Well…I wonder if no one knows the traffic laws anymore? When I was out on the rides today, the power was out to the traffic light down the hill at 31 and 7th street but no one was following the law that says you have to treat it like a 4-way stop…nope…people were just blowing through and all four times I rode through there was a near accident…idiots…other than that, I had a nice day today with getting two rides in before noon and not freezing my hands off even though the wind was blowing around 20 with gusts but it was out of the south so I can take that…after I got back here and had a turkey lunch that I will repeat all week, I gave myself a hair cut and trimmed my beard but then took the rest of the afternoon off and just read…but tomorrow I have to get at the leaves and get them picked up for the first time so I can put them out Tuesday…so I think I’ll do that before I ride tomorrow…now it’s time to read a bit more and then watch a little tv…only one meal today and I’m going to keep that up until I lose 10 pounds…

Well…just read a disturbing article that states that 50% of repubs are not going have their young children vaccinated…and the laws that require that children have proof of vaccination before they start school are being rolled back in every red state…and when asked if it matters that their unvaccinated child could infect others and cause severe damage, their answer is no, they don’t give a damn about anyone else’s children when they have the chance to “stick to the libs”…Are these people just stupid? Don’t they remember the thousands of children in iron lungs before the Salk vaccine for polio was developed in 1953? And to top this off, millions of kids in red states no longer have any health insurance as the repubs essentially ended Medicaid in the states they control…so I wonder why this “war on children” is not being covered more? Again, the media is falling down on the job sine most of it is now controlled by the maga assholes out there who want the idiot trump returned to the WH so they can continue their destruction of the country…or the stealing of the rest of it they haven’t already stolen…geez…

Well…darn, I know I say this a lot but I really am running late again today…woke up at around 6 but just laid there in my bed until 7:30 and now it’s after 8 and I’m just getting here…slept okay last night but my allergies are still really terrible and I have a headache that started last night and is still thumping the top of my head…might have to take something for it today…got a nice ride in yesterday outdoors when I was going to take the day off so I feel good about that…and I am going to try to get two rides in today as soon as it warms up…but it won’t get to 50 til around noon and I do want to watch the Lions play today but that’s not til 4 o’clock so I’ll be able to get that done…and I’ll make an early lunch before that of leftover turkey…still not losing any weight even with going down to one meal a day so I’ll have to figure out what’s going on and change….I wonder if I can just take it easy this morning and relax for a while? Not very good at that…going and going is such a habit that I don’t know how to relax…I think I may have to just force myself to take a day off and figure out how to derail the guilts that come with it….I do have leaves that need to be picked up and that should be done in the next four days when it’s going to be in the 50’s and no rain…see…still planning work and I’m tired of it….the wind is going to be nuts later but I’m going to go out anyway….more later…

Well…just finished cleaning up after cooking the entire t-day meal today…dry brined the turkey and it’s a method I think I can work with…I will rinse the bird the next time I cook one even though you’re not supposed to…the skin is too salty if you don’t…but the meat came out nice and moist and tender so it seems to work…only the roasting pan to clean up and that is soaking right now…may go out and do and outdoor ride after the Michigan game…not much wind out there even if it is a little cold…we’ll see…

Well…I think I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m going to take the day off today…I know it’s going to mean that I won’t be burning any calories and I am going to be eating a lot so it will be a set back in my weight loss struggle but I just need a day off….slept okay last night but don’t feel like it this morning…just so worn out that I’m going to have to suck it up to cook today…the turkey looks good in the fridge and I am really curious how it’s going to taste….the salt is pretty much gone and it looks like there is a glaze on it…I still need to prep it with the veggies inside for it to make a good base for the gravy and I’m going to add some breakfast sausage to the cavity that I have left over…have to try new stuff that might or might not work…need to get more flavor in it that has been missing….just remembered to take a stick of butter out of the fridge since I’ll need that to make the rosemary butter to put on and under the skin….not much to do today…just cooking and eating and that seems to be a bit decadent given my normal routine of riding and not eating…and Man U plays at 10 so I want to have everything done before that…and I should have the turkey in the grill by then to eat the big meal for lunch….more later….

