Well…have been having problems with the bottom bracket that pedals and front sprockets rotate on and today it got so bad it was just flopping around as I rode…so I took a look at the black bike, got my removal tool out and my electric impact wrench and the nuts just spun right off so I could remove it…so I carried the grey bike down in the basement to work on it…took the pedals and sprockets off that is really easy…and then did the same with the impact and this one came off easily, too…and the bearing on the right side that has been flopping around for weeks just fell right apart with little ball bearings everywhere and the only thing left on the spindle was the inner bearing race…no wonder it was flopping around…now I’ve been thinking about doing this for a couple of months and if I knew how easy it was to fix, I would have done it sooner…but I’d never done one before and thought it was more complicated than it was…so I ordered a new one to put back in the black bike for 10 bucks…or maybe I’ll put the new one in the grey bike and swap the used one out…not sure yet…now I can read…
Good on ya, Neil…
Well…it appears that the idiot trump is getting a taste of his own medicine with Neil Young suing him for 10 million dollars for stealing his song “Rockin in the Free World” to use at his stupid rallies…and Neil laid into him explaining what the song is about…that it is an “anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten”…but that is never going to get through idiot boy’s thick skull and he wouldn’t care if it did…the idiot has been taking a wrecking ball to all programs that don’t benefit the rich leaving more and more Americans homeless and starving…so I say good on ya, Neil…don’t let this asshole continue to take what he wants from all of us…geez…
October 28th
Well…up at 4:25 this morning and it looks like I will be able to get 2 rides in before the dentist appointment if I get out by 5:30…that’s pretty damn early but with the lights, it really doesn’t matter when I go out…and I charged up the lights yesterday so they should last through both rides since it is going to be dark until I’m done with the sun not coming up until after 8am…I did sleep okay so that helps but it’s almost 5 already so I need to get moving…had an okay day yesterday but really didn’t do much and today looks the same…it’s going to rain tonight and tomorrow so it looks like the first pass at the leaves will wait til Friday or Saturday and I’m hoping more of them will be down by then…it stayed over 50 overnight so I can go out this morning in light thermasuit and maybe even just a regular hat…I have new sunglasses for riding but won’t need them today with getting out early…don’t hurt too much so I’m not going to take anything for it…just gut it out when my legs start to hurt again which they will if the current pattern holds…the leg pain is normally only when I’m starting out but I’ve been back from Italy for over 3 weeks now and they should have adjusted to the time off already…oh, well…more later…
Just groceries today…
Well…it was an easy day today with just the rides and grocery run to do and after that, I was done for the day by 11am…so I just read and cooked and it was a good day of taking it easy…I did get all kinds of the new Prego pasta sauces that were on sale…1.39 for a quart jar is a pretty good deal and I can eat for weeks just on pasta and sauce…and I have lots of chicken in the freezer an aldis still has it on sale for 1.99 a pound so I may stop there after my dentist appointment tomorrow morning…with that appt, I’ll only get one ride in before I go since it’s at 9am and I sure don’t want to get on the bike by 5:30 am to get two rides in…I did stop at the dollar store too this morning and got 2 bottles of eyeglass cleaner for a 1.50 each and two new pair of riding sunglasses, all for less than 6 bucks…and the exact same bottles of cleaner are 7 bucks each on amazon…so they don’t have the best deals all the time…it was fun to go out and just hoon the car around a bit and I’ll do the same thing tomorrow when I put the top down for the trip…okay, need to find something to watch on tv…
One week…
Well…the election is coming down to the wire with only a week until we know the results…I’m probably going to tune the whole thing out for a few days just to get some rest for my brain…I wonder why ole elon or any other of the oligarchs who tried to ratfuck the Brazil election haven’t been charged for it…ole zuck shut down Lula’s access to all of the meta products they were using to organize as elon poured lots of money into getting their fellow fascist bolsinaro elected so they could take over the country but the people said no and re elected Lula…and we can do the same thing here in the states…let’s make the billion dollars that elon has poured into electing maga assholes just go down the drain and then elon is going to know that his threats really don’t work on people who have nothing to hide…I still think that starlink and spacex should be nationalized every no bid contract that he has gotten to make his fortune should be investigated…after all, 30-40 billion dollars of our tax money has ended up in his pockets and we need to know how and why…please get out and vote and let’s make elon and the rest of these billionaires pay for screwing with our country…geez…
October 27th
