Well…have been up since 2:30 and can’t get back to sleep so I thought I’d come here for one of these as I sit here frustrated as hell…with having to ration my allergy meds, I have been coughing all night and that isn’t helping at all…I did find out that “Cannon” is on a 3 am…not sure what that piece of information is going to do for me but now I know….haven’t seen Clarence Ponsler on antenna channel 64.2 yet…he’s normally on at station breaks with the weather…oh goody..”Barnaby Jones” is on now at 4….this is going to be a long, long day if this keeps up….have to remember to hit the delay button on the coffee maker just in case I do get back to sleep at some point….I am going to need coffee this morning…I wonder if it’s going to rain? Yes it is…so I may not be able to get on the bike until later if at all….but the forecast calls for just cloudy today even though I see the radar has rain coming in from the west….but tomorrow is rain all day and maybe some thunderstorms tomorrow night…then it’s getting cold again and I am getting tired of it…..okay…I need to try to get back to sleep for a while….3 1/2 hours is just not going to do it…more later….okay…that didn’t do it…went back to bed and just knew it wasn’t going to happen so I’m back up at 4:20 and it looks like the day is going to be weird from it….damn….boredom is bad enough when it is at the normal times but at 4:20? Oh, well…don’t have anywhere to be so I guess it’s no big deal….

Well…okay, this isn’t going to be a daily series after all…I don’t think I have enough to say and my life is not so different than normal to be interesting…but, I do have some observations that I want to share….when I was out to Meijers doing the end of days shopping, I had never seen anything like it…empty shelves everywhere and I still don’t get the whole “buy all the toilet paper there is” thing that is going on…I did buy 6 rolls but that is enough to get me 6 weeks with the mega rolls I was looking for….but, I was able to get almost everything that I needed but forgot a bunch of stuff…or didn’t think of getting the ingredients to make soup with the ham bones and the turkey carcass I have in the freezer…so, in a couple of weeks after things settle down some, I’ll make a run out to get the veggies I need…until that time I’ll just use what I have here…I can easily get through three weeks to a month with what is on hand…on thing that is concerning me some is what people are going to do that can’t afford to be off work? I know that when my kids were little there is no way we could have weathered this without help from the in-laws…at that time, there was just no emergency cash and there are so many people in this country in that boat now that someone has to do something…I wonder if we could try not giving huge tax cuts to the rich for a change so the government would have options? I feel fortunate that I am retired and my cash will keep coming in no matter what happens…I hope…but I also have my house down payment money I can use in an emergency that will get me through at least two years…I sure hope we can figure out something so the suffering is not centered on the people who need it the least…we can but will we?

Well….it is a little funny that the same pattern repeats itself with my sleep on nights when I am being good with no cocktails…and that means up at 2:45, then trying to get back to sleep for an hour and then getting two more hours of fitful tossing and turning…and this time there was a little added stress of this whole coronavirus thing and what’s going to happen with the economy and it’s effects on my family and friends…but, I’ll deal with that later today….have been coughing again, too which I know is allergies but I couldn’t get any more allergy stuff yesterday so I have to ration the 27 doses I have and make them last for 6 weeks or so…and I do have other stuff that I don’t like that I can use in a pinch…I did get a nice bike ride in yesterday and it looks like I have the shifter adjusted right so that made it fun…and I am going to get out this morning after I take it easy a little and have some coffee…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but a little clean up and I think I’ll continue that today…need to find places to put my tools and materials downstairs since I don’t want to have to go out to the garage for everything…I do have a book case that would serve so I think I’ll start there…and there is trash that needs to be put out…have empty plaster containers and lots of old sandpaper that needs to be discarded and containers of screws, etc. that need to go back outside…and when that’s done, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning…..but that will be later…I need to have more coffee and make some more in the French press…more later….

