Well…there hasn’t been a lot happen today in politics so I think I’ll do one on some strange things that have been happening on the trail over the past week…going down the trail, I noticed a pile of hickory nut shucks that were put there by some kind of animal I suppose…probably squirrels…and the funnier thing is that on 5 of the past 7 days that I rode through that area, either the bike or me was hit by a nut that was dropped from above…now, I’m not sure if they are trying to hit me or if I just startle them when I come through but whatever it is, they have pretty good aim to hit me 70% of the time…one other thing, today when I was going up the hill to the last water stop, I ran across a huge painted turtle on the trial just ambling across it…it had really cool patterns on it’s shell and I think it’s probably only the second one I have seen in the 25K miles I have put in riding out there….pretty neat thing to see….
All posts by James DeVol
August 19th
Well…it was an okay day yesterday and another normal one where I didn’t get much done…I did get soaked on the bike since it started raining just as I took off and kept raining until I got back here…was not unpleasant since it was over 70 and there was no lightning but I skipped sitting in the park at the last water stop since stopping was a little chilly…..slept okay last night and no dreams but with the all of the Miata wreck dreams lately, it was okay to have a little break…not as sore as I have been lately but I still do need to take some ibuprofen before since my wrists were killing me yesterday…no back pain, though, so that is progress….not much to do today…oh, one other thing….Man U won their first leg match yesterday and looked a little better so maybe they will get to the knockout stage…okay, back to not much to do today…just the ride and cleaning since I made popcorn last night and found out that butter is not the right thing to pop the corn in…tiny little, burned kernels that were pretty darn tough…more later…
They’re at it again…more discrimination…
Well…just like always, the repubs are supporting new legislation that would codify the ability of the haters to discriminate against the GLBT community…again…now, we have the RNC endorsing the Orwellian sounding First Amendment Defense Act….which would prevent the government from enforcing any anti discrimination laws that protect the LGBT citizens of the US. Yeah, I know…just more of the same old crap from the right wing assholes that are running the repub party these days…but the thing is, the country has moved on from this fight after the supreme cout’s same sex marriage ruling but the repubs just can’t…they just have the need to feel put upon and to restrict the rights of their fellow citizens just to be the mean assholes they are…it is settled law that once you enter the sphere of secular business that you cannot discriminate against any group and cloak it in “religious freedom”…didn’t work when they tried it against black people… and it won’t work this time against gays…just give it up pricks..you’ve lost….geez…
A little sports…
Well…I was going to do a political one talking about the Donald and his huge lead over the rest of the rider in the clown car but, there is a little bit happening in sports that I wanted to talk about first…just saw that Danica Patrick has signed a new deal with Tony Stewart’s team and I really can’t figure out why…I think her average finish for the year is in the 20’s and the only place she is competitive is at the restricter plate tracks like Daytona…and this is in the same equipment that Kevin Harvick has driven to 4 wins this year…I know that Tony Stewart himself isn’t doing much better but I don’t remember a race that Danica was even close in…and that would have gotten a mediocre driver fired at any other team…oh, well…I did want to talk a little about Manchester United and it’s inconsistent progress over the past two years…I know they have won both matches so far in the premier league, but they were unconvincing at best in both…I know they are kind of happy with 6 points in the first two matches with only getting 5 in the first 6 last year but I haven’t seen anything that would make you believe that they can win the league this year…the one suggestion I would make is to have Fellaini and Chicharrito start for a change…Rooney needs some help with service so he can be a striker again…or even better, move Rooney to the role just behind the striker and let him do his thing with the good set ups that we have seen him do…okay, that’s enough for now…more later…
August 18th
Well….it was an okay day yesterday but I didn’t get anything done, again, but I did get out to have a couple with G and it was not terrible so that was cool….even tried to eat enough yesterday and may have been successful but I won’t know that for a while….and it looks like I won’t be on the bike this morning with the rain that is coming in but going in the aft is cool, too…or, I may take a day off and just let some of the soreness go away…didn’t sleep well again but it wasn’t as terrible as it could be so that’s a plus…had Miata wreck dreams again where an idiot person ran into it while it was parked and since it is so old, it was totaled…and that was not good….oh, well….there is a soccer match with Man U starting the champions league today so that will be cool to see if they come to play…if they play like that last two games, they will be out of the playoffs today…just can’t figure out how they can be so bad again this year….not much to do today…have to go to the bank after the workout and then have to work on the computer to see id I can free up some memory…more later….
