Well…as you can see, no political one today since I am so depressed with how the country got sold out by Manchin and Sinema that I just can’t talk about it right now…so, I’ll talk about this…for a while, I really felt like I got a lot done today, but when I thought about it, I didn’t get much done at all…and that is a little depressing, too….as I said before, I got two bike rides in and made an omelet for lunch and used up the leftover bacon…then I started to work on the computer for the downstairs bike so I can start to ride it when the weather is crappy…it took me almost 15 minutes to get the battery out of it’s packaging….have never seen anything like it…but I did get it in the computer and got it set up so it will read time in seat, distance, and MPH on the first screen…but, when I got on it, the chain was skipping from no lubrication and sitting so long so I had to go out and get the chain lube and lubricate it…works great now and I put about .3 of a mile on it before remembering I hadn’t put the outdoor bike away since I wanted to clean the idler sprockets on the rear shifter with them filled with gunk…so I got out the dish soap and the detail brush I use to clean it and got grease and dirt all over me but did get it clean…now it has to dry before I can lube the chain and the idlers…still have that left to do but can wait until tomorrow since rain is forecast…or I may do it today since it is probably the nicest it’s going to be for the rest of the year….but, I’m taking a break first…didn’t do much but I’m still worn out….

Well…got my last two rides in wearing shorts today and it was just brutal on the second ride…the first ride was okay if a little windy but manageable….so I came back here, had some more coffee, and then got back on the bike….and that was a mistake…as soon as I left here I could tell that the wind had picked up to at least 20 mph out of the East and I almost turned around since I never go out in wind like that…probably should have, really…on the way back, going straight into the wind, the gusts were almost 30 mph on top of the steady 20 that the wind was blowing and I was all the down to the 3rd sprocket in the back of the bike and I’ve never ridden any distance on that one….had one gust when I was riding across the ponit that stopped me dead and I could only balance until it died down…and my legs are telling me the ride was pretty stupid…one cool thing was on the way up the hill to the beach, I saw a huge tom turkey that was just standing there looking in the windows of the sun room on a house…I don’t think he could figure out why he couldn’t walk in there…and I just had to laugh…and on the way back, he was just standing on the trail and didn’t move when I rode by…pretty darn weird….

Well…when I get up every morning, I try to guess what time it is before I look at my phone….and some mornings I get pretty close…today, I guessed 7:02 and it was actually 7:04 and that was pretty cool…slept okay last night but I’m still feeling a little worn out today and I’m pretty sure it’s from not eating enough so I’m going to try to change that today…it looks like today will be the last day in shorts on the bike til spring since the highs are going to be in the low 40’s starting on Monday and I guess that’s supposed to happen since November is almost here…it is 51 out here right now and that is the low limit for shorts so I will do one more day in them…and I may have the day off tomorrow with the rain that is forecast…..didn’t get a lot done yesterday and will probably just clean today…and cook since there are no leftovers in the fridge….I did get some boneless skinless thighs yesterday and will make some later today but I’m not sure what I’ll make with it for sides….and I think I’ll make a grilled cheese for lunch with both American and Swiss and real butter…not much to do today…going to sit here for a bit and read the news and have more coffee while I wait for it to get light enough to see….I think I’ll make some toast with peanut butter to get started on eating enough today….more later…

Well….man, the rides were tough today and my legs were really flat on both rides…and I am still feeling it right now so I’m not sure how much work I’m going to get done the rest of the day…but that’s not what this one is about…over the past couple of days, tree service trucks have been all over this neighborhood and it sounds like I’m living in a logging camp with all of the chainsaws that are being run everywhere…I guess they are clearing the powerlines to get ready for winter and I hope they go down my alley and get the one branch that is hanging over my line….I’m glad this is happening now with the house all closed up…it would be nuts if the windows had to be open…there are three crews within a block of me and the noise really is deafening…oh, well….at least it’s not music…

Well…running about on time this morning with getting up  a little after 6:30 and I don’t feel too bad today…my thumb still looks like hell but it doesn’t hurt so I guess that’s something…it looks like we had our first frost out here and I am happy that I have a garage to put my car in so I don’t have to scrape the windshield…and the cold should start the leaves falling that I have been waiting on…there still isn’t much color out here and I can’t wait to see what it looks like on the north shore of Muskegon lake when they do change…. will probably take a color tour in the car when that happens…might take a drive up to Whitehall when that happens just to see it…I do have the grocery run to do today and I am glad I got the lawn done yesterday so I can get on the bike after I get back here…going to try to get two rides in again today even though it took a lot out of me yesterday…okay, I was wrong…my thumb just started to hurt like crazy again and I think it’s part of the healing process…at least I hope it is and not some permanent damage that I am going to have to deal with forever…still can’t move it much but at least I can shift the bike again….not much to do today…just the grocery run, bike rides, and cleaning some…need to plan some meals since the leftovers are almost gone and I am getting bored with breakfast for lunch…maybe some pasta? More later….

