Well….yeah, I’ll bet you’re here after lunch just waiting for a political one but I may be disappointing you today…have had a really busy day starting this morning at 7 and just finishing up a few minutes ago…got it all started by going out to look for more of the patching plaster I have been using to repair everything around here…but, they have stopped making it or both depot and menard’s stopped carrying it because I couldn’t find it and the people at both stores said no go…so I had to try something else…and I’m not sure if I like it or not yet…one weird thing is it it goes on pink and then turns white when it is ready to be sanded…and I am waiting for that to happen so I may not get to that today….oh, that means I repaired the entire window, too…then I ran the instant pot and made some chicken, then I washed the blinds that go back in that window and now I am having a glass of water and taking a break….oh, and I painted the hardware that the blinds hang on…it would be nice to get the first coat of paint on the window today but I think I’ll be happy just to get the sanding done….but right now I need to take a few minutes off and read the news to try to find a topic….

Well…got all the way to 5:54 this morning but still feel pretty worn out…I wonder if it’s from not eating enough? Only had a half chicken breast and some roasted potatoes and carrots for lunch and then a sandwich with a third of a chicken breast and some chips for dinner so that could be it…but I didn’t get out on the bike so I had to cut 600 calories out of the day….okay, you’ve heard this before so I’ll stop talking about it…I did sleep okay so I guess that’s something….I did get started on the window in my room yesterday but I need to get out for supplies this morning before I do any more work…and I think I’ll get out early in about an hour or so to do that…I changed the coffee out with another roast and went away from the 100% Colombian that I normally make and I’m not sure what I think yet…it seems to be smoother and a lot less bitter so I think it was a good thing that I picked up two tins yesterday…and at 1.99 each it’s not a big investment even if I don’t end up liking it….not much to do today..it is going to be another day off the bike with the temps staying in the 20’s today and tomorrow and I am not motivated to do anything  right now…maybe the coffee will help….more later…

Well…did the grocery run this morning and all I can say is yow! Spent 85 bucks on food including 6 bucks for more bird food but damn, that’s a lot of money…I did get 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters, a 3 1/2 pound corned beef brisket for St. Patrick’s day, 5 1/2 pounds of pork chops, and some breaded fish filets along with cocktail materials…I really hope I don’t have to spend anything for the next three weeks other than for milk or other perishables to make up for it…and my freezer is now full and I may have to put something in the one upstairs…have enough room for a couple of chicken breasts but that is about it…will now have to start planning meals for the next couple of weeks and get some discipline about not buying anything else…but, I couldn’t pass up the leg quarters at 49 cents a pound, the brisket at 1.99 a pound, and the pork chops at 99 cents a pound….I did get started on the window in the room I’m using and it looks like the biggest job of all of them…all of the caulk has to come out and the layers and layers of paint have to be ground off and most of the plaster around the window needs to be replaced…I started on it but don’t have the drop cloth I need to catch the debris when I am removing the old material since the grinder throws it everywhere…and I don’t have the plaster or caulk either…so, I’ll make a run to depot tomorrow morning and get all that stuff and get back on it tomorrow…I have three days to finish it before I can get back on the bike so that will keep me busy…the outside of the window is in just as bad shape so that will be a project for the spring that will take days on the outside, too…trying to not get too discouraged about the work there is still left to do…felt okay about finishing the major work on the last room but this job is a little overwhelming…oh, well….

Well…I’ve discovered a downside to being good and going to bed at 10 pm…even with getting 7 hours of sleep in, I’m still up at 4:51 and now drinking coffee at 5:30….that may just be too early to start that since the news sites that I read won’t update for a while yet and I can’t do the grocery run until after 9 with needing some chicken at Aldi’s…and I must have tossed and turned like crazy since my mattress was displaced by a foot off the box spring…I do remember that I had some dreams, too but I don’t remember what they were about….but, I don’t feel too bad this morning so I guess that’s all okay…I do need to fill the time this morning so I am going to finish up the window in the spare room before I head out for errands…almost forgot to paint the hardware for the blinds so I couldn’t put them up yesterday but that gave the paint time to harden a little so I won’t chip it when I put the blinds up…and it looks like no bike ride until Sat so I should be able to finish the other three windows this week and then get started on putting my tools and supplies away to clean this place up some….I did have the idea to use my son’s power washer to try to take the paint off the copper gutters without damaging them but that is going to wait until it’s at least 60 outside…not much to do today….going to have a little more coffee before I start on the blinds but I am going to try to take some time off to rest my thumb with the pain that I’ve had the past week or so…more later….

Well….you know, for taking a day off to take it a little easy, I’ve had a pretty busy day…got the window plaster sanded and then went out for a bike ride…went to look at the trails to see if they were passable and gave it a shot through the ice and snow at the entrance and it wasn’t too bad…almost 90% of the trail was clear but the bike needs to be replaced soon…it is skipping so annoyingly now that I can barely ride it but I have to wait until after the 7th of March to order the new one to keep the balance on my card under 600 bucks after I buy the new tires for the car….but, I guess they can wait if they have to….but, it was nice to get 10 miles in with only one ride today…when I got back here, I put the first coat of paint on the window and then put the blinds in the tub and washed them…and now I am sitting here listening to vinyl and doing a couple of these while I wait for the first coat to dry enough for the 2nd to go on….I had forgotten about the first record of “Four way street” and I am listening to that now…still damn good after almost 50 years….I need a break….

