Well…after I bought the new car, I was confused about the philosophy of it…and I know that sound a little out there but there is such a difference between the two iterations of them that it got me thinking…the first two models of them, the NA and NB were on the same chassis and were loud, rude, crude sports cars that made you grin about their sharp edges and could readily be called sports cars in the vein of the Lotus Elan or the other British sports cars that came before…kind of a minimalist car that just did the one thing well…handle…and cause lots of grins…but with having the new one for 5 weeks now, it dawned on me that it really is a grand tourer in the European tradition…it is quiet and comfortable but retains or exceeds the roadholding of the first two models…a grand tourer is like a Bentley, made to cover long distances in comfort and get you there not tired out like my 94 does…I wonder who made that decision…I guess the car had to “grow up” to appeal to more drivers that wouldn’t put up with the rawness of the original…the new one is just more refined and does everything better…and while I miss some of that rawness…at my age I really do appreciate that it is a grand tourer and treats my old body much better…my two cents anyway…

Well…damn, another night of no sleep and it’s starting to get a bit wearing…and I woke up around 1 just shivering so I have to put winter clothes on to stop it but then sweated the rest of the night as I am right now…pretty sure it’s the no cocktails as my body adjusts to it and I feel okay so I’ll take that…have 20 minutes before I need to get on the bike to get the day started sine I decided to do the grocery run this morning with the doctor appointment tomorrow…so it will be the normal routine of 1 ride, grocery run, then the 2nd ride when I get back and then on to doing meal prep…going to get the sourdough starter fed today to make the dough tomorrow and then bake it Thursday to go with the Masala I’m making over the weekend…and I think I’m going to prep for another batch of potato salad today, too, and make some chicken thighs I took out of the freezer for Wed…leftovers end tomorrow so I’ll have to make something…I did get half of the lawn treated for weeds and need to hit Menards for more killer today so I can finish that up this aft…so, it’s going to be another busy day and I need another cup of coffee in the next ten minutes…so I need to get going…more later….

Well…got back a while ago and the bad news is they couldn’t fix the player…but the good news is they worked on it for 2 1/2 hours and didn’t charge me a dime…so now I guess I’ll get started looking at my options to see what I can do…oh, well…drove through a storm on the way back and the car is so stable…not like the old one that was all over the place in the rain…I was flying at 80 plus and no problem at all…I did catch my right arm on the spikes on the fence today and even though it was only an inch scratch, it bled like crazy all down my arm until I stuck a band aid on it…what a day…

Well…I’m at the dealership in Holland and the traffic was pretty bad to get here and I’m sure it’s going to be worse going home…oh, well…you’ll laugh at this…just got a text from one of their sales people that they want to buy my car…I just laughed…this place was pretty easy to find after getting off 31 it was right there so getting back on 31 north is going to be easy…and now all of my business is on the lakeshore and the only reason I have to go back to GR is to shoot pool and have drinks with K…..now I wait for a couple of hours until I find out the damage if they can fix it…I’m glad I brought my laptop since they have free wifi and I can update these….

Well…it’s getting close to the time I have to leave for my 2pm appointment at the Mazda dealer and it’s been a busy day up till now…got on the bike for the first ride before 7am and had both done before 9…then went out to pay the water bill and when I got back here decided to mow the lawn…the I used what weed killer I had left to start treating the yard but I think I may try weed and feed applied with the spreader to keep the weeds from coming back…getting tired of having to do the weed walk every couple of weeks and that’s not cheap…weed and feed isn’t either but at least it will last more than a week…have everything I need to spend a couple of hours in the waiting room…a book, mp3 player, and my laptop in case they have free wifi…and I think I’ll bring one of my Contigo cups with water since they don’t leak…a little enforced idleness is not a bad thing…it looks like I’ve the top up for the trip back here with 90% chance of rain forecast for 3-4 pm…the only thing I have this week is the yearly checkup and I just looked at metabolic panel results and everything is right in the green so I won’t get bitched at…nice to know that the work I do to maintain my health is working….okay need to get ready…

