Well….I was really surprised today when the new bike came around 10 am when fedex usually delivers late in the day….but, I’ll take it since I put it together and was out on it for a shakedown run by 11:15…and that’s even with getting the computer mounted so not too much time at all…it did help that this one is the same model as the old one since it is the only one with full suspension in my price range, so I already knew everything about it…after starting out on the first ride all I could say is wow! All of the controls are feather light and I barely have to touch the shifter and it is in the next gear…it is so light that I didn’t even hurt my thumb doing two rides and getting almost 25 miles in…even the rear brake is so sensitive that I can lock the rear wheel up with just two fingers….it is just so cool to have a bike that works like it’s supposed to and I can go hard….I had forgotten how nice it is to just power up hills instead of having to shift down 4 gears to keep the chain from skipping…and it works my legs like crazy…so much so that I was already getting sore just sitting here having lunch between the rides…I AM going to need some ibuprofen later today to be able to move and to get ready for another double tomorrow…one crappy thing is that the tube protectors still haven’t shown up so I think I just wing it til Monday when it is supposed to rain and the take wheels off and install them then…oh, one last thing…I expected that the grey paint would just be regular gloss grey….but it is grey metallic and it looks pretty cool out in the sun…can’t wait for oit to get warmer and get some long rides in…
March 7th
Well…up too damn early again this morning….and I knew that if I just rolled over and tried to sleep some more it wasn’t going to work so here we are…so that means that there may be some napcar in my future this afternoon…I did get some work done yesterday and I’m down to only one window left after painting the one in the dining room yesterday…but I have to put the second coat on it this morning…I did find some clear lacquer spray that I used on the rusted part of the frame to try to keep it from bleeding through the white paint…it is a little funny that the spray can of lacquer is over 20 years old and it still works great…I may have to use it on another window frame that is rusted and the rust is making ugly brown marks…and the window over the sink is probably the worst one that I’ll have to take a wire brush to…think I’ll put it in the drill and see if that makes it a little less work…I tried to strip it but that didn’t work on the 60 year old paint…the new bike is supposed to come today along with the tire tools and the tube protectors that I have to install before I can take it out…and that means I have to stay here all day since fedex won’t leave it without a signature…so no last ride on the old bike…I think I’ll go look at the tracking to see if there is a projected time for the delivery…not much to do today…just the painting and the bike stuff along with watching soccer all morning and I need some rest already…or more coffee…yep, I think that’s easier….more later…
538 says it’s going to be Joe…
Well…isn’t it a breath of fresh air to not talk about the idiot trump for a change? After the wins on super Tuesday and with the pile of endorsements he has gotten just before an since then, the polling site 538 is giving Joe Biden a 94% chance of winning the dem nomination for president when you include the latest polling out of the remaining states. While Joe was not my first choice, I can get on board with this fundamentally decent man who we can count on to do the right thing where the country is concerned…and to follow the law…and to not lie all the damn time…and to be competent in appointing judges and his cabinet…not like the idiot who squats in the WH. One thing that does need to happen, though, is that some of the bigwigs in the dem party need to take him aside and destroy the delusion he has that there are people on the right he can work with…there are none and he needs to be ready to govern that way…he needs to make sure that he can get things done without them and that means we need to take the senate back, too, along with keeping the House…one other thing he needs to do is to draft Elizabeth Warren and the other wonderful candidates we had to craft the platform to be presented at the convention this summer…that will at least be a step to mending the fractures that still exist in our party…I will say thank you to Bernie for his comments the other day that he will support whom ever the candidate is…now he needs to get that word out to the berniebros who are grousing and planning to sit out the election that they need to put the country first, that winning this election is more important than their hurt feelings…there is plenty of time to bring this all together and crush idiot boy in the fall…and that has to be our message from here on out…
March 6th
Well…running late this morning and there is really no reason for it other than I just laid in bed for a while after I woke up…and I never do that….I wonder why this morning? Oh, well…feel okay this morning if a little slow and I guess I earned that with not being good for the first time this week….not sure if that is going to continue this weekend but we’ll see…didn’t get much done yesterday but the bike ride as I need to keep resting my hands to get them to heal and it appears to be working…much less pain and I can even do this without wincing…I did remember that I needed to repair the top on the car where more stitching gave way and got that done just before it got dark last night…used every clamp I got from HF to hold it while the glue set…and I needed to get that done before I take it out in the rain…I used the two big clamps and the 6 little ones I got for a buck and it is handy to have them around here….I may not get out on the bike today if the wind comes up like it’s supposed to…20-25 mph is way too much to ride into especially with a bike that I can’t put any pressure on the pedals…but, I haven’t checked if it is windy yet so I may be able to get out early if it’s warm enough….not much to do today…I am going to start working on the window in the dining room so I can paint it over the weekend and then maybe start on the final window over the kitchen sink but with getting the new bike tomorrow, that may distract me some and I may just want to ride….more later….
