Well…yeah, I know…I didn’t do a political one today…just couldn’t find a topic that grabbed me…so I’ll do this instead…were you up early enough to see the red sun caused by the wildfires in Canada this morning? It was just surreal since the sun’s rays coming through the trees was actually pink this morning and I can’t remember that ever happening…if it wasn’t for the smoke making me cough on the bike, it would have been pretty cool…and my lungs felt pretty irritated by the end of the 2nd ride so I’ll put a mask in my bike bag if it is like this tomorrow…other than the rides it was another easy day today…and I now have 4 rides in pain free and I can’t figure that out at all…I wonder if it was the ibuprofen I took last week? Think I ate enough today with a huge pork chop for lunch and a couple of bean tacos for dinner…almost skipped dinner but thought better of it…okay, a little more reading…

Well…damn, it’s almost 7am and I’m barely moving so that means I won’t get two rides in before the F1 race comes on at 9 and that screws up my whole day…oh, well…didn’t sleep well at all and that is going to hurt later but I still won’t be able to take a nap and that sucks…didn’t get anything done yesterday and today will probably be the same but I am going to try to at least clean a bit…and I do need to cook to use up the pork chops before they spoil…still going to eat out of the freezer for the next couple of weeks so I have room to put more stuff in…I do need to plan the pool run out to Ada so I can let K know and she can come to meet up since I haven’t seen her in almost two years and that is too long…I just feel old this morning and I probably should since I am but damn, it’s all downhill from here and I really do wonder at times how long I have…probably no more than ten years and I do need to get my affairs in order to make it easier on my daughter….okay, need to get off my butt and get going…more later…

Well…it was pretty darn cold when I went out for a ride this morning at 53 degrees and a surprising thing happened…I had been struggling with pain in my right elbow, knee, and tricep to the point that it was howling by the middle of the 2nd ride and I was taking ibuprofen for it…but today, I was pain free all the way through both rides and I really can’t figure that out…could I finally be healing? That would be so cool since it has been quite bad lately…I guess we’ll see tomorrow…didn’t do anything else today but take it easy and read …going to get under the car Monday to see where the clutch slave cylinder is so I can see if it’s leaking or just needs to be bled…it’s not expensive to replace at about 20 bucks but there is no reason if it’s not leaking…but if I can get that sorted, everything but the cd player is fixed…and I’ll start working on that next…time to read…again…

Well…it’s damn cold out here right now at 53 degrees so I’ll have to wait to get on the bike til 7 or so…but that’s okay since I just poured the first cup of coffee and it’s going to take a while to work…damn, I’m worn out….and I need to get the rides in before 10am when F1 qualifying comes on…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I am going to have to cook today and it looks like some roast potatoes and a pork chop for lunch and then a turkey bacon blt for dinner…and that really isn’t enough calories but what can you do? Going to have to start planning some meals from the freezer and get stuff out for that…I have a full quart of pickled red onions I need to work in and the bean tacos will help with that…but I do need to find something else I can use them on but I don’t know what that would be…and I have eggs to use so I think I’ll thaw some roll sausage and make breakfast for dinner soon…not much to do today…just need to get moving by 7:30 or so but sure don’t feel like it right now…coffee, coffee…more later…

Well…I really can’t believe the transformation in the car from just replacing the caliper yesterday…it drives like a normal stick again that you can let coast when you need to and taking off from a stop is just smooth and easy…and it even feels faster since the engine is no longer pushing against the stuck brake…now I need to get under it and find the clutch slave cylinder to bleed that, too to help the notchy shifting…it was just such a joy to drive it out to the beach this afternoon but the water was too cold to swim and that sucked…so I didn’t stay out there long and got back here to read a bit…glad I got 4 more books today since I just finished one I started yesterday…tried to eat more today but still only had a bowl of Masala for lunch and two bean tacos for dinner…so I may make some buttered popcorn later…or some ham and swiss on crackers with horseradish sauce…I guess I’ll have to decide later…more reading…

