Well…how the hell can be running late already with getting up at 6:23? I do have the grocery run to do this morning and need to get a ride in before that so that means I have 15 minutes to get moving…my BP is confusing the hell out of me with it being over 160 last night but 117/66 this morning…weird…the difference in taste of the drip coffee to the pour over is so huge that I think I’ll have to make some of the ground stuff in the pour over just to see if it is the coffee or method that is the difference…have the meal planning done and will be making some masala and pizza this week and I really need to not eat ham anymore…but I will make some ham soup and potato soup this week…I was so damn sore from the outdoor rides last night that I contemplated taking some ibuprofen but I’ve broken that habit and don’t want to go back to it…I guess I’ll just live with pain for now…just remembered I need to buy some more bird food this morning…the doves came back yesterday but they are still spooked from the hawk and I am curious how long that will go on…not much to do today…just the rides and grocery run…have 10,399 miles in so far and will add 60 more or so by the end of the year….more later…

Well…I got my new Bodum pour over coffee maker and made my first batch of coffee…damn, that thing makes great coffee…I am going to get spoiled if I use that all the time…and it is so easy to clean up when I use a paper cone filter inside of the stainless steel one that came with the unit then just take the filter out and throw it away…no mess like the french press…takes longer to make the entire 34 ounces but I can live with that since you don’t have to steep the coffee like you do in the french press…smooth, smooth coffee that I’m still drinking at 1:40 in the afternoon…so now I have a corner of one counter made into a coffee making area with the Bodum, bag of beans, and coffee grinder in it…oh, and I bought myself a pair of fenders for the bike this morning after riding in the slop and having it all over me by the time I was done…just forgot that I wanted to buy a set for quite a while now…and they are only 13 bucks for the pair so I could afford it…now I have to cancel Prime so I’ll stop spending money…

Well…I think the BP meds have stopped working with the reading 137/76 this morning and that is really depressing…oh, well…I’m not sure what the heck it is about 3:53 but I’ve woken up at that time for 4 days in a row now I really thought I wasn’t going to get back to sleep…but I kept at it and didn’t get out of bed until around 6…only had birds on the feeder once yesterday and no squirrels in the yard either with the hawk hanging around and I wonder if it will be the same today….didn’t get anything done but laundry yesterday and I think I’ll clean the couch and rotate the cushions today…the living room can use a dusting and vacuuming but I still need to get three rides in and I’m going to try to get an outdoor ride in before the rain comes in…we’re supposed to get up to half an inch when it starts and it’s supposed to continue all day and tonight…it looks like I’ll have two more days to ride outdoors before the temp crashes into the 20’s for a few weeks and I don’t want to be that cold anymore…not much to do today…need to do the grocery list since I’m doing the run tomorrow and need to do some meal planning before that…I’m thinking pizza and maybe another batch of potato soup…and maybe some pasta…or ham soup to use one or two of the bones I have in the freezer…more later…

Well…I was a little curious whey I haven’t had many birds come to my feeder today and thought it was probably empty with all of the doves that come in to feed all day…so I took the bucket out to fill it and saw a female red tailed hawk sitting in my tree about 30 feet from the feeder…after I filled it, I looked down and there were feathers everywhere so I guess the hawk has been hunting the doves that crowd the feeder all day…I did hear a huge thump on the side of the house and I wonder if it was the hawk attacking earlier…I’ll have to keep my eyes open and watch…

Well…I did get two outdoor rides in this morning but it was a hell of a of work with the wind coming up between them…must have been blowing 25 out of the NW and that is right in my face on the way out but fun coming back…so a good 33 mile day today…the household stuff that I ordered has started to arrive with the first package being the new drain screens for the kitchen sinks…they look nice and fit great and I’ve never had one for both sinks before so that will be a welcome change…still have the new dish drainer coming and that’s supposed to be tomorrow…it’s funny how fast my conditioning goes away when I don’t ride outdoors…sore and exhausted right now and don’t think I’m going to do much the rest of the day…other than watch football and read…the weather is going to start getting colder starting tomorrow and we’ll be back down in the 20’s for highs starting Thurs…ick…but we’re down to about 2 months of winter and it hasn’t been too bad so far…okay, more coffee and reading…

