Well…running late this morning with not getting out of bed until after 7..slept okay and don’t feel too bad this morning and I think I’m up for a two ride day as soon as it gets light but that won’t be for another hour or so…and it will be almost full thermasuit with the temp only 37 out there but it is good that the wind is only blowing about 5 mph so it could be a pleasant if cold ride….I was such a slug yesterday with not riding or doing much else but laundry but I think I need one of those days once in a while as I get older….and it rained all day and the wind was blowing in gusts to over 30 and I refuse to even try to go out in those conditions…so, I really did have an excuse to be off the bike yesterday…I do need to get a bike set up downstairs so I can at least get 10 miles in when the weather is bad as it will be more often as we get toward winter out here….think I’ll mow the lawn tomorrow since it looks like rain again thurs and fri and I think we are getting our first frost this week…that should get the leaves falling so I can pick them up and get them out to the curb and I hope my mower holds up for that job….no much to do today…I do have to clean some around here and get the rides in but I am still nursing my right thumb a bit so I am not going to abuse it…and I may do some test stripping to see what the oak trim looks like and to see if I can get the adhesive off the spare bedroom floor….need to start thinking about the winter interior work and how I’m going to schedule it….more later….

Well…damn, the hits just keep coming….had to mail a couple of bills and drop my ballot off at the cop shop so I thought I’d take the bike since it stopped raining out here and I wanted to check out how my thumb is faring when I shift the bike…glad to say it’s a little better and I really didn’t notice shifting and that is getting it back toward being automatic instead of thinking about it…but, as soon as I got on the bike I had a searing pain in the outside of my left thigh that continued all the way out and back…and that one came out of nowhere since it didn’t hurt around here when I was doing laundry and the rest of the stuff I did today… so that is a new one that I haven’t felt before….and, at my age, I thought I had felt every possible pain that there is…I almost turned right to the trail instead of left back here but the pain in my leg and the wind gusting to 30 mph made the decision for me and I just came home….will be back on the bike tomorrow for two rides but they will start later with it getting down into the 30’s out here tonight….

Well…this is one of those mornings where I just want to go back to bed…for the rest of the day….I think I’m finally resigned to the fact that my thumb is never going heal enough to be able to move it much…it’s been almost a week and I have no movement in the second joint…and it still hurts like crazy…oh, well….must have slept okay last night since my right shoulder hurts and that means I slept on it all night without the normal tossing and turning….it looks like it rained all night and it is still raining right now so I won’t be on the bike til later in the day…if I get out at all, so that means I have a morning free to do what I want and just ease into the day….but, how do I do that? Have laundry and cleaning to do so I guess that will be the plan for the day….didn’t do a lot yesterday but feeding the lawn and cleaning windows but I finished that and that makes me feel good…I am thinking about stripping the oak window trim and I searched for colors that go with it and was surprised that I can still use the grays that I had planned to paint this place if I do….looked at a bunch of photos that show how it will look but I’m not sure if I like it or not…not much to do today…I do need to get my ballot filled out and drop it off and continue looking for a dentist out here…and I need to go to the Verizon store to see if they can fix my phone and get the camera working again…but that is too much for one day so that will be for later in the week….more later…

Well…finally did get a ride in this morning but it was in almost full thermasuit and only 38 degrees when I left about 10…wasn’t too bad but my damn thumb still made me wince every time I upshifted and I am getting really tired of that…with taking yesterday off, you would think my legs would be great today but no, they hurt and felt really flat and are still aching right now and that’s not normal…I did get the food on the lawn and the rain is on it’s way to wash it in here in an hour or so…and then I just hunker down here until Tuesday with high winds and rain coming in tonight…probably should clean the last two windows today before the rain and I just might but the F1 race starts in 40 minutes and I don’t think that’s enough time to do them both….I guess I could start and then if the race gets boring, I can finish them up….okay, I think I will….

Well….how the heck can I be running late with getting up at 5? I did go back to bed until 6 or so and I think that has something to do with it….my thumb is still stiff and painful and it’s not getting better fast enough for me…tried to work the joint last night to make sure it doesn’t freeze up and I can never move it again and that didn’t do much…but I need to keep doing that to get any range of motion back into it…it’s only 36 degrees right now so it looks like I may not get out on the bike until later in the morning but I do need to get out at least once before 11:30 when Man U plays…and I’m going to get the winter food on the lawn around 9 or so with the big rain that is coming tonight and tomorrow…will probably not get on the bike Monday since it is supposed to rain all day…so I’ll get  to cleaning the whole place and finish the windows…and I need to clean up the axle that fits the bike trainer and get the Specialized bike on it to ride for the winter…I am curious what I’m going to see with the lake level this morning….it was down a foot or more Friday and I still haven’t figured out why that happened….not much to do today….haven’t even read the news yet and need to get that done before 9 so I can feed the lawn and then get on the bike….and I may do the last two windows today but there are races on this aft that I want to see….more later…..

