Well…I’m not sure how much of an accomplishment it is, but that last post was the 9,000th one I’ve done since I started this thing many, many years ago….that kind of makes me want to think about if I’ve really done what I’ve wanted to do with this site….could it be better? Of course it could…but damn, I’ve sat down at this computer 9,000 times…not sure what else I’ve done 9,000 times that has been a choice…I know I try to be honest about my life and how I feel about politics and the other topics that I talk about, and a lot of you keep coming back to read it so I must be doing something…not sure if it’s right or not, but it is something….and it looks like I’ll keep doing it as long as I can and have something to say….it really does give me something to do and, even after 9,000 of these, I still look forward to doing it every day…my constant outrage about things has waned some over the past couple of years, but this old guy can still do a rant or two that is semi lucid….I’d probably still do it if no one was reading but it is nice that quite a few people come here every day…thanks for that….

Well…cripes, I was right….I knew my elbow wouldn’t react kindly to mowing the lawn today and the swelling is back in it again….not as bad as it was but I really had hoped that it was healing enough so I could get some pain free time over the summer…and I finally was able to go full out on both rides today both out and back and the last run back from the beach I kept the bike in high gear the whole 6 miles and went as hard as I could…full sprint for 6 miles and I wonder what took so long to get to that point his year…I mean, I’ve got almost 2k miles on and just got fit enough to do that? Normally, it takes only about 500 miles to get to that point but I wonder if I was ready and just didn’t do it? I do know that my legs are sore and stiff from it and I really hope the rain we’re supposed to get tomorrow will keep me down to one ride…oh, it did rain out here last night and there were lots of puddles along my route but the storms had fallen apart all day over the lake so I thought the last one that was over Wisconsin when I went to bed would do the same…it made mowing much less dusty and that was welcome….it is so damn humid out here that when I opened my freezer, it looked like it was filled with dry ice and the clouds filled it…never saw that before….

Well…running late this morning with not getting out of bed until 7 or so but that doesn’t mean I slept well…tossed and turned all night and feel like I didn’t sleep at all….and I can’t figure out how my right elbow still hurts when a lot of the swelling is gone…it’s not as bad as it was but it’s going to hurt even more after I mow the lawn today….sat here and watched the storms fall apart…again… last night and I wonder when it’s going to rain again….it’s been pretty dry out here and I think we’re now in the drought area that takes up most of the center of the state….but, I’m not going to water my lawn at all…will just let it go dormant but that means I’ll probably lose the young grass that just came up…..I think I’m going to need a day off of everything soon just to make the pain go away from riding too much…and forcing myself to keep going every day is wearing on me…it would be nice to just get up and do nothing for one day…you would think that would be my life being retired but my well developed sense of guilt won’t let me waste a day….that was going to be the plan after I bought my house but I don’t think I’ve taken a day off since I moved out here….and I won’t today….need to get on the bike here in a minute and then back here to mow the lawn and the vacant lots and then cook for lunch…..I am going to roast some green beans to have with the chicken I’m making for lunch….going to use the same method I use for asparagus with  olive oil, garlic powder and dried onions in high heat…have had beans for a couple of weeks now and I may have enough plants to have them almost every day…I do want to try pickling some of them later along with the cukes….that should be good….more later…

Well….again, there have been a bunch of small things happen that really couldn’t support doing a whole one, so I think I’ll just do a shorty with a few in it…first…I found a multi tool in the middle of the street a couple of days ago that looks like it’s made out of stainless steel and is in pretty good shape….not sure if I’ll ever use it but I couldn’t let it sit there and get run over by cars…I’ve gotten over a week without getting a flat on the bike after I added the electrical tape over the spoke ends…so I may put the new tire back on that wheel soon…but I’m having trouble with the shifter on the bike, having to adjust it every day to keep the 5-6 shift working, so I may take it apart to see what is going on….I did look for pontoon boats to buy but even ones from the 70’s are over 3 grand and I don’t want to spend that much…and a marina slip is over 300 bucks a month and that is almost my house payment so that won’t work…the deer out here are weird…twice in the past week I’ve had on just standing next to the trail so close I could reach out and touch it and it never moved…I have been looking for a cheap motorcycle to buy since I’d like to have one more of those before I can’t ride one anymore…if I can find something under a grand I think I’ll buy one…probably a Japanese one since they are reliable and probably something small like a 650 or so…oh, and I think I may have to get my rides done in the morning there was a traffic jam of bikes on the trail and no one appeared to know that they can’t clog up the whole trail…didn’t get out for the second ride until almost one and that might have something to do with it…one last thing…I did get out this morning and picked up a little one gallon pump sprayer for 10 bucks and got all of the weeds treated with just 4 ounces of weed killer…took a lot of time but I can use the exercise…and I picked up some coated screws to fix the front porch boards that were loose and they even came with the star tool to fit in the head….and my cheapo drill/driver put them right in so that was cool…okay, that’s it…no more later….