Well…it appears that the BP meds have started to not work since my BP is up to 131/75 as I got up this morning and that sucks…I did sleep okay last night but feel pretty worn out and would love to just take it easy today but I won’t…will be on the downstairs bike in a half hour and then outside for maybe two rides today…I did get an outdoor ride in yesterday dodging the rain drops but it looks like I’ll have a rain free ride as soon as it gets light…it’s already 49 degrees so I’ll have to adjust the thermasuit to make sure I’m not overheated when I do go out…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I do want to get the boxes out of the living room and start breaking them down to go out with the trash Tuesday…I really do want to get some stuff out of the freezer so I can get some boneless/skinless chicken at DD Monday that I can use in stir fries and Masala…only 1.59 a pound and that is a pretty good deal…I do have to remember to not check out the side effects of medicines I’m on…this BP med has lots of them and some of them are really bad…and coffee can make it not work and I’m sure as hell not giving up coffee…not much to do today…I think the whole day will revolve around getting rides in…I did give up on “The Lord of the Rings”…just can’t read Tolkien’s style…oh, well…more later…

Well…after buying the coffee grinder an whole beans and using the french press to make coffee a couple of times…and then having to clean the grounds out of the bottom of the press, I started to think about a way to get that good tasting coffee but not have to do the pain in the butt clean up…and my french press started to leak from somewhere so it was time to replace it…so I mocked up a pour over method using a big plastic cup, a coffee filter, and a rubber band to hold the filter on and it worked like a champ…no clean up at all…just threw the filter away…so then I went out to amazon to see if they had pour over coffee makers and they did…and the one I’m buying is a Bodum just like my french press and comes with a stainless coffee basket that you put the grounds right in it or you can use a cone style filter in it so you can just dump it in the trash…and it is only 18 bucks and that solves my clean up problem completely…the carafe is 34 ounces so that will be enough for a whole day…so I’m buying another two pounds of beans and a pack of 100 filters with it for only 35 bucks…thought about getting an electric water pot but I have 2 -2 cup pyrex measuring cups that will fit in the microwave…don’t really have any counter space for another appliance…and that’s the last I’ll talk about coffee…

Well…up and moving at around 6 today after waking up around 5 or so and that makes it three days in a row and that is wearing me out…have been trying out new ways to use the whole coffee beans and grinder I bought and I’m leaning toward buying a pour over coffee maker since the french press is just such a pain to clean…tried the method out this morning with a coffee filter and rubber band over a big plastic cup and that worked quite well…I can get one for 17 bucks with a  re-usable stainless steel filter that I can just dump the grounds out instead of all the cleaning the french press needs…and the pour over method makes a great cup of coffee…so it looks like I’ll be spending more money today to go with the 36 bucks I spent yesterday to buy a new dish dryer, drain screens, and chain lube….BP was 125/70 this morning and getting a green light on the BP machine is cool…I’m thinking of just doing two outdoor rides after it gets light today since it is already 41 degrees out there and I enjoyed the ride yesterday….it is supposed to rain around noon today so I’ll have to get moving at first light…not much to do today…just the rides and then some football…I really wish I had room in the freezer since DD has smoked pulled pork for 8 bucks for 5 pounds and chicken breast tenders for 1.50 a pound…need to get back to eating more healthy foods and the tenders can be used in stir fries and Masala….more later…

Well…after getting the two indoor rides in and the temp coming up, I decided to try out the new gloves and get on the bike at 36 degrees outside and it was fun…no ice on the trail at all and I went as hard as I could go the whole 12.5 miles…the new gloves were better than the old ones and I can live with them…only about 5 minutes of pain in my fingers after I got back here and I can live with that…the beach road is closed and covered in sand along with the trail by the beach…had to walk the bike for about 50 yards but that was okay…it looks like I’ll be able to ride outdoors for the next few days and then back downstairs for the rest of the winter…need to reset the computers to zero next week and that is always a little daunting starting from nothing again…still haven’t figured out new goals for riding next year but I guess I can just wing it for a while….will be back for a political one later….Man U is starting…

Well…this used to be my favorite day of the year after all of the christmas duties were over and I could finally relax…with not celebrating anymore it’s not the same but the normal stuff starts up again and I am looking forward to soccer and football today…Man U plays at 12:30 but they have been so terrible that I wonder why I even watch anymore…I did take my BP when I got up this morning and it was 120/71 and I don’t know how I feel about that when I took it late in the day yesterday and it was 155/78…I thought the medicine was really working but I guess not…oh, well…didn’t get much done but the rides and cooking yesterday but I am going to try to get an outdoor ride in today after the Man U match with it getting up to 44 this aft…it will give me the chance to try out the new gloves but I am ready to be disappointed as I have been with every pair I’ve bought the past couple of years…I’ll have to drag the air compressor out to air up the tires on the outdoor bike since I haven’t done that in more than a month and that means they will be down to 30 psi or so and they need to be 60…don’t have to cook today with leftover burgers and ham in the fridge and that will last me for a week or so…then I start my healthy eating again with nothing but chicken and pasta…need to get moving by 7 to get two rides in before lunch and then break down boxes to get this place organized and cleaned up….more later…