Well….that really sucked…again…tried to go to sleep at the normal time last night at 11 but after an hour I gave up and got back up til almost 1….and then up again at 4:30 for a grand total of 3 1/2 hours for the night…and I am feeling it right now…going to use up all my energy doing the grocery run here at 7 for senior hour and then I’ll be back here for the next 3 weeks….not sure how long I can sustain this insomnia, though…will probably have to take a nap later today but don’t want to impinge on the ability to sleep tonight so I may have to just power through the day…I do want to get out on the bike today since the temp is going to over 50…but I won’t be in shorts no matter how warm it gets….since I’ll be out early enough that it won’t be that warm….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I am going to try to finish up cleaning the kitchen and putting the rest of the materials and tools away…it has started to look good with much less clutter everywhere and I do need to extend that to the rest of the house….need to get the trash out and the box that the new bike came in is still sitting in the living room so that will be done today…I did get some dusting done yesterday with a microfiber cloth I got at HF and that worked like a champ and I’m glad I got a bunch more of them the last time I was there…..I think today is going to be a low key one after no sleep last night and I am not going to beat up on myself if I take the day off….more later…

Well….things got even more real here in Michigan today when our governor ordered everyone to stay home for the next 3 weeks and closed all non-essential businesses…that basically leaves only grocery stores operating and health and food are the only two reasons you can go out…I am going to test that tomorrow morning when I am going to take advantage of Meijer’s 7 am old folks grocery hour to see what will be there after the panic buying that I’m sure is happening right now…at least they will have all night to stock the store and we old folks will get first crack at it in the morning…but, I’m sure there won’t be much there to buy…I have a few things to get but then I will be in for the three weeks…have plenty of food and maybe enough for cocktails for a couple of weeks so I’ll be okay…I did make it under the wire to get out to get stamps and all of my vegetable seeds for the garden that I am putting in after the last frost…but, I am going to start them downstairs in the next couple of days so I can get early tomatoes and peppers…and I got two varieties of huge sunflowers to plant along the fence just to get some seed for the birds…and maybe to eat if they are any good…and I got two varieties of big tomatoes along with cherry tomatoes and green onions, green peppers, and jalapenos…I forgot to get beans but I can try at Meijers tomorrow…the whole bunch of seed packets only cost 9 bucks so that was pretty cool…so now, I keep doing what I was doing anyway…not going anywhere or doing anything…but, I can still ride my bike so I can cope easily….oh, and I’ll go over 600 miles for the year tomorrow so I did make it before April…yay!

Well…damn…woke up to snow on the ground for I hope the last time this morning but I am a realist and remember when I was young that we had snow days in April so we’ll see…and my allergies are really bad this morning so I am miserable and will probably be that way all day…but, I did sleep okay for a few hours and this feels like a normal start to the day…I did do some cooking yesterday so that won’t have to be done today…the turkey soup came out good but I used black olives on the pizza that don’t taste like anything and that was a little disappointing…I think I’ll put some green olives on top when I heat the pizza later and see if that helps…and maybe some parmesan, too….I think I’ll probably go back to regular flour, too since bread flour is more expensive and I don’t notice any difference…it did come off the pizza pan easier without sticking but that may have been that I let it bake longer to ensure that the crust was done….I think I’ll make ham soup after this turkey container is done just to get the freezer filled again…I do have chicken that needs to be frozen but that will mean that I can’t buy any protein this week even though Aldi’s has chicken for 49 cents a pound again….oh, well…not much to do today…I think I’ll just wing it this morning as I wait for the temp to come up enough to go out on the bike….think I’ll probably have to make more coffee with the way I feel right now….I really wish they had jump starters for people…I could sure use one right now…more later….

