Well…you know, I really thought that being retired was going to give me some days off and I wonder why I just can’t take any….today started as normal with getting on the bike at 8am and getting back here around 9:30, then I took a scrub brush and a bucket of suds to the front steps that lead up to the porch since they were covered with green algae and looked like hell…and they look pretty good now….then back on the bike until 11:40 or so and then decided that I needed to get out to the beach for some color and a couple of swims, and that took until almost two…oh, and I forgot to have lunch so only one meal today….then back here to work on the garden and and put the sprinkler out and move it around the yard to try to keep the lawn alive….I do need one that is more suited to the size of this yard, not the postage stamp sized one I bought it for….and it is now 5:30 and I have just finished up the dishes and can take it easy for the first time today….okay, sitting on the beach is taking it easy so I guess this is the second time…still a damn busy day….I’m beat….

Well…another day, another time up at 6:31 and I just realized something….I haven’t had any dreams in months and that is a little concerning since you normally do when you get into rem sleep…so I wonder if I’m getting to rem every night? Just another thing to worry about….my brain is probably slowly turning to mush….oh, well…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get anything done but I am going to make sure I do some work on this place today….will probably work on cleaning the front steps to get the green gunk off them but I’m not sure when…still do want to get two rides in so it will have to be in the afternoon…..I may have to re-think not watering the lawn since it is not going to rain out here again for a couple of weeks and I’m already losing the young grass that grew in from the seed I planted….might do that today on a test plot just to see if it will work…..I am a little impatient trying to get a yard to grow in the bare spots….I really thought it would have grown in by now but it still looks pretty scraggly…..I’m not going to say not much to do today…I have way too much to do and that is a little overwhelming especially since I want to go to the beach, too, and I don’t want to be a slave to this house….I guess there is always the winter to do the interior work….more later….

Well…today as I was taking my water break out on the boardwalk by the lake, a loud group of motorcycles came by, shattering the nice quiet of the beach but this group came with a new, more annoying twist…at least a couple of them had the loudest damn stereos on them I have ever heard…and the thought came to me: Aren’t motorcycles annoying enough already? Whey the hell do they have to add to the 100db from their pipes with 100db in crappy music? Are they so insecure that they need another way to shout “look at me”? I will be so happy when all of the damn cycles leave here after today…It has been a pain in the butt to have to hear them and have them racing all around here since last Thursday….I wonder what the next annoying thing is going to be around here? Okay, it’s not that annoying…the people look like their having fun and I know they bring a lot of money in to the businesses here and, after the last year, I’m sure they all can use the cash….I guess I’m still adjusting to a new town….

Well…another 6:30 morning today and another struggle to get out to get the paper…but again, the cool, top down run out to Meijers helped wake me up but my eyes are full of stuff from allergies and it’s a pain trying to clear them up….and I wasted the day yesterday and didn’t get anything done other than the rides and taking care of the garden….I need to get at the front steps this week since they are covered in green from algae and look pretty shabby…more scrub brush work and I think my elbow will take it…it doesn’t really hurt today and the swelling is way down so it just may be healing….I don’t think I’ll get much done today with the F1 race on at 10 and then nascar on this afternoon and I’ll need to wedge the second ride in before 3 so it will be a little bit of a rush this morning…need to get out of here before 8 and that is only 37 minutes away and I haven’t read any news yet….or had my second cup of coffee….so I need to end here, fill up the coffee, and read some news….more later…

Well….running about on time this morning with getting up at 6:30 again…I think I slept okay and don’t feel too bad today so I’ll be getting out on the bike here in a few….my elbow seems to be getting better and I can pick up my coffee cup with just a little stiffness but it will probably get worse as I get back to work around here…need to get the rest of the siding cleaned but I am going to take the rest of the weekend off for my birthday and veg a little….rode down to the motorcycle event yesterday and it looked like a staged cliche with all of the harleys, fat guys, and leather…and bad cover bands playing way too loud….just way too weird for me…I do have some cukes that will be ready to pick in a few days and I’ll be making some pickles from them…not a big fan of cukes but I am of pickles so that is normally what I use them for…will be giving a lot of them away….I am pleasantly surprised about how many beans I have been getting from my plants…have already gotten 10 times what I got last year and they are still setting new ones…and my peppers are starting to get going and I am going to have lots of them this year, too…only got a few green peppers last year but lots of jalapenos and I will be freezing a bunch of those again this year….not much to do today…just going to watch the tdf and some racing and maybe do some cleaning…still have windows to clean and some peeling paint to take off the garage door frame to get it ready for painting but I’m not sure if I’ll work on that or not….more later….

