Well…after getting the three rides in downstairs, I took a look outside and it was warm enough to go out so I suited up and took off…most of the trail was clear and it was nice to get outside and some fresh air…Muskegon Lake was even lower today and rocks that I have never seen before are emerging from the water…and the coastline has moved out about 50 feet from where it was along the bridges on the south side of the lake…much of the trail is now covered by a sand dune and I think they are going to stop clearing it and the beach road this week…I think I’ll do two outdoor rides tomorrow if the weather holds up and pair that with two indoor…with the 36 miles today, I will go under 100 miles left to the goal with the rides tomorrow and that feels good…9,881 miles right now and that means I’ll hit the goal Friday and still have two more weeks left to ride…yay!

Well…not sure if it’s depression but I am just so damn tired of doing the things needed to maintain this body as I age…I mean I’ve lived out here for almost 4 years and I don’t know where the McDonalds, Burger King, or Taco Bell even is…and it’s been over 7 years since I’ve had any fast food…and I can’t even try my favorite foods anymore…chips…have loved potato chips since I was little but can’t tolerate the salt with my BP so high…and I spend my days figuring out how to get at least three rides in every day…I long for the days when I could just let it unfold and fool around…but that won’t be today…I don’t have to cook with the last of the potato soup to use and still lots of the big ham to have for dinner…probably shouldn’t be having ham either since it is salty, too…but where do I draw the line? Think I’ll steam some cauliflower with the ham for dinner later…yeah, that’s where I’m at now…it is just so much work to be old…and I’m tired…more later…

Well…damn, running late already and it’s only 6:20 and I need to get on the bike by 6:30 to get the first ride in before the F1 race comes on at 8am….I did check my BP when I got up and it’s in the 130′s but the coffee and rides will raise that into the 150′s and I’m not sure what the heck that means…I need to stop obsessing about it or maybe it will just kill me an put me out of my misery…didn’t get much done yesterday and the only thing I’m going to do today is the rides to keep piling the miles on and get to the goal…this is the third day of no allergy meds and I really can feel it…have had a low grade headache since I stopped them and I guess that’s what I’ll live with from now on…the wind was howling again last night and I can’t remember a time out here when it has blown this much for so long…was really thinking about getting on the outdoor bike today but not in that wind…it stayed over 40 all night last night so the snow should be mostly gone today and I’ll be able to get out for the appointment tomorrow and I need to hit Meijers for a prescription but then I’ll be in for the week and probably for the rest of the year…going to be in the 20′s for a high later in the week and that’s disheartening…oh, well…on the bike…more later…

Well…it’s a little after 1pm and I am done for the day with only the weight work to do and I’ll start that after I do this…okay, I have a little bitch about continuity in tv shows…have been rewatching “Goliath” and they started the first season with a beat up 66 Mustang that Billy drove that had full hubcaps…and that turned into a 65 Mustang GT with bullet shaped rear view mirrors and dual exhaust that came out through the valence below the rear bumper for the second season and through the next to last episode of the third when it changed back to a non GT with flat mirrors and single exhaust…they were all red but that was the only thing that stayed the same…they must have used at least three different cars that could have been 4 and being a car guy, this bugs the hell out of me…I know they employ continuity managers on every show but whoever it is isn’t too good at it…okay, that’s my bitch for the day

Well…I tried the new BP machine as soon as I got up this morning and getting a reading of 134/69 gives me some hope that I can do lifestyle changes to keep me from stroking out….started a little experiment of not taking any allergy meds last night and I can’t feel any difference this morning so I guess I’ll stop taking them…not sure if that had any effect on the BP but the ones I was taking do tend to raise it so I’ll see…slept okay last night but I’m pretty worn out today and have only 15 minutes before I need to get on the bike…down to 179 miles to get to 10K so I need to keep grinding it out 24 miles at a time to get done before Man U plays at 12:30…it didn’t snow last night and it’s already above freezing so we’ll start seeing the snow go away and that will continue until Wed next week until the temp drops into the 20′s for a few days…but no really cold weather til the end of the month and that leaves only January and February to endure the winter weather and I can take that..especially with the new boots…not much to do today…just going to do the rides and then figure out the cleaning that needs to be done…it looks like the turkey soup will wait for a few days since I still have potato soup to use up before I make it so it looks like Tuesday will be the day….more later…

