Well…as I get settled in here, I have started to look through the cupboards and storage that I haven’t really thought about before…and today, after getting a short ride in with the trail being covered with ice and snow still, I got back here and thought I’d look through the high cupboards above the fridge just to see if there was anything there…and I found some stuff that might be interesting…my son left behind an all in one bread maker that I remember him getting back in ’99 and I plugged it in and it appears to still work so I will be trying that at some time over the winter…and half of that cupboard has all kinds of booze in it, but weird stuff and cheap tequila…so I’m going to ignore that…but what I did find was a Bodum french coffee press that I also remember him using all the time when he was still living at home…and I always wanted to try one…so I cleaned it up, put some coffee in it, added water and made coffee….and I will say this, the coffee is much better than what comes out of my Mr. Coffee drip maker…it actually tastes like something and now I’m torn about using it instead of my coffee maker…but, it is too small to replace it so I think it may be for those times when I want just a couple of cups…I used the same coffee as I normally do and it appears the grind is okay for the press…and now, I’m all caffeined up in the middle of the afternoon and that is not going to be a good thing for later in the day…oh, well…

Well…I’m just sitting here shaking my head at how much just doing little things hurt as I get older…I mean just painting the small dining area yesterday has left me sore everywhere and that is a little amusing to me…yeah, pain makes me smile but you know I’m a little weird…I did sleep okay last night and feel pretty good today and part of that is I’m going to take the day off from working around here other than getting the trim ready to put back in the dining area…I am going to get a bike ride in this afternoon as it warms up some…and it looks like I’ll be able to ride every day til New Years with the little warm up that is starting today…it is going to be in the 40’s almost every day til then so I will get to my goal…will have to be careful today, though since I don’t think the ice will have melted off the trail….I’m going to make the first of the venison steaks for dinner today and I can’t wait to saute it in butter and garlic…I think I can eat out of the freezer for the rest of the year but I may get one more ham for my holiday dinner so I’ll have another ham bone to make ham soup….we’ll see….not much to do today…going to just ease into the day with coffee and some news and then get to work after a while….more later….

Well…after working on the dining area for weeks to repair all of the plaster that was cracked or gone, I finally got to painting it today and that was a frickin marathon…took me three hours to put two coats on and the front wall looks like it is going to need a third coat from the window sill down…the paint just sucked into it and left it with a  pinkish tint and there are still areas that look like I didn’t paint over the pink at all in the corner.  But, I didn’t notice it until after I had disposed of the roller cover and cleaned up the brush and pan and I am not going to waste another roller cover to do such a small area…so it will wait until I get the final room prepped and ready and start painting there…the rest of it looks good so I can live with it for a couple of weeks…now I just need to sand and repaint the corner trim tomorrow and then replace it this weekend and the room will look finished…then I need to figure out how to get the sticky stuff off the floor that won’t come up with anything I’ve tried yet…think I may try WD since that is supposed to take off gunk…or, I remember a product called goo gone that really worked on sticky stuff so I may try to find some of that next week….it feels good to accomplish something finally…but I did really hurt my thumb and it is throbbing so it is going to need some ibuprofen and some rest for a few days before I use it hard again…crap…

Well…okay, I’ll admit it…I had a few cocktails last night watching the impeachment votes and, while I feel bad physically, I feel good that the criminal in chief has finally paid some small price for his criminality…but that’s a post for later today…I did sleep okay last night but woke up with a headache and my head stuffed up even with using some allergy meds last night and that is a little disappointing….and I’m coughing some, too but I think most of it is from the cocktails and the abuse that does to me….I did get the last prep work done on the dining area yesterday and was planning to paint today but that just might wait until Friday with how I feel right now…still have to prep and paint the trim pieces so that might be a little work to do today just so I don’t feel like I’m not accomplishing anything….it was too damn cold to get out on the bike yesterday and it looks like I’m going to have to wait til late in the day to get out today if I do…it is going to be in the 40’s for almost a week so I may just wait until it warms up some and the ice gets off the trail so I don’t have to think about that….not much to do today…going to just sit here and have some coffee for a while until I get some motivation to start the day…and that may take all morning….more later…

Well…that was too good to last…I really had hoped that the good sleep of Monday would be repeatable but I guess not…tossed and turned all night and finally gave up at 5:15…but I feel okay this morning so I guess there is something to this no cocktail thing…it seems to be getting easier to not have cocktails than to have them and I think that’s a good thing…so I’ll keep that up until at least Friday and only have a few over the weekend….I did get a few things done yesterday but not much on the house…got my hair cut and some new long pants to lounge around here at Meijers…they were only 9 bucks and I really like them so I think I’m going to get another pair with the grocery run today…got some new socks, too, and they are a little strange but I like them…they are calf length crew socks that were only 70 cents a pair for 10 pairs so I am set for socks now for the winter…and they work like compression socks and keep my feet warm on the bike so that is cool…I did get a bike ride in yesterday and that gets me down to about 30 miles left to 4500 and that should happen this week with a warm up coming after the bitter cold today…it is a little weird how my mindset has changed after getting my gas bill….knowing it is not going to be outrageous stops me cringing when the furnace comes on and I may even turn it up two degrees…but, probably not…I’m used to 65 degrees in here and I have lots of blankets for the couch….not much to do today….need to finish the sanding on the kitchen walls and get started on the trim pieces…then I need to look for screws to replace the bad ones I took out…will probably have to buy some but who knows? Still may be able to find them in the garage….more later….

