Well…damn, I’m sore…spent the day busy as heck starting with getting on the bike for two rides at 7:30 and getting them done by 10…then got the string trimmer out and did the whole yard…then got the sawzall out and went after two of the three trash bushes that are ruining my fence…got all of them but the stumps and put out 5 bundles for pick up tomorrow and hurt the crap out of my right thumb after abusing it with the saw…then I converted the string trimmer to the edger and edged all of the sidewalks and the cleaned up after that…then I fed the lawn with fall food and put everything away and I am beat…I did the math on the bike mileage for the year and saw that I am only 44 miles from 8,000 and that makes almost 900 miles since I broke the record the first week of September…now I think that 9,000 miles is possible for this year and that would get me to 20,000 miles for the past three years combined…and that isn’t bad for an old guy like me…it looks like it’s going to get cold starting tomorrow with highs in the 60’s from now on…so, I guess I’ll have to get the fleece out for the first time since May…oh, well…it is October after all…

Well…up at 5:35 again today and that is to be expected with being good for the first of 5 days…it’s the end of the month and I’m short on these by a few so I just my do a lot of them today…but, I might not with all of the yard work I have to do today…want to get the sidewalks edged and take out more of the trash bushes along with filling and seeding a washout in the front that I’ll have to use a block to stabilize until the grass grows…it’s supposed to rain tomorrow so I want to feed the lawn with fall food, too so it will be a two ride day to get all that work done…I will be able to get out as out as soon as it’s light since it’s 56 out there right now but it crashes down into the 60’s for highs for the next two weeks and I think the warm is going away for the year…as it should be since it’s October tomorrow…it is such  a process to get ready to get on the bike every morning starting with doing my teeth, then biofreeze on my neck, then voltaren on my right thumb and elbow along with 100 sunscreen everywhere…tried 50 for one ride yesterday and got burned so no more of that…old bodies take a lot of work to keep them moving…just like old cars…I won’t say “not much to do today” since I have a lot to do and need to get started on it as soon as the second ride is done at 9:30 or so and I’ll keep working right through lunch…I’m hoping my absentee ballot gets here today along with my 4 new covid tests I ordered Friday…still need to get the parts for rebuilding the bike and that will be a project for this week….more later…

Well…I blame Manchester United for me going out to ride 38 miles today…they just sucked so bad I couldn’t watch it so I got back on the bike and did the extra 12 1/2 miles…I did see 4 deer and the tiniest little hatchling turtle today so that was cool…it was about the size of a quarter just crawling across the trail so I stopped to take a photo of it to post to Mastodon…so tonight I start my 5 days in a row with no cocktails to try to settle into the new pattern…it was funny when I read an article today that gave the recommended amount of booze you can safely drink in a day…and it said 4 cocktails a day for men is just peachy but then the article went on to say that any amount of alcohol is bad for you because it causes elevated rates of cancer of all types…hell, on a big cocktail night I don’t drink 4 of them so that’s pretty weird…but I’m going to stick with the new pattern and only have cocktails 2 days a week…feel a lot better in that pattern and it’s good for me to dry out completely for a while…didn’t get anything done today but the rides and putting some weedkiller on some weeds that had popped up but tomorrow I’m going got attack the trash shrubs in my fence with the sawzall and get at least two of them completely out so I can bundle them up to put out tomorrow…and tomorrow is going to be the last day of the year where it is going to be 80 then we go down into the 60’s for highs until mid October…won’t mind that at all but I’ll have to start wearing a fleece in the mornings and I haven’t had one of those on since May…oh, well…

Well…another morning of getting up around 7 and that is going to end tonight when I don’t have cocktails and I’m okay with that…I’ve figured out that cocktails are too much work and I don’t like feeling like crap…so today starts 5 days off them and I’m looking forward to it…I did get some work done yesterday with cleaning the couch and rotating the cushions and vacuuming the living room rug…but I only did two rides yesterday and today will be the same with Man U playing at 11:30 and not giving me enough time to get three rides in since I can’t get started and it’s already 7:30…just started the coffee and need to pour another cup down as it gets light here…it’s only 58 here and just got a “high wind” alert so I do need to get going soon…it was windy yesterday and I hurt my legs coming back into it but they feel okay now…I have too much food in the fridge that can spoil so there will be no cooking today…still haven’t gotten to the bean burritos I have been talking about for a week now and won’t today with chicken masala leftovers and braunschweiger that is getting close to it’s expiration date…along with the pasta salad I made a few days ago…oh, well…not much to do today…the whole day hinges on Man U playing at 11:30 and getting everything done before that…and it’s quickly heading toward 8am…damn…more later…

Well…with the wind blowing 20mph out of the NE again, the first two rides took everything out of my legs so there won’t be a third today…there is another freighter grounded at the mouth of the channel into Muskegon Lake today and it is a different one than the last two times when the same freighter grounded…I did see another 5 deer and 16 turkeys on the first ride today and that was cool…but going into that wind hurt my left neck again after it had started to heal and that sucks since I can barely move my neck right now…damn…I really should clean some today and I will probably do the couch and living room later but right now, I want to watch the start of the Michigan game…and there is a race on later today so the afternoon is pretty much set…so, I think I’ll stop here and look for a topic for later…oh, and order my 4 new covid tests…more later…

