Well…darn, there were auroras as far south as NC last night but none here and I stayed up to look for them…oh, well…I guess I’ll just have to live the memory of the best ones I’ve seen from 30 years ago…and when I was diving my Fiat 124 spyder at night with the top down in the cold and that was cool…I guess I’m lucky to have seen great ones twice…went to bed early last night and was up by 5:14 and slept about normally so I’m okay with that…the broken laptop is still working and I’ll be careful with it until I find a new one to buy…I did look at an Acer for about 300 bucks that would suit my needs but I’m waiting to hear back from my son what his opinion is…but I probably won’t hear from him so I guess I’m on my own…and 300 bucks is not too much of a risk…it’s warm enough to ride outside right now but it’s dark til almost 8 and I need to have a ride in before that…so, I’ll be inside for the first one since I have a morning schedule I have to keep…want to get two rides in before I head to the used book sale at 10 and then back here and on the bike again to have 3 in before noon…then it’s going to be warm enough to clean the front porch siding so that will be the project for the day along with the porch windows…have leftovers for today but will make some bean burritos tomorrow to use up the tomatoes I have in the fridge…not much to do today…okay, that’s not true…going to be running all day until I get the porch done and that’s okay…need to get off my butt and get things done…more later…

Well…the second hinge on the laptop display just broke so now I’m using a small wood clamp to support it…works okay but I need a new one soon so I just texted my son and asked him what he recommends …probably won’t reply so I’ll be on my own and I’ll just have to wing it…oh, well…I did get a lot done today and have the chain link fastened to the posts and have drilled and put stump killer in the holes to get the rot started so I’ll be able to take them out easily in the spring…what a pain in the butt…I did see three herons fighting in Muskegon Lake this afternoon and that was pretty cool…have never seen such big birds fighting before…have never even seen three herons in the lake at one time and that was pretty cool…damn, I’m pretty bummed with the computed failing on me so I’ll stop here…need to find a political topic so I should go out and get looking…more later…

Well…darn, up before 5am again today and have a very busy day today…even without sleeping well, I feel okay this morning with being good for the 4th day in a row and tonight will make it 5 in a row…it’s only 38 degrees out here right now and it’s not going to warm up enough to ride outdoors until after 10 this morning so that gives me the chance to get a bunch of other stuff done after the indoor ride…need to get fuel for the string trimmer and mower along with getting another gallon of milk I forgot yesterday…then over to depot to see if they have stump killer and a cover plate for the ground fault/light switch in the bathroom…might do one more mowing of the lawn in mulch mode since there aren’t many leaves down yet and the grass is still growing…and I want to work on the fence to get the ties replaced that are gone…and need to get that stuff done today since it is the  used book sale tomorrow morning at the library and I don’t want to miss that…it will be nice to do something just for me instead of the house or health…so it’s going to be a busy one today but at least I don’t have to cook with the potato soup I made yesterday and the leftover chicken/rice I made over the weekend…I did get 5 pounds of Jasmine rice for around 7 bucks yesterday and that will be enough for the rest of the year…and I got a big can of chock full o’ nuts coffee for 10 bucks and that will get me through till at least Thanksgiving…and that’s why I spent a hundred bucks on groceries…oh, well…more later….

Well…the title to this one is kinda accurate since I didn’t get a lot done for me…I did get three rides in, hit menards and the grocery stores, and then made potato soup this afternoon…that does seem a little busy but not like yesterday…I think I’m going to plan to try to wash the front of the house tomorrow if it ever gets warm enough…but it’s barely getting into the 60’s so I may wait til Friday when it will be in the 70’s…maybe I’ll mow the lawn and run out to depot to get some stump killer tomorrow…then I can go to Meijers to get the extra gallon of milk I forgot today…so I do have lots to do for the rest of the week and need to get off my ass and do some of it…okay…want to read a bit…

Well…damn, that was an expensive grocery run…spent over a 100 bucks but that included 10 bucks for coffee and another 9 bucks for the saline that has been working on my allergies and 9 bucks for stop leak for the car just in case I need it to get through the winter…and I bought a 5 pound bag of Jasmine rice to have here…so lots of stuff that I won’t need to buy again for a long time…and heck, I can afford it so no big deal…oh, and I did buy some cocktail materials for next week that is about 26 bucks…but not for this week…have two more days of being good and I have enough mixed up from two weeks ago for Friday and Sat…the only protein I bought was 4 pounds of chicken breasts for 8 bucks that will go into Masala later in the week…menards didn’t have the stump killer I needed so I’ll hit depot Friday when I need to get another gallon of milk since I’m going to use a lot of it to make potato soup this aft….and I’ll do that before I hit the library for the yearly book sale…okay, need to suit up and get on the bike….more later…

