Well…got on the bike today with the express purpose of doing some exploring around here just to see what is in the near neighborhood and couldn’t have been happier with what I found…just down the hill and to the left is a brand new area of re-constructed old buildings that includes the Frueanthal theater where they put on plays and lots of bars and restaurants along with a huge farmers market that has room for at least 100 stalls that is new and only a quarter of a mile away….and a huge old brick building that Amazon turned into a warehouse/office along with an art museum, and the new arena that is across from the theater…and that is just on the three streets I have explored…so, I think I got lucky finding this house in this area and I am going to have some fun after the covid restrictions are lifted in summer…I can see this place gaining 10 to 20K in the next two years and that will mean I can leave some inheritance for my kids….I feel pretty lucky to have found this place….and with the extra 2 grand I’m going to get, I can do all of the things I want to the yard when it gets warmer…lots of flowers and a big garden and taking the dead tree down…and my brother has a guy for that, too…pretty cool…

Well…that was easy…as you know, I’ve been trying to get the covid payment for a couple of months starting with talking to my rep, my senator, and the IRS with no luck…but, this morning, I decided to try to file a free tax return to try to get the 600 dollars that I missed from the December payment……the IRS had sent me a postcard giving me some options on how to do it and I selected Turbotax…and, after about a half hour of filling in the form online….the good news came and I am going to get the 600 bucks refunded to me and that will qualify me for the 1400 dollar payment that is to come in the next relief bill that is in the senate right now….so, this buys my new washer that is coming tomorrow and all the other tools I need to get this place cleaned up outside…and it is quite a relief that this is finally resolved and it was much easier than I expected….and filled the time while I wait for the temp to come up so I can change the tires on the car…cripes, this could even buy the new snowies I need for next winter…and I may even just call a drain cleaning company to do my kitchen drain instead of working on it myself…this is pretty cool….

Well…that wasn’t too bad for a night of being good…I did wake up at 4:04 but was able to get back to sleep until almost 6 so I’ll take it…and I don’t feel too bad today even with just the first few sips of coffee….the bike riding soreness has finally hit and it is a welcome development that I am starting the long road back to fitness…but it’s still going to be cold over the next two weeks with just a couple of days of 50’s but then back to the 30’s and I am hoping for a break so I can get out in light thermasuit or shorts….but, as I settle in here, I only have one thing to do and that is work on the kitchen drains…I would call a plumber but I need to conserve cash with a couple of thousand going out this month with my house insurance, the new washer, and the cost of the move…but, I am getting a couple of thousand in two weeks so it’s just that I won’t be able to save anything in March but that was planned….I did figure out the loud combustion blower on the furnace yesterday and fixed it by hitting it with a little wd so it’s much quieter today….just the little things that come with owning a house….I am going to put the summer tires on the car this morning since the snow has been taken out of the forecast for the 13th and there is only one day that there may be some light stuff in the next two weeks but I can stay home on those days if I have to…there seems to be lots of ice fog out here but they stay on top of it with salt so that is good and bad…good that it’s not slippery but bad for the rust on the Miata…oh, well….not much to do today…after putting the tires on the car, I am going to start to just move everything downstairs and will work on putting it away at my leisure…I do have to spend some cash for the rolling cart for the kitchen in the next couple of weeks since I really need the prep space but that will wait…I now have time to do things at my pace and that feels good….more later…

Well…there is nothing like a bike ride to explore my new surroundings…just today, I decided to go east along Muskegon lake where the trails are clear and discovered a few things….the Muskegon minor league hockey team plays at an arena that is within walking distance from here so when the covid restrictions are lifted later this year, I’ll be able to walk up and over the hill to see some hockey…and just to the east of that, there is a huge, modern business area that is being built a few blocks from there….and there is a street at the bottom of the hill that is full of old buildings with new businesses in them…it would be great if one of them would be my neighborhood bar…oh, and I have a bike shop just 3 blocks from here…going to go exploring over in that area tomorrow…there is a huge stainless steel sculpture at the end of the gentrified street in some sort of a park that looks interesting…I think my house is on the edge of the part of the town that is revitalizing and that is pretty cool and will give me something to do…and when they get the trail repaired, it will make for an easy ride out to the lake…I am pretty happy with how things have worked out with the house so far….now I just need to figure out the slow drain in the kitchen and get everything put away and I can just live for a while….

Well…man, my eyes are really itchy and filled with crap this morning and that leaves my vision pretty blurry…I really hope it’s not allergies this early in the year…but, it probably is since my nose is running and my head is plugged up to go along with the eyes….darn….slept okay but was up a little after 5 and tried to go back to sleep with little success…I should be sore after getting the first ride in yesterday…and my legs are a little stiff but not sore at all…we’ll see how they are after heading back into town today to pick up more stuff for the next to last time….and it will be the last run with the snowies on the car…was going to put the summer tires on yesterday but wanted to get a ride in instead…so I think it will be tomorrow….I did find all of the stores I frequent and 4 of them are within a mile of each other and the other two are only about 3 miles from here…so I am finding my way around here a bit…have never been good at finding my way around but Muskegon is small enough and everything is based on about 5 main roads so I’ll get it soon…it appears that Lake Michigan is a little farther away than I thought but 6 miles is still doable on the bike…only a 12 mile round trip and I do that all the time….not much to do today…just the run into town and then more putting stuff away…going to try to get back on the bike but it is going to be in the 30’s and that makes it less pleasant…still in exploration mode on the bike so I think I’m going to go north east today around Muskegon lake to see if the trails are clear…there was still a lot of ice on the trail to the west I rode yesterday and I had to turn around near the sub….more later….