Well…running about normal for a Sunday morning and that makes me a little late…yeah, I get it…that doesn’t make a lot of sense but I don’t make a lot of sense at times…I did sleep okay last night and stayed in bed until after the coffee started….it is a little weird how quiet this house is and that I don’t need ear plugs to sleep anymore…and that a coffee maker in the kitchen is loud enough that it wakes me up now…with the social distancing stuff going on now, the traffic on the street has gone down by a huge amount and that is much quieter, too….that is something I would like to continue but I know it won’t once things start to go back to normal…my allergies are just damn ridiculous right now and I really do wish I could take something for them during the day….I am so tired of coughing and having a stuffed up head and it is wearing on me….I did get some stuff put away yesterday and will finish it up today if cooking doesn’t get in the way…I did get a bike ride in yesterday, too and am going to try to do that again today but I need to do it before 1:30…napcar is trying out I racing with video games on the tv this afternoon and I understand that it is pretty realistic…they are even going to have live announcers for it and I need to see that…should be funny and something to do anyway….I am going to cook today with making turkey soup and a homemade pizza…decided on turkey soup since that will free up enough space in the freezer downstairs to freeze 3 of the containers…will make ham soup next week to use up the celery and carrots before they go bad…and I am going to try bread flour to make the pizza today just for the heck of it…not sure if it will work better but trying new stuff cooking is always fun…I’m sure it will be edible and that’s all that counts…more later…

Well…running a little late today and it’s another one where I just can’t get started…slept okay last night but I think I’m still making up for the sleep deficit I’ve had over the past week or so…still feel pretty worn out and my allergies are in high gear…was miserable all day yesterday until I took one of the remaining allergy meds…I do still have 24 of them so I can get by for almost a month but I’m going to be miserable again when those are gone…and it would be nice to not have to feel like crap all day…I did get out to get some supplies for the downstairs project yesterday but I still need to get out to get the tomato and other seeds I need to plant the garden in the spring…I’ll do that Monday but then will be in here for the duration…didn’t get out on the bike yesterday with the wind being so high and it looks like I won’t be able to get out til late in the day today with it being so cold out there…damn, I am tired of the cold…I really need to have some warm weather soon or I think I’ll be pretty depressed….I mean it’s almost April so come on weather….I am going to get to some work here today and get all my supplies and tools put away so I can clean the kitchen and make it look less like a construction area….but that will probably be it for the day…unless I get a burst of energy and that looks pretty unlikely….more later…

Well…man, I just can’t get started this morning…okay, just poured the first cup of coffee so that may have something to do with it…I did sleep better last night but I think it will take a couple of days to fix the sleep deficit I’ve had lately…it rained so hard around 5 or so that it woke me up and just did it again a few minutes ago…and that is a new sound that I haven’t heard yet since I’ve been living here so it will take a while to get used to it…I can see myself sitting on the front porch watching the storms if I’m still living here this summer…I did get some good news yesterday that I have been waiting for quite a while for…got my checking account up over 10K with the latest deposit and that makes me feel a little more secure than I have in a while…I know there will be loads of cash going out in the next month that will deplete it some but the fact that I got there by being careful with spending just makes me want to continue it…so, I will…didn’t get much done yesterday but the grocery run but I forgot almost all of the stuff I need to make pizza so I’m going to run out again this morning and that will be the last time I’ll need to go out for a month or so with the virus getting much worse…Meijers is going to make Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7-8 just for us old folks to get our grocery shopping done and I am going to take advantage of that next week if I need to go out….but, I’m hoping that I will not need to…they are doing a good job of cleaning the carts, etc. but I am taking my homemade sanitizer, too just in case….not much to do today….just cleaning and putting tools away and maybe a bike ride if it stops raining long enough…more later…

Well…yeah, it looks like this is not going to be a series after all…there just isn’t enough happening to support it…but I will come back and do more of them if there are any developments…but, let’s get to today…I did make a run out to Meijers to get some more groceries to support the menu that I want to do over the next couple of weeks…and it looks like they have a handle on the supply problems they had from the run on paper products and some perishables and the shelves are starting to fill again so it looks like everyone has filled up their storage and are starting to get the idea that there will be tp and food available….and they even had a person disinfecting the shopping carts and getting them ready for people to use…I did bring my own bleach soaked paper towel just in case and I used that to wipe off the buttons on the ATM that I used to get some cash out and to do my hands after I finished…I am going to be careful since I really don’t need to get sick…I think I’ll make sure to take that with me whenever I go out….made up a quart of bleach/water and put it in a spray bottle so I could do the door knobs and handles here after I was done with the groceries….but I don’t think I need to go out after tomorrow since I forgot a green pepper and pepperoni and I want to make a homemade pizza next week…even got some bread flour to try out the bread maker sometime in the future, too…I can now do at least a month here without going out for anything other than to ride the bike…I do hope they send a thousand bucks to everyone to try to stimulate the economy since I can use that to pay for my new bike, new tires for the car, a big new air compressor, and a weight machine and still have 50 bucks left over…and they may do it twice…that would be cool…

