Well…running about on time this morning and had another good night of sleep…or as good as it gets for me…but, you’re bored with that so I’m not going to go on about it…I will say my hands are getting better so I’ll probably get back to working on windows again today to get the last two done…I do need to run out to depot this morning to try to find some thin zip ties to put the computer on the new bike…and I want black ones so they blend in with the black front forks and handlebar….and the only ones I have here are too thick and grey….it looks like tomorrow will be a day off the bike with the wind forecast to be over 20…but, we’ll see…I may be able to get out early before it gets too bad…and I don’t want to lose any days if I’m going to get to 5K this year…I may just put the summer tires back on the car to get ready to buy the new tires next month….I can get a set for 200 bucks out the door and it only takes a couple of days to get them…and the ones on the summer wheels are completely worn out but the winter tires are too so I guess it’s a toss up…and I do like the way the car looks with the aluminum wheels more than the black steelies…not much to do today…have some work to do downstairs and the errand to depot, then out on the bike….and I need to cook today…going to make a chicken burrito for lunch but still have leftover chicken for sandwiches for later….yeah, I know…sounds like too much boring chicken but I marinated the chicken for burritos so that is a nice change….more later….

Well…I’m not sure if doing two of these a day on my life is cheating or not but I have time and a few things to say so I guess I’ll just do it…and, I never promised more than one political one a day…or, did I even promise that? Who knows? Didn’t have much of a day today since I was resting my hands trying to get the cracks in my fingers healed and it has helped quite a bit…my thumb still hurts a bunch but I have been living with that long enough that I can cope with that pretty well…I feel pretty good that I only spent 26 bucks on groceries today when I budget for about 60 a week…and I officially have no room left in either freezer so it looks like I won’t be buying much next week either…I need to just use what I have and get out of the habit of buying protein when it is on sale…bought some boneless skinless today and I am marinating some of it to make some chicken burritos tomorrow…I did get the window in my room finished…finally, and got all the dust and paint chips cleaned up and that is a relief after how much work that one was…only two more to go but they are in much better shape so much less work…I did get a bit of good news today….the new bike will be here Saturday, along with the new tire liners and tools to install them…. just in time for a double on Sunday with the temp getting to almost 60…but that means I need to get the tire liners in and the computer on the new one Sat night, oh, and put it together first…but that should only take an hour or so…I am geeked to get the new one and get a couple of hard rides in without having to think about how much pressure I can put on the pedals to keep it from skipping…and to be able to fly again…can’t wait…

Well…that kind of sucked…after the good sleep yesterday, I was really hoping that it could turn into a trend but 3:04 came and blew that up…but, I did fight to sleep all the way to 5:27 so I guess I can call that a semi win…I did skip the ibuprofen and antihistamines last night and don’t feel too much worse this morning so I think I’ll try that again tonight…need to make sure I keep that stuff for when I really need it…okay, this is a little weird…for the first time since I’ve been here, the grocery run is only going to be Aldi’s this morning…no Meijer’s since there is nothing I really need from there…and I don’t need much from Aldi’s, either….so this is going to be a cheap grocery week with no cocktail materials either…damn, not sure if being good is worth it but it is sure nice to save 100 bucks a month…as you saw, I did order the new bike yesterday and I am excited to have one that works instead of skips…I did check out the cost to replace the entire driveline of the old bike and it looks like about 125 bucks for the parts since I have a new shifter that I bought last year on sale and got it for under 20 bucks…I did buy some tire liners for the new bike and splurged on some tire removal tools that will make installing them easier and should protect the paint on the wheels….and, since I have been playing a lot of vinyl records lately, I needed to buy some anti static cleaner to replace the d-3 discwasher fluid that I have finally used up …they don’t make it anymore and the bottle I have I know I bought back in the 80’s….only 40 years on a bottle that cost 8 bucks? Okay, that’s not a bad deal…not much to do today…going to take another easy day since that seems to help the cracking on my fingers and I really don’t have much left to do in here…need to store up some energy for the huge amount of work that needs to be done outside….more later…