Well…with the weather starting to get iffy out here, I wanted to still be able to ride every day so that means I needed to put a bike on the trainer that I have for indoor riding…got that done just now with the Specialized bike I bought from my brother but that took a bit of doing with the rear shifter not working…so, I took the shift unit on the handlebars apart and wd’d it and now it works like it did before…still can’t get it below 5th on the back sprocket but that’s okay since I’m running it on the 6th one….it has been another busy day with getting two rides in and mowing the lawn along with some cleaning but it is 4 now and that’s enough work for one day…the mower made it through another mowing but it went out of adjustment at the end so I’ll have to take a look at that this week…the actuator bracket is still on tight so the adjustment on the cable sheath must have moved…and easy fix that takes about 30 seconds…now I just need to get a battery for the computer of the training bike so I can keep track of the miles I ride on that one…but the pain is that you can’t just buy one battery anymore…you have to buy a 4 pack for 8 bucks and I’m pretty sure the spares won’t last a couple of years…oh, well…

Well…running late this morning with not getting out of bed until after 7..slept okay and don’t feel too bad this morning and I think I’m up for a two ride day as soon as it gets light but that won’t be for another hour or so…and it will be almost full thermasuit with the temp only 37 out there but it is good that the wind is only blowing about 5 mph so it could be a pleasant if cold ride….I was such a slug yesterday with not riding or doing much else but laundry but I think I need one of those days once in a while as I get older….and it rained all day and the wind was blowing in gusts to over 30 and I refuse to even try to go out in those conditions…so, I really did have an excuse to be off the bike yesterday…I do need to get a bike set up downstairs so I can at least get 10 miles in when the weather is bad as it will be more often as we get toward winter out here….think I’ll mow the lawn tomorrow since it looks like rain again thurs and fri and I think we are getting our first frost this week…that should get the leaves falling so I can pick them up and get them out to the curb and I hope my mower holds up for that job….no much to do today…I do have to clean some around here and get the rides in but I am still nursing my right thumb a bit so I am not going to abuse it…and I may do some test stripping to see what the oak trim looks like and to see if I can get the adhesive off the spare bedroom floor….need to start thinking about the winter interior work and how I’m going to schedule it….more later….

Well…damn, the hits just keep coming….had to mail a couple of bills and drop my ballot off at the cop shop so I thought I’d take the bike since it stopped raining out here and I wanted to check out how my thumb is faring when I shift the bike…glad to say it’s a little better and I really didn’t notice shifting and that is getting it back toward being automatic instead of thinking about it…but, as soon as I got on the bike I had a searing pain in the outside of my left thigh that continued all the way out and back…and that one came out of nowhere since it didn’t hurt around here when I was doing laundry and the rest of the stuff I did today… so that is a new one that I haven’t felt before….and, at my age, I thought I had felt every possible pain that there is…I almost turned right to the trail instead of left back here but the pain in my leg and the wind gusting to 30 mph made the decision for me and I just came home….will be back on the bike tomorrow for two rides but they will start later with it getting down into the 30’s out here tonight….

Well…this is one of those mornings where I just want to go back to bed…for the rest of the day….I think I’m finally resigned to the fact that my thumb is never going heal enough to be able to move it much…it’s been almost a week and I have no movement in the second joint…and it still hurts like crazy…oh, well….must have slept okay last night since my right shoulder hurts and that means I slept on it all night without the normal tossing and turning….it looks like it rained all night and it is still raining right now so I won’t be on the bike til later in the day…if I get out at all, so that means I have a morning free to do what I want and just ease into the day….but, how do I do that? Have laundry and cleaning to do so I guess that will be the plan for the day….didn’t do a lot yesterday but feeding the lawn and cleaning windows but I finished that and that makes me feel good…I am thinking about stripping the oak window trim and I searched for colors that go with it and was surprised that I can still use the grays that I had planned to paint this place if I do….looked at a bunch of photos that show how it will look but I’m not sure if I like it or not…not much to do today…I do need to get my ballot filled out and drop it off and continue looking for a dentist out here…and I need to go to the Verizon store to see if they can fix my phone and get the camera working again…but that is too much for one day so that will be for later in the week….more later…

Well…finally did get a ride in this morning but it was in almost full thermasuit and only 38 degrees when I left about 10…wasn’t too bad but my damn thumb still made me wince every time I upshifted and I am getting really tired of that…with taking yesterday off, you would think my legs would be great today but no, they hurt and felt really flat and are still aching right now and that’s not normal…I did get the food on the lawn and the rain is on it’s way to wash it in here in an hour or so…and then I just hunker down here until Tuesday with high winds and rain coming in tonight…probably should clean the last two windows today before the rain and I just might but the F1 race starts in 40 minutes and I don’t think that’s enough time to do them both….I guess I could start and then if the race gets boring, I can finish them up….okay, I think I will….