Well…yeah, I almost forgot to come here for this one…it’s after 6 and I usually do the second one in the afternoon but the day just got away from me…and the funny thing is that I didn’t do much….Man U stunk up the place so I did get out on the bike around 9 but only did one ride today…just need a little rest to get the soreness out of my legs…it’s literally a pain to have them sore all the time and hobble around like I’m 90…the wind was blowing like crazy this morning straight out of the west and that made it brutal on the way out…but, the way back was fun and I was able to fly in top gear most of the way….but about an hour after I got back, the wind picked up and it has been blowing 20 plus since so that made my decision for me…so, I decided to wash and wax the car and vacuum the interior and trunk…but I didn’t do anything else so I do feel a bit guilty but I think I’ll live through it…I do have to wash the glass and dust the interior tomorrow since it is going to be warm again and I think I’ll be able to get out in shorts one more time….but, I’m done for the day and need to figure out what I’m going to watch tonight…..

Well…ugh…a 5 am morning today and I’m going to pay for that all day…tried to go back to sleep but only made it til 6:30 and there wasn’t much sleep in that hour and a half so I might have to get a nap in later in the day….don’t feel too bad this morning even with the lack of sleep and it is already 49 out here so I am going to get out in shorts after the Man U match at 8:30 or if they suck, I’ll get out around 9…but it may be a one ride day today since I have been doubling up all week and could use the rest….the bird feeder and handgrips I ordered are going to get here tomorrow and I can’t wait to get the feeder up and loaded to see what birds I get out here….the leaves have started to fall pretty good and I will have to pick them up with the mower starting Monday…and that will allow me to get the branches that have fallen out to pickup along with them….and I do need to trim some branches along the power line again to get ready for winter….need to try to figure out where I’m going to put my new grill and if I’m going to build a little landing pad for it in the back yard or just cook out the garage door…I need to make a place for it in the garage for the winter so I’ll need to hang my spreader and get the extra garbage can out or move it in front of the car if it will fit…probably won’t have room for anything else after I get it but that’s okay…don’t need anything else and the lack of space will make me stay organized….not much to do today…need to cook some chicken and clean some but that is about it…and watch some football and F1 qualifying but that is not til later in the day….more later….

Well….I did get two rides in today and I am glad I got out early….the rides were good but the wind came up a lot by the second ride at 10:30 and it was a strain going out with the wind about 15…but coming back was a breeze and even a little fun….and now the wind is howling about 25 out here  and gusting…I think my right leg problem is actually a pinched nerve in my back….it has been hurting some lately and feels like it’s out of whack…that normally impinges on my sciatica that causes pain in the front of my thigh….and when it hurt on the bike today I could get off the seat and the pain improved so I think part of it is that I’ve lost a lot of fat so there is much less padding for my nerves…oh, and I did take an ibuprofen that kicked in about 3/4ths of the way out and made the pain tolerable…but now my left thigh is hurting, too…I think I’ll stop bitching about that for a while….and take the rest of the day off….

Well…just had a surprise call from my oldest brother…it was nice to talk to him after a few months and he had a surprise for me…he has a 20 year old Weber gas grill that he doesn’t need anymore and he said I could have it for free…I just need to buy a new propane tank for it and I think those are about 35 bucks and I’ll have to fill it for another 20 bucks but 55 bucks to have a grill and enough gas to cook for a year? Pretty darn cool….and it’s a three burner with the igniter that still works…not sure how much I’ll use it but just to have that option is pretty nice….haven’t had a grill for almost 4 years and I do like to do chicken on the grill and some marinated pork chops….and you can even smoke on them…at least I did on my last grill and that is great for salmon and other fish….I think I still have some cherry wood chips packed away somewhere to use that I’ll have to look for….and I’ll have to get a spray bottle at the dollar store for flare ups….I’m excited….

Well…damn, my right thigh is howling at me this morning and I really can’t figure out how I hurt it…it’s bad enough that I think I’ll take something here in a minute to be able to get on the bike when it gets light…I could take a day off and rest it but the weather is too nice to do that…it’s going to be almost 60 for highs for the next 4 days or so and I do want to get out in shorts one last time for the year….so that will mean getting out later in the day and I don’t like doing that…like to get the rides in during the morning so I have the rest of the day to do what I want….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but some cleaning and today looks the same but I do need to clean the car for winter on one of these nice days but I think that will wait til Sunday….I think I’m going to need to take a day off the bike soon….I’m just wearing out and may have to start to be more careful about how much I do as I get older…and that is a pain in the butt…once you start to go downhill it is really depressing….not much to do today…just the rides and cleaning…and I need to start getting the black bike ready for winter since I got the crankset a couple of weeks ago and it is just sitting there waiting for me to get off my butt and get going….but, I need more coffee and an ibuprofen first or I won’t be able to get on the bike….more later….

