Category Archives: My Life

Got the new tires!

Well…just got back from getting my new tires and it was pretty painless…didn’t even have to get out of the car and it took a grand total of about a half hour from start to finish….these tires ride so much nicer than the old, hard ones even with the 35 psi that they put in them but I am going to lower them to 32 which is what I always run and that will make them even better…the turn in on corners is a little squirmy but I think I feel that since the old tires were almost bald and had no tread left to have give in it…and they are not directional so I can move them from side to side, too when I rotate them instead of just front to back and that will help them last longer…it feels good to finally have that taken care of so I don’t have to worry about one of them coming apart since the old ones were so weather cracked from age….can’t wait til the stay at home is lifted so I can get out and do an e-way run up to Mt. P and see how they are on the highway….

April 16th

Well….5:20 again this morning after getting up at 3 or so…ick….and I’ve been good for 4 days and have gone 4 days without allergy meds and I’m not sure how I feel…not much different than when I take them so I need to rethink taking them at all…I think I’ll know how bad my allergies are going to be after I get outdoors some…I am going to get on the bike this morning even if it’s in full thermasuit but that will be after a while…I mean, damn, it’s frickin 26 degrees out there and it’s the middle of April….and I need to take the car out to have the new tires put on at 9 today but that is about all I have to do for the day….so I think I’ll clean some…the living room needs some work and I need to start on the downstairs since I have let it go some with the rest of the work I’ve needed to do around here….I got a brain storm yesterday and I am going to build the world’s smallest barbecue pit out of the extra blocks that are behind the garage so I can use the big bag of charcoal that is still unopened in there….have found a grate to use and think it would be fun to do some outdoor cooking in the next week or so…can you tell I’m a little bored? It only needs to be big enough to cook 4 chicken thighs and I think I have enough grate for that….and I haven’t had any grilled food for almost 4 years….not much to do today….just going to wing it after I get the tires done and probably start doing some meal planning for the next week or so…got a bunch of boneless skinless chicken cheap yesterday so I’ll be incorporating that….maybe some chicken alfredo? More later….

I got groceries…

Well…it has been an interesting morning with trying to get out to get the stuff I need to not go out for a month…and I got most of it so I’ll be in for the next month or so…I did forget to relay one thing I found out when I was talking to my youngest son yesterday…somehow we got on the subject of masks and he casually mentioned that he is printing masks for he and his wife along with his inlaws on his 3-d printer…and that made me laugh…of course he is…he is one of the smartest people I have ever met and what else did I expect?  Oh, and I did talk to discount today and they have my tires that I am going to have installed tomorrow morning….and that is the last thing I have to do other than stuff around here so I really do think I’ll be here for the next month….I really do need to stop spending anything to get to having 40 K for my house down payment….so I’m going to count every penny and lay low….

April 15th

Well…running about on time this morning but got up at 5 for the first time…tried going back to bed and it kind of worked until coffee time so I guess that kind of a win…still didn’t get my 1200 bucks yet and that is a little irritating…don’t really need it but it would be nice to have…I did sleep okay with doing my 3rd day of being good and the third day of no allergy meds or ibuprofen…still have that low grade headache and sinus pressure but it’s tolerable so far….and I am pretty sore even without riding the bike but I think that is just carryover from the last time and from lifting the power washer into the car….there is damn snow on the ground this morning and it is only in the 20’s so it looks like another day of no ride unless I wait until late this aft…don’t have a lot do to so I really can wait…I am going to try to go out for groceries today since DD has chicken on sale for 1.29 a pound and I need some potatoes, too…going to try to do the 3 store run today but I will probably bail if the new regs are too much of a pain…I can make it for a month without going out except for no milk so I guess it’s not really necessary…I am going to call discount this morning to see if they are going to get my tires or if I have to go somewhere else….and that will probably make me wait until this whole thing is lifted in a month or so….didn’t get a lot done yesterday and it looks like not much today, either…the snow will have to melt before I can get on the garden but I have time to wait for that…can’t plant until May anyway so that gives me a couple of weeks….more later….

What a bore of a day…

Well…with the second day of high winds and cold, it has been a bore of a day here with not getting out to ride….I did wedge the power washer into the trunk of the Miata and took it back to my son over where I used to live…and it was nice to talk to him for a while…it made me laugh that he organized an online video chat with his brothers and sister and he said that they talked for almost an hour just to catch up…it’s nice that they are staying in touch….and it was nice to run the car for a while since I’ve only driven it about 10 miles this month and that is not good for it….I did get a little work done on the downstairs project today and started to clean some but lost my motivation pretty quickly for some reason….I’m sure it has something to do with the high temp being 35 in the middle of April but that is going to break early next week and we should be getting back to around 60 which is the normal for this time of year…the big project is going to be getting the garden prepped next week so I can plant as soon as possible…so that makes the rest of this week pretty boring too, since the weather is not going to cooperate….man, I am tired today and just can’t shake it…I wonder if it’s from not eating enough…again….I did have two pieces of pizza today but without a bike ride, that should be enough….oh, well….

