Well…it’s so damn depressing when you discover that riding the bike is what is causing the back pain that has been plaguing your life for more than a month….oh,well…so it looks like I’ll be using the heating pad after I get off the bike from now on…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get a lot done other than the rides and cooking my t-day meal a day early so I can take today off and watch soccer and football…but to do that I need to get on the bike here in a few minutes and I sure don’t feel like it….I wonder if I should have the heating pad on now before I get on the bike? That may be something to try at some point…the turkey I cooked yesterday came out okay but I am tired of turkey…but I am going to make soup since I have all the ingredients here and that will take up less space in the freezer than the carcasses do….and I think I’ll make it in the instant pot since it shortens up the work time and comes out good…at least it does with the ham soup I’ve made before….not much to do today….just can’t get going but I need to right now….the Lions play at 12:30 so that is the target time for being done with everything today and I’m not sure if I can get there or not…it’s 7:46 right now and I really could use a day off….more later….

Well…I discovered one thing today…that I really am starting to hate turkey….after making the second one today I knew immediately that it was a mistake to buy the second one…should probably have just bought a chicken instead…oh, well…my taste is off, too….when I made my green bean casserole, it tasted like soap and I could barely eat it….again…oh, well…it was nice enough this afternoon to go out on the bike in shorts and almost all of the trail was clear of ice…one bridge along Muskegon Lake was still covered in a sheet of ice so I had to walk across that and there was a couple of hundred yards of the trail out by the beach that had about a foot of sand on it so I had to walk there, too…it looks like the new sand they put in is not too permanent with it losing over 50 feet in the past two weeks and there are 8-10 foot high piles of sand that have been removed from the road…I wonder how long they are even going to keep it open? I am sitting here with the heating pad on to try to prevent my back from seizing up but it feels really tight but I can hope…I did finally get my garden hoses drained and hung up in the garage today so that about ends the yard work til spring…I may rake a bit tomorrow since it’s going to be another nice day but I only have about 15 minutes to do…okay, Canada is playing Belgium and I want to see that…more later….maybe…

Well…running a little late today with not dragging myself out of bed until a little after 6:30…just flipped the turkey over in the brine and the skin over the breasts is pink from the cranberry/raspberry juice I used in the brine….can’t wait til I cook it to see what it will look like…the brine smells pretty good so I hope that translates into a good tasting turkey….had problems with my back again yesterday but it feels okay this morning but that is still damn annoying….I know I’m getting old but to have my body really start failing is depressing…I do need to get the rest of the outdoors taken care of today and I am going to try to get out on the outdoor bike for a ride today but that will not be til later since I do need to get the turkey and the rest of the dinner cooked for lunch first….and there are still world cup matches to watch starting here in 20 minutes or so…and I need to wedge an indoor ride in before I start to cook…going to be a busy one today….but it’s too cold to even think about going outside at 28 degrees….not much to do today….more coffee is needed to jump start the day but I need some quiet time first….going right into work is a little jarring today and I wonder why I keep doing it every damn day….okay, I know why and it’s my well honed sense of guilt….can’t even entertain taking a day off and that sucks a bit….oh, well….more later….

Well…didn’t really plan on taking a lazy day today and now, when I think of it it hasn’t really been completely lazy…I did get out for the grocery run this morning…got on the bike downstairs and got my miles in…did laundry and put that away…and then started putting stuff away that I had let sit in the kitchen for quite a while…so, I did do a few things and I feel good about getting everything I need for the next turkey so I don’t have to be in the stores tomorrow…and I think I’m even going to cook the turkey tomorrow instead of Thursday and that means I’ll have to get it in the brine around 6 tonight since I found that the max time in the brine should be 18 hours or less or the turkey will be rubbery…I think that applies to the dark meat more than the white since I’ve always brined for 24 hours and the turkeys came out good….my damn back is hurting again today and I think my new heating pad is failing since it doesn’t feel as hot as it did…could all be in my head since my brain has been running on empty today….only going to have one meal today since I’m not burning anywhere near enough calories with only riding once…but I am going to try to get outside the next couple of days with it getting to almost 50…and I need to put my garden hose in the garage since I didn’t get it done before it snowed…and I may even rake up the rest of the leaves that have fallen and then call it good….so it will be a busy day tomorrow but then I can take it easy and watch football and soccer all day Thursday…okay, that’s enough for now…more soccer on right now…

Well…damn, sitting here watching Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia and that is a shock….just like the US drawing with Wales yesterday…and that sucked….I only have about 15 minutes before I need to get on the bike downstairs to get a ride in before I head out to do the grocery run a day early…don’t want to be in the stores the day before t-day since it will be pretty nuts….my damn back started to hurt again yesterday and the anticipation of it going back to hurting again today is deflating…I really thought the heat had fixed it but no, it’s never that easy for me as I get older….a lot of the snow has melted and it’s supposed to be 44 for a high today so most of it will be gone in the next couple of days….I may try to get on the outdoor bike this afternoon to just take a look at the trails and hope that they will clear and I can ride out there for a few more times…it looks like I’ll have about 5,700 miles for the year after I’m done and that’s not bad…only about 300 miles under my goal and I can live with that….didn’t get a damn thing done yesterday but I have to do laundry today since I’m running out of clothes and the sweats I’m wearing ar getting a bit ripe….not sure how much else I’ll do with the WC on all day….I was planning on watching the matches today and for the rest of the month and I’m really trying to not feel guilty about it….more later….