Well…damn, the rides seem to be getting harder and harder lately and I sure hope it’s not from getting old…had a good first ride today and thought I was healing up in my right thigh and hip since it didn’t really hurt much but, as soon as I started the second, it started to hurt again and my legs just fell off a cliff about half way through and it was a struggle to get up any speed…I know the wind was blowing pretty good right into my face coming back but damn, what happened to my legs? Seems I have to remember that as I age I can’t expect to be able to go like I was able to at 50….oh, well…I did get the work done I planned to do today and the rug is clean and the couch has been cleaned and the cushions switched around….and I even cleaned up my coffee table table and got rid of the junk mail that was stacked on it…not a lot of work done but at least I did something and that might keep the guilt at bay…I did order my new see through window bird feeder today along with some new handgrips for the bike….the ones on it are falling apart and have become gooey and they stick to my gloves so it’s time…got some really cool ones for about 11 bucks that have set screws to keep them in place along with a shelf extension to rest my hands on like I do most of the time when I ride and that may help to keep my right thumb from hurting…that stuff will be here next Tuesday so I need to get some feed on the grocery run next wed…it will be fun to see if I get more kinds of birds than sparrows like I got in GR…and I can sit right here and watch them once they find the feeder…that normally takes a couple of weeks….should be fun….

Well…running about on time this morning with getting up at 6:20 and just starting on the first cup of coffee…slept okay last night and just feel a little tired today but that is pretty normal as I get older…had an okay day yesterday and got a few things done but no real progress on the house and that is disappointing….need to get started on painting the inside of the house but I don’t feel any urgency to do it….I’m getting used to the ugly paneling and I think I’m going to have to force myself to get moving with all of the prep work that needs to be done….and I still need to find a doctor out here and that will be the project for next week…I am happy that I got all of the outside work done and all I have left to do is the leaves if they ever fall…I am still mowing the lawn and I wonder when it will stop growing…I think I mowed into the end of November last year so that means at least a couple more times….need to edge everything one more time and run the string trimmer so it will look nice and finished all winter….not much to do today…going to just ride in a little while and then see what happens for the rest of the day…I do have to clean the living room today and rotate the couch cushions along with doing the cobwebs and dusting….oh, and I get to have a bagel with my coffee today…yay….more later…

Well…darn, I was going to take it a little easy today but it just didn’t work out that way….after doing the grocery run where I had to get protein for the first time in a couple of weeks and got both some pork chops and some chicken, and even bought some bagels with cream cheese to splurge a little….then out on the bike for the first ride and I was in pain the entire way…something in my right hip and thigh is hurting and I wonder if it is from the stationary bike riding yesterday? It started right after I got off it and it hurt every damn pedal on the first ride…and the first one was brutal with how dead my legs felt…the weird thing was that even with the wind coming up to around 15 for the second ride, it was much better than the first one and the pain subsided a little….once back here, I ate a little for lunch then got started on cleaning even though I wasn’t going to…got the cobweb patrol done in my room and then cleaned the stove and and the storage shelf where I put my food….and now I’m in the middle of cooking dinner early with not eating much for lunch and I feel pretty darn worn out…so, I’m done for the day….going to take it easy and read the news for a while….

Well…damn, I just realized that I have voted in every election I’ve been eligible for over the past 50 years…and the people I voted for won out here…so that is cool….up at 5:30 again this morning but I was able to go back to sleep for an hour or so and that wasn’t bad…but no dreams at all for weeks now and I wonder what that means? It’s damn cold out here at 29 degrees and that should start getting the leaves down so I can get them out to the curb….didn’t do the shorts to Thanksgiving thing this year since I became bored with it last year….but I had a long run of doing it…I think I’m getting more sensitive to cold as I get older and the damage to my thumb has done the same thing….it’s really weird how the cold makes it hurt and I’ve never felt that before…I do have a few things to do today starting with the grocery run here in a few minutes and I really do need to change up my diet a little…I know there are great foods out there that I can buy but don’t…like some crusty bread that costs about 5 bucks a loaf or a steak…haven’t had a steak in over two years and that would be great to taste…I am going to make chili this week and I haven’t done that since I’ve been out here….not much to do today…I am going to try to get out on the bike today but I am getting spoiled by the bike downstairs and I think I’ll be riding that a lot…it is just so easy to walk down instead of getting suited up…but exercise is exercise and I need to make sure I do two rides a day….more later….

Well…another day and another one that feels wasted with not getting anything done on the house….didn’t even get an outside ride in other than to go to the post office and drop off a bill that I had to pay…well, it was two weeks early but with how bad the mail is lately, I couldn’t take a chance of it being late….but, I did get two 8 milers in on the downstairs bike and that should be enough..it sure feels like I rode longer than when I do the 30 outside so I guess I can not feel guilty…decided to not buy new winter tires since the cheapest ones are 90 bucks each and I’m not spending over 400 bucks on tires that I’ll put 200 miles a year on….so the old blizzaks will go back on for one more year and I’ll just try to not drive much….and I can still look for tires over the winter to see if I can find some that are reasonable…I did get laundry done today so I guess that’s something but I’ll need to do more tomorrow….it looks like I may be out on the bike in shorts one last time this weekend since it’s going to be in the 50’s and I still need to winterize the car and clean it so that will work out well…have some rust preventer that needs to be applied, too so I guess I’ll be busy…