Well…just finished baking the pizza and having lunch and I will say that a half pound of mushrooms on one pizza is not too much…I did have to take the pizza and pan over to the sink to pour off the extra liquid that came from the shrooms but the crust was done and not soggy at all and that surprised me a little with all of the liquid that was there…but, I’ve been making the crust drier the past couple of times and that makes it much more crispy and I think that has something to do with it…probably the best tasting pizza that I have made and I do have to remember to put the garlic powder and Italian seasoning in the dry ingredients since it makes such a difference and fills out the flavor so the crust isn’t bland….but now I need to find something in the freezer to take out so I’ll have a second meal for tomorrow to go with the leftover pizza…not that big of a choice since I think there are only various chicken cuts left…I do have some tilalpia fillets that have been in there a while that I probably should cook so maybe that will be it? Who knows? Taking the rest of the day off to watch races and veg….

Well…yeah, I did get on the indoor bike this morning and got to 760 miles down there this year so far…and with the 234 on the outside bike, I’m only 6 miles short of the first thousand miles for the year…so, should I get back on it and do 6 more so I can have a grand before the end of April? Nope, not that driven by the numbers anymore so when I get to it Monday, that will be soon enough….and I’m not sure if this is the earliest to a thousand I’ve ever done but I don’t think so…I seem to remember that I reached it once in the middle of April….but that was with riding outdoors in full thermasuit that I’ve only done a couple of times this year since I could just use the downstairs bike instead. So now it’s break time….more coffee and soccer until I get to making the pizza around 11 or so….more later….

Well…damn, it’s the end of April and it’s still in the 40’s out there and I’m getting really, really tired of it…I am now sure that there will be no spring this year…and I won’t smell the spring smell until who knows when? And it’s raining out there right now and I really expect it to snow with how the weather has gone so far this year….oh, well…I did get 30 miles in yesterday but have no motivation at all to get on the bike downstairs today even with tomorrow being a day off riding…but I’ll probably drag myself downstairs in a while for the torture…had an okay day yesterday with getting the two rides in but not a lot else done and I think I need a couple of days like that to let my body heal…my hands are getting better with the rest but I have to remember to put a bandage on my injured left thumb since I banged it twice yesterday and it hurt like crazy….I really don’t have any plans to do anything today and just saying that is pretty weird…I did get the old, scruffy looking t-shirts out of my dresser and replaced them with new ones and that little thing made me feel good for a few minutes yesterday…some of them were pretty ugly but now I have a tub full of work shirts to use when I’m working on the car or house that I don’t care about…and I can use bleach to clean again without worrying about ruining a good t-shirt…is that what my life has been reduced to? Or is it finally settling into the mundane little things that I have been working toward for the past few years? The life of just paying bills and living for a change and letting the day just unfold instead of planning it? Not sure yet…but I have planned to make a pizza for lunch to use up the ingredients I have in the fridge…even got some mushrooms to put on this one and need to use the entire container and I wonder how a half pound of mushrooms will work on one pizza? I guess we’ll see…I wonder if I should saute them first to get some of the moisture out of them? Nope, too much work….not much to do today…still thinking about riding downstairs but that can come a bit later after I have coffee and read some news to try to find a topic for later…..more later….

Well…as I said this morning, I was going to head out to ollies for some more 1.99 t-shirts this morning…and it was so nice to have a good running car again and one that is clean to drive around in…so, I got 5 new t-shirts and a pair of Ralph Lauren flip flops that normally go for 28 bucks for 2.99…and the total bill only came to 16 bucks since I did spend 3 bucks each on a couple of the t-shirts since they were new FoTL with some new kind of super wicking cotton that I thought I’d try out…so, I’m done buying new stuff for the summer unless they have some beach towels for cheap since I do need a new one….and now I think I’ll sort out my t-shirts later and put the old ones in a tote in my closet so I can use them to get dirty with….now out on the bike for the first ride…

Well…hey, I found something to fill some time! After getting back outdoors on the trails this spring…is it spring? Sure doesn’t feel like it…I noticed that there is a huge explosion of people riding electric bikes that I wonder if they should be classified motorized vehicles and banned from the trails? Just the other day when I was out riding some idiot came blowing through the crowds at almost 30mph and not pedaling at all…and I can see carnage if this continues when the trails get busy when it warms up when walkers and riders clog up the trails so there is nowhere for someone going at that speed to go…I even find it a little challenging at times when I get up a head of steam and run into a stroller blockade…but I’m not going 30 and I pay attention and have the courtesy to slow down and allow them to get out of the way with a smile on my face…after all, the trails are for everyone who uses them but the speed differential to electric bikes is going to cause accidents…and I wonder who the hell can afford a 2,000 dollar bike anyway? Okay, that’s the end of my bitching…normally I just yell at them that they are cheating with a smile on my face and a laugh…especially when you have an obviously out of shape person flying by me only pedaling once every 100 feet or so…but, they are getting out and getting some exercise and that is always a good thing….and I have even started to do some research on converting the black bike to an electric assisted one to use when I’m injured but it’s still over 800 bucks to do that and I can think of many other way to spend that much cash….maybe look for a used one that is just sitting in someone’s garage after they used it for a week or two? I guess the point of riding for me is to get all the exercise I can to keep age at bay and an electric would make it too easy….going to be an interesting summer….