Well…another month starts but it started with a night of no sleep so it’s going to be a struggle to get moving…I have hope that it will be better than yesterday when I was pretty damn dizzy on the bike…I did eat a lot more yesterday so I’m hoping that will help…out of bed at 5:40 today and I am really confused why being up so early doesn’t lead to being able to take a nap later…or even sleep more at night…oh, well…it’s going to be an easy day today with getting everything done yesterday…just the rides and then to the library for more books and then I think I’ll hit the beach this morning…it got down to 59 last night and that gave me a little relief…the heat has been so wearing on me and it’s going to be hot again starting tomorrow and that will be August in Michigan…allergies are already bad and August is the worst month for them…the goldenrod is blooming along the trail and that will make me miserable…think I’m going to take an ibuprofen before I get on the bike today to try to tamp down the pain in my right arm that has been so bad lately…typical tendonitis that continues to move around…more later…

Well…the car is fixed! It only took 40 minutes from the package hitting my porch and me getting in the car for a test drive…pretty damn easy and the cheap little bleeder I bought worked great and it took me about 5 minutes to bleed them…then I did a bunch of hard stops and when I got back here the wheel was cold to the touch and that is so cool…this is the fist caliper I’ve ever changed and it was so easy…and now the car coasts like it should and doesn’t try to stop between gears…it really made a difference with how the car drives and there is almost no brake pulsation at all…and that went from trying to shake the wheel out of my hand Tuesday when it first started…it’s not like I really like working on cars anymore…but now I know I can do calipers anyway…no big deal…going to be a good cocktail night tonight…yay!

Well…it’s funny that since I mowed my lawn this morning, there has been someone mowing all around me…I think we were all waiting for the rain yesterday so we could mow and get the lawns looking even again…and I even did an application of weed killer since the only thing really growing is weeds…still no part for the car yet but if it gets here before 5 or so, I’m going to install it today so I’ll have a nice relaxing cocktail night tonight…today was one of the worst days I’ve had in a while with not eating enough…the bike rides were a struggle and I felt dizzy on the bike and after I got off it…so I did what I always do and made some toast with peanut butter before I got the mower out and that helped…and I have one more meal to make that will be a big one with a pork chop potatoes and veggies…we have had lots of wildfire smoke here today and the little weather widget at the bottom of the screen says “smoke” and I’ve never seen that before…I did finish the 3rd book this afternoon so I can go to the library for 4 more tomorrow…and if the part for the car doesn’t get here til late, I can still get it fixed first thing tomorrow morning and that will mean a trip out to the beach…okay, need to start the last book…

Well…damn, it was nice to be able to close this place up and not sweat through my sheets last night…and that was the first night in over a month that I could do that…it’s 59 degrees here right now so that will mean a light fleece when I get on the bike here in a few minutes….so damn worn out again today and I know it’s from not eating enough…again… so I’ll have to do better today…and I do have to remember to pre treat my right elbow/tricep since they were howling in pain yesterday as soon as I got on the bike…my allergies have hit the August levels of badness already and that is going to make the rest of the summer miserable…I used to only feel it in August but now they are bad year round and that sucks…oh, well…going to be running late all day today since I’m already late for getting on the bike…need more coffee first and then I’ll drag my butt off the couch and get going…it did rain here for a bit yesterday and it was nice to hear that…not sure if it will help my lawn at all but I’ve given up on it for the year…the part for the car is going to be here today and I hope it’s early so I can fix the car today…more later…

Well…I finally got a few things done today with an errand I had to run this morning…when I confirmed that the brake caliper is not fixed with soaking it with wd…I can’t see it taking more than a half hour or so to install it and get the brakes bled…just two bolts and the brake line to remove and that should only take about 10 minutes if the brake line bolt comes out easily…not going to change out the bracket that holds the caliper since they don’t wear out and they are a pain to get off…so if I get the parts early enough, I should be able to have it fixed tomorrow…I did get two loads of laundry done today since I needed to do bedding after sweating all night for weeks…running out of leftovers so I took some turkey bacon out of the freezer to use up some lettuce and tomatoes that are getting old…and then nothing but eating out of the freezer for a month or so…it did rain out here for a bit today and it’s still raining and the stupid assholes in the rental are standing out in it…they just have to have their party…creeps…