Well…damn, could this be a pattern? Got up at 6:27 again today but I don’t feel like I got any sleep at all…just worn right out and feel like I should go back to bed…and yep, I did part of that to myself last night but working on this place all day contributed, too….and today is going to be another busy one with three stops for the grocery run in a few minutes and then putting the new tires back on the car…and I hope I can fix the leaky outside faucet when I get back here…and replace the shower head that I just hate….I do feel good that I got a bunch of stuff done yesterday and the house is starting to come together….and today is going to be the first bike ride out here and I can’t wait for that….going to ride down to the landing and try to find the trail so I can go out to the lake….really need to get back to getting some exercise every day and start dropping the weight I’ve put on over the winter…and I hope that riding will firm up my abs again and help the pain I’ve had in my back for months now….can’t say not much to do today because I have lots to do and don’t feel like doing it…but, I’ll suck it up and get going in an hour or so…but I need more coffee right now….more later….

Well…damn, I really was going to take a few days off after I moved in here but it just hasn’t worked out that way….I still have so much stuff over at the old house that I needed to go over there this morning and pick some up and then clean…got the floors washed and waxed and got some clean up done downstairs, then back here to clear out the living room so I could install the 9×12 rug that my daughter got me, and then put everything back….she has taste like mine…the rug has grey, black, and white in a random non pattern that looks cool…and it makes the living room quieter and feels good to walk on…it will go really well with the grey that I am going to paint the walls in here but I don’t want to think about that right now…and if I spill some grey paint on it, you won’t be able to tell….after my brother stopped over to drop off the rest of the keys for the house and had more stories of how many people are bidding on houses way over asking, I feel like I got a damn good deal on this house and I am so happy that we got it done…can’t wait to go exploring on my bike…might get out for a ride tomorrow but I do want to put the summer tires back on the car since the winter ones are damn near bald…and I need to get out to depot, aldi’s, and meijers for the grocery run in the morning so it looks like another busy one….when do I get a break?

Well…that was a little better…didn’t get up until 6:23 this morning and it’s about time I got some good sleep…I think part of it is that I got everything done I needed to yesterday and don’t have anything hanging over my head to do today…other than go back into town and clean this morning…it feels good to have my car inside again and my garage fits the Miata with room to spare…was thinking about putting the summer tires back on the car this week but it is supposed to snow a little on the day my son is moving back and I need to meet them at the house and the new tires are really bad in the snow…the winter tires are worn out and out of balance a little…we’ll see….just looked at the weather and I think I will put the new tires back on the car….the forecast says it will be rain/snow so I think I’ll be okay…but not til tomorrow…want to get the rug down here in the living room this afternoon after the run into town…it does feel good to have this house and know I can do whatever I want to it and don’t have to think about what anyone else wants….I think the pain from moving is finally subsiding since I don’t hurt too much this morning except for my hands…they are still stiff and sore and I think I’m going to have to take something for it…and it won’t help to go into town and clean for a couple of hours…I think it’s going to take 4 trips back to town just to pick up the stuff I didn’t move sat…I think I have a tote full of food to move today along with some tools….the ride will be much more pleasant after I get the new tires back on….more later….

Well…yeah, I know, this is not a political one but I made progress today and wanted to talk about it…first I did get out and ordered a new washer that will be delivered Sat…and when I was finding ABC, I found where my Daily Deals and Harbor Freight stores are…in the same complex only about 3 1/2 miles from here so that is really cool….and I called to get my garage door repaired and they came out this morning and fixed everything wrong with it for only 80 bucks…the opener is toast and I’ll have to get another one of those and hang it but I have my car in the garage! The door is really light and I can open it with one hand but I am going to wait a while to put an opener up…probably not until it gets warmer…I can live with that…and I had the rear interior door re-keyed today so I can’t lock myself out…never got those keys at closing…and that wasn’t bad so I did get a lot done already… and I am going to get to a political one as soon as I can find a topic….more later….

Well…damn, that didn’t last long…up at 5:04 and couldn’t get back to sleep so I am feeling pretty slow and tired this morning…and it may be that the stress from the past month or so is finally hitting me and contributing to that….just want to go back to bed but I know that won’t work and will make me even more frustrated so I’ll just lean on coffee and hope that helps….I did get a lot of work done yesterday and I am hoping for more progress today with getting the door repair scheduled and going out to buy my new washer….it’s kind of weird that you can’t just buy the washer on ABC’s website like you can do on any other one but I guess they’re just old fashioned…I did notice that the dryer downstairs is a GE, too, so I’ll have almost a matching pair…the new washer will have to be leveled since the floor where it goes is not too even but I have my big level and lots of shim material so that should be no problem….the drain in the kitchen is still running too slow for me so I may have to climb in the crawl space and open up the clean out port to find out where the clog is…all of the drain pipes are new so it should be an easy fix….not much to do today…right now, anyway….need coffee and to just sit here for a while and let the coffee work….more later…