Elizabeth Warren drops out…
Well….the news that came out this morning that Liz is dropping out of the race for the dem nomination sure saddens me…I have been a huge fan of hers since she first came on the scene and started to get national attention…her intelligence, drive, and heart was a breath of fresh air from the same old politics as usual and just listening to her you could feel her passion for making this country a better place for everyone….and she was the anti trump in every way…fair, curious, accomplished, and with great ideas to move this country forward…and tough as nails when need be…I am going to miss her holding the rest of the candidates accountable and I really hope that there is a place for her as we go forward…she has the ideas we need to start erasing the stain of trump and his cronies and the stench they are going to leave on this country…look, I would have voted for her in a minute in the general election…but, since she didn’t make it, I will vote for whomever the dem nominee is…and I won’t “hold my nose” like some of the whiners whose candidate also didn’t make it…and, I will fully support our nominee since the alternative is just too awful to conceive…thanks Liz….
So, Roberts is just a repub hack…who knew?
Well….I guess John Roberts has a problem with getting the fee fees of the SC hurt after Chuck Schumer quoted Kavanaugh’s rant during his confirmation hearing saying that there would be payback if they didn’t vote for him…and all Schumer was trying to say is if this court ignores precedent and makes up law to ban abortion and overturn Roe, there will be electoral consequences..which is the truth. So, the hack can take all of the idiot trump’s threats to everyone and his shredding of the constitution, but if Chuck tells the truth, that is just too much and Roberts has to speak up…something that is never done by the sitting chief justice and reveals that Roberts is just a repub hack who is not the “caller of balls and strikes” as he said in his confirmation hearing but just another liar on the right who is using his court as a way to impose the ultra right wing nonsense that can’t get passed by the house and senate on the country who doesn’t want it. Especially in this case, more than 70% of the country wants Roe maintained and the access to safe abortion protected…but that doesn’t matter to this hack…he is going to be remembered as the justice who ruined the court’s reputation as being and honest arbiter of the law and turned it into just another corrupt part of the right wing machine…nice job Johnny boy….
March 5th
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….
Not much of a day…
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…
Super Tuesday part two…
Well…the voting is over and it appears that Joe Biden is the big winner in the primaries from yesterday….just a couple of weeks ago, the pundits were all saying his candidacy was dead and Bernie was going to take the nom easily…but, guess what? The voters had other ideas and those who wanted someone who could beat trump rose up and decided that Joe was the one…and it looks like his votes were a cross section of America…bolstered by AA voters, Latinos, and even some young people who are just so damn tired of the idiot trump that they voted for pragmatism instead of progressivism. I feel a little bad that Liz didn’t do better but what a VP candidate she would make…with Joe setting the agenda and then Liz doing what she does…making a plan for that. I’m not sure if we can count on Bernie’s supporters for the general with his comments last night that were basically a rant against people in the dem party who didn’t choose him…not a good look with all of the anger..but that is Bernie and if Joe wins, we need outreach to his supporters to get some of them on board….the hard core Bernie supporters are gone…they are almost as much of cultists as trump supporters are…okay, no…that’s not right..they are tired of the status quo and they feel Bernie can deliver change that no one else can….but, if they don’t come along, there may be no change but for the worse if trump steals another election. That has got to be the message to them…that they are welcome and Bernie’s ideas are welcome…we are the big tent party after all and should welcome anyone who can help…this is going to get even more interesting in the next month or so…next we need Bloomberg gone but not his money…if it used to defeat the idiot trump….
March 4th
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…