Well…it looks like the power went out at 12:36 last night for a time since my stove was blinking that time at me when I got up…and the coffee maker and microwave were blank so I had to reset the time on everything…at least I didn’t notice it and the house was warm when I woke up at 2:14 so it must have been a short outage….slept okay and feel okay today but I am a little irritated that just using the wire brush on the register yesterday has left my right shoulder sore as heck and I am going to abuse it even more with some sanding on the bathroom trim today…and I probably should get take down the blinds in there to get started on the window after I do the trim…and that is going to take a week or so with how bad shape that one is in…I did get the register removed from the big bedroom yesterday to get ready to start working on it…this one was rusted into place and I had to pry the grate out since the latches wouldn’t turn and it really did look like they just poured paint over it instead of brushing it…this bedroom is probably the second worse room after the kitchen and it is going to take a bunch of work…hmmmm…this one has devovled into a house one and I don’t want that…I did get out for an errand yesterday but will be staying in today and just fooling around some…after I get on the bike….and I may do laundry today, too, since I am running out of clothes to wear and haven’t done any this week…not much to do today…there are lots of races on today with the Sebring 12 hours and lots of nascar, F1, along with some soccer so I sure won’t be bored and I may even be tempted to skip the trim work in the bathroom…but, I won’t…the sanding will only take about a half hour or so and I just love abusing the heck out of myself….more later….

Well…that was crappy…tossed and turned so much last night that I was tangled in my sheets like a damn straightjacket when I woke up for the first time at 3:44…I did get back to sleep for a couple of hours but it wasn’t very good sleep so I am feeling it today…and I have been wondering if doing doubles on the bike for three days in a row earns me a day off today? Yeah, didn’t think so and that means I need to get my butt in gear to be able to get the indoor ride in before 8 when F1 practice comes on…and after that I need to run a couple of errands this morning to see if I can get some 39cents a pound chicken and then over to HF for painting supplies….and this will be a new part of Muskegon I haven’t been to yet and add to the map that is building in my head about the area….it took me 60 odd years to do that for GR and I don’t have that much time out here…didn’t work on the inside of the house at all yesterday but will get to more sanding on the trim in the bathroom today and that will get me to painting in there next week….I sure hope we get the rain that is forecast out here today and tomorrow…the whole place needs a good wash to get the crap from winter cleaned up and start getting the lawn to green up….not much to do today…have 13 minutes to get on the bike and get started but that is harder than I expected and I do have to cook today since all of the leftovers are gone….but we’ll see how that goes as I ease into the day….more later…

Well…on this St. Patrick’s day, I’ve been ruminating on heritage a bit and what it means to me….I’ve really never thought about it much throughout my life other than to make a little sense of why the heck I’m the whitest person I know…even bordering on transparent and that really does mean northern European…and there is French and Irish that are predominately the two nationalities that come from my grandparents on both sides…my father’s parents were from France (and his father still had a bit of an accent although I can’t be sure of that since I only met him like three times in my life) and I remember my mother’s parent’s explaining why there were Irish people who wore orange instead of green…protestant versus catholic…so I’ve simplified my heritage down to those two to just make it easier…like everyone else from Europe, if you go back far enough you’ll find German, Dutch and others included in the main nationalities and that is how it is with us…but I like French and Irish…and when I was young, my beard grew in red so there has to be some Irish in there somewhere…I am looking forward to seeing Ireland in 2023 when my daughter is taking me to the UK and we’ll get to spend a few days in Ireland…not that there is any longing for me to discover Ireland in my blood but I’ve always liked the Irish people and loved what that Island looks like…so, Happy St. Patrick’s day! Hope you all have a good one…think I may have one drink to celebrate….

Well….okay, that one is not really true…I didn’t work on the inside of the house today but I did work on the lawn and picked up branches and trash all over my lot…and I did get the sod that was torn up on the terrace out front replaced and smoothed out and some more of the dirt and concrete raked off it so when it rains tomorrow, it should wash the rest of it down into the soil and give me a better looking front of the house…there was still ice under the sod that was torn out so I couldn’t get it to lay flat but that should happen with the rain tomorrow….and I did get out for an outdoor ride on the bike that was fun with the bike working so well after sitting all winter…still haven’t started to sprint at all out there since my legs and lungs are not ready for it yet even with riding over 500 miles downstairs….I do have to remember that mileage since I am in training mode outside and I don’t have to be…I normally take about 300 miles to be ready to go hard but I have already done that downstairs….and my butt is already 300 miles hard and doesn’t hurt at all…but no ride tomorrow with the rain that is forecast to come in about 7am and last all day and into Saturday….but I will get on the indoor bike for my miles…and then back on the work in the bathroom so I can get painting the trim in there…hope I have enough paint…might have to get a gallon tomorrow…

