Covid isn’t over…

Well…after going out to the grocery store wed and being almost the only person in a mask, I can’t believe that people are still not protecting themselves….and the uptake rate of the latest vaccine booster is in the 25% range even in my age group and I can’t figure that out since the latest stats show that over 90% of the 500 deaths a day that are still occurring are people over 65…in an article I read today the hospitalization rate for children is the highest it’s ever been and the entire country is in the red of the highest cases there have ever been…so, what’s the deal? Are people just tired of the pandemic and think that if they ignore it the virus will go away? Whatever it is, I am not going to let my guard down with the possibility of long covid hanging over my head…so it looks like another year of isolation here as I do my best to not get this damn disease….and I will be wearing a mask whenever I go out and I will continue to get boosted whenever new vaccines come out…covid is not over…and I will not delude myself that it is…maybe I shouldn’t complain…after all, the virus is killing more repubs than dems and if it keeps up thye may never win another election…sick, I know…

December 9th

Well…damn, running late again today and I should feel okay with not getting out of bed til after 7 but I don’t….still worn out and I’m not sure why that would be…and I feel like I’ve gained most of the weight back that I’ve lost over the past year and I sure don’t know how that could be….oh, well….I did  get a few things done yesterday but I’m not sure about today…I am going to get on the bike here in a few minutes but there won’t be an outdoor ride today with the wind blowing like crazy and rain/snow coming in a few hours out….the world cup starts up again today with two matches so I’ll have something to keep the boredom at bay….I do need to cook some of the chicken I got at aldis today and that will be a welcome change from ham although I still haven’t finished up the mashed potatoes and gravy I made to go with the ham….I did resist going out to daily deals to get some kielbasa they have on sale since it is not good for you and I have no room in the freezer for it after I put the chicken in….I did catch another mouse in here yesterday and that is the first one in about 6 months and I hope it’s the last one in a while….had to dispatch it with my billy club and that is not something I enjoy….not much to do today…just need to get more coffee in me and read some news before I get going on the bike….but I really have no motivation right now….ugh….more later….

Finally got to 1,000 miles downstairs…

Well…it’s been a long, sweaty slog but I finally got to 1,000 miles today on the downstairs bike…and instead of just rolling over and start counting over, the computer on the bike just started flashing error messages so I had to reset it…and the problem with that was I couldn’t find the instructions so I spent an hour and a half looking for them everywhere and finally found them right on the table next to the couch in a bunch of paid bills….and, with getting to 4,800 on the outdoor bike yesterday, that makes 5,800 miles for the year so far and I am wondering if I can do the last 250 miles to get to my record for a year in the next three weeks…that will mean and outdoor and indoor ride every day and I’m not sure I want to do that much work…but I guess we’ll see…didn’t go outside today since I feel cold and just couldn’t get myself to go out and freeze like yesterday…I think I’m going to look for some heated gloves to just see what they cost…..

Unions…

Well…with the people of the New York Times on strike today, I think it’s a good time to think about unions and the good they’ve done in this country and around the world. Look, if the owners of companies would treat workers with the respect and fairness they deserve, there wouldn’t be a need for unions…but as you know, most of the people running companies spend their time trying to figure out how to hoard the fruits of labor for themselves and have been very successful at it…after all, ceo compensations is now over 300 times what the average worker makes when it used to be closer to 50 and companies have never been more profitable…the modern weekend is a result of union bargaining as is the 40 hour work week and when you look at it, unions built the middle class here and around the world….and I’m happy that there is a resurgence of unionization here in the US after both the government and the rich and powerful have spent decades attacking them and buying laws that made it harder and harder for people to band together to try to level the playing field….but there is still work to be done and I’m glad someone is doing it….so, don’t read the Times anytime soon to support the people there…they can use the help….

December 8th

Well…damn, up at 4:08 this morning but laid back down til a little after 6 but didn’t feel like there was any sleep in there but there must have been…no dreams at all, though, and that means the sleep was pretty crappy…at least my back doesn’t hurt too much today but my abs do and that sucks….it looks like I’ll be riding indoors this morning with the temp only getting to 30 or so but I may get outside later if I get motivated….if I ride twice a day for the rest of the month, I may get close to the goal for the year since I’m sitting at 5,800 as of yesterday but to do another 250 miles by the end of the month? Not sure if that’s doable but I do feel good that I did as many as I have….didn’t get much done but laundry yesterday and I really should get to work on this place today but it’s unusual that I have such a lack of motivation that has gone on for months now…should have finished the dining room by now and I know all I have to do is start but I just don’t feel like it….oh, well…going to be working on leftovers for the next couple of days but I do need to cook  some of the chicken I got yesterday…but that will wait til tomorrow since I still have soup to use and tons of ham left….not much to do today…just need to get on the bike by 8 so that gives me time to read some news and have another cup of coffee….I think I’ll hit 1,000 miles indoors this morning and that has been a lot of work….more later…

