Well…as I sit here watching the lake effect snow fall, sometimes really hard, I realize that I am not ready for winter yet…I know I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life and I should be used to it by now…but I still get this feeling of dread every year during the first snow…and I haven’t even thought about getting my wool winter coat out and I probably should do that today….but it’s going to get warmer Sunday and stay in the 40’s all next week so that it’s warm enough for a fleece or a light jacket so maybe I’ll wait til the week after to get the heavy stuff out…I really should order a pair of light leather gloves since I wore out my only nice pair….haven’t heard from T yet so it looks like they picked her for a jury so lunch is out and I need to figure something out…probably just have a ham sandwich to settle my stomach….okay, going to read a bit before I figure out lunch…more later…

Well…another wasted day yesterday and I’m not sure how I feel about that….I should be working around here but all of my motivation has disappeared…feel like crap this morning and I did that to myself and will probably do that again tonight…have been saving up some shows to watch so I won’t be bored…I hope…I did get my back to crack last night and this morning so maybe I’ll get some relief from the back pain I’ve had for weeks…used to be able to crack it any time I needed it but that went away at some point….I did get a ride in on the indoor bike yesterday and will do that again today with the snow overnight….I do need to get out to get a turkey today so I can thaw it over the next few days and then brine it Wed of next week…I am going to use some cranberry/raspberry juice to brine it and I am looking forward to seeing how it comes out…I may be meeting up with T for lunch in GH if she gets out of jury duty and that would  be fun….not much to do today….going to get on the bike soon and abuse my body but I am almost to 900 miles downstairs…going to get close to 6,000 miles this year but won’t break the record of 6,043…..I did notice that I have over 70 hours on the indoor bike and that is a long time to be just sitting still and pedaling….man, I’m tired….and I feel old…oh, well….more later…

Well…hmmm…it looks like I need to do a complete re-think of my daily routine with the weather change and snow….not doing enough work to burn the calories I’ve been taking in so how do I do it? Cut the calories down to under 1K a day or get on the inside bike twice a day? Or both? I do know I sure as hell don’t feel like doing either but I do need to do something with my weight loss stalling and feeling like I’m getting fat again…but that means I need to get on the bike in 6 minutes and that is not an appealing thought….oh, well….my back pain is not as bad as it was but I’m not going to declare success yet…and I am a little irritated that I haven’t gotten notice from amazon that my heating pad has been shipped….it was supposed to be here by the end of the week but that won’t happen now….at least it didn’t snow as much as they were forecasting and I can take the car out today to do the grocery run….for the first time in a long time I don’t need to hit aldis today…still have what I bought last week in the cupboard so there is nothing I need from there….not sure what I’m going to do today but I don’t want to do anything right now…not going to buy another turkey today since it would thaw too soon so I’ll wait til Friday to pick one up….going to try a new brine with cranberry juice for the next one and I am looking forward to something new…have tried apple and orange juice along with veggie broth and they all came out good…I think I may have enough room in the freezer for another carcass but they will need to be made into soup soon….not much to do today….can I take a day off? Yeah, that’s not going to happen but I’m not going to get on the bike before the grocery run….the conundrum is that cutting calories takes all the energy out of me but I need to burn more of them by doing two rides a day….damn, I feel worn out…more later…

Well…I don’t know what happened….after the trip the library out here and purchasing 25 used books, I have been on a reading binge over the past week with reading almost a book a day over the past 7 days….and I just finished up number 8 and I’m looking to start number 9….I used to be such a reader with always having a book going for almost my entire life but got out of that habit with all of the work I’ve done over the past few years on my house and the house on Valley…I think it may be driven by my lack of motivation I’ve been having about working on this place and helps me justify not doing anything…or maybe it’s just a new phase and something different to do…who knows? After I get through all of my books, I going to use my shiny new library card and check out some new ones…will probably have to do that next week….darn…

Well…it was a 6 am day to start and I think I slept through the night but sure don’t feel like it right now….I hurt and feel pretty crappy so I need to ease into the day with coffee and some old tv shows…it is supposed to rain/snow most of the day today so it looks like an indoor ride today….and that means I can sit here until 9 or so and watch Route 66 before I get going…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get much done but the branches and leaves and reading an entire book and I’ll finish another one today…it has been nice to get back into reading again and it fills the time that I would normally use watching tv…the world cup starts next week and I am a little excited about that….started watching that tournament back in 1994 when it was here in the US and it is a nice diversion…but that means there is no EPL to watch but I guess that is okay with how crappy Man U is playing….still haven’t gotten a shipping notice for the heating pad I bought Sunday so it looks like it won’t be here until next week and that does suck a little…I could use it right now with the tightness and pain I have in my back…oh, well…not much to do today…I should be working on this place but I have zero motivation….I’ve worked too hard my whole life and I’m just worn down by it….so I think I’ll just do the grocery list and read a bit after the bike ride…I’m running out of turkey so I’ll need to plan and get some food out of the freezer…..not sure if I’m going to buy another turkey but I probably should…and this time I might buy a butterball for 99 cents a pound but I could wait til Friday for that so it will thaw by Wed and I can brine it…but right now, all I want is more coffee and to sit here a bit….more later….