Well…I have been thinking about doing a daily diary on the “social distancing” that we all have been asked to do by limiting our trips outside the house to essentials to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus…and with the shut down of basically everything but grocery stores and pharmacies here in Michigan, that request seems to be a little more than that…which I am okay with. After all, I am in the cohort that is at the most risk from getting infected since I am over 60…but I don’t have any underlying health problems so I guess that’s something…I do have something funny to relate as this whole thing starts…texting with one of my younger friends last week, she asked the question “how am I going to deal with having to be isolated for weeks?” If I could have laughed through the phone, I would have…and my reply was “that is my normal life”…I very seldom see anyone or go out to dinner or to have drinks anymore…or to movies or concerts…that stuff just has lost it’s appeal to me…I know I have thought about re-engaging some, but I guess it was a pretty good idea that I put it off to save money and and get more work done around here…so, after spending about 90 bucks at the grocery store today…I have enough here to hunker down for at least a month if necessary…I’ll run out of cocktails before then but I do have enough for the next couple of weeks and we should know something about how bad it’s going to be by then…I even got toilet paper this morning! I am going to still ride the bike every day even with my allergies trashing me…until they do a complete lockdown and tell everyone to stay in their homes…

Well…running late again today with sleeping in all the way to 6 again…but, that didn’t help how I feel today…just worn out from the allergies that have flared like crazy over the past few days and I’m sure are going to get worse…I know that working downstairs yesterday didn’t help either but that had to be done….I do have to make the last grocery run this morning and I am a little curious if there is anything on the store shelves to buy…I have enough food for a few weeks but I do need some toothpaste and cocktail materials if I am going to “socially isolate” for an extended time and not go out anywhere…shooting for enough for a couple of months of this but I don’t want to be one of those hoarders who are buying everything in sight….I should hit target for some allergy meds, too to get everything done at once…I did get a bike ride in yesterday but ran out of adjustment on the rear shifter trying to get the downshifts to work as they should so I had to make a big swing at it by moving the cable and resetting the fine adjuster…I think I have it set but we’ll see when I get out later today….I did get the fine adjuster freed up with a little wd so I guess that’s a bonus….not sure how much work I’m going to get done today with doing the grocery run and the bike ride…should probably take it a little easy for a day or so to let the allergies settle down so I think I’ll make today a work planning day and get a new set of tasks ready to be started….more later…

Well….running really late this morning and it’s not a case of forgetting to come here as it normally is on Sunday morning, but I didn’t get out of bed until 6:37 and have been trying to catch up ever since…yeah, I know catch up to what? Don’t have anyplace to be or much to do so why am I in a hurry? There isn’t even any soccer to watch today so I don’t have to get things done before that…I think I just need to relax, even though I do have some downstairs work to do this morning and I still have that need to get any work done since I hate having things waiting to be done…I did sleep okay and feel pretty good this morning other than the damn allergies are really, really bad and I may have to take something for them during the day today and I don’t like to do that…I need to save them for later in the day so I can breathe at night trying to sleep…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but cook and get a bike ride in and today looks the same….I am going to clean some and start putting my tools and materials away…the next time I’m at HF I may buy one of those cloth tool bags to keep the stuff I use a lot in…that will make it easy to just grab it when I need to do some work inside or outside….I am going to finish up the the paper and have some more coffee before I get to work…and then wait for the temp to come up before I get on the bike…more later…

Well…to all of the nerds out there…happy Pi day…and if you know what that means, you are one of them…really have been looking for a political topic for the day today but have decided it is just too much work for my tired brain so I’m just not going to do it…everyone needs a mental health day once in a while and today is going to be mine…I never knew how much I used sports as background noise as I did other things around here until there are no more sports with everything cancelled for the virus…it has been a boring day for that and with most of the channels in emby gone since yesterday…but I did discover a new free streaming service called Pluto that I put on my roku and that has some old tv shows and movies that appear a lot like broadcast tv since they have commercials but that really doesn’t bother me much…they have a Doctor Who channel along with the Addams Family and a bunch of other stuff and for free you can’t beat it….again, good for background noise when the antenna isn’t working…I did get the corned beef and cabbage made for lunch and it was the best one I’ve made so far…really came out tender using the instant pot and the mustard sauce started to grow on me…but, I’m still so full from lunch that I may not even have another meal today…and that will keep me going for 5 more days or so…but the place still smells like cabbage…I do like it, though….I did get a bike ride in today but I’m not going to do anything else today since it is already 4…I do have some work to do downstairs tomorrow but that shouldn’t take long….oh, and the new Star Wars movie showed up on Plex today so that is going to be the plan for tonight….and cocktails…