Well…this is a little strange…it has been raining all day out here with being on the back side of the low pressure area that went through setting up showers that have run down the coast all day…and it’s colder than heck so I’ve called it a day and I’m not going to ride…I’m hoping that the rest will help my thumb since it has been swollen and painful all day…and it won’t bend at the joint yet but the nail bed is starting to get less painful so that is a plus…and I haven’t had to bandage any of the damage today…I did get three windows cleaned today so that leaves only two more to do tomorrow and I’ll have all of them done….and I took down the ugly curtains that were in my bedroom and cleaned the shades that are in there since they looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in 10 years….we’re supposed to get high winds out here with more rain tomorrow night so I am going to try to get the fall lawn food on it in the morning and I’ll be done with the lawn other than mowing it til spring…they have a gale warning that takes effect tomorrow night through Monday morning with winds of 35+ possible…so I’m pretty sure I won’t be on the bike Monday, either…need to get a bike on the trainer downstairs so I can keep riding with the crappy weather that is coming….there is also a freeze warning for Tuesday and that will make it too cold to go out unless I’m in full thermasuit and will have to be careful if there is ice on the trail…can’t have another crash until this one heals….

Well…didn’t get up til after 7 this morning…but that was the second one…woke up around 6 from pain in my thumb…must have slept on it since it still hurts right now…even more than yesterday and that is disappointing…thought I was healing but now I’m not so sure…I did sleep okay last night and feel okay if a little worn out this morning…I think the 7 hours of go yesterday took a lot out of me…but I will get a reprieve today with rain in the forecast for the morning and lots of sports to watch….and the swelling is back in my hand so it will be hard to get my gloves on for the bike ride…it is nice to have clean windows to look out of for the first time here and I wonder why it took me 8 months to get it done? I guess I’m just not as young as I used to be and doing all this crap is wearing…and I haven’t even started on the interior of the house….a weird thing happened on the rides yesterday when I noticed that Muskegon lake’s water level dropped by about a foot between the rides leaving small beaches exposed all along the shore that are normally underwater and that is really strange…I wonder what could cause that? A low pressure system over Lake Michigan? I’ve seen that cause the lake to retreat 20-30 feet up in Petosky in front of a strong storm and that was pretty cool…can’t wait to get out and see if the water is back this morning….not much to do today….I’m pretty much resigned to a one ride day and that will be okay….still feeling pretty beat up and sports start at noon with Michigan playing NW and I am not going to feel guilty even if I don’t get on the bike today….I just hurt so much that it is going to be torture to get on the bike….more later….

Well…when I was talking about cleaning windows earlier, I said that I had eleven of them to do but I forgot about the bathroom window so I really have twelve…so, with the three I did today, I still have five of them to do and those are the ones I haven’t even cleaned at all so they are going to be pretty time consuming….I did get two rides in today in half thermasuit since it was only 44 when I went out for the first ride…my thumb survived it and it appears to be healing up some…some of the swelling is down and I wasn’t wincing as much shifting the bike as I have the past couple of days so that was welcome….after I did the kitchen window waiting for lunch to cook and had lunch, I was just going to do one more window but I had time before F1 practice so I did another one here in the living room…they look so cool from both the inside and outside…very shiny and clear….but I had another long day of work from 8:30 til 3:30 and I am ready to make dinner and take it easy for a while…movies and cocktails tonight….going to watch the new version of Dune later…and that will take up most of the night…2 1/2 hours? That’s a long movie…

Well…damn, got a nasty surprise yesterday afternoon when my entire thumb turned black and blue so I must have really damaged it in the crash…and it still hurts like crazy today even without riding yesterday….it looks like I’ll be out in half thermasuit with long pants if I get out today…it’s only getting to 49 for a high so I might even have to wear gloves if I get out his morning….the new pillows were a hit last night and I slept okay but I still feel pretty slow today and I think part of that is from the damage from the crash and being in pain so much…I still hurt everywhere and that takes a lot out of me…I did get two windows in the kitchen cleaned yesterday and have one left in there and 6 more in the rest of the house…they cleaned up really well and I’ll probably get to the last one in the kitchen today…I am really hoping that getting the grass to grow in the yard will keep the dirt from blowing everywhere and filling them up with grit….the chickens were running around the yard yesterday and I may try to feed them today if they come back and it’s not raining…they are just funny to watch running around….not much to do today…just going to ease into it and wait for it to get light and try to get on the bike….and I should clean some but we’ll see how my thumb holds up after the ride…..I am so damn tired of hurting and I hope taking the day off yesterday will heal me some…but, I’ll probably just hurt the thumb again shifting…oh, well….more later….

Well…got out to Kohl’s to check through the clearance racks and must have been too late for that since there weren’t any and that was disappointing since I haven’t bought anything for me for a couple of years…I guess I’ll have to make the current stuff last a while longer….but, I did remember that they had bed pillows on sale for 2.99 so I got three of them to replace the ones I’ve had for a few years…9.50 for three new ones isn’t bad and I’m looking forward to trying them out tonight….and I am taking the day off…and the little bands of rain that have been coming through have helped me not feel guilty about that…I know my thumb is thanking me for it since it is so stiff I can’t bend it….I may do a couple of windows in the kitchen in a while but I need to find my rubber gloves first…or I just may call it a day and just veg out…who knows?