Well…sure hope I can figure out what the heck I did last night but I was able to breathe and didn’t wake up til 6:30…and have just a hint of a headache and I’ll take that all day long…oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s day! I do have some Irish heritage so I may lift a glass later today…not sure what is going to be in the glass but I’ll lift one just the same…not making any corned beef and cabbage this year since I couldn’t find any that isn’t way too much money…I mean I got it for 2.99 a pound last year and this year it’s 4.99 and I really don’t need to spend that cash when I can get chicken for 39 cents a pound…we’ll see if it goes on sale after today and then I may buy a small two pounder…it was nice to get outside on the bike yesterday and it is warm enough to get out right now but it’s still too dark so I’ll be back on the indoor bike this morning…I do want to wash the car after the ride and then get the outdoor ride in before Michigan plays in the tournament at noon today so I’ll need to get going to get everything done before then….sill need to get some work done in the bathroom today, too, so I guess I should get going….going to finish up the leftovers today and cook some chicken later that I can use for a few things…probably some chicken tacos since I have the pepper and tortillas leftover from the pork….more later….

Well…after getting on the downstairs bike this morning with little pain, I felt like it would be a good day to take a second ride outdoors and step up the intensity a bit..but, after I got back here I started to feel like crap and still feel that way…feel warm and exhausted and have that damn headache back again…even though I have been masking up again, I wonder if I may have gotten covid somehow? I am contemplating using one of the 8 tests I have here just to make sure that it isn’t and is just my allergies going into overdrive with the warmer weather…I know I have been under a bit on calories the past two days…but is some pork shoulder, and spoonful of potatoes and gravy, and a pork soft taco with no cheese too little? It is close to 1200 calories and today I had a small rib and a handful of oven fries and that’s it…so I know that 600 calories is not enough with doing two rides but I am not hungry at all right now and I probably should be….crap…oh, well…at least my grocery bill for the week is under 30 bucks…but I may go out to save a lot Friday since they have a special of chicken leg quarters for 39 cents a pound…so, ten pounds for 3.90? Don’t have a lot of space in the freezer but how can I pass that up? Oh, well….I’m tired…

Well…damn, that was a 2:14, 4:44, and 6:02 night last night and I am feeling it today…still can’t figure out how my allergies have gotten so bad so fast this year but I did notice that the trees have buds on them already and will probably start the pollen explosion in the next couple of weeks…my eyes are so full of stuff this morning that they are blurry and that is a pain in the butt trying to do this…and will suck heading out to do the grocery run this morning…oh, well…it is a little strange how many different muscles are used riding the bike outside as inside…my core muscles hurt today and I wonder if it from the bike ride or from wedging myself into the corners in the bathroom? Whatever it is, I can live with it but there may be the need for ibuprofen later….it will be interesting to see what hurts when I get on the indoor bike here in a minute…it is supposed to be in the mid 50’s today and I may just get out in shorts for the ride if I wait til later in the afternoon….not much to do today…need to do the grocery run and then wash the car and I may take my rubber shoes with me and do it between Meijers and aldis unless I have to go over to Sternberg road this morning….more later….

Well…damn, I am getting tired of resting my thumb for a week and having the bad pain start right up the first time I use it all…but that’s not what this is about…I did get out on the outside bike this afternoon for only the second ride this year and it was not bad…it is just so different from riding the indoor bike and with all the shifting, braking, and leaning….it is not boring at all…pretty messy with all of the snow melt, dirt, sand, and crud being thrown all over the bike and me but it is still nice to see everything….and I did see some big icebergs on the lake but the coolest thing was how quiet it was out at my water stop on the boardwalk…I took my earbuds out just to see and the only sound was some gulls a long way off so you could barely hear them…I have never heard it so quiet out there and a big part of that is the road is still closed so no cars or the noise they make. Muskegon Lake is the lowest I have ever seen it…okay, this is the first year I’ve been able to get close to it this early in the year but seeing it 3 feet lower than during the summer is pretty strange….it does look like I’ll be able to get out there again tomorrow and maybe on Thurs, too but we’ll see….still going to ride downstairs until the weather gets to the point that I can do two rides outside in a day and that may get me close to my 600 mile goal on that bike….but, right now, it’s almost time for Man U and I want to take it easy for a while…for some reason, the outside ride took a lot out of me today…