Well…it does look like I’m feeding every sparrow here on the west side with the quantity of feed they have been going through…I mean only one day to empty the feeder? When I started feeding them, it took them almost a week to eat all of the food in the feeder, but as the days have gone on there are more and more of them coming in and they are banging into each other in the air and pushing each other off the feeder…I even counted 8 of them on my small feeder at once and there is just not room for that many at a time. It does look like a mosh pit out there at times and some of them are sitting on the windowseal to rest before they go back into the fray….a couple of them have even given up and figured out how to land on the clear feeder to be able to eat in peace….so, I am starting to be entertained…but I think I’ll need another bag of feed next week…

Well…damn, I thought I’d escaped the effects of the downstairs work on my allergies yesterday but no such luck…started to get miserable in the afternoon and that extended right into the night and continues this morning…it was such a luxury to not cough for the past few days but I guess that’s over for a while…didn’t sleep too badly though so I guess I can live with it but I slept on my left shoulder all night and now that hurts like crazy and that won’t be fun with the snow that is coming tonight and into tomorrow..damn, I’m getting creaky in my old age…I did get a nice bike ride in yesterday and it looks like I’ll get one more in today before the trails are iced over again and then it looks like I’ll be back to the streets for a while since I don’t want to go back to the trainer in the basement…still, it hasn’t been a bad winter so far and it’s only three weeks til March so it looks like we’ve survived another one…and now it will turn ridiculously cold and we’ll get a blizzard that will last til April just from my saying that….not much to do today…I do need to do the grocery run but only to Meijers today…have a lot of food in the freezer that I need to use so I only need a few staples today….more later…

Well…damn, I’ve finally had a productive day with very little coughing….got started at 7:30 with lots of work downstairs that took about two hours to complete, then I got out for a long bike ride, and then finished up downstairs when I got back here…and just finished that a few minutes ago at 1:30 or so…but, I got everything done that needed it and now it looks like I have about 6 weeks before I have any big work to do downstairs again so I won’t have any excuse for not getting the last room done….I did have to take an antihistamine  with the allergen exposure today and that helped with my itchy eyes and plugged up head but we’ll see how that works as the day goes on…I may even take the rest of the day off and watch some soccer I accomplished so much today…yeah, that sound you heard was me hurting my shoulder patting myself on the back…oh, well…

Well…didn’t make it til coffee o’clock this morning with getting up at 5:40 and with getting to bed late, that made it about 5 hours of sleep last night…ick….but, that’s pretty normal and I wonder why I expect any different? The change back to riding outdoors left me hurting last night and I was hobbling around here all afternoon but I don’t mind it at all…just getting back on the trails yesterday made me smile and I’m hoping we don’t get much snow since the trails are all clear right now and I can take it being cold if they are clear…I did put the computer back on the front wheel yesterday so I guess I’m committed to riding outside for the time being and I am going to try to be less hard on myself when the weather keeps me off the bike…just couldn’t do the inside riding this year and part of that is that I couldn’t get tv signal downstairs and that left me looking at the walls and that made it just so boring…didn’t get much done yesterday but a run out to HF and then I fixed the latest stitching failure on the top of the car…bought a couple of little spring clamps at HF for 99 cents each that worked like a champ and that should come in handy around here when I need to glue anything….not much to do today…I have some work to do downstairs and then need to continue working on the spare room…need to get shades for the new window in there and paint and I hope to get that done this week…but, if it’s done by the end of the month, I’ll be okay with that….more later….

Well…hmmm…that was a night of weird dreams last night…not sure what it means when you have one that you can’t find a clean shirt but it went on for a while…oh, and I couldn’t find a mirror to shave with…now these could be work related but I don’t work anymore so that would be even more weird…slept okay last night but was up at 5:34 but I guess that’s pretty normal by now…it sure would be nice to sleep in just once in a year…I did get a nice bike ride in on the streets yesterday and rode into GR to just take a look around but I hope the trails will be melted enough to get out on them today…the river still looks pretty high so they may still be flooded and it’s nice to know that I have the streets for backup…took Lake Michigan drive to where it turns into Pearl street and then up and over to Rosa Parks circle and then Monroe over to Michigan to Bridge and back to Stocking and back here…not sure how viable those routes will be when there is traffic but I’ll give it try sometime and see…didn’t get anything else done yesterday but go out to have a couple with K and watch the SB but I do have errands to run today…need to go to HF an get some small zip ties so I can put the computer back on the front wheel of the bike for a while and I’m almost out of vinyl gloves for working around here…and I can get 50 pair for 5 bucks on sale so that’s a pretty good deal…not sure how much I’ll get done today after that but I do need to finish up the prep on the last room so I can paint this week….more later…

Well…just got my top down day in for Feb on the run out to have a couple with K and it was just a little cold but with the sun out it was okay…and that makes every month since I bought the Miata that I have had the top down…and that is going on 7 years now…and I just made some bean dip for the game tonight with beans, cream cheese, salsa, and Frank’s hot sauce and it even tastes really good cold so I am hoping that holds after I heat it and slather it with shredded cheddar later this evening…that is going to be my dinner today along with some chips and cheese…I may even put some diced tomatoes on top since I have so many of them that need to be used before they spoil…oh, and maybe some onions, too…that would be good…so, no politics today..I’ll get back to it tomorrow….

