Well…running about on time this morning with getting up at 6:20 and just starting on the first cup of coffee…slept okay last night and just feel a little tired today but that is pretty normal as I get older…had an okay day yesterday and got a few things done but no real progress on the house and that is disappointing….need to get started on painting the inside of the house but I don’t feel any urgency to do it….I’m getting used to the ugly paneling and I think I’m going to have to force myself to get moving with all of the prep work that needs to be done….and I still need to find a doctor out here and that will be the project for next week…I am happy that I got all of the outside work done and all I have left to do is the leaves if they ever fall…I am still mowing the lawn and I wonder when it will stop growing…I think I mowed into the end of November last year so that means at least a couple more times….need to edge everything one more time and run the string trimmer so it will look nice and finished all winter….not much to do today…going to just ride in a little while and then see what happens for the rest of the day…I do have to clean the living room today and rotate the couch cushions along with doing the cobwebs and dusting….oh, and I get to have a bagel with my coffee today…yay….more later…

Well…darn, I was going to take it a little easy today but it just didn’t work out that way….after doing the grocery run where I had to get protein for the first time in a couple of weeks and got both some pork chops and some chicken, and even bought some bagels with cream cheese to splurge a little….then out on the bike for the first ride and I was in pain the entire way…something in my right hip and thigh is hurting and I wonder if it is from the stationary bike riding yesterday? It started right after I got off it and it hurt every damn pedal on the first ride…and the first one was brutal with how dead my legs felt…the weird thing was that even with the wind coming up to around 15 for the second ride, it was much better than the first one and the pain subsided a little….once back here, I ate a little for lunch then got started on cleaning even though I wasn’t going to…got the cobweb patrol done in my room and then cleaned the stove and and the storage shelf where I put my food….and now I’m in the middle of cooking dinner early with not eating much for lunch and I feel pretty darn worn out…so, I’m done for the day….going to take it easy and read the news for a while….

Well…damn, I just realized that I have voted in every election I’ve been eligible for over the past 50 years…and the people I voted for won out here…so that is cool….up at 5:30 again this morning but I was able to go back to sleep for an hour or so and that wasn’t bad…but no dreams at all for weeks now and I wonder what that means? It’s damn cold out here at 29 degrees and that should start getting the leaves down so I can get them out to the curb….didn’t do the shorts to Thanksgiving thing this year since I became bored with it last year….but I had a long run of doing it…I think I’m getting more sensitive to cold as I get older and the damage to my thumb has done the same thing….it’s really weird how the cold makes it hurt and I’ve never felt that before…I do have a few things to do today starting with the grocery run here in a few minutes and I really do need to change up my diet a little…I know there are great foods out there that I can buy but don’t…like some crusty bread that costs about 5 bucks a loaf or a steak…haven’t had a steak in over two years and that would be great to taste…I am going to make chili this week and I haven’t done that since I’ve been out here….not much to do today…I am going to try to get out on the bike today but I am getting spoiled by the bike downstairs and I think I’ll be riding that a lot…it is just so easy to walk down instead of getting suited up…but exercise is exercise and I need to make sure I do two rides a day….more later….

Well…another day and another one that feels wasted with not getting anything done on the house….didn’t even get an outside ride in other than to go to the post office and drop off a bill that I had to pay…well, it was two weeks early but with how bad the mail is lately, I couldn’t take a chance of it being late….but, I did get two 8 milers in on the downstairs bike and that should be enough..it sure feels like I rode longer than when I do the 30 outside so I guess I can not feel guilty…decided to not buy new winter tires since the cheapest ones are 90 bucks each and I’m not spending over 400 bucks on tires that I’ll put 200 miles a year on….so the old blizzaks will go back on for one more year and I’ll just try to not drive much….and I can still look for tires over the winter to see if I can find some that are reasonable…I did get laundry done today so I guess that’s something but I’ll need to do more tomorrow….it looks like I may be out on the bike in shorts one last time this weekend since it’s going to be in the 50’s and I still need to winterize the car and clean it so that will work out well…have some rust preventer that needs to be applied, too so I guess I’ll be busy…

Well…running late this morning and feel pretty crappy so I’m not sure how the day is going to go…slept okay but I just want to go back to bed and one of these days I’m going to…but not today…have a lot to do and need to get started soon…I was going to go out and buy some new snowies for the car but the cheap ones doubled in price over the weekend and I can’t figure that out…now the cheapest ones are around 80 bucks each so I may just use the worn out blizzaks for another year….or just not go out in the snow…I have that option with just a little planning and stockpiling groceries….I can see not leaving this place for weeks this winter and I’m not sure how that is going to go….I did get a little work done around here yesterday but I don’t feel like doing anything right now….but it is warm enough to get on the bike right now and I have to start thinking about that….my legs are okay after riding the inside bike yesterday but I now remember how boring that is….just looking at the wall of the basement is no substitute for the scenery outside….not much to do today…feel like a car with a dead battery right now and I’m not sure if the coffee will jump start me….or if I want it to…I wonder what would happen if I just watched old movies all day? Yeah, you know that isn’t going to happen…but I wish it would just once….more later…

