Well…damn, running late this morning with not getting out of bed til 6 but that was from a chemical intervention…had to take a benadryl last night to keep from getting up at 4am…again…not sure how that is going to work for me today but I know I feel pretty crappy right now and need to pour the coffee down to get jump started…didn’t get anything done yesterday but I am going to get the ingredients cooked so I can make potato salad tomorrow…still thinking about getting a steak for my birthday but spending 15 bucks for one meal seems a bit much…I do need to run an errand after the bike rides this morning to pay the water bill and return some books to the library and get more…I did get a LeCarre last time but I find his stuff to be too dense and small so I’m not sure if I’m going to finish the one I started…I guess we’ll see…okay, I just remembered that I did get the car washed yesterday so I guess that’s something…so I’ll have a clean car to run errands with…I do want to get out to the beach this morning and that means I need to get off my butt and get going soon…so no bagel today or later for that…think I’ll take coffee on the first ride since I don’t want to sit here wasting time to have a 2nd cup…more later….

Well…after getting the two rides in…the front wheel is fixed and I’m still kicking myself for screwing that up when I know how to work on bearings…they’re a pain in the butt since they are just 9 loose balls on each side of the wheel…but, if you do it right, it’s easy…and I figured that out after spending an hour trying to re assemble the wheel…and after I got back here after the 2nd ride, I washed the car…finally, from top to bottom and even did the glass…didn’t wax it since the water is still beading pretty good so I’ll let that go to til the next time…there was a lot of sand in the interior but that happens when you go to the beach a lot so that took a bit to get vacuumed up…then I washed the interior to get rid of the dust that builds up everywhere…and then I’ve taken the rest of the day off from about 11am on to read and that is going to be what I go back to right now…won’t have to cook for a couple of days and I wonder if I should splurge on a steak for my birthday? Or make some potato salad…that sounds good and I think I’ll do that tomorrow…reading time…

Well…didn’t sleep for crap last night and it’s not from the heat since I had the little fan on and it almost felt like I had air conditioning…but not now…it is so damn humid that I am sweating just sitting here…and it’s going to get worse this week with a high of 92 Wed…but I like it hot so no big deal…I sure hope I’ve got the front wheel on the bike fixed but I’m pretty sure I did once I decided to do it right and set the bearings correctly…I do have some work to do today and want to get the car washed since it’s dusty and there is no rain in the forecast for the next 10 days or so…I do need to vacuum the sand out of everything from going to the beach but that is part of summer around here and it makes me feel like I do live in a resort town…I do need to go to the library tomorrow and pay the water bill that I almost forgot…not really, they just move the damn thing around from the 8th to the 15th of the month and I need to keep track of that…hard work I know…I do need to get food in the freezer that I got this week and then plan on what meals are going to be for the week…I do need to make masala before the ingredients go bad that I got last week…going to skip the bagel this morning since I just don’t feel like eating…and I need to get the first ride in before 7:30 since the MotoGP race is on…2nd ride won’t be til after that…more later…

Well…I guess I was a little premature when I said I didn’t like the pickles I made with the new spices…after letting them sit overnight, I think they’re pretty good…different from the spices I’ve been using but pretty close and has new flavor that I really can’t place but I like…I do need to use less spices with the next jar since I think a half cup might be a bit too much…think I’ll try a quarter of a cup and then just add a little more if it leaves the pickles tasting like cukes…..but I have enough to make 10 or 12 jars and I have to think about it as being the best pickles I’ve had and not compare them by price since they do cost about 2 bucks per jar…I may sprinkle just a tiny bit of cayenne in the next jar since these new ones are not quite as spicy as the first ones and I like them with a bit of a bite…still damn exhausted after getting up at 4:50 this morning…oh, well…

Well…after having a pretty good run for a few weeks, bike troubles reared their ugly heads this morning and it took me hours to get them sorted out…first the front wheel started to make a grinding sound and I had to think of the last time I greased the bearings and couldn’t remember doing it at all so I may not have done this wheel…when I tore it apart I screwed it up so badly that I actually put the wheel from the black bike on it so I could get the second ride in…but when I got back, I took another swing at it…cleaned the bearing races and counted the bearings so I knew I had all of them…and when I got it cleaned, I could see that I was putting the bearings in wrong and not seating them in the races as I should have…so I fixed that, greased them with the moly grease I use and put it back together and replaced it on the bike where it spins perfectly and I’ll ride with no problems tomorrow…I did work on the front fender that has been giving me fits by coming loose and rubbing on the tire so I cleaned it up and put some 3M double sided tape on it along with some loctite that I found in the garage that Tom gave me years and years ago and it still flowed so I hope that works…Oh, one last thing, I never open the envelopes that I get from my mortgage bank since they are just updates but yesterday I did…and found I only owe about 36 grand on my house and that means I have at least 120 grand in equity…and that isn’t bad 5 years from being broke…more later…