Well…up and out of bed at 5:23 this morning after a fitful night’s sleep…up at 2:09 to start it off and then up and down all night…but I feel okay today after the first night off of cocktails…think I’ll keep that up all week and maybe longer…just need to give my body the break it needs to heal some…I will be on the bike by 7am or so to get two rides in before 9 and then over to pay the water bill…I did take it easy yesterday and that will continue today with just the rides and then sitting in the Mazda dealer waiting room for a couple of hours as they try to fix the cd changer…have a book and music to keep me busy so it shouldn’t be too bad…need to dig through the freezer for meal planning later in the week…probably make some more potato salad and I’m going to feed the sourdough starter to make some  bread Wed and then I’m not sure what else…need to mow the lawn tomorrow after the two rides…I did find a beach lounger that I like for about 60 bucks so I may buy one…it supposed to be sturdy but a little heavy but I don’t need to carry it far since the beach is about half the width it was after they dredged two years ago…and it will fit in the 30 gallon bag I’ll use to keep the sand out of the car…more later…

Well…for the second day in a row, I just did two rides for 25 miles today to continue the healing process…have been hurting and feeling lousy for a couple off days now and I’m even going to take this week off cocktails to see if that will help move the process along…I do feel a lot better after just a couple of days so I hope that continues and I have my checkup wed morning so maybe my blood pressure will be down some by then…still have to do my online check in before then but I’ve got all day Tuesday for that and to pay my 5 buck copay…taking the car in tomorrow to have them look at the cd player tomorrow afternoon down to Holland but I’m not really thinking they can fix it…that would be nice but at least I’ll know what broke….okay, running late and need to do my teeth…

Well…damn, up at 5:05 this morning and I really didn’t want to be up that early but here I am…going to be on the bike by 7am and I am going to stay at two rides today to try to keep the healing going…I never thought I’d ever say this but I think I’ve gotten too thin…have been restricting calories for my entire life but I may have overshot the goal with how I look…almost gaunt and I’m not sure how healthy that is…I guess it’s better than being fat…didn’t get much done yesterday and today will be spent taking it easy again…taking the car in tomorrow to see if there is anything they can do to fix the cd player and then I have my checkup Wed morning…then nothing until my birthday when I have an appointment with my periodontist…it’s not easy getting old…I made enough chicken/rice yesterday that I won’t have to cook until later in the week and that’s not a bad problem to have…will have to look in the freezer to do some meal planning and look at the ads to see if there is anything on sale that I need…not much to do today…have 35 minutes before I need to get on the bike and it should be light by then…need more coffee…more later…

Well…yeah, I know…I very seldom post this late in the day but today was a strange one with feeling so lousy all day and barely getting through the two rides I did…I knew that I needed to do something to rest this damn old body with all of the pain I’ve been in the past few days but I’m not going to see if it worked or not until I take more than one easy day…have been trying to get my left bicep and thigh to stop hurting along with my hands going numb on the first ride when that normally doesn’t happen til the third ride…damn, I hate getting old…so I’ll take another two ride day tomorrow for body maintenance and try to let the healing start…it may even rain so I’ll have to fit the rides in around that…MotoGP and nascar tomorrow so I may not be bored…tv time…

Well…damn, I feel like crap today and I’m having a hard time getting going…hmmm…that is getting to be my new normal and I’m not sure if I like that at all….I did sleep okay but it seems that it really doesn’t matter much anymore….I remember the days when I’d get up and feel like there were possibilities and not tasks to accomplish….have 14 minutes before I need to get on the bike…but I am going to rush another cup of coffee first…I struggled so much on the bike yesterday that I’m thinking of only doing two rides today for 25 miles to give myself a bit of a rest…I’ve noticed that I’m getting old and things that used to be easy aren’t anymore…going to make the chicken/tomato sauce dish today for lunch so I need to get the rides in before then but I’m not sure what the second meal is going to be…and I do need to have a second meal since I have been skipping it way too much lately…not much to do today…damn, the meal thing is going to give me fits since nothing is coming to mind…probably should look in the freezer to see what’s available….more later…