Well…I did try to ride outdoors today and got out about 8:30 or so…but, the wind was blowing pretty good…about 15 that I could feel after I just turned the corner out of the alley….when I got to the point, it was blowing around 20 and that was just too brutal…so I turned around and came back after only three miles or so and decided to mow the lawn instead. After I got that done, and the mower worked perfectly,  I decided to try out the downstairs bike and get some miles in…man, I had forgotten how much harder it is to ride a stationary bike that it is outside…even on the medium magnetic drag setting I was working way harder than I do outside and only rode about 8 miles before my legs started screaming at me that they had enough…by the time I was done, I had a total body sweat going on that was like riding outside in 90 degree heat but it made me feel good that I now have options to avoid the worst of the weather and it was nice to not have to suit up to ride…I will still ride outside as long as I can but some days I’m just not motivated to freeze and this will keep me going all winter…I wonder how sore I’m going to be tomorrow?

Well…got all the way til 6:30 this morning but then just stayed in bed watching the shadows of leaves on my wall for almost another hour so I am running a little late today…just started on the coffee and it’s almost 8 but I wonder why I feel the need to have a schedule anymore….don’t have to be anywhere but I still have lots to do so I guess a schedule is necessary or I’ll just sit here and do nothing and I can’t have that….I do need to get on the bike here in a few but I need to check the wind first…not going out if it’s blowing more than 15…that’s just too brutal and I can ride downstairs instead…feel okay this morning but still a little slow but that’s before coffee….my thumb is better today but still stiff and I’m pretty sure that is going to be the new normal and I’m not sure I like that…but there isn’t much I can do about it….at least I can use my hand without thinking about it….I did get some work done yesterday and finally cleaned my bathroom…I need to keep up on that and do it at least once a week and that will make it easier…I think I’m going to take one room a day so this place won’t get overrun with cobwebs and dust…and when I don’t have to work on the yard, I’ll have some time…but not today…need to mow the lawn and pick up the leaves and get them out to pickup tonight….and that will be most of what I do today…but who knows? I may clean and do some laundry later but I’m not sure about that yet….more later…

Well…if you come here often, you know that I sometimes do a monthly recap on what has happened to me this month and put a few final thoughts down before it ends…so, here it is…I did  a lot of damage to myself this month whether from accidents that mashed my thumb, that still hurts by the way, to the stupidity of not eating enough that continually is a problem for me…but, that said, it was a pretty good month and I am still thankful that I have a house to live in and can still get out on the bike every day…and I should have enough cash saved by spring to buy another Miata if I can find one… still have tons to do here and I would like to get a garage door opener and install it over the winter so I can stop getting out of the car to open it manually….and I do need to buy a new weight machine since I need to tone up from the waist up….and I’ll probably buy that from Amazon since I can get it delivered and won’t need to find someone to pick it up for me….I still have a lot to do to get the yard ready for winter with edging the front walks and running the string trimmer one more time but, I think I’ll be done after that other than picking up the leaves and they have barely started to fall yet…sure hope they get down before the end of November since that ends leaf pickups and there is a rule out here that you have to get the leaves off your lawn before winter…the weather is going to change markedly this week and the days of 50 degrees are pretty much gone…but, I do look forward to my first winter out here and hunkering down during snowstorms…I’ll probably get out and walk around in the storms since the quiet is just so cool to hear…shoveling is going to be a pain but I’m sure I can handle it…for this year anyway…then I need a snowblower….Happy October…oh, and that’s 88 of these for the month….not a bad month for an old guy….

Well…Muskegon is a weird little town….just yesterday on the ride, I saw a small boat sitting just off 7th street with a duck blind on it and two guys were shooting at ducks…right in the middle of town and it was strange to hear shotgun blasts going off as I rode by…and this morning as I rode through the trees on the way to the beach, it appears that someone shot one of the almost tame deer that live on the dunes….there was blood all over the place on the trail in huge smears as they dragged it out of there…that doesn’t seem to be cool…these deer just stand there and anyone could walk up to them and hit them with an arrow…and how do you explain the blood on the trail to the kids that walk it every day? I know some people are idiots but damn, how do you justify killing a tame deer? Just no damn sport in it…geez…

Well…up at 5:30 this morning but was able to lie in bed til 6:20 so that’s okay…and I slept okay and feel good this morning…well…not good but okay and I have to remember to eat something before I get on the bike in a little while…I did go out and look for the northern lights last night and that was a bust…it was nice and clear and saw a bunch of stars so that was cool….didn’t get anything done yesterday and today will probably be the same but I do need to clean the bathroom and vacuum the rug in the living room and that will be after I get two rides in this morning….my legs feel okay today but they hurt pretty bad sitting here last night and I’m glad the ibuprofen worked…and I had the first day of no pain shifting the bike yesterday and it is nice to not have to think about it anymore….have been working the thumb to try to get some range of motion back but I think that ship has sailed….but I can use it again for most things and I think it will get a little better over time…not much to do today…it’s still only 7:15 and it won’t be light enough to get on the bike until 8:30 or so and that gives me time to read the news and have more coffee…..I do have to remember to eat more today since I think I may have been close to not enough yesterday…this really is harder than I thought…and it’s weird, like me….more later…