Well…it’s about 7 on a Sunday morning….this used to be one of my favorite times of the week…getting up, making coffee, and getting the big Sunday paper to read and then making it last the whole day by reading it in an order that I have developed over the years…but, like everything these days, the paper has changed and there is not much to it anymore…especially the ads which I think have gone away as part of the stay at home order….so, it’s 7 am and I’m already done with it and have started the short trek to boredom that seems to be my normal state of mind lately….slept okay last night but was up around 6…I guess that’s better than 4 so I shouldn’t bitch too much…I did get a few things done yesterday even though I wasn’t really trying to…I found the downspout that is missing from the driveway side of the house buried behind the garage and started to clean that up and find anchors to put the straps that hold it back on….it’s going to take some work but that kind of noodling around is really not work to me…I’m not sure if that on is copper or not….it looks like it is galvanized so I am going to just paint that one and put it back up…I may have enough of the trim paint left to cover it but then I won’t have enough to do some of the trim that needs it too….so I guess that will wait until I can buy more….I am going to start a list so I can plan on what needs to be done and what materials and tools I need…it looks like I only have a few weeks of work outside once I get started so maybe I will have the summer off and get a little chance to relax some around here….not much to do today….just the bike ride and some fooling around but right now I need more coffee and to read what little news is on my phone….more later….

Well….cripes…it’s been a busy day for a Saturday and I’m sure I don’t like it….started out with building the smallest backyard barbecue out of some spare pavers I had back there and cooked some chicken thighs…I know I’m going to get hate mail for this but I really don’t like cooking with charcoal any more…don’t like the process or the taste of charcoal on the food….so I’m not sure how many more times I’m going to do it before I buy a gas grille….and I smell like smoke and will probably have to take another shower to get rid of it….I did get a nice bike ride in and the bald eagle was back sitting right next to the trail and that was cool but there was already too many damn people out there and I could barely get into any rhythm…..oh, and I got the new earbuds today instead of tomorrow and I like them…very clear and lots of range…could use just a little more bass but I can probably dial that in with the equalizer….the rubber tips that they sent just didn’t fit well, though, so I took the ones off the skull candy ones that quit and they fit just fine….and I got a new electric toothbrush that came just in time since my old one has been giving me fits and I have to bang it on the sink to get it to work….and I got it for half price…only 4.50 so that was cool, too…I was going to go out for a second ride today but the wind is up to over 20 so that’s not going to happen….I need to hit the couch and take it easy for the rest of the day….

Well….running a little late this morning with going to bed late and getting up late…and my allergies have come back after a few days of being able to tolerate them so I may have to take something for them today…and the no ibuprofen trial is not going well, either with pain everywhere…I was going to list where it hurts but it would be easier to note where I don’t…but 6 days off is enough to rest the liver so I may take something before I get on the bike this morning…or afternoon…not sure yet but I’d like to get out in medium thermasuit today with no winter hat and it’s only 31 out there right now so I guess it will wait awhile….I let the new bread set overnight and it didn’t rise at all…well…a little but it’s so cold in here that I put it in the oven and turned the heat on for a minute to give it a jump start…but, as I said, if it doesn’t work I’m only out 30 cents or so….didn’t get a lot done yesterday and today will probably be the same….just can’t get motivated right now and that’s not too unusual….I think it has to do with there not being any spring to speak of yet and it’s getting to the end of April….and there is still no good weather in the forecast with highs in the 40’s and 50’s for the rest of the month….oh, well…I didn’t get to 900 miles on the bike before the 16 of the month, which is when I got the bike off the trainer last year…I did get to over 850 miles so I got close and would have made it if I hadn’t taken a few days off for the wind….not much to do today…just going to ease into the day for a while and have more coffee….more later….

Well….didn’t get to watch the Pink Floyd concert today since my computer freaked out and I didn’t know how to fix it…the HDMI port turned itself off and I had to text my son to figure out how to turn it back on…but, I got it and he fixed the damn activate windows error that has been on my screen for two years….so that was cool…I did get out to put the locking lugs back on the car and then loosen the other lugs so I can get them off if I get a flat…not sure how many ft lbs they torqued them to but damn, I had to put a cheater bar on my 3/8 breaker bar to get them loose….they just don’t need to be that tight…I do like the way the new tires look…they are a little wider than the last ones and that looks cool….oh, the bread….I’m getting a little weird with recipes I see on the internet….only had two packets of yeast left and, with the yeast shortage, using only an 8th teaspoon of yeast instead of a whole packet intrigued me….so I just mixed some up using both white and wheat flour and now it sits at room temp until noon tomorrow…about 18 hours to give the yeast time to multiply and the dough time to rise….the article said that using this method, you can get 18 loaves out of one packet of yeast…and I’m a little bored and time is free so I thought I’d give it a try…and you don’t have to knead this bread either….no matter what, I’ve got about 20 cents into it so if it doesn’t work, no big deal….oh, one thing that made me laugh about the tires is that they have “outside” molded into the side of the tires that is supposed to go out…not sure if I’ve ever seen that before…….