Well…damn, I’m glad the 4th is over…it was like a damn war zone up here last night with all the fireworks and the only thought I have is where the hell do they get the money to spend thousands on fireworks? It went on and on last night from dusk until 11 and my whole house smelled like a giant firework….that’s something I am going to bring up with the city commissioners when I talk to them later this summer….didn’t get up til almost 7 this morning and that makes me late to do this and will make me late to get on the bike but I may only do one ride today…the wind is supposed to blow 20 mph this afternoon and I’m not sure I want to work that hard….and there are warnings to stay out of the lake today with waves that are forecast to be 3 to 5 feet with rip currents…and with the wind that strong, it will mean a sandblast day so the beach is out today…I do want to get out there sometime this week to get some color and I’m thinking of doing a whole week on the beach for that…I do have to get out to depot this morning to get a pump sprayer to attack the weeds and crab grass without spraying the whole lawn but I’m not sure if I’ll do that today with the rain that is coming later….more later…

Well…racing around here again this morning to get everything done before the F1 race comes on at 9 and I have 15 minutes before I need to get on the bike so I thought I’d do this one early today…slept okay last night but with earplugs in with all of the damn fireworks…and the big ones from Muskegon were behind the trees so I couldn’t see them…oh, well…I feel like I slept okay since I have some energy this morning but we’ll see after I get on the bike…it looks like it will be a nice ride with no wind at all today but my legs are pretty sore so it may be a no sprint day and I think I need one of those…or a day off…I think this will be a record setting week for mileage on the bike…for out here, anyway, since I already have 105 for the week starting last Friday….and I’m almost to 2K for the year so 4K should be possible….I do need to get out to depot to get a pump sprayer this week to put weed killer on the lawn since I only need to spot it and don’t want to spray the entire lawn…and they are only 10 bucks so that will be a nice new tool to have….not much to do today…just riding and races and still no cooking since I have leftovers…it is going to be a hot one out here so I’ll probably have to put the ac on to sleep tonight…but it is going to rain tomorrow and that will cool things down…more later….

Well…darn, had a busy day today and almost forgot to come here for a second one…no, it’s not going to be about politics but it is about something….got another 30 miles in on the bike today after doing the 75 yesterday…and it hurt like crazy everywhere and it’s not even the second day after the big ride yet…and I am hobbling around here with my legs so darn stiff that I can’t get comfortable…but, I did get down to the July 4th celebration downtown and got to see my first McLaren in person and that was cool….but the walking was really painful after I did about a mile so I gave up and came back here for some soccer and to put my feet up for a while…I did get my property tax bill in the mail today and I am still scratching my head…it is only 182 bucks and summer is supposed to be the big one…I planned on around 4 grand with my car insurance added in so this is a pleasant surprise…I know it’s only from the first of March but that makes it a quarter so 4 times that is still under 800 bucks for the year and I don’t think that can be right…although, the taxable value of the house is only 15 grand so maybe it is right….so this will go a long way to funding the new Miata in the spring and the new snow tires for the winter one this fall…and a garage door opener and a grill if I want it….I am going to go out on my front steps at 10:30 tonight to see if the fireworks are visible from here…they might be since the launch site is only about a quarter of a mile from here…now, that would be cool to sit on my front steps with a cocktail an watch fireworks….we’ll see….

Well…darn, forgot to hit the timer button on the coffee maker last night so I have to wait to have some coffee…grrr….I should hurt more than I do this morning after the long ride yesterday but I wonder if that will come tomorrow? My right hip does hurt and I’m a little stiff but I can walk so that is cool…and I am going to get on the bike around 7 again since it is warm enough to go out right now and I want to get the first one in before F1 qualifying at 9…I may only do one ride today since I want to watch England play at noon and then their are races this afternoon…after doing two and a half days worth of rides yesterday, I can slack off a bit today if I feel like it…but I probably won’t I’m so anal about getting my rides in….I did get sunburned through the 50 sunscreen I had on yesterday and I even applied it twice while I was riding and I that isn’t right…okay, 6 hours in the sun is probably a bit much for any sunscreen but 50 should block all of it….not much to do today….going to take it easy today and might go down the hill to check out the July 4th festivities but I’m probably not going to the fireworks since they are not going off til 10:30 and I’ll have a couple of cocktails before then….more later…

Well…as you know if you’ve been here over the past few years, I try to do at least one long ride every year that matches my age in miles….and I’m not sure why but today was the day…did 5 laps of my 15 mile loop today for 75 miles…and no that’s not my age but you can’t just ride half of the loop….just like last year, I didn’t plan that I was going to do it today….I had just started thinking about doing it a couple of days ago but when I got done with the first lap this morning, I felt so good and there just a little wind so I thought I’d give it a try…it was pretty easy through the first 4 laps but the fifth one was brutal with quickly running out of energy and the wind that had picked up to almost 15 mph out here…and now everything hurts…not just my legs but my arms, shoulders, and even my left knee which really surprises me since it has never hurt before…but, with being on the bike for over 6 hours, I guess everything really should hurt….and I feel pretty good right now…I guess I couldn’t take a day off after all…

Well…damn, I feel worn out today…and I’m drinking two day old coffee since I couldn’t bring myself to throw out half a pot that I didn’t drink yesterday with working on the lawn after the first ride…I am seriously considering not working on anything today and just taking the day off other than riding….need to have some time to heal up after pushing hard all week and I think I need more time for recovery as I age…and I just don’t feel like working today…did lots of cooking yesterday with making potato salad, tacos, and burgers so I won’t have to cook again until Monday or so….I had run out of leftovers to eat and I think I took a couple of hours to restock the fridge since I didn’t have anything in the freezer for quick meals….I do need to get out to the beach in the next few days and just relax and get a swim in…I mean I live 5 minutes from the beach and I haven’t been out there to swim in two weeks? Damn, now my right shoulder hurts, too…felt it crunching when I moved it last night and it is still doing it this morning so I really do need to rest it and my elbow….so I think my body made the decision for me…rest day…not much to do today…a bike ride here in a few minutes and then I just might veg out and watch the TDF this morning before I do the second ride…..I did notice yesterday that I have tiny cukes on my cuke plants and now I’m just waiting for my peppers to bloom and everything will be producing…my garden looks better than I expected with the poor soil out here and I should have cherry tomatoes ripened in a couple of weeks…can’t wait….more later…