Well…hey, made it all the way to 5:23 this morning and I’m going to take that as a win with not getting up at all and not coughing too much…and I don’t feel too bad this morning even with just one cup of coffee in me so far…I am a little late coming here today with waiting until I read the paper before getting started but that is more normal than doing this before the paper…I did get out to ride the bike outside yesterday but the trails are still ice covered so I had to do most of the 12 miles on the roads around here…and that looks like the plan for today…going to ride into town and just ride around there and take a look at anything that may be new since I haven’t been down there in years…other than for the SD concert that is…not sure how long I’ll do the roads, though, since it is going to be cold again and my feet were pretty damn cold when I got back here yesterday…but it is just so much better to be outside and getting fresh air…it is a little weird how sore I got from getting back outside but I’ll take it…didn’t even take anything for it last night since it kind of felt good to be sore again…not much to do today…I am going to wash the car this morning before I get on the bike and then I am going to meet up with K for a couple around 2 this aft then back here for the SB…need to make some bean dip for that since I have some cream cheese that has been in the fridge for a couple of weeks now and needs to be used…and that will be my dinner today so I only have to cook once….more later…

Well…no, this isn’t a political one….not yet anyway…just couldn’t take riding in the basement anymore so I took the bike off the trainer and took it outside this morning for my recon run of the trails…well…that didn’t work…the trails are still ice covered but I did a couple of miles in the old Butterworth dump before starting back..but, then it dawned on me that I could ride in the bike lanes on the streets around here and I did about 10 miles out there…it was cold and wet but outdoors is still just better than riding on the trainer…felt good to use the bike…shifting gears and using the brakes while leaning it and having to balance…so, I need to go out to HF and get some small zip ties so I can move the computer pickup back to the front wheel and just see how long I can ride on the streets…my head and lungs feel lots better after the fresh air cleared some of the allergens out and I hope that will help all day….more later…

Well…that really, really sucked…got to bed at the normal time last night but woke up to screaming heartburn at 2:20 and had to take something for it…broke into my last stash of ranitadine it was so severe but then had to stay up until almost 4 for it to work enough for me to be able to lie down again…and I had to take a red dot for my allergies too since they had flared overnight…but that only allowed me to stay in bed until 6:20…so, under 6 hours of sleep is just not going to cut it and I’ll need a nap later today…don’t feel too bad right now, though so maybe not…I did get out to have a couple with T yesterday and that was a lot of fun…hadn’t seen her since around t-day of last year with how busy she is…and she brought me my traditional bar of soap from the Bahamas that is scenting my living room right now and that is cool…but, I didn’t get anything else done and today looks the same with soccer on and I think I’m taking the bike off the trainer today to go out and take a look at the trails after it warms up some but I have to get that done before Man U plays at 12:30…going to leave the computer pickup on the back wheel for the next few days since I’ll be back indoors early next week…the temp is supposed to get to almost 50 Sunday and Monday…I can sure use some fresh air to help with my allergies and riding outdoors is a lot less boring than doing 10 miles staring at the basement walls….I do have a political one to do later but I am so depressed about what is happening to our country that it is going to take a while to be able to do it….more later…

Well…gave up even trying to sleep at 5:30 again today and feel pretty crappy, too…my allergies are flaring after the work downstairs yesterday and I am back to coughing and my head is plugged up, too…just feel miserable and can’t wait til I can air this place out in a month or so…I did sleep okay so I guess that’s something….I even took antihistamines last night and they may have helped since I didn’t wake up much but that has worn off and I am hesitant to take more today with how much they screw up my blood pressure…so I guess I’ll just endure it until I can’t….okay, that’s enough bitching…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I’ll get to the last room today and at least clear it out…just need to start and it will go pretty fast after that….I did get a bike ride in yesterday and will again here in a few minutes…I may take the bike off the trainer tomorrow since it has been in the upper 30’s all week and it is going to be in the 40’s Sunday and Monday and I would like to see what the trail looks like….not going to move the computer pickup to the front wheel yet, though, since the bike will be going back on the trainer next week after I wash it…it will be nice to get out in some fresh air…maybe that will help with the allergies too? Not much to do today…I have to make a run out for some groceries that I forgot earlier in the week and I may have a meet up with T later but I’m not sure about that…whatever happens, I need to recover from these allergies and that is going to take most of the day….more later…