Gun advertising…
Well…this one happened a couple of weeks ago but I just remembered it right now so I thought I’d say my piece so I don’t forget…lately, on one of the cable channels that I some times watch, this innocuous music comes on and the ad shows people going about their days with little stars on them that I didn’t understand…then they show them in some kind of gun training course where they are obviously training to shoot someone..oh, and did I mention that most of the people in the ad are women? Then they close it our with more daily life stuff and more stars showing a woman running, then carrying a purse with it’s own little gun pocket in it as she goes about her errands, I guess….now, you’ve heard me talk here about how I just hate these companies and extremist groups that are trying to normalize the carrying of guns everywhere..but this ad just pushed me over the edge…it was by the gunmaker Glock, and it just made me sick…I have been on this earth a long, long, time and have never once felt the need to carry a gun everywhere I go…and I don’t want to live in a society where people are encouraged to be “squirting metal all over the place” to quote Donald Fagen…..you are much more likely to be hurt or killed by some damn Rambo or Ramboina that think they can save the day than by anything else…needless to say, I will never watch the channel that ran that ad again….oh, that channel is FETV…channel 82 on Dish….geez….
The repubs try to take things away…again…
Well…as I read about the latest shiny object that the repubs are focusing on, birthright citizenship, all I can think of is that they are the party of taking things away…not giving like the dems. every one of the candidates on the right are all about taking away voters rights to vote, taking away women’s rights to control their own bodies, taking away good roads and infrastructure since they will not levy the taxes to pay for it, but this last one, taking away citizenship of people they don’t like is the capper that shows just how meanspirited the repubs have become…and the dispiriting thing is that every damn one of these candidates is from an immigrant family that are citizens because of the 14th amendment that they all hate so much just because a few undocumented Hispanics have had children here who are now citizens under the law…Trump has even come out and said that he will deport every undocumented person…even if they are citizens under the law….I have really had enough of the right’s need to control everything to their advantage and to take away rights from others that they will continue to enjoy…how does anyone ever vote for these idiots? geez….
August 17
Well…it was a pretty good day yesterday with having a nice, long lunch with T with lots of laughs and good conversation….slept okay last night and feel okay this morning but my stomach is still giving me fits today and I’m sure it is from not eating enough..so, today I will try to rectify that with a big lunch and dinner…well…big for me anyway….I am still sore from going hard on the bike but that is a good sore that I have earned so that I can deal with….my back is bad again today, though, and that is not from the bike…just getting old I guess and I don’t like it…not much to do today…just the normal stuff and some cleaning along with cooking and resumes…damn resumes…more later…
August 16th
Well…it was a kind of crappy day yesterday with feeling off all day and I think it’s from not eating enough…my stomach was iffy all day and I didn’t have any energy but I think I feel better today…ate about 500 extra calories yesterday and I’m hoping that that will carry me through the day today….didn’t do much with feeling crappy other than watch sports and lie on the couch and today doesn’t look much different…I do have lunch with T to look forward to but I’ll wait to hear from her before I put it firmly in my plans…I am still sore today so It looks like that will be the new normal and my allergies have been bad the past few days…it looks like I will have to take something for them today since I was plugged up when I got up this morning…not much to do today…lunch…maybe..but that’s about it…when I get home there will be races and soccer but I will take it easy and see if my stomach will hold up….,more later…
August 15th
Well…it was an okay day yesterday but I lost, badly, at pool but that was okay…going back to the Shame to play was okay, too, so I guess it was a good day….and, I got three out here when I normally just do one on pool days so that is something…not sure what but something….feel okay today, too, even after not being good last night so that is cool…it was nice to hear the rain just before bed last night but I really wanted some of the storms that bracketed GR to the east and west…oh, well…my back is sore today and it has been a pain for a couple of weeks now and I guess I’ll just have to live with it….doesn’t hurt when I’m on the bike so that’s the main thing…not much to do today…going to watch soccer and racing and try to clean a bit but that’s about it….more later…