Well…damn, getting out of bed at 4:30am I guess is no excuse when there are things to be done…got a bike ride completely in the dark this morning and then did the grocery run, filled the car up, then back in to Meijers to get my covid and flu vaccinations, then home to drag the winter tires out of the garage and clean the wheels, then washed the car…and that got me to about noon when I started to feel pretty exhausted but no damn nap…and I sure can’t figure that out…one of my Mastodon friends suggested it might be a delayed reaction to jet lag and the 6 hour time change and I guess that’s as good a reason as any…and then I got a nice surprise when my ballot for the election came in the mail today so I can drop that off after I fill it out…was a little worried that it wasn’t going to come but it is the normal time so I didn’t have to worry about that…right now I have to figure out what to make for dinner that doesn’t take a lot of work…maybe a sandwich with some cool hot and sweet mustard I found at aldis today…going to be an early night but I still need to finish the book I’m working on before I can melt into the couch…
Don’t fall for the bribery…
Well…as the flailing idiot trump faces a repub wipeout (I hope) in the fall election in 30 days, he is trying to bribe the American public into voting for repubs by sending checks to some retirees of 99 dollars or 500 dollars of both…but just don’t fall for that nonsense…take the money but then vote for the dems who will put an end to this trump nonsense…let me ask you a question…how much of the affordability crisis would these bribes pay for? I don’t drive much and it would not cover what idiot boy has cost in gas prices alone…I mean 4.48 a gallon when gas was 2.74 before the idiot slouched into the WH…and with the repubs taking away subsidies that made healthcare affordable, some people are paying 600 dollars a MONTH more than before the repubs screwed everyone over…so how far does 500 bucks go to help with that…not too far and that is before we add in higher prices from his stupid tariffs that have cost the average family almost 4,000 dollars in increased costs…and then let’s add in all of the businesses that have gone broke from his latest round of pissing on Canada…I’m sure 500 bucks will make a half of a house payment…maybe…look, this transparent attempt to bribe the American people will only work if you let it…take the money and then vote dem for your self interest…we’ll do what it takes to turn this country around…geez…
October 7th
Well…I wonder if my sleep can get worse than last night? Up at 3am and then not much more sleep until I just gave up and got out of bed at 4:30…I have too much stuff to get done today to walk around in a daze all day…pouring coffee down at 5am to help me get started and it looks like this might be a 2 pot day but we’ll see…need to get on the bike by 7am to get a ride in before I head out to the grocery run that will include getting my covid and flu shot at Meijers after I get the groceries done…then when I get back here, I am going to drag the winter wheels and tire out to wash them and get them ready for painting after they dry for a week or so…then I think I’ll wash the car since it’s really dusty after sitting outside for more than two weeks…going to look for some cloth top protectant to make sure the winter won’t get to it…it needs to last until I die and that may not be for a few years yet…getting back into riding shape is going to take some time and I am going to try 2 rides tomorrow but damn, my butt hurts like I’m just starting out when I’m coming up on 6,000 miles for the year…decided to not renew my service contact with Dell for my laptop since they raised the price to almost a hundred bucks and that is for a 279 dollar computer…I’ll just buy another one when this one dies…more later…
A little car stuff…
Well…I know I’ve talked about this before but I am so happy about how the car has turned out with the clutch and transmission work I did that I’m going to talk about it again…you remember how I bitched that the car was almost impossible to shift when the trans was cold? So today I wanted to run an errand to DD just because I could being home…so I put the top down on the car even though it was only 42 degrees when I left here and when I backed the car out, it went from reverse to 1st with no effort at all…and when I shifted to 2nd and 3rd that used to need lots of muscle to do, this morning it was just as easy as when it was 80 degrees…and it’s all from changing the trans oil to a full synthetic and making sure it was full…and the shifting is getting better the longer it’s in there just as the commenters said it would…but the kicker to that is getting the air out of the clutch completely so it is easy and silky smooth to take off…so I was tearing around in the car just enjoying it this morning and feeling like it is finally how it’s supposed to be…slick shifts and no effort at all…and that is so cool after the first year when I had to warm the car up on the cold mornings to get it to shift at all…and to realize I can still work on cars and make them better even at my advanced age makes me smile…didn’t have to pay anyone to do this for me that would have cost close to a grand…now I don’t cringe when I get in the car…and that is cool…
“Take out Los Angeles or San Diego”
Well…the treasonous asshole went even farther yesterday when he told Iran it was okay for them to attack and destroy two cities in California if they have a nuclear weapon in his speech to his troglodyte followers…how is this not treason? Never in the history of this country did a sitting “president” even say it was okay to destroy a city or two just because he doesn’t like them…okay, another little thought experiment…imagine if any dem president had said this…fox news and every other right wing rag would be howling for his head…but what do you hear from these traitors? Nothing…and this is just another incidence where they prop up this psychopath just to protect the grift that the repubs have been running since the asshole in chief was elected…and now kushner and lutnick are negotiating with Russia to get a huge oil deal in return for stabbing Ukraine in the back…look, people…we need to get out and vote to start to hold these criminals accountable for destroying this country in plain sight…and I don’t wnat to hear that “both parties are the same”…did you ever hear a dem president who thought of nothing but personal enrichment when in office? Of course you haven’t…it never happened in the history of this country and these thugs and their enablers need to go…geez…
October 6th
Well…back to the same damn sleep pattern I had before the trip and I was really hoping that I could break that and sleep just a little later…I did fall asleep on the couch twice yesterday and that is all from feeling so exhausted from traveling…that should go away after a few days of taking it easy that I’m going to continue today…and that’s partly because it’s only 42 degrees out there and I am not ready to be that cold on the bike…so I’ll wait til it gets over 50 around 10am and that gives me 4 hours to settle in and get some things done around here and read some since I have books that have to go back thurs…I really do hope my ballot comes this week so I don’t have to go over and figure out why it didn’t get here…and I’ll have to vote in person that I don’t want to do…oh, well…I do have to maintain the bike this morning with putting air in the tires and lubing the moving parts…and I do need to start thinking about whether to buy a new bike or rebuild this one one more time…probably one more rebuild and then I may just try to get the black bike back on the road over the winter but that would mean trying to find a new rear wheel or getting one repaired…might stop at the bike shop to see if it can be done…but damn, a new wheel is almost 100 bucks if I can find one that will work with the Shimano rear cassette…sitting here with my new coffee mug from Venice and it feels good to have a remembrance of the trip that I can see every day…more later…
A real recovery day..