yesterday

Well….that was an okay night with only getting up once at 3:34 and then making it til coffee o’clock…even had a few scattered dreams that I don’t remember…yeah, I get it…how do I know I dream if I don’t remember them? That’s a question that I think I’ll ponder a while…but not right now…I was going to take some time off yesterday with finishing the last big painting project but then noticed that I still have one more to do…the linen closet doors need to be removed, sanded, and painted but that will wait until next week…I did almost flood the basement doing laundry yesterday when I left some paper towels I used to clean some equipment in the sink where the washer dumps and it clogged the drain…and the wash water filled the sink and the over the sides…but luckily the overflow just went down the floor drain and I only had to mop a little to clean it up….won’t do that again….I did get to cleaning the bathroom, too and that was way overdue….just so much dust and pet hair…still…even after months of vacuuming the crap up…but it looks pretty good now and I am debating if it will be the kitchen or living room next…I did skip the bike ride yesterday with it being so windy…just not going out with 20 mph steady wind and gusts on top of that…it would be different if it was 80 degrees but not 38….I am going out today but will have to wait until after I make lunch…going to do my St. Patrick’s day corned beef and cabbage today in the instant pot and I have found a 5 star mustard sauce that I am making, too…okay, does this sound good? 2 eggs, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, and more regular sugar along with margarine….and whisk over heat until smooth…I have all the ingredients by chance since Meijers had eggs on sale for 79 cents and I got a dozen…and with the brisket being a point cut and 4 pounds, it needs 90 minutes in the pot under pressure so I’ll need to start it by 10 if I am going to have it for lunch…but first, more coffee, some news, and some downstairs work…damn, this is going to be a boring morning without any soccer since everything is cancelled….more later….

Well…made it all the way to 6 after getting up at around 5 for the first time so I’ll call that a win…couldn’t figure out why I hurt so much last night and was hobbling around here and then it hit me…I did a fast double on the bike yesterday and I’m just not used to that much riding yet…I do remember that it was really a chore to get on the bike for the second ride and I almost turned around after the first mile….but then I just shifted down to lower speed mode until I hit that trails and that did the trick…once I got going it was okay…I did get the last window completed and put back together yesterday and it looks really good compared to what I started with…so, I think I’ve earned a day off working other than I need to clean my bathroom today…and I am going to try the new vinyl cleaner I got to replace the D-3 fluid for my discwasher as I clean…damn, the D-3 bottle only lasted 40 years…I wonder if I should complain?  I may even take the day off the bike today since the wind is going to be a steady 20+ and it is only going to be in the 30’s and that is not a combo that I enjoy too much…I did get the car and bike washed yesterday afternoon, too and that may just tip me over to vegging today…but all the sports I watch have been cancelled so I’ll have to find something else to do…I suppose I could start putting my tools and repair materials away downstairs since I won’t need most of them with the interior almost done….I could take the trim off the kitchen and get it ready to paint but I don’t want to paint indoors anymore…I guess that can wait…okay, I need more coffee and to let myself take the day off…and that appears harder than I thought it was going to be…more later…

Well…running late this morning and I just can’t get started for some reason….I think I slept okay and didn’t get up until after 6 but that’s not helping a whole lot…I think I’m going to take the day off today after getting the last window painted yesterday…but, even after two coats, I still have some rust bleeding through even with treating it with clear acrylic so I will have to put one more coat on the bottom of the frame….that one was a pain with having to stand in the kitchen sink and contort myself to get at the little cove with the light in it…had paint everywhere and I think I’m still going to have to get more of it out of my hair today…I did get a bike ride in yesterday and want to try to get two in today but it looks like there is rain coming in from the west…it is supposed to be 60 today and I really did want to get out in a t-shirt since it is going to get cold again starting tomorrow…and then cold for the rest of the month…ick…I do need to start cleaning today since the dust bunnies are turning into dust raptors again and my bathroom is edging up to being ugly….but, I want a day off…damn…at least I am going to be able to watch Man U play in an empty stadium this afternoon if the match is not cancelled…with everything that is going on, who knows what is going to happen?  More later…