Well…had a pretty good day today with getting some stuff done…finally…started the day with two bike rides downstairs and then checked the turkey and it had thawed enough to pat it dry and mix up the dry brine of kosher salt, brown sugar, sage, rosemary, and thyme that I spread all over it and it is now sitting in the fridge uncovered to let the skin dry out completely…and that means I am going to cook tomorrow instead of Sunday and that will set me up with turkey for at least a week….making the whole t-day meal with the green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy…yummy…so, after I got that done, I tore the bathroom apart and cleaned it completely but then just read for the rest of the afternoon…and now I.m letting my eyes get used to longer distances now so I’ll be able to see the tv clearly later….going to watch a really long movie tonight that will take up almost the entire night so I’ll start it at 7…nope…”Battlebots” first, then the movie so I may not get through the whole thing tonight…or I’ll move that to tomorrow night and just watch some shows tonight…who knows?

Well…running about on time with waking up at 5:24 but then staying in bed til 6:23….getting up has started to be a process as I’ve gotten older and I miss the days of just popping out of bed and getting on with the day…and yes, I know things change but that doesn’t mean I have to like it….slept okay last night and feel okay today if a little tired but that seems to be normal now so I can live with it…I am going to remember to take my vitamins today since they seem to help…it was so cool to have the tree guys come yesterday and now I have a cleaned up yard that I don’t have to think about…I did take the turkey out of the fridge this morning so I can make sure it will be thawed to dry brine it tomorrow and cook it Sunday…doing the whole t-day meal with stuffing, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes and gravy with brown and serve rolls…and I’ll be eating off the turkey for a week or more….it looks like it will be warm enough to ride outside staring Sunday and going for a few days until it gets cold again late in the week next week….not much to do today…have been looking for an excuse to take a day off but I can’t see it right now…so I’ve got an hour to sit and have coffee before I go down to the torture machine and get the miles in…more later…

Well…the tree guys are here and working and I got such a pleasant surprise when the quote was only 450 bucks…about a quarter of what I expected and it will be cool to have everything cleaned up…the old rotten tree is down and they have started the chipper…yay!

Well…up at 5:22 this morning but was able to lie back down for an hour so I guess that’s a win…I’m in the slow motion mode that comes with being depressed and I could feel that was coming on for a couple of days….I wonder how long this one is going to last? Who knows? Slept okay but sure don’t feel like it right now but I just started drinking coffee so maybe that will help….didn’t get much done yesterday but read and a little cleaning but today I do need to clean the bathroom after I ride the bike….was going to try to ride outdoors today but the wind is already over 15 and it’s not too warm so I guess I’ll head downstairs around 8…I really could use a day off but probably not today…even though I’ve hit my goal of 4K miles, I still need to lose weight so I need to do at least 16 miles a day…my brain is not cooperating this morning and I wish I could allow myself a day to take it easy and just wing it….still working on leftovers but I do need to get the turkey dry brined tomorrow so I can cook it Sunday…or Saturday depending on how fast it thaws….not much to do today….just going to sit here for a bit and have more coffee as I try to decide what to do…and yep, that’s a Joe Walsh lyric….more later…

Well…it’s raining and 38 degrees out here right now and I don’t mind the sound of it…it’s almost 7 and I have an hour to get going so I can do the grocery runs this morning…I am going to buy a turkey today since I can’t pass up protein at 59 cents a pound…and I’m going to try a new way of brining it…a dry brine was recommended by one of my Mastodon friends so I’m going to try that….just kosher salt and herbs and you can leave it in the fridge for up to three days….going to cook it Sunday if it thaws fast enough….slept okay last night and didn’t get up til 6:21 but my right hip is howling in pain today so I must have slept wrong last night…I wonder if I will be able to get on the bike today? Yeah, that won’t keep me off it….I do need to hit Menards today to get a hand brush for cleaning stuff up around here and I need to replace the outdoor water faucet but that will wait til spring….and that will give me time to plan it…got a lot done around here yesterday but I am thinking of taking the day off today…think I need to get over my compulsion to fill each day with work…when do I really get to retire? Going to get started on the dining room next week and that will keep me busy through the end of the year….not much to do today…after the grocery runs I’ll get on the bike downstairs and I should be able to get two rides in before 11…then I’ll decide what I’m going to do….more later…