Well….since I started feeding the birds out here a few weeks ago, I really expected to see sparrows on the feeder or in the yard at least but not one has shown up…I wonder how that could be? Sparrows are everywhere and I have never been to a place that didn’t have any so that makes it especially strange….I mean I have lots of titmouses…clouds of them…and I have chickens even but no sparrows so I guess I’m going to have to feed the 40 lbs of food to the chickens and the squirrels…oh, and this is another strange thing…I have a feeder full of food that has been visited by a few birds and you would think they would remember and come back there…but, no….lots of them will feed of the leftovers that the chickens leave but if I get two or three on the feeder in a day that is a lot….and it’s the same damn food…..I miss my sparrow mosh pit….oh, well…

Well…darn, it’s 17 out here and it looks like the first batch of lake effect snow is going to set up tonight and we’re supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow…ick…but then it’s going to get back into the 40’s for the next week or so so it should all melt…I wonder if I’m going to have to shovel…could probably use the exercise…slept okay last night but still feel worn out right now and I guess that’s normal now…only did one ride yesterday with the errands I had to run but I may do two today since I don’t have anything else to do….have been on that bike for almost 14 hours already and will hit 200 miles the day after tomorrow depending on if I do two rides today or one….won’t get to 5,000 miles this year but it has been a good one and I should see around 4,800 and that isn’t bad for an old guy…I do need to do some maintenance on the black and grey bikes soon to make sure they are ready in the spring…going to try to figure out how to take the swing arm bushings out and see if they can be replaced since they are worn on both bikes….not much to do today…just going to ride the bike and clean some…damn, I have to clean a lot around here and I guess it’s because this place is so old….need to get the basement organized and I’ll probably start on that today…and I need to clear out the spare bedroom so I can start working on it…..more later…

Well…had to run a couple of errands this morning and the wind was blowing the car all over the place….it’s steady at 30mph and gusting to 50 so when I hit HF, walking across the icy parking lot was a challenge…and you can feel it when it gusts since the house shudders a bit when it does….I’ve never lived in place that is so windy….there is a gale warning up almost every day…and I needed to do the grocery run today since it is going to be snowy and icy the next two days….tomorrow’s high is only going to be 23 so all of the wet roads will be icy in the morning and wed has the possibility of 3 in of snow and still only 30 or so for a high…got a Cook’s spiral sliced ham that has a regular price of 37 bucks for 6 and couldn’t pass up protein at 89 cents a pound….and I like ham and can use it in lots of stuff…and that will leave me two nice ham bones to make soup after the first of the year…need to empty the freezer first but it seems I keep putting stuff in….have had a pizza in there for a few weeks now and that will be used up this weekend…oh, I can use some ham on it so I’ll have to remember that….now back to soccer….

Well….darn, I’m tired this morning…didn’t get out of bed until 7:13 but feel like I didn’t sleep at all…that seems to be normal these days and I sure don’t like it….but, I’m not too sore so I guess I’ll grasp at that to get my day started…it was nice to have fresh bedding last night and that may have helped me sleep better…the wind is already blowing like crazy out here and it is supposed to gust up to 50 today and I am wondering if I should do the grocery run today since the high is supposed to be in the 20’s with snow tomorrow….and I still don’t want to put the worn out snowies on the car….so I guess I’ll have to work my strategy of not driving when it snows….and I do need to get on the bike before I do anything but haven’t even read the news yet so I’m behind already….the plans for working on the inside of the house have started to form up in my mind and I think I’m going to start by working on the windows….need to get rid of all of the hangers for the shades, curtains, and everything else that is still attached to the frames…it is so strange that they just left all of that stuff on there when they put up new blinds….and then lots of hole filling and sanding to get them ready to paint….not much to do today…I think I may get out for the groceries today so I don’t have to think about that anymore but I’m not sure yet…we’ll see after the bike ride….more later….

Well…I finally did take that day off the bike that I have been needing for quite a while and I am surprised that I don’t feel that guilty from it….I did do laundry and cleaned some so I haven’t been a complete slug…and three of these which is harder than it appears…trying to watch a Who performance from England but the Sky feed has been a little unstable today…..and the F1 race really sucked so I gave up on that….and not it’s only 2 and I have the rest of the day to fill so you may get a couple more of these…maybe even a political one if I can find a topic….I did see an article that quoted a federal judge who is presiding over the Jan 6th trials ask why the idiot trump hasn’t been charged for trying to overturn the election…and he reminded everyone that it is illegal to do that so what’s the deal? This idea is starting to get some traction from members of congress, too, who are asking why he hasn’t been charged for the obstruction in the Mueller report? I hope they keep it up…it has just started to rain really big drops out here and it is very loud…I am so glad I have a garage to keep the ice off the car….