Well…damn, with having a couple of cocktails last night, I slept all the way through til 7am this morning and that makes me late for getting on the bike since I just poured my first cup of coffee and it’s almost 7:30…so it looks like I won’t be on the bike til 8 or so…I wonder what would happen if I didn’t plan out my whole day? Man, that would be so cool to have a day where I just did whatever came to mind or did nothing and I’m running out of time to try that….oh, well…didn’t get much done yesterday but cooking so I don’t have to cook today…but I have lettuce, tomatoes, green pepper and mushrooms that need to be used so one meal today is going to have a big salad in it….noon is the deadline since Michigan plays then and I need to get at least two rides in by then…three is going to be a bit much and I really don’t need to do that much work…it’s another day of record highs with it getting to almost 80 today and it’s already 61 right now so I can go out any time…not much to do today…just need to drag my butt out right now and get going to complete the tasks I have ahead of me…and that’s the problem…so damn task oriented that I have to go and go…more later….

Well…got the day started today with getting on the bike for a ride before the sun came up since it was 55 by7:20…saw tons of wildlife with 10 deer, about 40 turkeys, and a Kingfisher on the first ride…then I had an errand to run, and then back on the bike for ride two, and then I made Chicken Masala for lunch…I even found some Naan bread at Meijers and it goes so good with the Masala…not cheap but I can afford it…then back on the bike for a third ride after lunch for 38 miles today and that felt good…started to gaslight the idiots that were partying outside the rental by stopping on the bike and taking photos of everyone who was there and I’m going to do that every day they are out there building some evidence in case I want to sue the asshole who owns the place for running a public nuisance…I really do hope they freak out…might be fun…I heard about an animated sci fi show called “Scavenger’s Reign” that is supposed to be one of the best shows for the past few years…and it is on plex so I can watch it tonight…along with having a cocktail or two…still need to do the weight work this aft but then I’ll be done for the day…have had this taste for a food that everyone hates, braunscweiger, and it is so good in a sandwich with dill pickles and mustard…having that for dinner today along with the pasta salad I made…yummy…here comes the weights…

Well…it is really strange to me how consistent my wake up times have been all week with no cocktails…5 days in a row of just a little after 5:30 am and I’m okay with that…have settled into a different rhythm but I’m going to disrupt that today with cocktails tonight and I’m not sure why…have felt good but yesterday I really ran out of steam after the rides and mowing the lawn…I sure hope that’s not a permanent part of getting old…I am going to order the 4 new covid tests that I’m eligible to get for free to keep my stockpile up…the new variant causes very little latent effect but really attacks the body for long covid and that’s pretty scary when you can’t tell that you have covid but it wrecks you later on…4 years on and covid is still just as destructive as when it started but people are just ignoring the 1200 people a week who are dying from it…I am going to get on the outdoor bike by 7:30 this morning since it’s warm enough to go already at 55 degrees so it’s just waiting for it to get light enough…think I’ll only do two rides today with an errand in between them and I need to make another batch of chicken masala since I have the chicken thawed…and I have yogurt that goes into it that is a couple of weeks old…not much to do today…I think I’ll take an easier day today and just do some cleaning this afternoon…the couch and living room need work so that will be the plan for the day….more later…

Well…you know, owning a house and being solely responsible for it’s upkeep is a full time job…as is the upkeep for this old body…after getting three rides in this morning, I did some cooking since I wanted some more pasta salad to have in the fridge and then had some lunch before I decided to mow the lawn today so I could convert the mower over to bagging to start picking up the leaves that have started to fall…I hurt my darn neck working overhead yesterday and it’s same place I hurt before that had just started to heal…darn…ran out of energy on the second ride today and I’m pretty sure it was from a lack of calories with only a dog and a sandwich for the entire day yesterday…and didn’t even have any empty calories from cocktails to compensate and that will be repeated today…no drinks til tomorrow night and I feel good about that and that will get me in practice for taking a couple of weeks off for my yearly physical that is coming up in November…got scheduled for my blood work and the physical today…I do still need to do my weight work today and will do that right now…one of these days, I am going to take it easy for a day…I’m tired…

Well…up at a little after 5:30 again this morning and that wasn’t bad with only getting up a couple of times overnight…and now I have an hour and a half or so before I need to get on the indoor bike…it’s only 51 out here so there will be a wait to get outdoors this morning…okay, nope..it’s only 49 out here so it looks like I won’t be outdoors until 10 or so and maybe I’ll just take it easy today…don’t have a lot to do but make some pasta salad and clean so I really can ease into it today…my upper body hurts like crazy today after working overhead yesterday but it could have been worse working around the power line…I was right yesterday when I estimated 4-5 inches of rain when the official total for here in Muskegon was 4.45 inches…but there were places along the coast here that got a foot of rain from that storm and there is widespread flooding out here…okay, the little weather widget is saying record high for the day and that is going to be a spread from the record low this morning..weird, weird weather…have been good all week and have one more day to go before I can have a cocktail tomorrow night…feel pretty good getting back to taking care of myself and this is going to be the new normal along with taking entire weeks off…it’s a nice reset and I feel lucky I can do it…okay…need to get a post out to Mastodon and keep pouring coffee down….more later….