Well…damn, just tasted the ground coffee beans that I ran in my drip coffee maker today and I really am going to need to resist doing that every day…it tastes like coffee should…smooth and flavorful but I really do need to use that 45 ounce can that I bought this week so the beans will go into an airtight container and I’ll use them for treats…all of the 150 bucks worth of stuff except for the ratchet belt got here yesterday and I can’t believe how nice the Fiskars shrub shears are for only 10 bucks more than the cheap ones from HF…can’t wait to try out the new gloves on the outdoor bike this week when the temp is going to get up over 40…they are supposed to be good down to zero but they always lie about that..and they will replace the gloves I got when I was in my 20′s and I can’t believe that I’ve had them for almost 50 years and they are still the warmest gloves I’ve ever owned….might do one more order from amazon before the free trial of prime ends on the 2nd of January…it is really weird to buy things that I want instead of need…a luxury that I really do appreciate…bought 4 wooden fingernail brushes for 7 bucks so I can have one for every sink I have with one left over…not much to do today…just want to sit here for a bit and have a second cup of coffee before I get on the bike…after that, who knows? More later…

Well…another busy day so far today but I have everything done but the weight work and it’s just after 1pm…got three rides in and shoveled the snow and even got some lunch in there…don’t have a whole lot to do today after going the laundry yesterday and putting my new hooks on the shower curtain along with the 6 new weights on the bottom and it now hangs into the shower and doesn’t drip on the floor…going to grind up some beans and use them in the coffee maker just to see what it will taste like and that will probably take two loads in the grinder…I even took another container of the ham soup out of the freezer since the taste is growing on me and it’s easy to have for the second meal of the day…I might even get a chance to read this aft and finish up “The Mote in God’s Eye” but I think it will last til tomorrow…okay, need to get on the weight work…

Well…just made my first cup of coffee with my new coffee grinder in the french press and I will say it’s damn good coffee…no bitterness and very smooth…reminds me of the first cup of coffee I had that my brother made when my mother was in the hospital…I was in my 40′s and was not a coffee drinker but damn, it tasted smooth and sure woke me up…this is what coffee should be…crap, I’m going to get spoiled…slept okay last night but feel pretty crappy today with having cocktails last night…watched the last “Yellowstone” last night and it was a bittersweet night…I hate it when a show I like ends…it’s like losing a friend and leaves a hole that can’t easily be filled…going to have to go out and shovel the snow today at some point but that will wait til later…it’s 6:45 and I am feeling the pull of taking a day off but I can’t…11 days more to ride for a full calendar year of riding and that’s my last goal for the year…not sure what I’m going to do today but I need to do something…can’t be a slug and just sit here…damn, the new coffee is smooth….I was really thinking of tossing the ham soup I made the other day but after it sat in the fridge overnight, it tastes okay and I am going to keep it…weird…more later…damn, should I grind more beans?

Well…got a package this evening in the mail that had swag from my daughter’s trip to Peru…got the softest t-shirt I’ve ever felt, a cool embossed Macchu Picchu hat that is now my new favorite, and a fridge magnet like the ones she gets me whenever she travels…pretty cool stuff so then I had to call her and we talked for more than an hour to catch up sine I haven’t talked to her in a while…and I got my new little coffee bean grinder and a big bag of roasted Colombian coffee beans so the first two cups of coffee tomorrow are going to be made in the french press just to see what I’ve been missing…the grinder is small but it will only take two passes to grind enough for even my drip coffee maker…sure hope I don’t get spoiled with the taste after just opening the 45 ounce can of ground coffee yesterday…I guess we’ll see…oh, and we are going to Europe in 2026 and will be riding trains all over the place…hope we can take the TGV in France that goes over 200 mph…that would be cool…

Well…I know companies lie all the time to try to get you to use their service and amazon is just another in the long line…I’m in the middle of a 30 day free trial since I needed to get the new BP machine delivered before my DR appointment…and I just ordered 91 bucks worth of stuff Tuesday and clicked on the free two day shipping for it…and no peep from amazon if the order has shipped or not and that means the earliest it will get here is Friday so the whole two day delivery is bullshit…so, of course, I will be cancelling it before the trial is up…and go back to not ordering anything from them…oh, well…