Well…damn, up before 5 again and all of the gains I made in sleeping seem to be out the window and that sucks…and it appears that the new med is starting to cause the pain the doctor said it would and I hurt everywhere…oh, well…at least I won’t die of a heart attack or stroke…I did make a batch of pickles with the new spices and I’m afraid I don’t like it so I’m out 20 bucks and that sucks, too…I did get started straightening this place out yesterday and I’ll continue that today…the flies were not as bad yesterday and I’m hoping that is done today so I can get the kitchen windows cleaned of all the bug spray…it’s going to be hot the next week or so with it peaking at 92 on my birthday next week so I’ll be sweating but I don’t mind that…the fans can go up 3 more speeds and I even have two more I haven’t even used yet…and the water at the beach has gotten almost too warm for my taste but swimming still cools me off so I’ll keep that up…not sure what I’m going to do today other than ride the bike…thinking of making some potato soup but that would have to be for lunch before it gets too hot to cook…no beach today since I don’t go out there on the weekends with how busy it is…I may wash the bike since it is getting really grungy even with spraying it off yesterday…I did lube the chain after it started to make the swishing sound it makes when it’s dry…but it’s going to need a complete cleaning soon with the wire brush and dish soap to get rid of the built up crud in the idler wheels on the shifter…more later…

Well…I almost forgot to come here for this one and I’m not sure why…I did finish a book and start a new one this afternoon but that still leaves time to do other things…the day started busy as usual…got the two rides in and then decided to mow the lawn since it was looking shabby even though it’s not growing much without any rain out here for a week..then I went to the beach at 9:45 after I got all my work done and got a nice swim in…the water was pretty warm and no waves so it was a little boring but didn’t beat the hell out of me so that was a good thing…I did make a quart of pickles with the pickling spices I got today but I’m not sure about them….sure hope they have bite like the old spices did but they smelled great so maybe just a little cayenne if they’re not spicy enough…the flies were not as bad here today but there were hundreds of them at the beach and I hope the pattern keeps up that after 2 days they are gone again…okay, want to watch some HOD….

Well…damn, running late this morning and I’m not sure when I’m going to get out on the bike…still need to do the weight work and have a bagel…just poured the first cup of coffee and need to pour it down to get going…it was fight the flies day yesterday and I had at least a hundred of them in the kitchen windows that I had to kill…that happens at least once a year here but it’s still annoying…going to have to vacuum the windows to get the damn carcasses out and then wash the windows to get the bug spray off them…more work that I don’t want to do…oh, well…took the first of the statins yesterday and don’t hurt yet but that is supposed to be coming…not going to worry about it, though, and just get on with life…I do have a headache this morning but I think that’s from allergies that have gotten really bad with the goldenrod and ragweed starting to bloom along the trail…don’t have a lot to do today so I may hit the beach for a bit this morning and then start cleaning this place up…the new pickling spices are supposed to be here today and I think I’ll use them to make more pickles…going to start to measure how much spice I put in the jars instead of just winging it so I can have a repeatable recipe and don’t waste the spices…I did buy the new living room table yesterday and it’s hard for me to spend 53 bucks even though it’s cash back money that was just sitting there…more later…

Well…after getting 3eve3rything done way too early today, I was sitting here looking at the cobbled together coffee table I’ve been using and it hit me that I have enough cash back on my capital one card to buy one with no cash out of my pocket…and I thought why the hell not? What am I waiting for using a plastic tub and a top I got probably 50 years ago? So I ordered one that has lots of storage in it with a partial top that rises up that you can use as a laptop stand…oh, I talked about that this morning, didn’t I? I also bought some pickling spices that got great reviews but were not cheap at 19 bucks for a pound…but I paid 13 bucks for 10 ounces a couple of years ago so it didn’t seem like a bad deal…and I’ll get probably 15 quarts out of it…I’ll get the spices tomorrow and the table on my birthday…happy birthday to me! I did get the crestor for my cholesterol this morning and it only cost me 2 bucks out of pocket for a month’s worth so that not a bad deal…so now I have about 3 bucks a month going out for medication and have joined the 3 medication club.;..ick…oh, well…would rather do that than have a stroke or heart attack…okay, haven’t had much to eat today so I’m going to make a sandwich…I did make chicken stir fry today but that doesn’t have a lot of calories in it…

Well…have 15 minutes before I need t get on the bike to get the rides in before the rain starts at 8am or so and I really want to get both rides in before that so I need to get moving by 6am…a little out of synch this morning with doing the weight work before this just to make sure I don’t forget to do it since I don’t want to go flabby afterall the work I’ve put in…don’t have enough time to have a bagel before the rides but I think I’ll have time after them and before I go out to pick up the new prescription…and that makes me officially feel old with now 3 medications I have to take every day…feel okay this morning and the coffee is going down fast so I’ll be on the bike in 11 minutes…I did figure out that I have a fine adjustment for the front shifter on the bike after riding it for 6 years and I really hope it will allow me to get it working right without adjusting the cable at the shifter…I guess I’ll see when I get out here in a minute…out of leftovers so I need to cook today and that will be a chicken stir fry for lunch and maybe an omelet for later…I may buy a new coffee table since I have 150 bucks in cash back on my capital one card and the one I’m looking at only costs about 50 bucks…and then I can retire the makeshift one I made out of a plastic tub and an old top that I got 40 years ago….and the new one has lots of storage and even has an articulated arm for a laptop so that may be cool…I know it’s cheap but that’s me too…more later…