Well….I’m exhausted this morning with another morning of getting up at 4:34…and that means only about 8 hours of sleep for the past two days and I’m going to pay for that later…and it was the third day of no ibuprofen or allergy meds along with no cocktails and that has left me sore and coughing with my allergies being so bad….and it is going to get worse as the pollen from the trees and everything else gets started…..and I’m already miserable….didn’t get much done yesterday but start putting the tools and materials away…kinda….I moved the bookcase into the utility room that I am going to use for storage but with no sleep yesterday, my motivation was pretty damn low…I did get a bike ride in and hope to get out in shorts before the rain comes in later today…we’re supposed to get almost an inch of rain over the next day or so and maybe even some thunderstorms tonight as the temps crash Friday back into the 30’s….I am going to try to get out to Meijers this morning to do a little more stocking up and I am going to try some obscure stuff that I think most people won’t be buying like bread flour and yeast to make bread and pizza crust…and I need to pick up soup materials for the two batches I’m going to make next week to put in the freezer….I have one container of ham soup left in there that I am going to thaw over the next few days so I can start fresh…the instant pot is going to get a workout over the next month or so…not much to do today…just the errands and a bike ride…need to get materials for the downstairs project and hit the dollar store for a big mixing bowl and some measuring cups that I don’t have…then, I think I’m in here for the next month…more later…

Well….with the latest reports that this virus situation is going to get unmanageable with the incompetents in charge and it could lead to a complete lockdown, I admit my anxiety level has ratcheted up quite a bit from earlier in the week….I guess that’s one of the problems with having time on my hands and reading so much news every day…I sure don’t want to have to put the new bike downstairs on the trainer just when the weather is going to get warm and not being able to go out is going to bring the progress on the house to a halt if I can’t get the materials I need…and the rule looks like you have to stay in unless it’s an emergency…but, I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this yard go to hell again and I am going to grow tomatoes and peppers out back this summer….so I guess I need to get the seed for that stuff this week and get it started in the basement…my anxiety is also high that I’ll have enough food to make it through a couple of months so I am going to make another run out tomorrow to see what is available in the stores and buy what I can in small quantities so that other people have the chance to stock up, too…I may even have to practice meal skipping and go down to one a day if it gets to that point…I do have ham bones for ham soup and a turkey carcass for turkey soup that I just need to get veggies for and make…that will give me 4 days per container for 3 containers for both so I can get 24 days just out of the soup if it comes to that…hey, I may even lose some weight….I’m hoping that Meijers institutes what other stores are doing and set aside a couple of hours twice a week so we old people can get in a sanitized store to shop with less crowds….that would help…and I still have a few venison steaks to eat, too….but I’m still a little concerned…have never gone through this in my life and it is new…I guess I’ll adjust once the uncertainty is gone…that’s the hardest thing for me….

Well…okay, that was one weird night last night but I did get back to bed at around 5 and stayed there until almost 7 but was only sleeping for about an hour…I wonder what that was all about? It was just another normal no cocktail night and there wasn’t anything unusual that happened yesterday so I’m not sure why my sleep would be so broken up….oh, well…just hope it doesn’t happen again tonight…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get a lot done but some cleaning and today will probably be more of the same….will probably be shifted into low gear most of the day…or at least until the coffee starts to work….I stopped coughing for some reason and that is a welcome change…that may be why I was able to get at least a little sleep this morning…it is a pain having to ration my meds that help with that but one good thing may be that I’ll be able to see how  bad my allergies are without medication…maybe I can tolerate them without taking anything but I won’t know that unless I stop…working on the third day of no meds at all and I wonder if all this is my body reacting to being clear of them for a change? I guess we’ll see later today….not much to do today….going to just ease into it and see how I feel….will probably just do the tools today and then get started on the linen closet doors tomorrow….I want to get at the mailbox on the front porch soon, too since it needs to be sanded and painted but that will probably wait til Sunday so I can get it painted and back up before the mailman comes Monday….more later…