Well…after paying my capital one credit card bill yesterday, I decided to not wait any longer before ordering the new bike so I just did it…it was a little painful to spend 369 bucks but I was going to do it anyway so why wait? Bought a dark gray and black one this time so I can tell the bikes apart when I have them both in the garage…when I get the new one, I can then start on rebuilding the old one without having to worry about not having a bike to use while I tear it down and order the parts…if I can tear it down and order parts that is…I’m not sure how to get the swing arm bushing out to replace it and that goes for the front drive sprockets, too…but they put it together so it should come apart…I guess fixing it will depend on how much it will cost but it would be cool to have an old bike to trash out in the rain and mud while keeping the new one for dry days…I guess I’ll find out after I get working on it…one more week and it should be here…I’m a little excited…

Well…unfurl the flags and sound the trumpets! A miracle has happened…when I rolled over to look at my phone to check the time this morning I actually said “wow”….it read 5:50….and with going to bed at 10 last night, that makes for a solid 8 hour night! It has been so long since that happened that I don’t even remember when it was…but I’ll take it and the energy that comes with it….I feel pretty damn good today and I know part of it is that I was good last night, too, so I think that will continue for the rest of the week…and that will save money that I can put toward the new bike that I am going to order tomorrow….I am getting pretty excited about having one that works so I can start doing the doubles I need to get to 5K miles this year…I’m already pushing toward 400 miles for the year on the old bike but I need to get to a thousand by the end of  April if I’m going to get to the goal…I did get some work done around here yesterday even though I was supposed to take the day off and let the cracks in my fingers heal but I just couldn’t do it…had to work on the window that is giving me fits and then I washed the car and bike after the bike ride….it is nice that the trails are open and I can get 11 miles in with no cars to think about…have started to plan the outside work that I am going to start on in the next couple of weeks….have to take down the awning over the door on the driveway side so I can get to the dormer and I hope it’s not too heavy for me to do alone…it is made out of aluminum so I’m estimating it weighs 40 pounds or so but it is an awkward shape that might give me some trouble….I think the idiots that lived in the rental next door are gone…there hasn’t been any cars parked there all week and I saw a rental truck there a couple of weeks ago…but, I don’t want to get my hopes up since it may just be spring break…maybe I can take the stakes out of the front yard that are keeping them from parking on it….not much to do today….going to just enjoy the energy I’ve started the day with and get a bike ride in this morning…I may put the summer wheels back on the car since there is no snow in the forecast for the next two weeks at least and I hope winter is done….then I need to find tires but that has to wait until next month…more later….

Well…you know, I remember times when if you had a busy day with a lot of work and some physical activity in it you would hit the sack and get a solid 8 to 9 hours of good sleep in…I guess that mechanism doesn’t work for me anymore…back up at 5:03 this morning and that makes around 5 1/2 for the night…oh, well…at least I had a pretty productive day yesterday so I guess that’s something…okay, here’s something weird…the coughing I have been suffering with was mostly gone and I was feeling better until last night when I used some of the OTC flonase nasal spray to try to help the stuffiness that exposure to the dust from sanding the window gave me yesterday…but, my night was miserable with severe coughing and sneezing that continues this morning…and I remember that I was using that stuff almost daily when I was having the cough that sent me to the doctor so I wonder if that is the culprit? I think I’ll go back to the little red dot allergy medicine when I need it and see if that helps…I really do think I am going to take the day off today…ha, ha…yeah, I found that funny, too…every time I say that it seems that I work harder and get more done than when I plan to work….we’ll see how it goes today…I do know that I am going to get a bike ride in this morning if it doesn’t rain…almost got out in shorts yesterday but it looks like it will be thermasuit for the next two weeks with temps mostly in the 40’s….at least it appears that there will only be scattered snow flurries in the forecast so I am optimistic that winter is over….more later…

Well…staying out of politics again today since my brain just doesn’t want to deal with it right now…and, I’ve been pretty busy since I got up at 5 so I don’t feel like a slacker at all…started out getting the newspaper for my Sunday ritual of looking at the ads and for topics that I can talk about later in the day…then I had some work to do downstairs that took a while, then Man U played and looked okay but tied and that sucked a little…while that was going on I was in and out of my bedroom working on the window since the plaster had finally dried and I could get to sanding it…got that done and then got the first coat of paint on while I was making lunch then got out for a 10 miler on the bike…oh, I forgot that I did laundry before I started on the window…and when I got back from the ride I put the second coat of paint on and then put the laundry away and did the dishes…and re-filled the bird feeders since the suction cup one almost fell off overnight and all of that feed ended up on the ground…oh, and I put the light cover that I repaired back on the garage door opener so that looks finished again…cripes that’s a lot of work for taking the weekend off…maybe I’ll take the day off tomorrow? Not sure how my days off keep turning into work days but I do know that I’m not bored….

