Well…I guess that’s what I get from trying to get work done today…after I got the rides in and did the laundry, I read for a bit and then decided to change the oil in the car and that didn’t go well with not being able to gt the oil filter off…I wasn’t surprised with that…most people reef the damn things down with a wrench so, after the heat cycles, there is no damn way to get them off without tools…and it doesn’t help that there is no room around it to put a pair of channel loks on it…and I wasn’t going to pound a screwdriver through it..so I ordered a tool that uses a 3/8 drive that I can put my 3/8th breaker bar on with an extension to get it loose…and that tool will be here tomorrow so I guess I can wait…I did change the oil, though, since I was already dirty from climbing under the car…the drain plug came out easily and I had a short metric socket that fit…and being under the car, I took a look at where the drain plug and fill plug are for the transmission so I can change that oil out to a synthetic but the Ford mystery oil that I used in the old Miata went from 25 bucks a quart to over 50 and I need 3 quarts so I’m not paying 150 bucks for 2.2 quarts of oil…so I think I’m going to try Red Line synthetic that’s only about 60 bucks for 3 quarts and got rave reviews…it sounds like they put the wrong oil in it…probably a gl-5 instead of a gl-4 which has added additives that can damage the synchros…and the drain and fill for the transmission are right out in the open and easy to get to…so that will be on the agenda for next week…I’ll see if the plugs will come out after I get the oil filter off tomorrow…so that was my day and I’ve never had such a problem changing oil before…okay, the first one on the old Miata was a real pain getting filter off and I did pound a screwdriver through it to get it to turn…oh, I also took a wire brush to some bolts that had corrosion on them and then treated them with rust preventer to make sure it doesn’t come back…okay, I’m done for the day…

Well…man, I’m worn out today and I can’t believe how riding in the rain takes it out of me…not sure why that would be but there is something to it…so today is going to be a little low key but I do need to run an errand to get my prescription and stop at aldis for things I forgot yesterday..and then I should change the oil in the car but that will have to wait til the car cools down…not changing hot oil….and this will be the first time I’ve changed it in this car so there will be some figuring out how not to spill oil all over…so maybe that wait til tomorrow…didn’t get much done yesterday but do the laundry and a little cleaning in the kitchen and today looks the same…I do have to mow the lawn at some point but that may wait til next week…I’ll take a look at that when I go out for the rides…at least the hornets are really gone so I don’t have to think about that today…I did get the gas cans filled and the 2 stroke oil in the 50-1 can…can you call them cans when they are plastic? That will give me enough to last til spring…not much to do today…just going to try to get moving and pour some more coffee down before I get out in a half hour or so….more later…

Well…darn, got the first ride in today in the dry but the 2nd ride was another story….it rained harder than I’ve ever ridden in before and I was soaked through before I even got out to the beach…and then it rained harder on the way back…it rained so hard that I poured the water out of my shoes and have had them sitting out in the sun trying to dry them out for tomorrow…and that was after I soaked the water up from the insoles with paper towel…I even had to wash everything I was wearing including my hat that came through the washer better than I expected for 3 bucks…didn’t put it in the dryer since I didn’t want to shrink it…and I had to hose off the bike in the pouring rain to get all the sand/dirt/grit off it so the shifters and rear swingarm will work tomorrow…I’ll still need to wd the swingarm pivot to keep it from squeaking…but it was sill fun to be out there in the rain…and even some of the regular runners waved and laughed with the absurdity of being out in rain that heavy..oh, and I did go out for the grocery run and it cleared up enough to put the top down on the way home…I did change the wipers out for some beam types that I bought a couple of months ago since the passenger side was only clearing about half of it…probably the easiest wiper change I’ve ever done since the old ones came off easy and the new ones went on with just a little clip on the wiper…a good deal for 10 bucks a pair…okay, I need to make the coffee for tomorrow…

Well…up and moving at 5am again today but there is a reason for it…not a good reason but my reason…going to get two rides in before the grocery run but that is going to be a late one with having to push it back since I can’t pick up a prescription I need until 9am so there will be plenty of time to have a bagel and get the weight work in before I head out…it’s supposed to rain today but it looks like it’s splitting to the north and south leaving us dry…again…quite a bit warmer this morning at 66 instead of the 53 from yesterday morning and I’ll take that with not having to wear a fleece to stay warm..I did order some more shorts and cancelled an order that hadn’t been filled in 3 weeks and I can’t figure that one out…I’ve never had that happen ever from amazon but it’s just another piece of evidence that they just don’t give a damn and I really want to stop using them…I am going to buy 2% milk again this morning since I do like that I can taste it in my coffee and even when I’m having a glass with food…and I ordered some long sleeve t-shirts…3 for 12 bucks to replace the holey and worn out ones I’ve been using…man, I’m replacing almost my entire wardrobe for this trip and it really was about time…not much to do today…just the grocery runs and continuing to clean the kitchen along with reading…so I guess I should get to pouring more coffee down and having a bagel to get me started…more later…

Well…it’s another damn cold one out there this morning at 52 degrees and I’ll be layering on the clothes to get out before 7am…another late start with not getting out of bed til 5:30 but I don’t have anything to do today but the rides and going to the library so it will be another easy one…I found out yesterday that I don’t need to buy travel sizes of anything if I pack everything onto my checked bag so that is cool and makes it easier…I do have some hotel size shampoo that I can take to get started so I’ll have to dig those up…I realized yesterday that I went over 5,000 miles on the bike about 200 miles ago and just didn’t recognize it with all of the dead batteries and replacing the computer…so it does look like I’ll get to at least 6,000 miles this year and that’s not the least miles I’ve done since I moved out here…I was going to wash the car today but it’s going to rain tomorrow and I’ll just get it dirty again doing the grocery run so I’ll wait til Thurs…have to start drawing down the food supply so there won’t be anything sitting in the fridge when I’m gone so I’ll have to think about that and figure out meals today…and I need to call my doctor to have one of my bp meds called in so I can pick it up later in the week…and that is a pain…oh, well…need to get going so I can have a bagel before I go out and get another cup of coffee in me….more later….

