Well…just a bit after I got back here from the ride, I was sitting here doing a couple of these and catching up on the news when I heard the moron that lives to south of me crank the music up in his piece of crap brown SUV and try to have a party in his yard…thumping the whole damn neighborhood and I was minutes from calling central dispatch and reporting him again but a miracle happened…someone else must have called since a police car pulled up and shut him down…again…and I didn’t have to call! I really hope that this is a trend…that other people in this neighborhood are getting used to it being quiet and are taking it into their hands, too…I don’t hold out a lot of hope that is what is going to happen but I’ll take one time and hope for more….maybe these loud asses will get the hint?

Well…damn, just finished the 6 1/2 hours of my “ride my age day” to get to 75 miles…and no, I’m not 75 but I have to ride laps in multiples of 15 since that is how long they are so 5 laps at 15 miles each gets me to 75 miles for the day…and the worst lap was the third one for some reason…just no energy and had a struggle on the homeward leg so I made sure to eat something when I got back here for my water refill….and that helped on laps 4 and 5 and I still had enough energy to sprint a bit on the way back since I knew I could leave it all on the trail….it is kind of a relief to get this done before my birthday and it is a little cool that I didn’t plan it so I didn’t have time to worry about it….now I’m good til next year…I think I may have earned a cocktail tonight….I know I can eat a big dinner so I may have 4 chicken legs and corn on the cob…yummy….I’m sore…..

Well…I didn’t really plan this but it looks like today is ride my age day…this is a little test I do every year to make sure I still have it in me to do 75 miles in one day…and I’ve got 30 in so far so only 3 more laps of my 15 mile route….that should take about 6 1/2 hours of seat time for the day…feel pretty good so far but I do have to remember that I am going a long distance and takes a completely different mindset than my normal sprint days…so I won’t be back here until around 3 this afternoon for a recap….more later…oh, and I get to eat whatever I want after I’m done with burning 3,000 calories on the bike today….

Well…yep, got scorched yesterday and I’m already starting to peel from it…and that is the first time I can remember that happening in a long time…so, I guess that means no sand and sun for me today….and that’s okay…my ears were full of water again yesterday and they even hurt a bit so I am going to have to get some swimmers earplugs and I wonder what happened to make them fill up when they never did before? Oh, well….I did sleep okayish last night but was up at 3 am for the first time and then out of bed a little before 6…was good last night and feel it this morning…it seems to take so long to get moving in the morning these days but I’ll be on the bike by 7 or so anyway and that may just help….I do need to cook today and I have lots of protein that I got on the grocery run…got some chicken legs for 99cents a pound and some pork chops for 1.49 so I’m set on that for the rest of the week…and I need to make another batch of potato salad since that comes in handy when I don’t feel like cooking…so today is going to be chicken legs smothered in bullseye along with an ear of corn and some green beans then I need to marinate some chops for tomorrow….going to be back at watering the lawn again today and really don’t want to see my water bill this month….ow….I did get some different garden food yesterday and need to give the beans and sunflowers a jolt  and I even have two cuke plants that could probably use a bit, too….really need to work on the garden today and I think I’ll do that instead of the beach….I have a few tomatoes that are growing but it still looks like a month before I have any ripe….not sure why I’m a month later than last year and I do need to start finding recipes to use them while I have them….not much to do today….the only plan I have is the bike rides and garden work and then to just wing it for the rest of the day….I do have to remember to put on sunscreen before the bike ride this morning…my skin just won’t take any more abuse and I have tons of 50 spf lotion in the drawer…cripes, my head is peeling….oh, well….more later….

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….