Well…as you remember, I was a little worried after taking the day off the bike and having my back starting to feel better after I ordered a heating pad to treat it…I guess I shouldn’t have worried about that…after doing two rides outside today, my back is right back to where it was a few days back when it froze up completely and is howling in pain again…and now it hurts behind my right shoulder to go with it…it was a struggle on the bike today and it took a lot out of me but I was able to get the  downed branches bundled up and put the 8 bags of leaves out….so there will be an ibuprofen in my future to try to take the edge off the pain in an hour or so…at least now I will know if the heating pad will work….damn…

Well…up at 5:41 and then the switch clicked at 6:33 and I knew there was no point in lying in bed anymore….had an okay day yesterday but didn’t do anything at all other than read…got all the way through a 400 page book in one day and I’m not sure how I got back into reading so much…I know part of it is the haul of books I got from the used book sale at the library but I still needed to actually read them…a habit I had gotten out of for many years…it really does fill the time quite nicely and I wonder if I’ll do another one today? My back still hurts and it’s a weird thing after ordering the heating pad yesterday…I want it to keep hurting until it gets here later in the week so I can see if it works or not..yeah, I’m pretty damn strange….it’s going to be cold from now on so I think I need to put the garden hose away and put the cap on the outside water tap since the valve I have on it now is made out of plastic and won’t survive the freeze…..and I need to cut the fallen branches up and bundle them along with putting the 8 bags of leaves out to be picked up tomorrow…I am going to get one more 5 pack of big lawn bags since there are still leaves falling and I don’t want to leave them on the lawn….I do need to do laundry today and figure out what I’m going to with the leftover turkey since I won’t be able to eat it all before it spoils…and that means I will need to plan other meals for later in the week….and they have to come out of the freezer….not much to do today…I do need to get a ride or two in and I want to do them outdoors….and that will mean I can have two meals today…but it’s only 30 out there right now and that means I’ll have to watch for ice on the trail with all the rain/snow we got yesterday…I did take the day off yesterday to try to heal the back a bit and it seems to have worked some but I know it will hurt again after the rides….man, I’m tired this morning….getting old is a pain in the butt….more later…

Well…with all of the pain I’ve been having for the past 6 weeks and not wanting to continually take ibuprofen, I had to try the one other thing I know will help…so, I bought myself a nice heating pad from Amazon today…it’s a big one with digital controls, automatic shut off timer, and it’s even washable when you take the cord off…it can go right in my washing machine and that is pretty cool…and it was only 20 bucks and less than any I could find locally….and that will come in handy this winter when I get too damn cold…and I bought myself a new rechargeable beard trimmer to replace one that I should have replaced 10 years ago when the battery stopped working in it…today was the last straw when I was trying to use it to do the fine trimming after I gave myself a haircut and it was cutting out even plugged in…and that has been going on for months and was a big enough pain that I spent 17 bucks to replace it with a nice Norelco one that has like 13 attachments and I will be able to use it for a month without recharging it….so, I spent 40 bucks today and put it on my capital one card that I haven’t used in a couple of months that pays me cash back…and I think I have 20 bucks of the cash back cash to use against it…so I guess I only spent 20 bucks today…and that feels better…

Well…damn, I hurt….I really do need to figure out why my back still hurts after 6 weeks from the first time I did it…I feel like I’m 90 years old and hobbling around this place…I think I’ll take the day off riding today and see if that will help…wasn’t going to ride outdoors anyway with the snow coming down out here and I only ate one meal yesterday since I only rode indoors…..and I am feeling that right now with no energy and a sour stomach so I think I’ll have some fruit here in a minute and lots more coffee…didn’t get a damn thing done but reading yesterday but I do need to clean a bit at some point today…and Man U plays at 11:30 so I want to have everything done by then…and there is an F1 race on later along with the Lions losing so I guess I’ll have something to keep me from getting bored…it’s a perfect day for hibernating out here and I think I will….I do need to do laundry today, too, but I have all day for that so I don’t need to rush…not much to do today…I do have to remember to find a political topic for later and I may even give myself a haircut since it is getting a little shaggy….but right now all I want is another cup of coffee and to fire up the tablet to read some news…..more later….