Well…it appears to be a normal morning with getting up a little after 5 but it is damn cold outside at 27 frickin degrees…just not ready for it to be this damn cold…and it is going to keep me off the bike for  a second day and that is annoying…I finally broke down and took some ibuprofen for my thumb last night and that was a good idea since it doesn’t hurt much today…not sure why I have been resisting using pain killers since I hurt all the time and I do need to keep the inflammation down…I did get my errands run yesterday and I am still surprised by how easy it is out here…even found where the daily deals is and got some smoked turkey breast for 1.29 a pound…had to buy over 6 pounds but that is still a deal and half of it will go in the downstairs freezer…I had to laugh about some stuff I ordered from Amazon yesterday that was not supposed to get here until next week but is coming today…that is pretty cool since I need it…I am going to make a run out to HF today to get a new battery switch for the car…the one that is in there appears to be shorting out and takes too many turns to disconnect it…and I am going to buy a cordless drill/driver for 16 bucks…not sure why I haven’t bought one before now since they are pretty handy and will keep me from having to drag my 100 foot extension cord around the house and yard….I am thinking of just driving the Miata through the winter and then buying a new one in the spring since this one has rust in it and needs a lot of money put into it….and I like the “B” body style so maybe that’s what I’ll do instead of getting a winter car…but, that still doesn’t help with hauling stuff but that is pretty much done with this house so I think I can get by…more later…

Well…I wonder if the earplugs are helping me sleep…slept through until 5:21 this morning and the only change was the ear plugs….well…that’s not entirely true…I finished the gate yesterday so that was off my mind so I think that had something to do with it, too….whatever it was, I’ll take getting a whole 5 and a half hours and hope it continues…it won’t but I can hope…I did get a nice, cold bike ride in yesterday and I think it’s full thermasuit from here on out….only have about 40 miles left to do to get to the record so that should be easy if the snow holds off…I am wondering if they plow the trails here in GR like they do in Kentwood? I know they clean them but it would be cool to be able to ride all winter…I was pretty sore yesterday from wrestling the gate into place but I feel better this morning and didn’t even take an ibuprofen last night…so, I think I try going without again today if the pain isn’t too bad today…I did hurt my thumb again but that even seems okay right now…not much to do today…have been thinking about running all my errands today since I do need to get out to get the hasp for the gate and I do want to try to find the daily deals out here so i can get some smoked turkey breast for 1.29 a pound…have to buy 8 pounds but that is such a deal that I don’t think I can pass it up…and I can freeze most of it….and they have roast beef for around 2 bucks a pound so that might be good, too….more later…

Well….after building the new gate yesterday, I went out to depot and got the hinges to hang it and got that done this morning…I also got some exterior adhesive to attach the stop to the side of the house without drilling any more holes…now, I only need to get a hasp and install that tomorrow and the job will be done…and before winter! I did take Tom’s advice and got some powder coated black hinges that look pretty stylish and are rated to hold 60 pounds each so I think they’ll handle the gate okay….one cool thing about them is that you can just pull the hinge pins if you want to remove the gate for maintenance and I think that is a pretty cool feature…they weren’t cheap at 17 bucks but I think they’re worth it…so now, the last big job outside is done before winter and that is kind of a relief….

Well…running a little late this morning with not getting up until almost 6:30…but that included getting up for the first time before 3 and then getting a new set of ear plugs to use to try to get back to sleep…that only took about an hour and a half so it was another night of 5 hours…ick…I am sore again from wrestling the new gate around yesterday…the dang thing must weigh more than 60 pounds and it is going to take more fitting today…I think I have to trim another inch or so off the width since I made it a little too wide for easy fitting in the hole…and I need to trim the height, too since I need clearance for the uneven ground…going to try to work on that this morning….but, it’s too damn cold out there right now and I haven’t had my coffee…oh, and it’s dark out there, too…I did get the last bike ride in wearing shorts yesterday and now the weather is going to go to hell and be cold for the next three weeks with highs almost 20 degrees below normal for this time of year….I am dreading getting my first heating bill for his place…it could be over 300 bucks a month and that is going to hurt….more later….