Well…running really late today with not getting out of bed til 7:35 and I’m not sure how that happened….well…yeah, I do know how that happened but I’m not going to admit it….after heating my back muscles last night, they loosened up and my back cracked like crazy and that continued this morning and I wonder if that will keep it from seizing up like it has been doing for the past month…I do know that it does feel better and I’ll take that…must have slept okay last night with not getting up til after 7 but I don’t feel like it….it’s going to be a slow start to the day today and I do need to get on the bike at some point…but England is playing their first world cup match right now so that will have to wait…I am getting my freezer down to manageable levels before I cook the next turkey Thurs but I think I’ll go down to one meal a day until then since I feel like I’ve gained a bunch of weight and I don’t like that one bit….going to make some pork loin today if it thaws but that will be later…will probably make some chicken strips for lunch if I do two meals today and I probably should with how I feel right now….not much to do today…just going to ease into it and have more coffee as I watch the match and then figure things out….I did take the day off the bike yesterday so that’s not an option for today no matter how much I want it to be….more later…

Well…when I was doing some reading today, I came across an article about snow amounts from this lake effect storm we just had and I was shocked when I saw that EGR got the most snow of any place in Michigan…and get this, they got 31 inches of snow out of this storm while right here next to the lake we got maybe 4 inches if that much…so when I saw that EGR amount, I immediately texted T since she lives there…and yep, she said she couldn’t get out of her driveway or street for the past couple of days….she was a little shocked that we didn’t get any snow out here and I even went out to get the paper this morning and a lot of the streets didn’t have any snow on them at all…and they have not run a plow out here once…they were forecasting over a foot out here but I’m not complaining at all….and what we did get will be melted by the end of the week….just too damn strange…

Well…it didn’t snow as much as they forecast so I went out to get the paper and the roads were fine…and now I’m sitting here with the heating pad on my back again since it still hurts but I expected that…it’s nowhere near as bad as it was and I am going to keep the heat on it for the next few days to see if I can move around here without it seizing up…slept okay last night but feel worn out this morning and that’s to be expected since I wasn’t good last night and I won’t be tonight….it’s pretty damn cold out there at 23 degrees and I’m glad I’m taking the day off the indoor bike….going to go back to the indoor bike pattern of taking Sundays off as a reward for riding all week…but I may be able to get out on the outdoor bike this week with the temp getting into the 40’s….didn’t get anything done yesterday and with the F1 race and the world cup starting today, I probably won’t today either….there have been lots of birds on the feeder and that’s a nice change from last winter when I only had a few…keeps me entertained as I sit here and do this…not now since it is still not light out there but soon…not much to do today…just going to ease into it with another cup of coffee and a little news…the last F1 race starts in a half hour and then into the world cup at 11 so I have a plan for the day….going to take it easy…have an e-mail from my daughter about the UK trip but I don’t want to deal with that right now…later today….more later…

Well…finally, I got the stuff I ordered from amazon this afternoon and the first thing I did was put the heating pad on my back and I think it’s working…haven’t had a seize up of the muscles since I had the thing on for a half hour and I even went out to shovel the snow so I guess we’ll see in a little while if I can deal with the pain I have left…had the thing up to 160 degrees and it felt pretty good…I really like the digital readout on it, too…the beard trimmer is pretty nice and I’ve already trimmed my beard once with it and it’s so nice to not have to hold the cord in the trimmer like the old one…so, a nice 40 bucks spent and it appears worth it…

Well…boy, my crappy sleep is getting pretty consistent….always up between 4 and 4:30 and then out of bed around 6 or so…and I just can’t get going…and that is pretty consistent, too….didn’t get a damn thing done yesterday and I am going to do the same thing today…I am going to try to  clean my freezer today and maybe even work on the dining room if I can keep my head out of books today….but that may be harder than I think….I am getting concerned that there may be a big underlying problem with my back since it still hurts and I haven’t been on the outdoor bike in a few days…but one weird thing is that it didn’t hurt shoveling the snow yesterday and it should have….but it does hurt now just sitting here and that is is just so damn annoying….I am watching Canadian tv right now and the ads are so different than the US…just like watching UK tv…have stopped using the generic flonase to try to get my immune system working better and now I’m suffering for it….might have to try something else…I am running the hepa filter and that seems to help a bit but not as much as the flonase…damn…not much to do today….I do need to get on the bike after F1 qualifying and then I need to figure out what to eat today….still have leftover chicken and some ham but I am getting tired of them both so I may make some chicken tenders and tots…yeah, I know that’s bad for me but I’m not frying them so I guess that’s a plus….more later…