Well….that was weird…got bored and tired watching tv last night and was falling asleep on the couch so I decided to go to bed a little after 10 instead of 11 as normal and I didn’t get up until almost 6:30…and it feels like I slept okay so I’m not sure what to think about that…and I was good last night and that will continue until Friday…I almost had a martini or two to celebrate the acceptable gas bill but I need to have some discipline and be healthier….I did get to work on prepping the kitchen for paint yesterday but it seems as I work, it just creates more work…started to mask up the floor trim pieces but they are in such need of paint that I removed them and need to sand and paint them before I can put them back… and that reveals that the floor needs to be scrubbed before I can replace them and I need to replace the screws that hold them down since most of them are rusted and the threads are gone….this tiny little room has been more work than any of the others and it looks like I won’t get to paint until next week now with all of the work that still needs to be done….not much to do today….I just realized yesterday that I haven’t had a hair cut since I moved in here and that is two months now so I am going out to get it cut this morning and look for some sweats that are on sale half off at Meijers….and then back here for more kitchen work…more later….

Well…as you know, I have been worrying about getting my first full gas bill for the house with it being colder than normal…and the heat seems to run all the time and makes me cringe every time it comes on….the visions of a 300 dollar a month gas bill has been weighing on me since I moved in here even with only keeping it 65 degrees…so, you can imagine my surprise when I just got the bill in the mail and it was only 108 bucks…now, that may seem like a lot to people in newer houses with efficient furnaces, but for a 60 year old house with a 60 year old furnace I don’t think 108 bucks is too bad and it is something that I can easily afford…and I know that I can even afford it in February when I know it will get over 200 bucks…but, it’s not the 300 bucks that I feared so I’ll take that as good news since there is really nothing I can do about it…just can’t take it any colder in here…

Well…as you can see, I didn’t come back for a second one yesterday and there really is no reason for it other than I just didn’t have the motivation to do anything…no masking in the kitchen or anything else other than watching tv…I did get my speakers treated so they look better but that was it…will have to do better today…slept okay last night and didn’t get up until after 6:30 but still feel quite tired today that I hope goes away soon…I have a new chicken thigh recipe that I am going to try today and it looks good with a brown sugar glaze that I am changing from honey since I don’t have any honey here…and I have leftover mashed potatoes to go with it so it should be an easy lunch to make….didn’t get on the bike yesterday and it looks like the next time won’t be until Friday with the cold coming in tomorrow…I mean 15 for a high Wed? Then a warmup comes for about 5 days so I will be able to reach my goal for the year….I do need to get my hair cut tomorrow since the last time I had it cut was before I moved in here and that is two months today…not much to do today…I am going to ease into the day this morning with more coffee and then try to get motivated to get the prep done in the kitchen…need to paint this week so I can get started on the cabinet doors at the end of the hallway….more later….

Well…running a little late today but that’s normal for a Sunday with the Sunday paper to get through before I come here….last night was a little boring with watching the Brad Pitt movie “Ad Astra” that got good reviews but I don’t understand why…it was an okay movie but so slow and I really didn’t get the point of it…at times it was like “Heart of Darkness” and other times it was just Pitt brooding all over the place…not a waste of the night but close….slept okay last night and don’t feel too bad right now with the first cup of coffee starting to work and I hope that continues…I did get a nice bike ride in yesterday but it looks like I’ll be off the bike for a few days with the cold coming in but I only have 36 miles left to do to get to 4500 for the year…so I may be able to make it outside….I do need to get the dining area masked off today so I can get to painting this week and continue to clean…and I need to treat the wood on my old speakers since they are really dry looking and need maintenance to keep them going for another 50 years…cripes…my speakers are 50 years old! Just realized that and it is pretty cool…they still work fine and will be passed on to someone else when I’m gone….moe later….

Well…sitting here at 3:30 in the afternoon and just had to put a light on to be able to see my keyboard….and that is really, really depressing since it is going to be dark by 5 or so…I know that’s just the way it is in winter in Michigan but damn, it was barely light at all today….and it is going to get worse until the winter solstice a week from today when we’ll have the least amount of daylight for the entire year…but, I guess one good thing is that after next week, we are starting toward spring and the daylight every day will get longer….slowly, but longer every day and that will give me something to look forward to….but, I know that winter has barely started and there will be blizzards and snow shoveling and more depression coming…and I still haven’t gotten my first full gas bill yet that I fear is going to be 300 bucks plus and that is depressing, too…are you depressed yet? Yeah, I guess this one didn’t help much….tomorrow should be better….not sure why but I can still have hope…and I need to remember that so many people have it worse than I do and I probably should stop bitching….so, I will….