Well…okay, it was another easy day today and all I did was get the rides in late and went out to get fuel for the equipment and fill up the car…40 frickin dollars and it’s not going to get better anytime soon…but I have enough gas to get me to next year and that’s the first time I got gas for the equipment this year…it does help that I have a 5 gallon gas can for the mower and a 2 gallon for the string trimmer…the hornets really are gone since I didn’t see any today and it’s about time…never had such a pain getting rid of them before…persistent little suckers…I have been making a list of the travel stuff I need and I’ll order that tomorrow…I still can’t believe that I can’t have a normal sized sunscreen in my checked bag…or the generic voltaren that I need for my thumb pain…going to empty out my bathroom and take everything I may need for 12 days in Italy…it made me laugh today when a bunch of my Mastodon friends asked me if I’m going to post photos of my trip and keep a running commentary and of course I said yes…they said it was like being there for the UK trip and that made me smile and I’m so lucky to be able to take the trip…most people can’t afford to burn 5 grand just to travel and I realize that…I did talk to my daughter today to iron out some details and make sure we’re on the same page…I do need to study the itinerary to make sure I know what’s going on…okay…time to get ready for some tv time tonight…

Well…damn, it’s only 52 degrees out here and I’m already running late with not getting out of bed til almost 6…and I wonder why I’m not crowing about the good sleep but it wasn’t good with tossing and turning all night…geez…I may have to dig my long riding pants out for the first ride today along with a fleece…but this is the transition weather that is hard to dress for…I mean freezing in shorts or boiling in partial thermasuit…it was really dark on the trail for the first ride yesterday and I almost bought myself a rechargeable bike light but I’m trying to not spend money until the trip…I do need to buy some travel size stuff to take with me but I need to make a list first…I do know I’ll need some sunscreen both for here and travel but I do think I have two small sample tubes of toothpaste that I got from the dentist…will figure that out today…need to go out and get gas for the equipment this morning so I’ll have it here when I need it next…will have to mow before I go and I don’t have enough gas in the can to do that…I really need to change the oil in the car and will do that this week…still have two oil changes that came with the car that I need to use…so, I won’t be out til almost 7am today but that’s early enough and gives me enough time to have another cup of coffee and a bagel before I go…more later….

Well…it ended up being a really easy day today after I decided to take a day off other than riding the bike…I just needed to rest from all the work yesterday and it hit me that I’m not young anymore…so to manage my energy is going to be the new normal for me and I’m okay with that…I mean what 73 year old does 26 miles on his bike and that’s not enough for the day? Me, I guess…I did check for hornets a couple of times today and didn’t see one so maybe I have that problem solved…and I hit the trash shrub that used to be a trash tree with brush killer yesterday and it appears that it is already working and maybe I won’t have to prune the damn thing to keep the branches out of my fence…and the ones I cut off yesterday filled half a bag that I need to put out Tuesday…have been trying to kill that damn thing for 5 years and maybe I finally have done it…hope so…but that brush killer cost me 17 bucks and that’s not cheap…after all the work yesterday, my yard looks pretty good and the neighbors commented on how good my house looks after I washed it a couple of weeks ago so that was worth it…okay, need to read some and figure out what to watch on tv tonight…

Well…up early again today at 5:03 and today there is a reason for it…want to get 2 rides in before the F1 race starts at 8am but I’ll still miss the start of it since it takes 2 1/2 hours for 2 rides and I’m not getting out til 6am…too damn dark to go out earlier…had a tiny little storm that came through last evening with just a little rain but a cool rainbow that lasted a half hour…it was a double with the inner bright one and then a faint one on the outside of it…pretty cool…I did get the yard work done yesterday and put the brush killer on the trash tree so that should be starting to die as soon as it rains and washes the killer into the ground…I did see a few aircraft from the air show yesterday….and a c-130 kept going around and around here before the storm…no rain in the forecast until I get back from Italy so I’m not going to have to worry about mowing it since I’ll do that just before I go…already pretty sore from weeding yesterday and all of the bending down it took and my right thumb is howling in pain from gripping the weeds…got 2 bags of perennials off just the east side of the house and the back…I left the milkweed plants I have been trying to get to grow and well see if they ever bloom to draw in some Monarchs…not much to do today…need to get on the bike in 20 minutes but need to pour down another cup of coffee before then…but then I’m taking the day off other than cleaning some in the kitchen…more later…

Well…hey, got work done again today after the bike rides…when I was working on cutting down the perennials that were done blooming for the year, there were hornets out there again and I found that I missed one little crack that they were still trying to get into…so I sprayed and then mixed up some cement to cement every damn crack and anything that looked like one and they are still trying to get in…but they should give up in a day or so but I’ll keep an eye on it…it does look nice that I got the weeds out with the perennials and it looks nice and clean again…but that’s all I got done today but at least it’s something…I think I like the shorts I bought and may even buy another pair so I’ll have 4 pair to take to Italy…and I have to get my travel sizes of mouthwash, toothpaste and everything else I need to maintain this old body…have been eating a lot and haven’t had another episode of exhaustion in a while so I guess I’m just going to have to live at the weight I am now or even a little heavier and I don’t like that one bit…oh, well…so now I need to get ready to watch a little tv and relax a bit…