Well…I wonder if it’s kind of weird that something as quiet as a coffee maker turning on can wake me up? Fell asleep sitting up on the couch again last night and there isn’t any reason for it…I really didn’t do much yesterday but have the new tires put on the car and get a bike ride in….so to be that tired is strange…I did get to 5 days without ibuprofen or allergy meds and I now remember why I was taking the ibuprofen…it hurt like crazy on the bike yesterday and then the rest of the day and I survived it but it wasn’t fun….and my legs have a low grade throb today that I don’t want to have on the bike…it was damn cold yesterday and it is going to be today too, was in full thermasuit like mid winter and that will be the plan today….but that’s the only thing I have to do today and it feels good to have a whole day to do whatever I want…I do need to put the locking lugs back on the car but that is about it…I think part of my tiredness from yesterday is that I feel the depression coming back and I was near the edge of the cliff all night last night….haven’t felt that way in a while and I’m not sure if there was a trigger for it or not…there doesn’t need to be as anyone who goes through it knows but I still look for them just in case…feel better this morning so maybe I can avoid it this time….Pink Floyd is putting their concerts on youtube starting today at noon with “Pulse”, the concert they did in support of the “Division Bell” so that may give me something to do for a while today….still haven’t gotten my stimulus money yet but I think it’s not supposed to be deposited until next week so no big deal…I did get notice that my new earbuds are going to be here Sunday and that is cool….and that order includes my new electric toothbrush and a spare tube for the bike that will come in handy….haven’t had a flat on the new bike yet but it will happen….more later….

Well…just got back from getting my new tires and it was pretty painless…didn’t even have to get out of the car and it took a grand total of about a half hour from start to finish….these tires ride so much nicer than the old, hard ones even with the 35 psi that they put in them but I am going to lower them to 32 which is what I always run and that will make them even better…the turn in on corners is a little squirmy but I think I feel that since the old tires were almost bald and had no tread left to have give in it…and they are not directional so I can move them from side to side, too when I rotate them instead of just front to back and that will help them last longer…it feels good to finally have that taken care of so I don’t have to worry about one of them coming apart since the old ones were so weather cracked from age….can’t wait til the stay at home is lifted so I can get out and do an e-way run up to Mt. P and see how they are on the highway….

Well….5:20 again this morning after getting up at 3 or so…ick….and I’ve been good for 4 days and have gone 4 days without allergy meds and I’m not sure how I feel…not much different than when I take them so I need to rethink taking them at all…I think I’ll know how bad my allergies are going to be after I get outdoors some…I am going to get on the bike this morning even if it’s in full thermasuit but that will be after a while…I mean, damn, it’s frickin 26 degrees out there and it’s the middle of April….and I need to take the car out to have the new tires put on at 9 today but that is about all I have to do for the day….so I think I’ll clean some…the living room needs some work and I need to start on the downstairs since I have let it go some with the rest of the work I’ve needed to do around here….I got a brain storm yesterday and I am going to build the world’s smallest barbecue pit out of the extra blocks that are behind the garage so I can use the big bag of charcoal that is still unopened in there….have found a grate to use and think it would be fun to do some outdoor cooking in the next week or so…can you tell I’m a little bored? It only needs to be big enough to cook 4 chicken thighs and I think I have enough grate for that….and I haven’t had any grilled food for almost 4 years….not much to do today….just going to wing it after I get the tires done and probably start doing some meal planning for the next week or so…got a bunch of boneless skinless chicken cheap yesterday so I’ll be incorporating that….maybe some chicken alfredo? More later….

Well…it has been an interesting morning with trying to get out to get the stuff I need to not go out for a month…and I got most of it so I’ll be in for the next month or so…I did forget to relay one thing I found out when I was talking to my youngest son yesterday…somehow we got on the subject of masks and he casually mentioned that he is printing masks for he and his wife along with his inlaws on his 3-d printer…and that made me laugh…of course he is…he is one of the smartest people I have ever met and what else did I expect?  Oh, and I did talk to discount today and they have my tires that I am going to have installed tomorrow morning….and that is the last thing I have to do other than stuff around here so I really do think I’ll be here for the next month….I really do need to stop spending anything to get to having 40 K for my house down payment….so I’m going to count every penny and lay low….

Well…running about on time this morning but got up at 5 for the first time…tried going back to bed and it kind of worked until coffee time so I guess that kind of a win…still didn’t get my 1200 bucks yet and that is a little irritating…don’t really need it but it would be nice to have…I did sleep okay with doing my 3rd day of being good and the third day of no allergy meds or ibuprofen…still have that low grade headache and sinus pressure but it’s tolerable so far….and I am pretty sore even without riding the bike but I think that is just carryover from the last time and from lifting the power washer into the car….there is damn snow on the ground this morning and it is only in the 20’s so it looks like another day of no ride unless I wait until late this aft…don’t have a lot do to so I really can wait…I am going to try to go out for groceries today since DD has chicken on sale for 1.29 a pound and I need some potatoes, too…going to try to do the 3 store run today but I will probably bail if the new regs are too much of a pain…I can make it for a month without going out except for no milk so I guess it’s not really necessary…I am going to call discount this morning to see if they are going to get my tires or if I have to go somewhere else….and that will probably make me wait until this whole thing is lifted in a month or so….didn’t get a lot done yesterday and it looks like not much today, either…the snow will have to melt before I can get on the garden but I have time to wait for that…can’t plant until May anyway so that gives me a couple of weeks….more later….

Well…with the second day of high winds and cold, it has been a bore of a day here with not getting out to ride….I did wedge the power washer into the trunk of the Miata and took it back to my son over where I used to live…and it was nice to talk to him for a while…it made me laugh that he organized an online video chat with his brothers and sister and he said that they talked for almost an hour just to catch up…it’s nice that they are staying in touch….and it was nice to run the car for a while since I’ve only driven it about 10 miles this month and that is not good for it….I did get a little work done on the downstairs project today and started to clean some but lost my motivation pretty quickly for some reason….I’m sure it has something to do with the high temp being 35 in the middle of April but that is going to break early next week and we should be getting back to around 60 which is the normal for this time of year…the big project is going to be getting the garden prepped next week so I can plant as soon as possible…so that makes the rest of this week pretty boring too, since the weather is not going to cooperate….man, I am tired today and just can’t shake it…I wonder if it’s from not eating enough…again….I did have two pieces of pizza today but without a bike ride, that should be enough….oh, well….