April 14th

Well…running a little late this morning and this time it’s almost on purpose….woke up at 5 or so after tossing and turning all night but decided to try to go back to sleep and did for almost an hour…didn’t sleep much but I think it helped…and it was the second night in a row of no ibuprofen or allergy meds and I am surviving it but with a low grade headache that I know is from sinus pressure…but I can live with it…so far…not sure if that will continue with some heavy work to get done outside….need to get the garden plot chopped out of the back yard and skim the soil from the old plot that was just behind the house that has some good black dirt in it…and that will take it down to the level of the rest of the yard…but then I’ll need to seed that and that won’t happen for a month or so since I can’t get seed…I did get some cleaning done yesterday and I think I’ll do the bathroom today and maybe even the living room but that will depend on whether I get out on the bike today and if I hear about the tires for the car….and I need to put the power washer in the car and take it back to my son today or tomorrow…not much to do today…still on the first cup of coffee so there is going to be easing for the next hour or so as I wake up more and get caught up on the news….more later….

It’s been a lazy day for me…

Well…with the wind still blowing like crazy out there and not getting on the bike because of it, it has been a pretty lazy day for me…I did get some work done on the downstairs project early today and finally got my kitchen floor vacuumed and mopped and then vacuumed the basement stairs and cleaned the indoors mat…hmmmm…I guess my day hasn’t been THAT lazy…but, I’m taking it easy now and have found some soccer on Pluto to have running in the background so that is cool…I did get a package from my daughter today that had two tubes of O’Keefe’s hand lotion in it after I bitched to her the other day that all this hand washing, alcohol, and bleach has been trashing my hands…it’s pretty nice stuff and I can tell the difference after just one use…I may even try it on my heel cracks since that is what it’s for on the hands…I did get access to my bank account online and haven’t gotten my 1200 bucks yet and that is annoying…I had my new username written down in my handy notebook and once I used that I had no problem…I better make sure that I don’t lose it…the inside cover has every username and password for everything from my online stuff to my router so I probably should get that in the computer somewhere…okay, that’s enough…nope, not quite…the repairs to the awning have worked well in the wind today but now I need to figure out how to take it off so I can get to the dormer once I can get paint again….I don’t think it’s too heavy but it is about 4 feet across and that will make it a little unwieldly for one person to handle….we’ll see…

April 13th

Well….5:24 came pretty damn early this morning and I am feeling it…didn’t take anything for pain or my allergies last night and that may be part of it…but, I need to break that cycle since I can’t get any allergy meds and I’m down to my last 7….will be creaky all morning until I loosen up from that….man, my brain is just not working this morning so this one is going to be a little jumbled…I did get a little work done on the outside of the house yesterday with getting the small stumps taken out of the back yard and getting the awning over the side door fastened down…needed to get that done with the wind that was forecast for today…maybe some 50 mph gusts later and I didn’t want to kick myself for not doing it and having it damaged…other than that, I didn’t get much done yesterday and today looks like an interior day with lots of cleaning that I need to do…with steady winds in the 20’s I won’t be getting out on the bike today and that’s okay…well…I may try to get out before the wind comes up but I’m in no hurry about it….Tom did stop over and brought me a cool little air purifier to help with my allergies and I have it running right now…it has a cool blue light that makes it look pretty modern when it is running and I hope it works…I need help…not much to do today….going to have to ease into this one and get more coffee into me before I can do anything….more later…

April 12th

Well…running a little late this morning and it’s another one where I just can’t get started….I did get out to get the paper and drive the car for the first time in quite a while and the hla’s were clacking like crazy until it ran for a while….and the paper is now getting disappointing with most companies not putting out ads anymore since they don’t want too many people in the stores and that takes away one of my Sunday morning rituals that I have been doing since I was in my teens…not sure if it’s even worth it to get the paper anymore but we do need to support them so it doesn’t go away…I remember that we had two newspapers in this town when I was a kid along with weekly papers like the “Suburban Life” that covered the small towns that surrounded GR….I miss those days….I did get out for a bike ride yesterday but I think it’s only a matter of time before they close them, too…saw groups of people all over the trail with one of over a dozen who were blocking the trail as they walked…people, stay the hell home if your going to endanger everyone with your stupidity….so I may have to go back to road riding if that crap keeps up…downtown GR is a ghost town so that may be an option….didn’t get a lot done yesterday and won’t today, either…I am still trying to take weekends off but I may get out to work on the garden plot later….the front of the house looked pretty good when I was leaving to get the paper today and that makes me feel good that all the work I’ve done is actually starting to make a difference….more later….

More seeds spouted!

Well….can you tell I’m a little bored? I guess you can watch the sparrows on the feeder for only so long before you start to go bonkers…oh, seeds….I have my first green pepper seed sprouted…and I have two more jalapenos that have come up, too so it looks like the extra 4 of each that I planted the other day weren’t necessary…so I guess I’ll just make the garden a little bigger and will have lots of stuff to give away this summer….and I need room for the beans and cukes anyway…so now I wait for the weather to cooperate and that is going to be a little painful…I do need to get motivated to do the doors for the linen closet at the end of the hallway and that will finish up the interior painting….that will be next week…not going to do much today…might be able to get out on the bike in shorts today if I wait til noon or so…that sounds like a plan….