Well…got the new BP machine and tried it out and the news isn’t good…this one is pretty consistent and shows me with really high pressure so I’m sure they will want me on BP meds from now on…oh, well…I was the only one of the men in my family that escaped that fate and at 71 I guess I shouldn’t bitch too much…and people I know have been on the meds for quite a few years and haven’t had any problem with it…and I really don’t want to have a frickin stroke from it…but I would really like to know why it’s so damn high and just last year it was only about 130…and I’ve dropped 35 pounds and get way too much exercise so that will be the question for the doctor Monday…I did call the public works dept. here to get them to come out and plow the darn streets and alley so I can get out for the appointment Monday…no way I wanted to shovel the 40 yards out to 7th street…but they haven’t done the alley yet so we’ll see if I have to shovel it Sunday…damn, I need some time off…

Well…damn, didn’t get out of bed til almost 8 this morning and I really needed a night of long sleep after only about 4 hours yesterday…but I feel out of synch today and I’m not sure when I’ll get on the bike…it may turn out to be a day where I’m still trying to get the third ride in late in the afternoon…it’s not snowing right now but it looks like it will be in a few hours and I am sure tired of it…it’s going to be in the 40′s starting Sunday but then down into the 20′s from Tuesday on and the winter is wearing me out already…haven’t been able to shift into survival mode yet and I really do need to have that happen soon…didn’t get anything done but shoveling the snow and cooking yesterday but don’t need to cook today so it will be easier…but I really don’t have any easy days anymore and I wonder if I ever will…man, it would be nice to just sit here and drink coffee, watch the birds, and do nothing for just one day…but that’s not my life and I’m going to get on the bike in a few…I am under 200 miles to get to the goal for the year so that means 10 days of riding 24 miles a day and then I’m going to go down to 8 miles a day for the rest of the year…still have the goal of riding every day for the calendar year but I can use a rest but I need to keep burning calories….not much to do today…I do have to shovel the snow at some point but that won’t happen til after lunch since it’s already 8:30am and I should have a ride in by now….oh, well…more later…

Well…after shoveling a ton of snow the past two days, I hurt everywhere and there is more falling right now that I will have to shovel tomorrow…so there will be ibuprofen tonight along with the voltaren for my thumb that got beat up from using the shovel…I do like the new boots and keeping my feet dry and warm and still don’t know why I haven’t bought any before now…hmmmm…it is Michigan after all and we do get snow…the birds were much quicker finding the feeder this year at only 2 days when last year it was two weeks and I wonder if it’s all of the snow that is covering their normal food sources? I do know I’ve had chickadees, juncoes, blue jays, and lots of doves so far so that is cool…got the big, 10 pound ham cooked on the grill today and that is going to feed me for at least a week and then go into some ham soup but I need to make turkey soup first this weekend…man, getting up at 5 every day is wearing me out and I didn’t have time to take a nap this aft…maybe tomorrow…it looks like I’m going to have to shovel from my driveway out to 7th street since they don’t seem to be plowing anywhere up here anymore…still might not be able to get out of here Monday if they don’t do the streets…crap, that’s one thing I’m tired of…in GR, all of the streets would be cleared by now…okay…that’s enough for now…want to read a bit before the Lions play later tonight…

Well…used the new boots to shovel the snow for the first time this morning and came in after an hour out there with nice warm feet for the first time since I moved out here…and the lugged soles just bite into the snow so shoveling is so much easier not having to worry about slipping and sliding all over…well worth the 55 bucks  paid for them…but, I’ll be back out there again later this aft since the snow is still falling at almost 3 inches an hour…but at least the power has stayed on and no damage to anything from the surges when it was going on and off…so now it’s time to prep the big ham to go on the grill around 1 or so since it’s huge and needs to heat through..and that usually takes about 3 hours….

Well…that was some pretty extreme weather last night that is continuing this morning,,,8 inches of snow overnight with 8 more coming today with lots of wind and drifting…and the power was off for more than 4 hours last night that I coped with well after Tom reminded me I had a light in my booster box for the car and I used that to be able to read and keep myself from getting too bored…and I now know that the kitchen stove will keep this place from freezing…didn’t even have to run all four burners on the range top to keep it over 60 in here…but I prefer having power…going to try out the new boots when I go out to shovel the snow later this morning after I get the bike rides in…bought a 10 pound ham for 8 bucks yesterday and I’m going to make that later today and then I’ll have food for the next week or so…I really don’t like having my routine disrupted and I think it’s going to take all day to relax back into it…didn’t sleep for crap last night and went to bed late, up at three, and then out of bed at 5:30…so I’m going to try to take a nap this aft…probably won’t work but I’ll give it a try…not much to do today…it looks like a three shovel day after three rides that will get me down to only 200 miles left for the year…I know I didn’t eat enough yesterday with just a bowl of soup and then a chicken leg quarter for dinner…so I’ll have to do better today…it sure is comforting to have the furnace come on…more later….