Well…to go on with the music topic from yesterday, I was looking for an album to listen to on the indoor bike this morning and came across a live David Bowie album that I didn’t even know I had so I put that on and played it…some songs that are on it I’ve never heard before and that was a little treat…oh, and with that listening, I can add another one to the Hammond B-3 count from the song “Panic in Detroit”…more later….
November 15th
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….
I guess I shouldn’t have worried…
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…
A little music…
Well…not sure if I’m getting tired of my playlists in the mp3 player, but I’ve been reminded lately of how good playing entire albums can be…so that’s what I’ve been doing on the bike lately and one thing that came out of that is the clear evolution of the band Genesis from “Trick of the Tale” to “We Can’t Dance” that I had not really noticed before…ToT really is more related to their earlier work but WCD is more just a Phil Collins album that Rutherford and Banks play on…but that’s not to say it’s not a good one but the topics are more personal than on ToT and it has lots of ballads on it that are clearly Phil’s work…and love songs and I don’t remember any of those in their earlier work…I just think their earlier stuff was more prog rock than the pop it turned into on WCD…about the same as comparing Pink Floyd’s early works like “Atom Heart Mother” or “Meddle” to “Dark Side of the Moon” or “Wish You Were Here”…they also show a clear evolution from the really experimental stuff they were doing to start their careers…but they avoided going all the way to pop and I am thankful for that….just a few thoughts that came to me on the bike today…and it’s kind of filler since I haven’t come up with a topic in politics yet…but I will keep trying…
November 14th
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…
Spent some money today….
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…
We kept the senate…
Well..in a bit of good news, it was announced this morning that we have kept control of the senate and there is a possibility of even keeping the house if everything breaks our way…and these events punctured the doom and gloom that I felt when there were real prospects of losing them both…and going along with the dems taking over all of the power here in Michigan, maybe, just maybe I can get over the depression that came with the election…and I am excited that we can still accomplish a few things in the senate like getting more real judges appointed…not the hacks that the repubs always seem to nominate….and if we do hold the house, we need to take on the supreme court and do a real background investigation of Kavanaugh since thousands of tips on his criminal behavior were ignored by the FBI under the idiot trump and we still need to learn who paid off his quarter of a million dollar debts and paid off his house for him….sure sounds like a bribe to me…and then we need to expand the court and appoint real judges to the new seats, not the political hacks like alito who quote witch burners as reason for them taking rights away from women in this country…so, I guess I may even smile a bit today…not too much, but a little…
November 13th
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….
The decision was made for me…
Well…just as I was digging out my big gloves to get on the bike, it started to rain/snow so the decision where to ride was made for me…it will be an inside day today or I may even just say the hell with it and take the day off…it is a little funny that with me losing all the weight, I have that sagging skin on my abdomen that people get after fast weight loss….and it looks pretty strange….I really don’t want to ride today….but I will….and I need a reset about that…it seems that everything I do is focused on my weight and that is pretty unhealthy….but that has been a lifelong thing…I remember when I was in my 20’s that I would skip eating for days to try to get it under control…and very seldom being successful….I wonder what it would be like to be able to eat like a normal person? I’m always under 1500 calories a day and many days under 1000 and normal people are supposed to be able to eat 2500 a day and maintain their weight….but not me….I’m just damn tired of all of it…I would love to just get cleaned up and park myself on the couch with soccer on in the background and read some more…man, that seems pretty attractive right now….oh, well…running out of days to do that….and that sucks, too….
November 12th
Well..damn, just poured the first cup of coffee at 7:45 and didn’t get out of bed til 7:34…and we have a winter weather advisory on for today out here today with 2-5 inches of snow forecast…not ready for that at all but I am happy that I got the leaves picked up…the big tree still has all it’s leaves, though, and I am going to have to pick them up at some point…it’s only 37 out here right now so I’m waffling between an indoor ride or suiting up to go outside…there is no wind so it would be an okay ride….don’t want to do anything right now other than have my coffee…my back is still sore this morning but it’s not the total seize up it was yesterday….but, I really would like to know why it’s hurting like it is….if it snows like forecast, I’ll have to skip going out for the paper tomorrow and just treat it as a normal day…and that will save me 5 bucks and I’ll take that…the Sunday paper is pretty worthless so I really should just stop getting it….and that would end one thing that has given me lots of pleasure over the years…and that sucks…not much to do today….don’t really have a lot to do other than get the rides in but I’m not motivated to do that at all right now…I used to be able to just enjoy a day with nothing to do in it but I lost that when I started worrying about getting old and getting fat….and now I worry about losing all my teeth and dying of cancer…I’m just damn tired and need a break….more later…