Well…running about on time this morning with not getting up until almost 6 but lying back down until almost 7…and I’m having a hard time getting moving today but need to with having to do a grocery run this morning to be able to make my corned beef and cabbage today…going to get some dark rye and Russian dressing so I can make some reuben sandwiches later in the week…I did get out for a nice bike ride yesterday but it’s still pretty cold out there and I cut it short…but I did do some more recon riding to check out the area and found the post office, a bakery, and a cheese shop in the nice little area just over the hill….can’t wait til it gets warmer and I can explore more….oh, and the Muskegon city hall is in that same area…I do need to get out to Lake Michigan in the next few days just to say I’ve done it and scope out the parks out there….and get longer rides in since I’m not going to get to any goal if I don’t get moving….not much to do today…just going to do laundry since my new washer got here yesterday afternoon…ran a load and it worked great along with the dryer so I need to do bedding today and my jeans since they are really scuzzy…more later….
Monthly Archives: March 2021
The covid relief bill passed!
Well…just last night, the senate passed the covid relief bill that takes care of many people who have been destroyed by the pandemic, but of course, not one damn repub voted for it even though the latest polls show that 76% of the entire country supports it…and even 66% of repubs supported it….so again, who the hell are they supposed to be representing? Just on cue, McConnell sent out a big gripe letter with the usual talking points…it’s too expensive, it’s full of things not related to covid, the extension of UI benefits will make people not work…yadda, yadda…hey Moscow mitch….you didn’t bitch at all when you repubs passed that expensive tax cut of 2.0 trillion dollars that only went to the rich so you can just shut the hell up right now. The biggest complaint that the repubs have is that it actually helps Americans and they don’t give a damn about the American people at all and they are pissed that they couldn’t get more tax cuts for the rich included in this bill. Now this bill does include the 1400 dollar payment to people making less than 75K a year so I will get the entire 2 grand relief payment…but that is not why I like this bill…it is an example of what government can accomplish to move the people of this country forward and make it a just a little easier for everyday people…and that is another reason why the repubs hate it…geez…
March 6th
Well…damn…another 5:41 morning but I was able to get back to sleep for an hour or so and I think that is all I can expect….I think my hands are starting to heal a bit after the damage from moving since they are just a little stiff today and my thumb doesn’t hurt so I’ll take it….feel pretty worn out today but that is my fault and I’m not sure how long I’ll keep it up…I did have a reason to celebrate with figuring out how to get my 600 dollar covid relief payment and ensure that I get the 1400 bucks if the congress passes it…and it was pretty easy….I did finally get started putting stuff away yesterday and almost have my dining room cleared and will try to get both bedrooms cleared today…just moving stuff downstairs and will put the stuff away that I am going to keep and get some piles of donations sorted out….my new washer is coming today and not a day too soon since I am running out of clean clothes and my jeans are really rank from moving and work around here….still only have one load of washing to do since I planned and did all of it before I moved….not much to do today…going to just watch some soccer and sit here for a while and wait for the delivery guys….more later…
Exploring…
Well…got on the bike today with the express purpose of doing some exploring around here just to see what is in the near neighborhood and couldn’t have been happier with what I found…just down the hill and to the left is a brand new area of re-constructed old buildings that includes the Frueanthal theater where they put on plays and lots of bars and restaurants along with a huge farmers market that has room for at least 100 stalls that is new and only a quarter of a mile away….and a huge old brick building that Amazon turned into a warehouse/office along with an art museum, and the new arena that is across from the theater…and that is just on the three streets I have explored…so, I think I got lucky finding this house in this area and I am going to have some fun after the covid restrictions are lifted in summer…I can see this place gaining 10 to 20K in the next two years and that will mean I can leave some inheritance for my kids….I feel pretty lucky to have found this place….and with the extra 2 grand I’m going to get, I can do all of the things I want to the yard when it gets warmer…lots of flowers and a big garden and taking the dead tree down…and my brother has a guy for that, too…pretty cool…
The crap gets deeper for trump and his cronies…
Well…this one made me grin…just this morning, Rep Eric Swalwell filed suit against the idiot boy, donnie jr., rep Mo Brooks, and rudy for inciting the riot that endanger the lives of the police and members of congress…and he did it as private citizens so the idiot boy and mo brooks can’t hide behind and get their lawyers paid for by the government….and he is asking for damages for the mental anguish and danger the idiot squad put them in when they incited the riot at the “rally” the morning of Jan 6th…if this one goes to trial, there is going to be discovery where all of their phone and other records have to be surrendered to the plaintiffs…and they are going to have to sit down to be questioned on why they lied to the mob to get them to attack the capital. This is the second suit to be filed against these morons by a member of congress and these are going to tie them up in court for years and cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars…if they can even find anyone to defend them…couldn’t happen to a worse bunch of assholes…
Some good news…
Well…that was easy…as you know, I’ve been trying to get the covid payment for a couple of months starting with talking to my rep, my senator, and the IRS with no luck…but, this morning, I decided to try to file a free tax return to try to get the 600 dollars that I missed from the December payment……the IRS had sent me a postcard giving me some options on how to do it and I selected Turbotax…and, after about a half hour of filling in the form online….the good news came and I am going to get the 600 bucks refunded to me and that will qualify me for the 1400 dollar payment that is to come in the next relief bill that is in the senate right now….so, this buys my new washer that is coming tomorrow and all the other tools I need to get this place cleaned up outside…and it is quite a relief that this is finally resolved and it was much easier than I expected….and filled the time while I wait for the temp to come up so I can change the tires on the car…cripes, this could even buy the new snowies I need for next winter…and I may even just call a drain cleaning company to do my kitchen drain instead of working on it myself…this is pretty cool….
