Well….that was a little better…didn’t wake up til 5:34 and was able to get back to sleep for about an hour so I’ll take it after yesterday…and I don’t feel too bad right now…felt just exhausted yesterday afternoon and I still haven’t figured that out yet and I hope that doesn’t happen again today…I did get out for a 20 miler yesterday and had a weird thing happen when the fronts of my thighs hurt like crazy for the last 6 miles and that never happens….it was cold enough to go out in almost full thermasuit and was pretty damn cold when I got back here that lasted most of the afternoon….I think I still haven’t shifted to be used to the cold yet and I hope it happens soon…didn’t get out to shoot pool with some concerns about covid and that was the smart thing to do but it would be nice to have a few things get back to normal…I guess that won’t happen until there is a vaccine available….didn’t get much done yesterday but put the trash out and that got rid of all of the garden refuse so the cleanup on the yard is complete…I may rake some more of the leaves in the back yard after the rest of them are down but those will just be composted behind the garage….not much to do today…going to just wait out the weather and let it warm up before I even think about getting out and watch some football later….more later…

Well…that just sucked…up at 3:34 and then had the hardest time getting back to sleep…think it took til almost 5 but I guess I slept until almost 6:30 but that is just not enough…oh, well…slept on my right thumb that has arthritis in it and woke up with howling pain in it that did go away for the most part….it is going to hurt playing pool later…and that is cool…I am going out to play pool this morning and it will be the first time in months I’ve been out of here for something other than groceries or supplies to work on this house…and it looks like another lockdown is coming with the virus exploding here in Michigan and across the country…I guess that what we get when a lazy moron gets elected…okay, no politics here…I did get a nice bike ride in yesterday and did almost 20 miles but I won’t get out today with it raining right now and I never go out after having a couple shooting pool so I’ll have to wait til tomorrow…I am really trying to not feel guilty about not getting out after getting to my goals and with the pain I’ve been in lately….my legs just need some rest…but that means I’m back to eating only one meal a day to compensate for less riding…not much to do today…pool at 10 and then I think I’ll take the rest of the day off and just take it easy…I can use a day off….more later…

Well…that was another night of okay sleep but I wonder when I’m going to start feeling better from it…still feel so damn worn out even without riding yesterday that I’m beginning to think I may be getting old…that can’t be it…had some strange dreams again and that is one bright spot of sleeping a little better and this one had all people I didn’t know and lots of pizza in it…and I was going on a group ride that I never do…strange….I wonder if I should order pizza? I did get some cleaning done yesterday and should do the kitchen today and I just might since it is only 29 outside and that is means I’ll have to wait to get on the bike until this afternoon….just don’t want to do full thermasuit just yet but I guess I’m going to have to sometime…after all, I did put jeans on the last time it was cold and I usually wait to do that until t-day….I think it was a good thing to take a day off riding…my right knee was starting to get sore and I am having pain in my foot that isn’t the gout coming back so maybe I need to take it a little easier…not much to do today…just cleaning and looking for houses…I did see a nice one in Hastings for only 118K that doesn’t even need any work and I may just take a run down there and take a look at it…I am a little limited of how far out I can go since I do need cable internet…I should have something picked out by the end of the month…I hope…more later

Well….I talked about a little disappointment I had yesterday when I was going out for the top down park run yesterday when the stereo in the car wouldn’t play my mp3 player through it…I tried a bunch of other cables and none of them worked so I assumed the unit was at fault…but, I wanted to make sure so I hit the dollar store this morning to get another one on the way back from aldi’s…just tried it and it works again…so I guess all the cables I have are shot….that is pretty cool and is one less thing I have to think about….a bit of good news…

Well…that was weird…slept through the night for the second day in a row and I can’t remember when that happened the last time….and I’m barely coughing now so maybe I’m feeling better…still feel a little slow and low energy right now but that is probably from not eating enough…or from too much riding so I think I’ll take the day off with getting to my last goal for the year yesterday…I do still have that damn headache I’ve had off and on for a month but I know it’s from allergies and I hope I can get some more meds this morning when I do the grocery run….it is a little strange that we had a storm last night and the power didn’t go out….was sitting here waiting for it and dreading the fact that it was going to get cold and I would need the heat to work…it is only 39 out there right now and that is a huge change from 64 yesterday…I’m going to have to get used to the cold all over again I guess….didn’t get much done yesterday but I got most everything done the day before so I didn’t have much to do…I do have to clean today but I really want to just take a day off after I do the grocery run…and I just might….it would be nice to just veg for a while and let my body heal up some….more later….

