Well….it looks like I’ll be heading into GR this afternoon since K’s husband is turning 50 and they are having a bash for him at O’toole’s at 3:30…still pretty apprehensive about it with covid still raging but they do have huge windows that should be open today with the nice weather and there is a breeze blowing so that should help…going to wear a mask anyway just to be safe…the thing that tipped me over to going was checking the coolant level in the car and it was still full three weeks after I checked it last but I did put a gallon of coolant in the trunk just in case…haven’t seen K since last year around this time and I think her sister is in town, too so that will be cool to see them both…

Well…running a bit late this morning and I’m having trouble getting going today and I know I did it to myself with only have a sandwich and pasta salad for lunch and a bowl of soup for dinner and doing three rides yesterday….need to get out on the bike here by 7:30 so I can get a ride in before F1 qualifying at 9…the get the second ride in before Man U plays at 12:30…so it will be a 2 ride day today…and I can use the rest…no rain again today but I have my fingers crossed that it will rain tomorrow…slept okay last night but I’m pretty worn out this morning…I’m old after all and I wonder if I’ll ever feel energy again? Not likely…and that sucks….boy, this is strange waiting for it to get light to get on the bike…the season is changing and I kind of like that…have always loved the fall and for a long time it was my favorite season…the leaves have started to fall but I think that is more from the stress of no rain out here than the season change…the trees have looked pretty wilted with the lack of rain and I wonder how that will affect the colors this fall…man, it’s dark out there at 7:15am and I’ll be out without sunglasses for the first ride…not much to do today…just the rides and then into sports with F1, soccer, and then the nascar race from Bristol tonight…need to take it easy soon and today could be that day…more later…

Well…I shouldn’t have to be repairing a handlebar bag that is only 5 months old but the zipper on mine failed yesterday and I needed to figure what I could do to salvage it…so I got the velcro out that I bought for a repair on a set of riding gloves and got to work…and it worked out just fine to keep the flap closed on the ride this morning and it’s easier than the zipper that was always stuck so I consider that a win and will probably use that bag for years…I did find the waterproof cover that came with the bag and stuffed that in the bottom  just in case I ever ride in the rain again…I feel so bad that I forgot to do the dishes from dinner yesterday and broke my rule of no dishes in the sink overnight…and that’s the first time since I moved out here…and I can’t figure out how that happened…damn, maybe it’s I’m getting old…I did get three rides in today for 38 miles so I can have two meals today…and I am really happy with how the bike is working with the new shift cable and eyeball adjustment…I may just be able to get the rest of the year on the broken shifter…but I am going to order the parts for a rebuild just in case…when it snows I’m going to tear the bike completely down to service it since it has over 45,000 miles on it and I haven’t greased the wheel bearings or the bottom bracket; the axle that the pedals connect to…okay, need to do the weight work…

Well…slept a little better last night after having a couple of cocktails but I’m not sure I like the tradeoff…I guess we’ll see the next couple of days…I really don’t like waiting for it to get light to get on the bike since it makes me late for anything I want to do for the day…I did get a lot of work done yesterday and it’s nice to have a clean fridge finally…not sure what I’m going to eat today but I did remember to take a container of soup out of the freezer…and I have an open jar of pasta sauce that needs to be used so that will probably be it…and some bean burritos or salads…so I guess I do have some choices…I need to do the dining room floor today along with cleaning the living room but I need to get two rides in first…they predicted a 60% chance of rain today but it fell apart coming over the lake so we add another day of drought to the month or so of no rain here to go with the month before the 10 minutes of rain we had at the end of July…I wonder if the weather will ever go back to normal? Probably not…oh, well…not much to do today…just need to get on the bike here in 15 minutes or so and I’m only doing two rides today but I’m already gaining weight from cutting out the third ride…doing the math I’ll be gaining a pound every 5 days unless I cut out 600 calories a day and I’m not sure where that is going to come from…maybe down to one meal a day? Who knows? More later…

Well…I had plans for the day that would have made it move smoothly and get a bunch done but, of course, plans only work sometimes…when I went out for the first ride, the zipper on my bike bag fell apart and that’s to be expected for cheap rhinowalk bags…so I got on the the bike anyway and when I got up the hill and made the turn at the beach, the rear shift cable broke inside the shifter housing on the handlebar and that means the bike shifts all the way to 24th gear and stays there so I abused my legs all the way home…couldn’t make the last climb up to the house in that gear so I had to get off the bike and walk it up the hill…then I put a new shift cable in, luckily I ordered 10 of them when I bought the new shifter, and then eyeballed the adjustment and hit it almost right so I jumped back on the bike for the second ride and it worked well…after I got back here, I attacked the fridge and freezer and got those cleaned and had a half of a 30 gallon bag to toss in the trash…then I dug out some velcro and sewed some into the bag to be able close it and it worked out okay…they should have done velcro to start with…cheaper than even cheap zippers and it doesn’t wear out… still might put a couple more pieces in it but we’ll see…now it’s 3 pm and soccer is coming on before the ARCA and truck races from Bristol later….