Well…running about on time this morning with getting up at 5:15 but that followed the first 3am wake up…feel a little worn out today but that is pretty normal these days…just don’t have a lot of energy today so far and I hope the coffee works soon…it is nice to have the electrics sorted out and have everything back to normal after the repairs I had to make this weekend…I still need to put all the covers back on the electrical boxes but that’s pretty easy…going to get started putting stuff away today starting with the fence stuff outside and start measuring the boards to see how much I need to cut off the bottoms to make the new gate fit that I am going to build…the ground is not flat and I want it to follow it…I am going to get one last warm bike ride in today with the weather getting really cold for the next two weeks…so I need to get out the full thermasuit with it going to be in the 30’s…I am going to get the final 60 miles in outside then I need to make room downstairs for the trainer and the little tv so I can ride the rest of the year…not much to do today…I am going to get the front door masked off so I can paint tomorrow and finish the vestibule and then just putter around here and do more detail work…more later…

Well…felt a little like an idiot today when Tom came over to check out the three outlets that stopped working yesterday and found that the problem was that I didn’t reset a breaker that was mislabled…as soon as Tom reset it, all of the outlets worked and I could move the fridge to the side of the the dining room where I wanted it since I did the outlet change right and got the ground fixed so the fridge would run…and, with that fix, I could move the microwave and coffee maker back to the counter where I had them until yesterday and put the table back that I had them sitting on…so, everything is how I wanted it again and I don’t have  a fridge sitting in the middle of the kitchen with the extension cord running down the hallway into my bedroom…so, thanks, Tom….

Well….I’m not sure which direction is worse with the time change last night…springing forward or falling back…I do know that I slept all the way til 6 on the clock which is really 5 and, once I realized that, I was quite a bit less happy…I guess we’ll see how I feel later in the day…I do know that I usually do conversions in my head for the first day of the change…so, it’s actually 8:12 as I write this and that is a little weird in itself…I did sleep okay last night with not a lot of tossing so I think I’ll focus on that…feel okay this morning and I think my thumb may be healing some…still hurts but I can use it without wincing so that is progress…I did get out on the bike yesterday and I am only 65 miles from getting to my goal…I do want to do that outside and not on the trainer but the weather is not cooperating….it looks like the trail along the river is going to be underwater in the spring since the river is only 3 feet below it with just the rain we’ve had lately…I wonder how much of the swamp floods with it? That may keep me on the trainer until the water recedes in the spring….not much to do today….after the work the past couple of days, I am going to just fool around and get some detail work done…did the bathroom yesterday and it looks good with all the excess paint and plaster removed….I may work on the vestibule when the Lions are on today since I am tired of looking at the ugly old paint….more later….

Well….after the problems I had with the water heater yesterday…today didn’t start out any better when I had two outlets stop working out of the blue…both in the kitchen but no breaker tripped or anything….so I had to move the microwave and coffee maker from the counter to a table on the other side of the kitchen and still have the new fridge on an extension cord from the only outlet it will work on…but I know which lines they are downstairs so I am going to try to move them to another circuit…but, it is just weird that only those two outlets quit…everything else works just fine so I am at a loss why that would be…..and I’m not going to pay an electrician to figure it out….so, I’ll just splice them into another circuit and and cross my fingers….

Well….cripes…I wonder if my sleep is going to keep moving until I get to the point that I don’t sleep at all…this morning, I was up at 2:36 and that would be 1:36 after the time change tonight…..oh, well…I did have an “interesting” day yesterday…got the new little fridge but it will only work with one outlet so far and that means an extension cord and the thing is not sitting where I want it for now…but, it works great so I’ll work on that later today…then, when I was doing the dishes, I started to run out of hot water so I checked the water heater and the pilot was out with the end of the thermocouple was  bad so I had to run out to depot and get another one…only 10 bucks and it was an easy fix…but, that reminded me of the things that can break in a house and I have to fix them all…..it was nice to have ice upstairs this morning so I could get my day started with a big glass of ice water and to have milk for my coffee instead of the dry creamer I have been using for the past week or so….and I have my bagels with cream cheese up here waiting for me in the fridge…need to transfer more food here in a while…the fridge is plenty big enough for almost a weeks worth of food and one cool thing is that you can’t hear it run at all…quietest fridge I’ve ever seen…not much to do today…Man U plays at 8:30 and then I think Michigan plays at noon and I think there is a race on later, too, so I think I may take a day off and just veg and clean some…I do need to get moving on some outdoor stuff and completing the painting in here but I think I have the time….going to start looking at plans for the gate and might just get it built before winter…more later….

Well….damn, it’s cold outside…just dragged the trash bin out to the road and that was a chore with how much I have in it…it must weigh 150 pounds with putting the old microwave in it…slept okay last night but it took a sleeping pill to do it and that is always a mistake…feel really crappy and I know that is going to last most of the morning but I just couldn’t do another night of 4 hours of sleep…I did make a run to the downtown post office to get some bills mailed last night and stopped at the bar near me to have one…not one that I’ll repeat in the future…it is as run down of a dump that I remember filled with old guys that could do nothing but bitch that the dems are trying to remove trump in a “coup”….geez…and I wonder what the deal is with the hatred of California? That was the second topic these guys were bitching about and they went on and on about the fires and they hoped they would burn the whole state down…I did get some stuff done yesterday and want to finish up the vestibule painting today…but, I’m not sure if I will…no motivation at all right now and I hope the coffee will help that….more later…