Brutal ride…

Well…damn, that was a brutal ride…I did get two in outside today but even with little wind, they were just brutal for some reason…and I think it may be that I only had one meal yesterday and that is not enough to support doing 30 miles on the bike and I didn’t even get to lunch until almost 2pm so I think that will set me up to only have one meal again today…or I can have a bowl of soup later since I do need to use the turkey soup leftovers up before they spoil….and I did get chicken legs quarters for 59 cents a pound today and now I have 10 pounds of those that need to be frozen but I think I have room for them but it will be a tight squeeze to fit the leftover ham in to save up for making ham soup in a couple of weeks…have already heated my back once as I wait for the dryer to finish up with the bedding and couch blankets in it….haven’t even read the news today…darn, I better get going…

And they say they’re not fascists…

Well…when you hear the repubs complain when they are called fascists for doing fascist things…just remember that they have a scheme to ignore voters and just install whoever they want in whatever office that is in the supreme court today…it’s called the independent legislature theory and it’s main tenet is that state legislatures are the only bodies who can set rules for voting in federal or state elections…and they argue the legislatures can ignore any votes they want…so dem votes will never be counted in repub controlled states again…how do you guys feel about that? This crackpot theory that is based on a lie is being argued right now and all of the conservative justices are just drooling that they can help out their repub cronies to just nullify elections they don’t like…that’s not fascist, right? Yeah, in reality that is right out of the fascist playbook on the first page….and the only reason it was taken up is alito wanted it so we know it doesn’t have to have any basis in law, truth, or reality for him to embrace it….look, if these guys are allowed to make this legal, this democracy is gone but that is what the repubs want…they know demographics are slowly dooming them electorally so they have to get the ultimate cheat authorized by the court…geez…

December 7th

Well…damn, running late this morning with getting up at 5:40 and then lying back down until almost 7:30 and than never happens…but I don’t feel like I slept at all and it’s going to be hard to get going today…need to be in the shower in 20 minutes to get out for the grocery run and I don’t want to do it…it’s only 29 out there right now and that is too damn cold to ride outdoors so that may have to wait til the afternoon…the weather says it’s foggy out there right now but it’s not light enough to see that yet….looks like it could be ice fog since it’s pretty cold out there….didn’t get much done yesterday but make the big dinner for lunch but I do need to do some laundry today…there are no soccer matches on today so I won’t have any excuse for not working…but do I need one? To not feel guilty, yes…darn, haven’t even read the news yet this morning and it looks like I won’t get to it til the afternoon so there won’t be any topics until then…I know there has been a lot happening so it should be pretty easy to find one for today….okay, need to get more coffee in me before I can even think about getting going…so I think I will…more later…

Hide the ketchup…

Well…I guess the waiters at trump’s tacky resort in Florida should hide the ketchup now that the trump organization has just been found guilty on all counts in it’s fraud trial in NYC…you know the one…not paying taxes on gifts and compensation for it’s execs and lying on tax forms…all that kind of stuff…now this won’t result in prison time for the idiot boy but it does show the techniques that were used to defraud the government in this case were probably used in the criminal case that is winding it’s way through the courts in NY…oh, and the NYC AG just brought in a new prosecutor to use this information for the criminal case against every damn one of the trumps….get moving Bragg….

Almost got away with it…

Well…after getting out for two hard rides outdoors today, and my back not hurting much with heating it as soon as I got off the bike, I thought I got away with it…but nope, my back just froze up completely after sitting on the couch for a few minutes…and now my abs are getting back in the party, too…crap…I guess I could take something for it since I didn’t take anything yesterday….I did cook the big ham I got yesterday and I’m a little confused…it really doesn’t taste like anything…maybe a little bit like ham but not HAM! Like it should….I’ve seen this before with cheaper hams and it is a little disappointing since I’ve been looking forward to this for a month now…oh, well…life is full of disappointment…and it was only 8 bucks so no big loss…thinking about getting some shrimp tomorrow at Meijers since they have pound packages buy one get one free but that still makes it 5 bucks a pound and I wonder if it’s worth it or not?  I guess I’ll have to think about that one….