Well…it’s probably not a good idea to only have a bowl of soup to eat for an entire day…feel pretty lousy this morning and just frickin  worn out…but the new coffee tastes like coffee so that’s a win in my book…I mean 45 ounces of coffee for 6.99? That will last me until February….it was such a busy day yesterday but won’t be today…just the rides and some cleaning and my amazon package is supposed to be here today with the new shower curtain hooks and weights and the coffee grinder and beans…so I’ll make some of that tomorrow…have the final episode of “Yellowstone” to watch tonight and it’s always a little bittersweet when a show that I like ends…and I’ll always hate costner for his bullshit that ended the show…and I didn’t know that Taylor Sheridan was actually acting in the show until Tom told me and that is pretty cool…and I’ve seen Michael Connelly acting as an extra in “Bosch” that he wrote….it appears that my BP can’t be controlled by lifestyle changes so I started taking my allergy meds again and I have finally gotten rid of the headache I’ve had for weeks…and that is a failure to me…my body is failing me as I age and I guess I’ll have to get used to that…crap…not much to do today…it will be an easier one but I do need to get on the bike here in 20 minutes or so to finish the rides before noon…but more coffee first…more later…

Well…damn, I need to stop running all the time…yeah I know I say that a lot but today it caught up with me and I am just getting done at 3:30 when I started at 7:30 this morning…and the soup I made today did not come out good at all…it has a burnt taste to it and I think it will probably end up in the trash…the ham bones that I used didn’t look good and I wonder if they were freezer burned? Oh, well…have two new ones that I can use to make a new batch next week…and I’m going to limit my calories today to just that bowl of soup… did get out to DD and HF today to get some dollar deals on smoked turkey and coffee for 6.99 for a huge 45 oz can…it’s a weird brand that I didn’t think they made anymore and I think I’ll open it up and use it for tomorrow’s pot…do you remember Yuban? Yeah, probably not…and I got a couple of trim paint brushes and AA and AAA batteries at HF so now I can just sit here for a couple of weeks and clean…I still have the weight work to do so I better get on it…

Well…damn, I am so tired of having to get moving every morning and one of these days I’m not going to do it…yeah, I know I say that all the time but darn, when does a 71 year old get a rest? Not today since I have the rides to do, a run over to DD to get 45 ounces of coffee for 6 bucks and then over to HF to get batteries since they are cheaper than on amazon…I wonder if I should hit Ollie’s to check for cheap t-shirts with them right next door to HF? Then I have ham soup to make at some point today but I don’t have that planned out yet and that leaves a bit of uncertainty that I don’t like…I do need to get my running done before the snow starts…not much of it but I washed the car yesterday and don’t want to get it salty again…slept okay last night and I think I’ve resolved to start taking my allergy meds again since I can’t get my BP down by not taking them and I’ve been miserable with sinus headaches since I stopped them a few weeks ago….only have 20 minutes before I need to get on the bike to get the day started and need to pour another cup of coffee down before that…I forgot to do the weight work yesterday so I’ll have to carve out time for two today…going to be a lot of veggie chopping for the soup and I’m going to try different beans in this batch just for the hell of it…more later…

Well…with the free trial of amazon prime quickly getting to cancellation time, I thought I’d use it to get some things I wanted…and spent 91 bucks to do it…I did buy a coffee grinder and beans, a 50 ft lightweight hose that I can run up from the basement to wash the bike in the winter, a set of Fiskars shrub shears to replace the broken harbor freight ones…some weights and new shower curtain hooks…and I even forgot some things that I’ll get next week…mot of it will be here Thurs but some of it is going to take longer and that’s okay…the stuff I wanted quickly is getting here fast so I can have good coffee Friday…a lot to spend but things I really wanted and can afford…especially the shower curtain rings to replace the hooks that keep falling off the bar…okay, need to find a political one to do…

Well…darn…I need to get moving right now with doing the grocery run today and getting three rides in…so that means I need to do one before I head out so that gives me 15 minutes to have coffee before I head downstairs…the bread I made yesterday came out really good…light and tasty so I can start refining the method of using my casserole dish or maybe using my bread pan next time…I think I’ll add extra yeast to get more rise next time…and I need to wash the car at the car wash this morning so the two extra rides will wait til the afternoon…one of these mornings, I’m not going to get on the bike and rush through the day but I am so afraid of gaining weight that it probably won’t happen soon…damn, have 5 minutes before I have to get going so this is going to be a short one…feel pretty lousy this morning and I’m just so worn out that I could go back to bed and start a lot later but the habit of moving is too strong…only have one cup of coffee in me and the second is going to wait til after the grocery run…ick…more later…