don’t want to drive a new one in the snow yet…and I do need to cook some today and figure out my meal planning for the rest of the week….not buying any protein this week since nothing is on sale and I have a full freezer and I think I’ll thaw a pound of burger to use the lettuce and tomatoes up on some burgers….and I want to make some more pasta salad this afternoon since it is nice to have it available so I don’t have to cook…not much to do today…I get to just sit here for a bit since it’s not going to be warm enough to get on the bike til 10 and the lawn won’t be dry enough to mow it til the afternoon…so I’ll get the rides in first then lunch, then on to the lawn and washing the car….it looks like another busy day once I get started and it needs to be if I’m going to have everything done to prep for winter….more later….