Well…out of bed a little early this morning since I need to get on the bike by 6am to get the two rides in before the grocery run…and that’s just another point about being retired that I’m not good at yet…just letting things go and relaxing is not in my make up and it just wears me out…so I’m pounding the coffee down to get my brain and body started and I sure hope it works soon…geez..I seem to say that every day…I did get some work done yesterday and I may continue that with working on the dining room today but I’m not sure about that…I really need an off day so I may take that today after the grocery run…haven’t driven the car in a week and I’m looking forward to a top down run even though it’s only going to be about 50 when I go out…might be able to test the top dressing tomorrow when I go out for my dentist appointment…supposed to rain tomorrow morning so I guess we’ll see…I do have to cook today and I think I’ll make some more fettuccine and chicken since I have lots of chicken already cooked and an open jar of tomato/ricotta pasta sauce that has 3 meals left in it…not bad for 1.39…more later…
RIP Walter Koenig
Well…as I get older it seems like everyone that has been part of my life is dying…and that’s how it’s supposed to be when you get to be as old as I am…and today George Takei announced on Mastodon that Walter had died…if you remember the original “Star Trek” and the movies, you remember him as Pavel Chekov and his wholehearted embracing of his character on the show…George’s small heartfelt note to his friend was the perfect way to send Walter on his way as he talked about their 60 year friendship…pretty cool…I was pretty busy today and finally got some work done when I vacuumed and scrubbed the basement stairs and did the same with the kitchen…they both really needed it and it feels good to get it done finally…I still need to do the weight work right now but I feel about that like I did about the rides this morning…I really would like to take a day off but I won’t…so, on to the weights…
Vote for Abdul…
Well…as we wind down to only 8 days before the election, I want to be blunt…if you hate what the idiot trump and his corrupt assholes are doing to this country…and you should…vote for Abdul El-Sayed for senator from Michigan…I just watched a 3 minute, good natured talk where he was expounding on apples and right then I knew that this is the kind of person who needs to represent us in congress…not a boot licking, trump kissing, carpetbagger like rogers…and now I know that fresh Jonagold apples are the best ones to eat and that the flavor last through the chewing process…yeah, that is what this talk was about…just a normal guy enjoying himself talking to the orchard owner about apples and then going on and on about apples at a town hall meeting…not one mention of hate or fear or anything else that every damn repub spews whenever they talk…oh, and did I mention that Abdul is a doctor who champions medicare for all? What do the repubs champion? Taking health care away or making it unaffordable…wouldn’t it be great to not have to think about how you’re going to afford getting the medical care you need? You know the difference…so vote for Abdul…he cares about you and me and it’s about time someone did…geez…
October 26th
Well…one of these days I’m going to say the hell with it and not drag my butt out in the dark for the rides…but not today…I have less than a half hour until I’ll be on the bike so that means pouring down the coffee and eating a bagel quickly so I can get going…didn’t get out of bed to 5:40 this morning and that’s not bad if I was going to just sit here but I haven’t gotten much done the past few days so I need to figure out the work I need to do and get that done…the kitchen looks okay but the floor needs to be done so maybe that’s the project for the day…still sore as hell from yesterdays ride so I think I’ll take an ibuprofen for it…almost had to stop riding my left thigh hurt so badly and it still hurts just sitting here…damn, this getting old is not easy…the leaves are still not down enough to spend the time vacuuming them up with the mower so at least I won’t have to think about that today…but it’s coming and that will be a lot of work…at least it’s almost 50 this morning so it won’t be as cold on the bike as it has been…can lighten up the layers some but these days are the hardest ones to dress for and get it right…either freezing or sweating and no in between..more later….
An odd day…
Well…darn, I almost forgot to come here for this one it has been such an off day for me…first, my legs were howling in pain on the 2nd ride today and I can’t figure that out…I mean they’ve been flat for a week now but not a lot of pain but now my left thigh is sore to the touch and that never happens…I must have done something to hurt it but I sure as heck don’t know what…oh, well…and then all of my teams lost and the races sucked so I didn’t have anything to keep me from getting bored….I did use the tomato/ricotta pasta sauce and it’s not bad so I think I’ll get more while they are still on sale for 1.39…and I’ll have to do that Tuesday since I have a dentist appointment Wed morning at 9am…so maybe I’ll turn that into a semi rest day and only do one ride to let my legs heal up a bit if they stay like this…I weighed the chicken breasts I got last week at aldis and they are all a pound and a half so I only cooked one today and that will last a couple of days as I add it to fettuccine with the ricotta sauce…think I’ll see what other kind of new pasta sauces they have and just give some a try…it has been a day that has left me wanting a cocktail tonight so I think I’ll have just one…can nurse that for 2 hours and then I’ll get up and feel good in the morning…time to look for some tv to watch…