March 5th
Well…that wasn’t too bad for a night of being good…I did wake up at 4:04 but was able to get back to sleep until almost 6 so I’ll take it…and I don’t feel too bad today even with just the first few sips of coffee….the bike riding soreness has finally hit and it is a welcome development that I am starting the long road back to fitness…but it’s still going to be cold over the next two weeks with just a couple of days of 50′s but then back to the 30′s and I am hoping for a break so I can get out in light thermasuit or shorts….but, as I settle in here, I only have one thing to do and that is work on the kitchen drains…I would call a plumber but I need to conserve cash with a couple of thousand going out this month with my house insurance, the new washer, and the cost of the move…but, I am getting a couple of thousand in two weeks so it’s just that I won’t be able to save anything in March but that was planned….I did figure out the loud combustion blower on the furnace yesterday and fixed it by hitting it with a little wd so it’s much quieter today….just the little things that come with owning a house….I am going to put the summer tires on the car this morning since the snow has been taken out of the forecast for the 13th and there is only one day that there may be some light stuff in the next two weeks but I can stay home on those days if I have to…there seems to be lots of ice fog out here but they stay on top of it with salt so that is good and bad…good that it’s not slippery but bad for the rust on the Miata…oh, well….not much to do today…after putting the tires on the car, I am going to start to just move everything downstairs and will work on putting it away at my leisure…I do have to spend some cash for the rolling cart for the kitchen in the next couple of weeks since I really need the prep space but that will wait…I now have time to do things at my pace and that feels good….more later…
Starting to get to like this area…
Well…there is nothing like a bike ride to explore my new surroundings…just today, I decided to go east along Muskegon lake where the trails are clear and discovered a few things….the Muskegon minor league hockey team plays at an arena that is within walking distance from here so when the covid restrictions are lifted later this year, I’ll be able to walk up and over the hill to see some hockey…and just to the east of that, there is a huge, modern business area that is being built a few blocks from there….and there is a street at the bottom of the hill that is full of old buildings with new businesses in them…it would be great if one of them would be my neighborhood bar…oh, and I have a bike shop just 3 blocks from here…going to go exploring over in that area tomorrow…there is a huge stainless steel sculpture at the end of the gentrified street in some sort of a park that looks interesting…I think my house is on the edge of the part of the town that is revitalizing and that is pretty cool and will give me something to do…and when they get the trail repaired, it will make for an easy ride out to the lake…I am pretty happy with how things have worked out with the house so far….now I just need to figure out the slow drain in the kitchen and get everything put away and I can just live for a while….
The worst kind of pay for play…
Well…we all know how terrible the repubs are…there is not a good person in that whole bunch and Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida is one of that basket’s most rotten apples…since vaccines have been available, ole Ron has been making sure that his rich, white buddies got to the front of the line, taking vaccines that were meant for poor, minority areas and essentially selling them to his buddies to enrich his re-election fund…and he had his best fundraising month ever in February, raising 2.7 million dollars and not a dime of it was from the repub rank and file…one rich white guy even gave him a check for a quarter of a million dollars after DeSantis got him a place in line for the vaccine. Now in any other political era this would have spelled doom for any candidate or politician to stiff the poor from the protection of the vaccine but in these times where nothing is too low for any repub politician, they just don’t care about anyone who didn’t vote for them. I wonder if there is a bottom to all of this corruption? Okay, yeah, stupid question…where there repubs are involved all there is a black hole that has not bottom and they are in a race to the bottom…geez…
March 4th
Well…man, my eyes are really itchy and filled with crap this morning and that leaves my vision pretty blurry…I really hope it’s not allergies this early in the year…but, it probably is since my nose is running and my head is plugged up to go along with the eyes….darn….slept okay but was up a little after 5 and tried to go back to sleep with little success…I should be sore after getting the first ride in yesterday…and my legs are a little stiff but not sore at all…we’ll see how they are after heading back into town today to pick up more stuff for the next to last time….and it will be the last run with the snowies on the car…was going to put the summer tires on yesterday but wanted to get a ride in instead…so I think it will be tomorrow….I did find all of the stores I frequent and 4 of them are within a mile of each other and the other two are only about 3 miles from here…so I am finding my way around here a bit…have never been good at finding my way around but Muskegon is small enough and everything is based on about 5 main roads so I’ll get it soon…it appears that Lake Michigan is a little farther away than I thought but 6 miles is still doable on the bike…only a 12 mile round trip and I do that all the time….not much to do today…just the run into town and then more putting stuff away…going to try to get back on the bike but it is going to be in the 30′s and that makes it less pleasant…still in exploration mode on the bike so I think I’m going to go north east today around Muskegon lake to see if the trails are clear…there was still a lot of ice on the trail to the west I rode yesterday and I had to turn around near the sub….more later….