Well….5 bucks for the GR press? Just went out to get the big paper of the year and they charged 5 frickin bucks just so I can get bombarded with ads? Okay, the ads are the point of today’s paper and it is a little treat for me so I guess I shouldn’t bitch about it…although that’s a buck more than I paid for my 14 pound turkey to put it in perspective….I think I may have found a sleep aid that works every time…a couple of days ago, I watched “The Mandalorian” and I fell asleep on the couch during it…so, I decided to watch it again last night since I am a big Star Wars fan and the same thing happened! Fell asleep multiple times as the loudness of the fight scenes woke me up time and again…so I think there may be something to it….slept okay last night and don’t feel to bad right now other than my thumb hurts like crazy again this morning…I did get out for a bike ride in shorts yesterday since it was 52 at 8am but it will be full thermasuit today…and I got the new front sprocket for the bike that I need to install but I’m not sure if I’ll get to that before I ride today…I think I can get through one more ride with the old one and I don’t want to miss Man U playing at 11 this morning…not sure how long it will take to change it out but I think the last one took about a half hour….not much to do today…just cooking, eating, and watching the Lions lose…and some cleaning if I can get motivated but I’m not holding my breath…more later….

Well…as you know, I read a lot and one of the sites that I read the most is DailyKos since it has like minded people there from the more progressive side of the country…but, this one is not about the politics that I write about a lot but it is about the real pain that has been coming through a lot of the writing there over the past few days. One of the best parts of the site is the fact that, while they do have some paid writers there, a lot of the content comes from what is called the community…and any member is encouraged to add his two cents on any topic they choose…and this time of the year, there are a lot of people who are living through loss and loneliness…and are having such a hard time dealing with the change in their lives that comes with the death of a parent or estrangement from family that it is heartbreaking to read. But I do read some of them and comment when I think I have something to say that might help…and with that reading, a revelation has come to me that I am pretty lucky…I don’t see my family a lot and my kids spend the holidays with their inlaws…but I don’t feel the loneliness that other people feel and I realize that loss is part of life and have been fortunate to be able to let that go as just that…part of life that we all have to deal with in our own way. A few years back, I had quite a few friends who didn’t have any place to be on Thanksgiving so I would cook a huge turkey and invite them all over for the “Orphan’s Thanksgiving” and we would eat and laugh and drink a lot of wine…but, things have changed with many of them having their own families and new traditions but I still cook the huge turkey by myself and for myself and I still consider myself to be really lucky to still be able to do it and not be sad about being alone….I just wish that the posters at Kos could find some of the peace that I have…and find some little reason to smile that will lift the veil of depression for just a shining little while….

Well…running a little late this morning for no reason other than I wanted to get the turkey into the brine for tomorrow and didn’t want to wait to do it….tried adding some veggie broth to this one just for something new and put some bay leaves, brown sugar, rosemary, thyme, and sage in to give it some really good flavor…so we’ll see tomorrow…I was a little concerned that a 14 pound bird wouldn’t fit in my roaster but it was just fine…and one of the biggest turkeys I’ve ever cooked….and the fridge downstairs is huge so it fit easily…looking forward to having a big dinner tomorrow and I need to use up all of the leftovers I have in the upstairs fridge so I’ll have a place to put them….slept okay last night but tossed and turned more than normal so I am a little worn out this morning but really don’t have much to do but make a run out to the south end to get some venison…I did get my refund from my apt deposit yesterday so I have 207 bucks to spend and spent some of it on some basement equipment yesterday for 79 bucks…and I think I may buy a sound bar for the tv for 65 bucks and then use the rest to have some cash on hand….found money is always fun…it’s 52 degrees outside right now and I may try to get out on the bike in shorts if it’s not too windy and it quits raining…that would be cool…more later….

Well….as you can see, the site was down this morning so I am late getting here today…but, with it down, I did get out and run all of my errands so all I have to do the rest of the week is veg here and work…after I get out to the south end and get some venison tomorrow…yay! B has steaks and burger for me and I can’t wait to make some tacos after I get tired of eating turkey…but that won’t be until Sunday and they will be a nice change after I get there…slept okay last night and didn’t get up til 6 so that is okay after the 3am wake ups that have been happening for so long….and I feel okay today with being out running around and now getting ready to get on the bike after I do this…I do have two political ones to do this afternoon about the courts both nationally and in Michigan showing they are the last bulwark against the repub lawlessness across this country….but, right now, I need to get the laundry out of the dryer and get it put away before I ride….more later….