Well…I did finally get the park drive in today and it was nice to just do nothing for a change…but I found out my stereo in the car is dying and won’t play my mp3 player through it anymore…need to get another cable from the dollar store tomorrow to see it that’s what it is…I did also stop at the bar where Tom and I shoot pool and they are open so we may be able to shoot pool Friday…that would be cool…I  put 50 miles on the car and I’m sure it is going to thank me for it…it can’t be good for it to drive 4 miles and then have it set again for another week…more later…I’ll get to a political one in a few minutes if I can find a topic..

Well…I think I may be getting over the coughing I’ve had for the past month…didn’t cough much yesterday and I slept okay last night with none that I can remember…I am coughing a little right now but I just got up and I can’t remember not coughing a little in the mornings…I wonder if it was all the outdoor time yesterday? It looks like another day of getting out as soon as it gets light with the temp at 64 right now so I can get both rides in before noon…I’m still thinking about taking a ride with the top down today just to celebrate the end of top down weather…I know I put the top down even when it’s cold but today will be the last day in shorts and short sleeves….man, I was sore last night after all of the work yesterday but it seems to be better today…I did take something for it and I’m sure that helped and I’ll probably need something later after doing two rides today…I’m going to get to the last milestone this morning with only 8 miles to go to get to 5,416 miles that will give me 10,000 miles with this year and last year combined…have never done that before…I’ll have to look at my records to see where I am in total since I started to keep track…I think I’m inching up on 75,000 miles and that would be something….not much to do today….I think I’ll probably take the day off and just enjoy the last day of nice weather…did all of the work I needed to do yesterday and I need a rest day…damn, I’m getting old….more later….

Well…when you get weather like this in November, it makes me feel like I need to jam in a lot of tasks to take advantage of it…and with today being the next to last 70 degree day, I have been busy, busy, busy. Started out my day at around 8 getting out on the bike for the first ride in a t-shirt and shorts since it was 64 already….went hard and pulled top gear all the way along the west side of the park which I have never done before…I wonder if that has something to do with the changes that are happening after the election? After the first ride…I finished up the coffee and got back on the bike for a second one by 10 and, when I got back here, I started lunch and, while that was cooking, got the garden waste bagged up and into the trash, moved the blocks that I had in the center of the lawn garden, and then raked and leveled the garden space and seeded it with grass seed. Then lunch, and after that I got started on the front lawn where I edged the sidewalks, then mowed the lawn for the last time and picked up the leaves….after I put all the tools away, I pulled the car out and washed it…just in case I want to do the top down park run tomorrow…it is going to be over 70 again so I may just pack a couple of beers and take a cruise. Then I came in and did three of these…but now I am done for the day…oh, I did laundry, too…that I need to get in the dryer right now…then I’m done….whew…

Well…man, I feel like I’m going through cortisol (the fight or flight hormone) withdrawal today after 4 years of having a ball of it inside me…from the day that idiot boy got elected, I have had elevated stress levels from worrying about what the latest outrage from the moron was going to be and how it was going to affect me. It dawned on me today when I was out riding that one of the effects of having the great outcome of the election is that music is becoming just music again…let me explain…over the past four years, I have had to have many coping mechanisms to allow me to survive the trump years…and music was one of the components of my shield along with drinking too much, riding too much, and keeping myself pretty isolated from the news. But today, music started to return to the thing I have enjoyed all my life…something that made me happy and helped elevate my mood…and with that change I started to notice the songs again and enjoy every note, they were no longer just a noisy shield that kept my brain occupied and the world out but they were different, like they had color again and nuance and even got me bopping to some of them on the bike. This kind of change hasn’t happened with food yet and I wonder if it will? It would be nice to savor some tastes and think of food not just as fuel but to be able to enjoy it…that might be too much to ask.

Well…woke up at 4:14 this morning and just rolled over and tried to go back to sleep…that worked for a while but the coffee maker woke me up at 6 and I thought to myself “what if I just don’t get up…what if I just lie here instead?” That thought was overruled by my bladder but it was still an okay night of sleep…no dreams to speak of so I’m not sure how well I slept…didn’t cough much until I got up so I guess that’s a plus…My legs finally started to feel the excess riding I’ve been doing and have a dull pain that won’t go away but that’s pretty much normal…down to 36 miles to go to the last goal and should make it tomorrow if it doesn’t rain too much…I am getting a little tired of riding this year and that hasn’t happened before…so I’m a little concerned that I may be getting bored with it and may start to make excuses to not go when I know I don’t have a choice if I want to stay healthy…..I’ve already started to gain weight with only doing one ride a day after I got to 5K miles and reducing calories hasn’t really helped….I did only have two pieces of pizza all day yesterday so maybe that’s a start…not much to do today…going to finish the clean up on the yard and then clean in here but that’s about it…..just feel pretty worn out right now and need to ease into it….more later…