Well…that was a strange night of sleep…fell asleep on the couch and didn’t get to bed til 12:30 and then up at 5:30….feel pretty crappy this morning but at least the storm forecast has been cancelled…we were supposed to get 4-7 inches of snow today and tomorrow but it looks like maybe a little dusting now…I can’t believe how sore I was last night…and I’m not sure where it came from…I did get two rides in yesterday and washed the car and bike…along with some repair work on the window in the spare room but I don’t feel that would be enough to cause the pain…but it’s better this morning so I guess I can live with it…with no storm coming, I can do the normal routine for the grocery run tomorrow…Aldi’s has chicken leg quarters on sale for 49 cents a pound but you have to buy a 10 pound bag of them…and that will fill my freezer to the top so I have to get started using the stuff in there…going to use the instant pot Thursday to cook some of the legs since they will be frozen hard as a rock and that normally takes days to thaw…and that means I won’t have to cook again until the weekend….not much to do today…I am going to ease into the day and have lots more coffee before I even think about doing anything…I am going to get the window that I started yesterday finished…maybe…and then get started on the one in the bedroom that I am using….but that needs to be finished in one day to keep the light out at night…hmmm…more later…

Well…stayed in bed til 6:01 this morning after waking up an hour earlier and that wasn’t too bad for a night…still feel a little slow this morning but I guess I earned it with not being good last night…had a pretty busy day yesterday with getting two rides in and doing some cleaning but I don’t really have much to do today…going to get a bike ride in but I may not do two if it starts to rain later…I have decided to buy a new bike in a couple of weeks since the one I’m riding now is starting to irritate the hell out of me with the chain skipping and not having a usable big front sprocket…even if I could repair the drive train, it would be almost 100 bucks for the parts I need to make the repairs and I can get a new one for 350 bucks so it doesn’t make sense to screw with it…I think I’m going to get a dark grey one this time and put the old one downstairs on the trainer for rainy days…but, I want to wait until my Capital One card is paid off the first week of March before ordering it so I can get cash back on the deal…and with the tires I need to order, I am going to have over 500 bucks going out this month so that puts me back a month on getting to 10K in my checking account…that won’t happen until April now and it hurts to have to spend any money….but, I spend so much time on the bike that I need one that works if I’m going to get to 5K on the bike this year….not much to do today…don’t really have anything to do but cooking and cleaning so I am going to ease into the day and have some coffee with the news I need to read….more later…

Well…it’s another wonderful 5:04 morning today and I wonder if I should just stop mentioning it…I mean, do all old guys talk about how much they don’t sleep? It’s an easy way to get these started without thinking so I guess I can keep doing it if it’s not too annoying…had a pretty good day yesterday with getting two rides in and having one of my sons stop over for a visit…we hung out for a couple of hours and found some old pictures of the family in the attic that he is going to digitize so he can share them with his brothers and sister and I think that is pretty cool…his wife had been asking if there were any pictures of them when they were kids and we found a bunch with grandpa and grandma in them, too, and some really old ones of their grandparents from the 50’s that were pretty cool and I think it’s neat that he is going to do it…as you can see, I didn’t come back here for another one yesterday but I will try to get to a political one later today…but, I have ManU at 9 and then bike rides and races the rest of the day so it may be a little work to fit another one in….unless ManU stinks again then I’ll get on the bike at 9 and get started earlier….but, no work on the house today…worked on the front door mechanism yesterday to try to fix the broken knob that falls out when you touch it…but no luck so I am going to have to try to find a new handle to replace it…and they are not cheap…will start looking when I get the paper this morning….more later…

Well….it was another 5:10 morning today and I’m having a hard time getting started…just poured the first cup of coffee and I hope that works fast or it’s going to be a tough morning…but it looks like it will be warm enough to get out on the bike by 10 so I may be able to get 2 rides in today to make up for having 3 days off this week…and it looks like I may be able to go with light thermasuit tomorrow if the temp gets up to 46 as forecast….I think I’ve decided to buy a new bike instead of screwing around with the worn out parts on the current one…if I’m going to get to 5K miles this year I need it to work right all summer…and I need to start getting doubles in every day after the trails thaw…I had 600 miles in last year by the time I hit the trails in April and it looks like I’ll be behind that unless the trails clear soon…didn’t get anything done yesterday but that was the plan for the day and today looks the same…one of my sons is coming for a visit to take a look at the house and all I have to do is clean up a little around here for that…and there is soccer starting in a little while that will give me something to do until I get motivated to start moving…more later…

Well…it’s been a pretty busy day today and that is strange for a day that was planned to be a total veg…but, in a good way…got out to have a pool day with Tom…which I lost… and it was good to get out for the second day in a row in the sunshine….and when I got back here, I decided to go out for a ride to take a look at the trails and see if they have melted at all…they haven’t… so I went to my fall back road route and had a nice ride if a little windy…and that was needed, too since I haven’t been on the bike since Monday….was still a little cold but I survived it and now I can feel a little less guilty eating two meals and having a couple of cocktails tonight…but now, it IS time to veg some and watch the rest of a soccer match that is on….