Well….that’s a new record…didn’t get out of bed until 7:10…after getting up for the first time at 3:14 that is…but, I feel pretty good so I’ll take it….and I even slept okay so we’ll see how the day pans out…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but the bike ride and ordering the new front sprocket for the bike….I am a little disappointed that both the front and rear sprocket sets wore out at 8,000 miles when the first set on the last bike lasted over 10,000 miles but the chromed rear set I have on it now doesn’t show a lot of wear even at…hmmmm…not sure how many miles but I know I had them on the last bike for at least two years and maybe 3….the new front only cost 20 bucks and should be here next week so that will put the bike back to not skipping again….now, I just need to figure out why the shifter sticks and I’ll be happy…or, as happy as I can be…I am looking forward to cooking a big t-day meal and eating a bunch of turkey then making turkey soup again, but that will be next week….think I’m going to use my standard brine and add a little sage this year when I butter the skin before cooking….not much to do today…it’s pool day! It will be nice to get out of here for a while but I need to wash the car this morning since the glass is pretty dirty….and it is going to be warm enough to do it in the driveway this morning before the bike ride…and I got my November top down run in yesterday and that was good with the cold that is coming….more later….

Well…it’s a little ominous when you wake up with the Eagles “Wasted time” running through your head…I know it’s about a breakup as a person gets older but it’s also gives me the feeling of just marking time in my life that I thought would go away when I moved in here…but, it hasn’t and there is a good reason for it…I am just marking time here as I work on this house that isn’t mine, and that I will be moving out of in the next year or so…and starting over, again, and I’m not sure if I have it in me to do it….hmmmm…it was an okay day yesterday and got a bike ride in but there are major repairs that need to be done in the near future…the entire drive train will need to be replaced since it started skipping under load last week and that means the big front sprocket, the chain, and the rear sprockets will all need to be replaced over the winter and that will run about 75 bucks…I am going to start saving for a new bike for next year since I want one that has a rocker arm rear suspension…and that will be over 500 bucks but it is about the only thing that gives me joy these days so I think it’s worth it….it was cool this morning that I could take the car out to get the paper without having to scrape the ice off the glass with it being parked in the garage…just a little thing that made me smile this morning…it appears it’s going to be a rough one today and I’ll take any little good thing I can get….more later….

Well….the coughing continues this morning and now I know I have a bug of some sort…haven’t had a cold in a long time but this sure feels like one…and when I think of how I’ve been feeling worn out lately and unmotivated, it fits that part of it is this infection…but, I do feel better than I did yesterday…I think…and my stomach is not as queasy as it was so I guess I’ll take it…as you can see I didn’t get to a political one yesterday but I will promise to do one today with the revelation that the whole Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election bullshit is a Russian operation…will expand on that later today…didn’t get much done yesterday but the bike ride and with soccer coming back after a break, it looks like I won’t get much done today…well…I may sand the filler in the vestibule and tape off the front door to get it ready to paint but probably not much more than that…I did sleep some last night and had some dreams that were a little weird but that was cool just to have some….and I didn’t get up til almost 6 so that may be why I don’t feel too bad even with the bug…who knows? More later….

Well…is anybody else bored at 8:30 in the morning? Today, I am so I thought I’d come here and talk about something I noticed when I got the stereo running again. With living in an apartment for so long and not wanting to disturb the other tenants, I didn’t really use my stereo much but used my mp3 player with the earbuds in…and quite a bit of the music I have I have never heard on the stereo before….so it was kind of funny that it sounds so different when I connect the mp3 player to it and play it loud…really loud…and adding the extra set of speakers that I found in the basement really fills out the sound…I do like how it sounds and it is like listening to the music for the first time in some instances….and did I mention loud? It is pretty cool to not have that to think about that anymore…I should probably play something right now and try to find a book to read since I don’t feel like working on the house….more later…

Well….I think I have a bug…crap….and I wonder how that could be since I am never around people…my lungs hurt and I am coughing like crazy…oh, well….but my thumb hurts less today so I guess that’s something…but, I do feel old today and just want to do nothing but that just makes things worse…okay, that’s enough bitching….I did get some patch work done on the vestibule yesterday and can get it painted if I can get off my butt and I almost have the last room cleared up so I can start on that next week…or over the weekend if I can get motivated….kind of wasted the day yesterday and didn’t even get out on the bike with the rain and wind…and the wind is still blowing this morning and it’s cold out there so the ride will wait til later…don’t really have a lot to do today…got most of the outdoor stuff done and I’m just waiting for the last of the leaves to fall so I can rake the back yard and get the leaves on the compost pile behind the garage…need to mix in some dirt to get the breakdown started but that will wait a few days until it’s a little warmer….more later….

Well…have been up for a while and still feel exhausted but I think that may be my fault…and not sleeping well has something to do with it…oh, and getting a late start on the coffee doesn’t help, either…so, I’m going to ease into it this morning…there really is no reason to rush anything today with the rain moving that will keep me off the bike today…so that leaves only inside work to do so I think I’ll continue to prep to get ready to paint the rest of the interior…I did get some grass seed laid down and fed the lawn for the last time this year and had to repair the gate stop since the exterior adhesive I used turned to powder so I will have to fix that in the spring…just used a tube of caulk for a temp fix and I think that should work…it is kind of fun to have a place to just fool around outside and in the garage….not much to do today…I may have to make a run back out to the south end to pick up some venison today if I hear from B…oh, I did get the t-day grocery shopping done and got a 14 pound turkey from Meijers for only about 4 bucks so that was cool…..and I am looking forward to making my first big meal here….more later…