Well….running a little early for a Sunday…already have gone out to get the paper and read it and it’s only 7….woke up pretty early before 5 but was able to lie back down until almost 6:30 so I consider that a win….and I feel okay today and I should be really sore after two rides on the bike yesterday….but I’m seriously thinking about taking the day off for a rest day today and just clean a bit….didn’t get much done yesterday but I am going to do some laundry since my bedding needs it and my couch blankets could use a wash….so that will be it unless I clean the bathroom and I’m not sure I will….not sure of much right now and I even don’t want to think too much right now…still on the first cup of coffee and it’s not working yet so I need a second one….I am going to have to do some work on the car since the parking brake is hanging up like it does once a year so I need to pull the rear wheels and lube up the linkages but I’m not sure where my little pump oiler is….might have to go to HF and get another one to fill with ATF since that appears to last the longest….I am still stalling putting the old snowies on the car and may just not drive when it’s snowing…I do have that option with not having any place to be….not much to do today…just the laundry and the F1 race at 12:30 and just puttering around here…but not yet…have to read the news and get more coffee first….more later….

Well…did a two ride day today with planning to take a recovery day tomorrow…that plan really gave me a case of the guilts so that put me back on the bike late this aft…I was still sore from the morning ride so the second one was really painful but I’m glad I did it….now I’m not sure what the new pattern is going to be…do I alternate doing two a days with one ride days? Or go all out and do two rides a day for 6 days and then take a day off on Sunday? Not sure yet but I know I won’t be doing one ride days anymore unless I hurt myself somehow….I am looking forward the Michigan playoff game tonight for the big 10 championship…if they win, they are in the playoffs for the national championship…pretty cool….

Well…up at 6:23 this morning but was able to lie back down for an hour or so and had a weird dream about starting a new job….hmmm…didn’t sleep well, though, and feel pretty crappy and my brain doesn’t feel like working too well and this is pretty hard right now…but, I’ll live through it….the wind is blowing like crazy out here and I had to pick my outdoor chair from the front of the house yesterday where it landed after blowing off the front stoop…and it is suppose to be 21 for a low tonight and only 25 for a high tomorrow and that is a set up for lake effect snow but there isn’t any in the forecast yet…don’t really want to start shoveling yet and it looks like I may be lucky for the next week or so….didn’t get anything done yesterday but I do need to clean today…the bathroom needs a once over and I could dust in here but we’ll see how motivated I am after I get some coffee in me….I’ve completed the outdoor work that I wanted to get done this year and I hope that will free me up to take some time off next year and not work so hard…I’m feeling old and just don’t want to use the rest of my days making this a nice house for the next owners…..not much to do today…just ride the bike and clean…I’ve ridden the downstairs bike over 11 hours since I started down there and went over 160 miles and it looks like I’ll have 250 miles or so down there by the end of the year….I wonder how many I’ll have on it before getting out next spring? I guess it all depends on getting into the habit of doing two rides a day….and I don’t want to do that yet….more later…

Well…you know I’ve been struggling lately with only doing one ride a day and trying to compensate by only eating one meal a day to stay under 1K calories a day so I don’t blow up into a good facsimile of the Goodyear blimp….after 3 days of that I just couldn’t do it anymore…so I had a second meal today and I do feel guilty about it…I wonder if I could ride twice a day instead? That will mean doing laundry twice a week since I come off the bike so soaked that I have to change my clothes and shower every time….hmmm…it’s a conundrum that I really don’t know how to solve right now….I really felt lousy all afternoon and had no energy so I didn’t get anything done….and I’m about ready to just give up and watch tv….so, I think I will…..and get back at it tomorrow….

Well…damn, didn’t get out of bed until 8:03 this morning and I wonder how that happened…I know I woke up when it was dark but was able to just roll over and go back to sleep and that is really unusual…but I don’t feel like I slept much and that is getting to be the new normal….I was going to run an errand this morning but have decided against it….just can’t muster the motivation to go out in the cold and wet….I did have to work on the car yesterday since I forgot to check the coolant after I flushed it in the summer….it was down about a pint and I hope it was just air bubbles that I didn’t get out of it….so I added some coolant and had to put a clamp on the siphon in the overflow tank since it fell off into the tank when I popped the top off….luckily, I had a clamp in the bag that held the kitchen drawer stuff from my apartment….yeah, two houses later and it’s still in a garbage bag downstairs…should probably start putting that stuff away….I just want to sit here for a while and do nothing and I think I will…..I did put the outside bike in the basement yesterday so it looks like it’s indoor riding until spring….unless it gets over 40….just don’t want to be cold anymore….not much to do today….just cleaning and riding downstairs but that can wait a while….still haven’t read the news yet and need to do that to clear my head…and have more coffee…cripes, it’s 9 already and I’m still on my first cup….more later…