Well…today has really turned into a recovery day after I did 15 miles on the bike this morning…it was a fun ride but I’m back to starting at scratch with my bike fitness…my butt hurts and my legs are still sore…I know I also mowed the lawn but with all the walking we did on the trip, that shouldn’t be a problem…it just felt good to be out on the bike again and the best thing was no people…no crowds, no nothing and lots of open space that just doesn’t exist where I was in Italy…way too busy and way too many people and I think it is going to take a week or so until I get back to being used to riding here…but I won’t be back to fitness on the bike for weeks and that sucks…going to try 2 rides tomorrow but we’ll see…I may need to ease into it and work up to 2…I even fell asleep on the couch reading this afternoon as the exhaustion I feel caught up to me…trying to get through the last book I have before I have to return it Thurs but I don’t know if I’ll make it or not..I did get my flu and covid shots scheduled for Wed morning so I’ll have to do the grocery run later that day…but I’m really trying to no just fall back into my routine of go,go, go and just let things happen when they will…I wonder how that will work?
Chickenshit repubs…
Well…it seems like the chickenshit repubs have been scared out of the UK by 5 guys trying to steal gasoline around the US airbase at Falford in the UK…and the drunk hegseth is turning tail and running by moving all the bombers based there back to the US…these cowards have been bleating that it was an Iranian terror plot to justify a new attack on Iran but have you ever seen terrorists released on bail? That is just what happened last week and of course trump and his cronies lied their asses off trying to make themselves look tough and to inflate the threat to the US…now, I wonder if putin gave the order or suggestion for the US to “save” the bombers by getting them out of Russia’s way so he can continue the drone and terrorist attacks that he has been mounting across NATO over the past few months…it’s one less threat to him by his stooges in the Pentagon and in the WH and they are so easily scared and manipulated that he knew this would be the result…didn’t any of the idiot trump’s minions think of the idea that this is just part of putin’s attack on Europe? God, I hate the stupidity of these assholes as they give the US up without a fight…geez…
October 5th
Well…darn, the heat just came on and it’s only 49 degrees here right now…and I’m back to the old pattern of getting up at 5am but that would make it 11am in Italy so maybe I slept in this morning…I’m easing into the day with a cup of coffee and I just made a new pot since I think I’ll need it later…I got a text from my oldest son yesterday saying they saw me out on 28th street when I was getting on 96 to head back here and he said I looked like a “high roller coming back from vacation” and I just laughed at that…still going to ease into the day and get a ride in around 7am or so and I do need to mow the lawn so I’m not sure if I’m doing one or two rides today…probably one and then get back to normal tomorrow…just aren’t feeling it right now and there is no rush so I am going to enjoy being home a little more before I really start going again…it is nice to be back in my familiar surroundings and have a shower that is bigger than a phone booth like the ones in Europe were…I did open the half and half I bought to make garlic chicken and even with buying it weeks ago, it’s use by date is in November and I think that’s a little weird but it sure tastes good in my coffee today…okay, I don’t “need” to get going but I want to…I am curious if they have the road done yet so I can get my normal ride back and I want to see the trail again so I’m going to wait until it’s almost light to go out…so I have time to sit here and do this and read the news before I go….more later…
Okay, I’m worn out…
Well…I’m going to make this a little short one as I start to try to recover from the long, long trip…it was a lot of fun but it took all my energy so I won’t be doing a political one today…the ride back here from the airport was a lot of fun with my huge suitcase in the passenger seat and the top down…and I just heard from my oldest son that they were behind me getting on 96 and that made me laugh and I had to let them know I was coming from the airport after being in Italy with his sister…I really have had enough of air travel for a couple of years and it feels so good to just be here in my own old house with tv in English and not having to interact with anyone for a few days…so tonight I’m going to sit on my butt and watch the race and go to bed early after getting up at 2:30am…way too little sleep for the past few days and I hope that changes tonight in a fresh bed that is mine…