Well…it’s starting to look like we’ve survived another winter intact and that is cause for a little celebration…and this really hasn’t been a  bad winter…I don’t think I’ve shoveled snow more than 10 times and with the break in the cold today, I think I can let my thoughts turn to spring…yeah, I know, it’s Michigan so we can get snow into April but the forecast for the next two weeks is okay…I don’t know how to act with getting here so early for a Sunday since I’ve been up since quarter to five…and I have to wait for another half hour before I can go out for the paper so I thought I’d do this one now so I don’t forget…had an okay day yesterday with getting a bike ride in and then heading out to have a couple with K but didn’t do much of anything else…and today looks the same with Man U playing at 9 and then I’m going to get the first ride of the day in around 11…shooting for a double today to make up for the 4 days off I had last week and I may even be able to get out in shorts for the afternoon ride with it getting to 52 this afternoon….I think I’ll let my hands rest for one more day before I get back to working on the windows…I do need to do laundry this afternoon and that can be done during the napcar race when I will be taking a nap after getting up so damn early…again….more later….

Well…that was an interesting night…didn’t sleep that hot but I did sleep without earplugs for the first time in over 10 years…this place is pretty quiet at night and I can barely hear the furnace…not like my apartment where the furnace upstairs whined like a jet when it ran and the new one they installed in my place sounded like a 747 taking off…and that was in addition to the stomping around that sounded like a damn square dance above me at times…so, I think I can go without the plugs for now after I get used to it…it is different, I’ll say that…I did take the day off working on the house yesterday with my hands feeling so beat up that it hurts to even do this…I have cracks in the ends of my fingers that I think are from washing them so much and I think the plaster isn’t helping…I guess I’ll have to start to wear vinyl gloves all the time until they heal…didn’t get on the bike for the 4th day in a row but I am going to get out today…it’s supposed to be 32 today and that’s warm enough to go…and the trails should be okay since it hasn’t really snowed much since it turned cold….and tomorrow is supposed to be 50+ so I can do a double…I think I’ll start doing that every day to make up for the days I’ve taken off…and I’m ordering a new bike this week since I have just about worn out the current one and it will take too much money to repair…but, I am going to make it a project for something to screw around with and learn more about how to take the crankset apart…and the swingarm bushing that is worn out…it will be relaxing to do that with having a bike to ride while I work on it…and if I can fix it, it will be cool to have a spare bike to ride in the muck….the new one is going to be dark gray with a black swingarm and black front forks…looks pretty cool and I can’t wait to get it in a week or so…not much to do today…just going to ride the bike in the afternoon and then out to have a couple with K after 3….so, an easy day today….more later…

Well…running about on time this morning and it was a re run of almost every other damn morning so I’m not going to talk about it…I was pretty sore yesterday for some reason and I still haven’t figured that one out….I did work on the window in my room but that shouldn’t be enough for all that pain…and my hands need some rest since I have cracks in the skin on two fingers that also hurt like crazy so today looks like a day off to let them heal some…I think I’ll just do some clean up work around here and put the trash out and that will do it for my day…I did find out why the frame of the window in my room was rusted so much…there is so much condensation at the bottom of the window with it being cold outside that the plaster that I used to fix the top just turned to liquid at the bottom so I think I’ll have to wait until it gets warmer outside to finish that one…I still have two kitchen windows to do so that one can wait…it looks like a warm up is coming in the next week or so and I can give it another try then….is anyone starting to prepare for the coronavirus outbreak that is coming? This kind of reminds me of the swine flu outbreak from the 70’s when I got my first flu shot and I really didn’t prepare for that one but I have enough food here for a month by accident with all of the protein I bought this week…but, I’m not going to be too concerned since I already spend most of my time alone here so “sheltering in place” for two weeks is just a normal two weeks for me….more later….