Well…just sitting here thinking about how coincidences make me smile sometimes…as you know, Fridays are normally pool days but today Tom begged off and I was okay with that…a little after the time that I would have normally left, I get a knock on the door from the mailman who has my new shifter to replace the one that broke earlier in the week. The strange thing was it was not even supposed to get here until next week sometime…and if I would have been out shooting pool, I would have had to find it up at the office if the mailman would have left a notice which they sometimes don’t. So, after 15 minutes or so of work, I have the new one mounted and adjusted and I will be ready to get back on the bike tomorrow if the trails are clear enough…just a neat coincidence…
All posts by James DeVol
Just borrowing…
Well…just had this thought come into my head and wanted to pass it on…kind of an epiphany of a sort…as you know, all of the elements that make up you, me, Earth, and everything else was forged in stars that exploded long ago…and that led me to the thought that the stuff that makes up my body is just borrowed and has been used by others over time and, since I will be cremated when I die, it will be used again by others that come after me…I find that kind of cool, that connection to the universe and what has come before and what will come after I’m gone…just some thoughts….
November 14th
Well…not really running late but it feel like it for some reason…not sure why…it was kind of funny going out to get the papers this morning…people have completely forgotten how to drive in slick conditions and they showed it with them hitting curbs and trees while I just drove along with the snowies on the car…can’t figure out how even half worn tires on the car can be so good on the ice….slept okay and feel reasonable today and I am looking forward to not having to work out or ride the bike today…but, after being off it for the past few days, I feel like I’ve gained 5 pounds this week and I sure don’t like that…looks like I’ll have to do some 30 mile days when I get the bike fixed…not much to do today..have a turkey on the counter that I have to get in the brine for tomorrow but that is about it other than pool this aft….more later…
Still having problems…
Well…even after two weeks, I am still having problems writing about politics and the wilderness we progressives are going to be in for the next two years…maybe it will get better tomorrow…at least I’ll try harder tomorrow to talk about something…but, it’s not as if I’m not trying now, I am, I just can’t get there from here and not much else interests me, either…it is a shame that the Philae lander bounced and ended up in an area of shade next to a cliff that will cause it to run out of batteries in a couple of days…I hope they can get the science done before that happens…the bounce was so high that it took the lander 2 hours to fall back to the surface of the comet and it had moved so much in that time that it missed the chosen landing area….the latest photos show it off kilter but they are trying to figure out if they can use the leg drills to bounce it again back to a better place since the 440 lb lander only weighs about an ounce on the comet…oh, well…good luck people….
November 13th
Well…it was an okay day yesterday but I didn’t get much done…a little bit around here but no cleaning…that will happen today since the bike will be down until early next week and I do need to do something to relieve the boredom…and, I’m running really early today for some reason…I guess it was that I was up at 5:30 and tv just has no interest to me right now….slept crappy again but feel okay since I was good last night and that makes 4 days in a row…might just make it five tonight….had a strange dream that somehow combined the Miata and the mountain bike into one thing and that was weird…another one of those early morning ones after you wake up and try to go back to sleep….not much to do today…I am going to make a grocery run to get the rest of the stuff for the turkey I’m making sat morning and then just a workout…another boring day….more later…
Philae is down….
Well…10 years…10 frickin years to get to this point…in case you haven’t been following…the Philae lander has landed on the comet and is sending back data…I am in awe of the accomplishment and of the comments that I have just heard…that this is to advance the human race’s knowledge..to advance science and help us to understand the universe we live in…and, I got to watch it live just like the moon landings in 1969. Of course, this landing had no danger for the humans involved…but, it does not minimize the accomplishment at all…it was just so cool to see the reactions of the geeks live when the data started to come in…it made me smile that there are still people in the world who care so much about science and what it can do for the human race…just wish some of that would rub off on the people of the US…can’t wait to see the photos!
November 12th
Well…running a little late today since I have been trying to watch the comet landing this morning…slept crappy again last night and have been up since about 5 or so so there may be a nap later today….I have the live stream of the comet stuff on in the background and it is a little annoying…so this one may be a little disjointed…I did get out on the bike in shorts yesterday but, as the last post revealed, I broke my rear shifter actuator so I won’t be on the bike for a while and that is starting to irritate me….but then, I did the math on how many shifts it has done since I bought it and it works out to over 100,000 shifts so I guess I shouldn’t bitch….not much to do today….just some stuff around here and watching the comet landing…more later….
Oh, one last thing…happy birthday to Neil Young…69 years old today….
A strange day….
Well…it has been kind of an odd day and I thought I’d do one more of these to describe it since I am a couple behind for the month…this morning, it was about 53 degrees after the grocery run and I got back here with the intention of getting on the bike in shorts for the final time this year with the big weather change that is coming. It was a good ride until I got out a few miles and the shifter unit on the handlebars broke so I could only downshift…I am glad I figured that out before I got all the way down to low but even stuck in fourth it was still a long, slow trip back here…once I got back here I took the thing apart and found that it had finally just worn out and the connection between the lever and the shifter pawl had broken…had to order another one that doesn’t match since they don’t make that one anymore but that really didn’t bother me…after all, the bike is 8 years old now and showing the wear….the part was only 20 bucks delivered but I won’t get until early next week so the calorie counting starts today to try to take 800 a day out…not sure if that can be done since I’m at about 1400 a day now and 600 is just not enough. Oh, well….
It’s official….
Well…just got done reading some stats on the past election and there are some unbelievable numbers in there that really, really disappoint me…my first feeling that the turnout was going to be low from what I saw out there and that has been confirmed…only 34.7% of the people in the US turned out for this election…and the part I can’t believe is that even after all the incompetence and evil from the repubs…people voted for them, trusting the lies that they told to get elected. This turnout was the lowest since the 1948 elections and with the problems the country faces, why the hell weren’t people motivated to try to elect people to make it better? Not to impeach the president, not to take more control over their bodies away from women, not to cut taxes on the rich, not to investigate when the sun come ups, but to work on getting more and better jobs, to make college more affordable, and to make a sensible immigration policy…but, I guess our side just doesn’t care about that…if they don’t think that turning the country over to the repubs is going to be hell on earth for the next two years and can’t be bothered to take 15 minutes to vote, then the people of this country deserve what they are going to get….I’m damn glad I’m old and don’t have much time left….
November 11th
Well…running a little late today and it is because I had to go out for groceries…just couldn’t pass up a turkey for 54 cents a pound…where can you buy protein for that money these days? And, I really like turkey and turkey soup so that is something to look forward to for Sat when it is thawed….slept okay last night but another night of no dreams is a little frustrating…why do all the work of sleeping if you don’t get a free movie? I did have a nice lunch with T yesterday and that kicked off the week on a good note..always fun to hang out with her…and, I got the snow tires on the car in anticipation of the big storm coming but now there is supposed to be less snow so maybe I jumped the gun….would rather change them out when it was in the 50’s than the 20’s so maybe it was a good idea…and the car looks bad with the black wheels on it so that is s good thing…not much to do today…I am going to get out on the bike in shorts for one last time if it’s not raining but that is about it…more later…