Well…47 years ago today my daughter was born and I still remember that day like it was yesterday…slept really crappy again last night but I had a dream at some point so I must have gotten into REM…really sore this morning and I hurt just about everywhere but that will work out once I get moving…but that won’t be until the temp comes up from the 52 it is right now…so I won’t be on the bike until 8 or so…making for a two ride day…going to sit here for a bit and relax as I try to wake up and pour the coffee down…I did get some cleaning done yesterday and today is fridge day since I haven’t cleaned it in a while…need to organize the freezer to know what is in there and get some meal planning done…might take one of the last two containers of soup out to make room for more so I can use the ham bones up that I know are in there…today will be chicken legs with pasta salad and then a big salad for dinner to use up the lettuce and tomatoes I have in the crisper….will probably make bean burritos this weekend and I’ll make some more chicken masala at some point before the fresh ginger and Greek yogurt goes bad…not much to do today…it is a little nice to have some time to ease into the day instead of rushing to get moving and I’m going to savor it…the fall Bristol races are on for the next three nights so that will keep me entertained without using any of the shows on Plex…and after thee days of being good, I get to have cocktails tonight but I am going to keep moving toward only having them two days a week…it’s funny how I still feel hung over even without drinking….oh, well…more later…

Well…I just don’t frickin get it…I’ve been good with no cocktails for three days and yet today I feel so darn worn out and exhausted…probably from not eating enough again but yesterday I had 2 chicken legs and some pasta salad for lunch and a bowl of rice and chicken masala… and that’s over a thousand calories for the day and I only did 25 miles…I did do 33 miles today and did the grocery run with the same lunch but some spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner with about the same calorie count so I just can’t figure it out…I haven’t slept well the past two nights so that may have something to do with it…only about 5 hours a night but I’m used to that…oh, well…maybe the pasta will help…I did get the dining room table cleaned today so I’ll have room to put the food when I tear the fridge apart to clean it tomorrow…going to do the freezer, too, and dig through old stuff in there and dump it…should be able to get to that early since I really don’t have anything else to do other than do two rides on the bike and I should have that done by 10…no bargains for protein this week but I have lots of ham in the fridge along with some random chicken in there…and I do have the ingredients to make some bean burritos which would be good and some salads…so plenty to eat even without protein…okay, need to read some…

well…up and down all night last night and out of bed before 5:30 but I feel okay and I’ll take…I may have broken my compulsion to ride all the time with going down to only 25 miles a day…and I’m even just sitting here this morning at 5:50 instead of hurrying up and getting downstairs to ride before the grocery run…I may still do it but at least there is the possibility of not doing it and that is progress, I think…it’s only 52 out here right now and I hope it warms up a bit so I can put the top down on the car for the grocery runs…running out of those days and that sucks…oh, well…it felt good to get some things done yesterday and I hope to continue that today with cleaning the living room and putting the tools away downstairs that have been out for a month…and I need to get after ordering the new parts for the bike today, too…it will be third day of being good tonight and I’m slowly moving toward only having cocktails 2 nights a week and I should be there by the end of the month…just need to get my body back to feeling better but at my age, I wonder what that will be like? Can’t be worse….not much to do today…just going to try to have another normal day and enjoy myself a bit instead of going, going, going all the time…way too task oriented and organized and I’m going to try another way…more later…

Well…it’s been quite a different day today and only doing two rides has had something to do with that…started out getting the two rides in but I went a little too hard with knowing I only had two to do…so, my thighs are sore right now but I can live with it…my neck is better and fingers crossed it is healing…then I went over to the library to get three new books, then back here for lunch…then I needed to get something done so I cleaned the whole kitchen and mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors while I was doing laundry…just put that away and now I’m waiting for Man U to play at 3…and I am going to really watch the match this time…or read and watch the match, not sure yet…I’m really working toward only having cocktails only two nights a week but won’t get there for a couple of weeks and that’s okay…will need to clean the living room tomorrow and maybe the dining room, too…we’ll see…time to take a break…

Well…another fitful night’s sleep after being good last night and that’s becoming a broken record for me…but, I feel okay and I haven’t even started the coffee yet…I’m hoping today will be a more normal day with emby working so I’ll have background noise all day…I am seriously thinking about going down to 25 miles a day on the bike and only doing two rides…have so much cleaning and maintenance to do around here and I have met the goal for the year and my body could use some rest and repair time…it’s only 53 out there right now so it looks like I’ll have to wait to get on the bike this morning unless I do an indoor ride and I’ll decide that here in a few minutes after I’m done here…I do want to go to the library for more books this morning but that doesn’t take much time…and I have some chicken legs that need to be cooked or frozen today and I’ll decide that in a few minutes, too…no beach today since I got a good burn yesterday and my skin won’t take the abuse…not much to do today…just going to take it a little easier and make sure I eat enough…yesterday I didn’t…more later…