Well…yeah, probably won’t do a political one today…just can’t find a topic that gives me any outrage and I need that to motivate me…so, let’s talk about fun stuff…you’ve heard me many times notice that, during the Tour de France, there are lot of newbie riders out on their new bikes with in full spandex that not one of them should be wearing…I mean, a fat 250 pounder has no business squeezing himself into what is essentially a sausage casing…and they look like bad sausage when they do it….but, out here, I noticed that there are some serious riders and they are the only ones wearing spandex…and they are thin enough to pull it off…..and there are lots and lots of riders on the trail every day if you go out in the afternoon…even saw a half dozen tandem bikes riding together today and that was a little weird…I’ve ridden them and never found them to be as fun as a single….I did see a group of about 30 riders this morning each wearing the same outfits…a day glow lime green that really hurt the eyes….I wonder if I’m going to have to go out early in the mornings on the weekend? It was crowded with no one paying attention last week so it was hard to get into a rhythm and get any speed going….I guess I’ll just have to take a deep breath and bear it….

Well….yep, had another flat on the bike today but this one was different…it was on the outside of the tube and was a puncture and not the inside of the tube that I have been fighting for a month now….and the damn staple went through the sidewall of the tire where the tube protectors end…and there was another good thing…I knew I needed to change out the bald old tire for the new one that was in the basement but I didn’t know how thin it had gotten…I could almost stick my finger through it in places and the cords were showing through in places, too,….so I think my fix using the electrical tape has worked since it has been almost 3 weeks without a flat and it still looked smooth so I hope I can stop worrying about it now…oh, one other good thing…I was able to ride it all the way back here at speed…and that is a good thing in the rain….

Well…another night of crappy sleep and woke up at around 5 or so but didn’t get up til 6:30….and I feel worn out still but I’m not sure what to do about it….only did one ride yesterday and that didn’t help so I’ll do two today and get back to the old routine….didn’t get anything done yesterday and I think I’m going to take the weekend off and just veg out a little and then get back into working on this place next week….have been out of synch lately and can’t figure out what it is that is doing it….I guess I’m not too good at just living without the next big thing coming down the road…I mean this is the last place I’ll live and that is a little depressing….hmmmm….I do need to run an errand this morning to meijers to get some red potatoes to make some more potato salad and get some pickling spices to make some homemade pickles since I have a couple of cukes that can be picked soon…I’ve gotten loads of beans off my plants so far….lots more than I got all last year and I hope I don’t get tired of them….still waiting for tomatoes to ripen and will have to figure out how to use them all when they do….not much to do today…F1 qualifying is on later this morning and I need to get two rides in before then so I need to get going here soon….more later….

Well…man, I got scorched out at the beach yesterday….went out to get a swim in and spent a couple of hours out there…the water was just right and I spent at least an hour just fooling around in it…might just start getting the biker tan evened out….didn’t sleep too well last night and was up around 6 this morning feeling pretty worn out….and my legs are feeling pretty flat…but the excuse of rain I was going to use to take the day off is missing us again so I’m sure the guilt will kick in and I’ll be out to ride in a few minutes….I do need a day off soon but I don’t know when that would be…I can’t believe how dry it is out here…all of the rain we were supposed to get in the past week never happened…it either goes north or south of here and that sucks…..didn’t get much done yesterday and today looks the same…just have no motivation at all and I’m not sure why that would be…probably just depression that has been happening a lot lately….I need to get the exterior paint next week and get started on the door frames…I am glad that the frames and the bricks in the foundation are the only things that need painting on this house….I hate painting windows and won’t have to do these ever…just need to clean the rest of them…and might get some of them done today….more later…

Well…darn, woke up when it was still dark this morning and that sucks…didn’t sleep well and that is a little strange after how exhausted I felt yesterday….it used to be you slept well when you were tired but I guess that doesn’t work anymore…oh, well….didn’t get anything done yesterday but I need to get some more grass seed down today since it may rain tomorrow…the lawn is filling in slowly and by next year I may have a good looking one…but, I really don’t feel like doing much today after I do the grocery run…I do need to hit target to get another set of bath towels since it is so huimd out here that the towel never dries and I need another set to change them out at least once a week…and only having one set of towels is a little weird when you think about it…I was going to go to menard’s to get some stuff but items are so hard to find in that store that I don’t feel like doing that much work this morning…I still have 3 stores to hit without menards and that is still going to be a lot of work…I did finally get the air bubbles out of the radiator of the car and it looks like it is now working like it’s supposed to and now I just need to change the oil at some point but I need to get a filter but that won’t be til next week….not much to do today…just the grocery runs and then on the bike but my legs hurt this morning and I can’t figure that out…..probably part of hitting the wall yesterday and I wonder how much rest I need to recover…still feeling it this morning and that’s not good….more later….