Well…damn, I’m sore this morning…as I was last night and the day before and I’m starting to get a little concerned that it never stops…and I’m not sure if it’s from the work I’m doing or if it’s a medical problem but I do know that I am creeping around here and everything I do is painful…I wonder if taking two ibuprofens a day would help instead of the one I take now? I did get the car finished yesterday and got my new sticker in the window that allows me to park at the beach for free and I will be using that a lot this summer….and I can’t wait to run an errand this morning in the clean car…even with all the rust in it, it is still cool to have clean glass and the un-rusted parts waxed and it is just the best to know that it is ready for summer…and that it is not leaking oil anymore….and I am going to hit ollies again today for some more 1.99 t-shirts if they have them…and then I can weed out all of the old bleached and painted ones and replace them with new ones….I am going to try to get two rides in outdoors today so I don’t have to get on the indoor bike and that leaves me with lots of time to just relax on the couch and have my coffee while I do this…and then I can leisurely read the news….oh, forgot to talk about sleep…should I talk about sleep? Nope, not today…pretty sure you’re getting bored with that and the one thing I strive for is to not be boring…sometimes even successfully….not much to do today…not sure how to do these easy mornings and I’m still wondering if my need to be doing something is going to override that…but I am going to try…but it’s 7am and I really don’t know how to fill the time until I head out on the errand….hmmmm….more later…

Well…had a pretty busy morning with all of the work I had planned and I got it all done with a really pleasant surprise when I backed the car out to wash it…no drips! After years of just cobbling it together with blue silicone on the drain plug and it never really working, the damn 3 dollar drain plug worked and it was so simple to do, I’m not sure why I didn’t do this years ago instead of wasting all my time looking for the Mazda crush washers that went on the old plug….I guess I get tunnel vision sometimes…and I did get the rest of my work done, too, starting with seeding the front of the lawn, washing the inside and outside of the trash bin, washing and vacuuming the car, washing the bike and cleaning up the garage…and I tried my stainless steel detail brush on the dirt that would never come off the wheels of the car and they even look better so bonus….but now it’s the last cup of coffee, reading some news, having lunch, and then getting out on the bike when it warms up enough…damn, it’s only 44 at 11:30…and that sucks…

Well…hmmmm….feel a little worn out today and I wonder if I should skip the indoor ride today with being able to get out on the bike later? But, it’s the end of April and it’s only 29 frickin degrees out there so that will be much later…and still not too comfortable….slept okay last night but not that well and I’m getting tired of that…just once I’d like to hit the sack and just sleep without waking up all night…okay, enough bitching and whining….it is a little bit of a relief to finally get the car maintenance started and not have to buy a 60 buck set of plug wires…I think I should note how many miles the car has on it to keep track of how far I go on this oil change just to see how many miles I drive in a year….I know it’s been at least two years since I last changed it but only about 3000 miles or so in that time…but I could tell it needed it when the oil pressure gauge reads about 30 at idle…and all of the short trips I take don’t help…I mean 6-10 miles a week? And all those start ups with the car running rich? I know the oil looked pretty bad but it’s supposed to….I am going to do a full clean up on the car today with wax, windows and vacuuming and it will be nice washing it here instead of the car wash…and I may even wash the bike today if I have the hose out and a bucket of soapy water ready….not much to do today…I did get some flower and herb seeds yesterday and need to start the herbs downstairs so I can make a little herb garden next to the back door…going to plant rosemary, thyme, and Italian oregano…should have gotten some chives, too, but I didn’t see them….and I got some perennials that I won’t have to plant every year and should look cool…so, I do have stuff to do today but need much more coffee first and to read the news…damn, why do I feel like I’m late and it’s only 7am? More later…

Well…I wonder if I’m getting to the point where literally anything that I do is going to result in pain and stiffness all over my body? I know I’m getting old but damn, just changing the oil in the car and putting a set of plugs in and my back and arms hurt like I just lifted weights for a few hours straight….and there was not really much leaning into the engine bay other than to snake the oil filter out…I know I had to lean over to get to the plugs but doing all 4 of them only took about 10 minutes…maybe it’s because they are not movements I do all the time? Who knows? All I know is that getting old is a pain…literally, and I don’t like it….I did get back out to check the air in the tires on the car, too, and I don’t know how they could have gotten down to 20psi on each corner without me noticing it…okay, I did notice that the tires looked a little deflated but with radials, you really can’t see it that well…okay, that sentence right there tells you I’m old…I remember the times before radial tires and I’ll bet most people don’t…so, I aired them up to 32 where I normally run them and also aired up the bike tires to get ready for an outdoor ride tomorrow…and I’ll be cleaning out the trash bin and washing the car and cleaning the interior for the spring cleaning I’m late on…so, I already have the day planned for tomorrow and that is not supposed to happen anymore…oh, well…it is nice to do something other than work on the house….

Well….have been neglecting the car for almost all of the time that I’ve been out here and I know I’ve never changed the oil since I’ve lived here until today….went out to zone this morning as part of the grocery run and got an oil filter, oil plug, and a set of spark plugs so I could do all of the things I’ve put off while working my butt off on the house. I normally use fram oil filters but neither zone or advance had any and they said they have been fighting shortages of them for over a year now…so I got an stp one since they have been rated pretty good too and got to work…and it started off pretty crappy with dropping the oil filter after I took it off and spilling oil all over the bottom of the car…there is not much room where the filter is but dropping it showed me a new way to take it out that is much easier so that was cool…and I put a new oil plug in that has a nice gasket on it that should stop that leak that I have been fighting since I bought the car…and it only cost 3 bucks so that was really cool…hope to get a few changes out of it before I have to replace it or the gasket and it is really nice to not have to slather the plug in blue silicone to try to keep it from leaking….after I finished that job, I decided to check to see if I could get the plug wires off and replace the plugs and they came off easily…and the blue silicone I used to hold them together was still working so I saved 60 bucks in not replacing them…but I’m still only about halfway done with the car since I need to do the spring cleaning and every thing else that comes with it…but I’ll wait til tomorrow for that when it is warmer….