Well…damn, up a little after 5 this morning but I did go to bed early from boredom so I guess that evens out…I did sleep okay, for me, and I feel okay this morning other than being damn sore from cleaning the garage siding yesterday…the last time I did it, I didn’t have the extension handle I used this time so it went a lot easier with a lot less climbing up and down the ladder…it looks pretty good and will keep til spring…might even get some of the house done this week…cripes, it’s only 35 out here right now so the outdoor rides will probably wait til later after I get the grocery run done…with wholesale coffee prices up 80% in the last 6 months, I wonder if I should stock up now before the increase hits retail prices more than it has? It’s already up to 9 bucks a can and could get to 12-15 bucks soon…hmmm…I am going to hit DD for chicken breasts at 2 bucks a pound so I’ll be making chicken Masala this weekend and potato soup today…I do need to plan better so I don’t have so many leftovers going on at once…the “saddle sore” I’ve been fighting for the past 10 days is finally starting to heal so it doesn’t hurt to ride the bike…or it does but it’s tolerable now…need to get on the bike here in  half hour to get an indoor ride in before I need to get moving…going to hit menards for some stump killer to treat the stump and let it rot over the winter…and I need to get the fence ties installed…maybe this afternoon…not much to do today…just my normal busy day that falls every Wed…four stores to hit today but I can’t buy much since the freezer is full…need to start using the canned goods I have on the shelf and make burritos to use the lettuce and tomatoes in the fridge…more later…

Well…damn after looking for an affordable Miata and not being able to find one…I’ve decided to look at Porsche boxsters, too…and with just a cursory search, I found some that were 5-6,000 dollars less than a comparable Miata…I mean a 2004 with 67,000 miles for under 10 grand? So that is going to be my new focus since Miatas are priced out of my reach for some reason…found quite a few boxsters for under 10 grand…all the way down to 6,850 for one with about 120K miles…and I really don’t care about the mileage since I put about 10 miles a week on my Miata right now…I know that Porsches are really expensive to fix but if I can get one for 5 grand less than a Miata, I can put the difference in the repair fund for when it breaks…I did get three rides in and even washed all of the siding on the garage today to get ride of the dirt, black mold, algae, and moss that was all over it…and it only took about an hour and a half this time with putting a long handle on the brush…so I may do the front porch tomorrow and the porch windows that are going to have to be replaced at some point…okay…going to go look at more boxsters…

Well…that wasn’t too bad…only up once at 3 or so and didn’t climb out of bed til around 6…lots of struggle to get to sleep and back to sleep but I feel okay this morning with being good last night…I could do that every day if I could just get past the boredom that comes at night…but last night was easier so I hope that continues…didn’t get much done yesterday but the bike rides but I am going to work on the stump today and get some stump killer at menards tomorrow to kill the damn thing once and forever…it’s cold again today and it looks like I won’t be able to get on the outdoor bike until 10 or so and it’s going to be cold like yesterday so it may be first fleece day today…and it appears that the weather change has come so I’ll be doing that every day…oh, well..I do need to do some meal planning for later in the week and I think I’ll make potato soup tomorrow along with some scalloped potatoes since my 2 quart baking dish fits in the toaster oven but I will still need to figure out what the protein will be to go with it…I do like the chicken/potato/rice dish I made last week but I still have leftovers of that for the rest of the week…so i won’t have to cook until the weekend with making the potato soup tomorrow…not much to do today…just need to get on the indoor bike by 8am but more coffee first…and I do need to get the grocery list done…I did drop my ballot off yesterday so I have already voted and now I hold my breath for a month….more later…

well…just took a look at the post count here and I’m already running three behind and it’s the first week of October…so, you’re going to see some filler until I get caught up…I’m sitting here waiting for the temp to come up enough to get on the outdoor bike and having the last cup of coffee while I do…have the indoor ride in already so at least I’ve made some progress…still have leftovers for today so I don’t have to make potato soup until tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that to use up some of the potatoes that I have way too many of…not going to ride over to the city offices until tomorrow to drop off my ballot and pay the water bill since, even in this small town, Mondays are pretty busy there…I had to put voltaren on my knees this morning they were so stiff and painful and I’m not sure what the reason would be other then riding in the high winds yesterday…it seems to be pretty calm out there right now but I’m sure there will be some wind since there always is…and we are getting down in the 30’s here for a low Wed for the first time since April…it is October in Michigan and I can live with that…but that will mean afternoon rides…okay…need to finish the coffee and get ready to ride…more later…

Well…damn, I wasn’t good last night and I was supposed to be…so I guess I’ll get back to it today…it’s pretty cold out here right now so the first ride will be on the indoor bike…the lows are going to be in the 30’s Wed and then bouncing around in the 40’s and that is to be expected in October here…it’s only 49 here right now and it won’t be warm enough to ride outdoors until 10 or so and that puts me behind for whatever I have planned for the day…I wonder if there will ever be a time that I don’t plan my day? I almost got there yesterday when I was sitting at the beach when I just sat there and felt instead of thinking…the feel of the wind and the noise of the waves almost broke through the urgency of getting the rides done…but not quite…oh, well…I did get my ballot filled out and signed yesterday and I’m going to drop it off tomorrow and pay the water bill at the same time…it is nice to live in a small town where it’s just easy to get things done…I am going to try to find the trail to Whitehall and do a color tour on the bike in a couple of weeks…it’s a 34 mile round trip and should be pretty easy if I can find out where the trail starts…might have to take the car to scope it out…not much to do today…have one more day of leftovers for both meals but I am going to make potato soup tomorrow to use up some of the 10 pounds of potatoes I bought Friday…and I’m going to try to make scalloped potatoes for the first time but I need some whole milk for that…will probably have to make a half batch to fit it in my toaster oven…more later…