Well…with the Derek Chauvin trial still going on for his killing of George Floyd last year by kneeling on his neck for almost 9 minutes, a thought hit me today about how screwed up our legal system is that this trial has gone on for almost two weeks…let’s think about a hypothetical for just a minute…what if we replace George Floyd with a german shepard and Chauvin kneeled on it’s neck for 9 minutes in the view of witnesses? Right now Chauvin would be in in prison for a count of felony animal abuse and it would have been an easy open and shut case. So, why is it so hard to see that Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes that killed him isn’t at least manslaughter? Especially since he had George handcuffed and lying on the ground and posed no threat to the Chauvin? I’m afraid our legal system is too far gone to be saved if this creep is let off from the murder charges…and I fear for Minnesota if that is the outcome…I don’t advocate for violent protests at all, but damn…this is as open and shut as a case gets…and it is highlighting there really is a different legal system for white people in this country…and that is just wrong…
First double on the bike today…
Well…you know there is just much less to write about in politics with Joe in the WH so I think I’ll just do another one on my day…I did get the first double of the year in on the bike and that made 30 miles today…and it was so damn nice of a day that I went out both times in just a t-shirt and that was cool…but, when I was sitting on the boardwalk halfway through the second ride, I noticed that I had a piece of metal stuck in the tread of the tire…well…there really wasn’t any tread left and that’s why I was looking for a new rear tire for the past few days…I was getting discouraged with no one having the size I needed online but then I decided to try Meijer’s online and they had one…so I paid 23.99 for the tire since they are in a shortage right now and then spent the afternoon cleaning the bike and getting it ready to be re-lubed, and then put the new tire on it…and I found a new tube in one of the totes the other day and put that in, too…it was one of the slime tubes that will seal up small holes so that will help as I start doing doubles every day…so, it’s been another busy day with doing the second grocery run this morning then riding and riding…I may not get to a political one today since I’ve been trying to watch Chelsea play in the champion’s league and the 2nd half is starting….and I still need to trim my beard….
April 7th
Well…running a little late today with having fitful sleep again and getting up a couple of times but I forced myself to stay in bed til 6:23 to try to sleep a little more…didn’t work, but I tried….but I feel okay today with being good last night…again…my heel is still cracked and hurting but a little better than yesterday so I’ll take it…I did get a nice ride in yesterday but I still haven’t figured out the wind out here…I mean, it was blowing into my face on the way out and the way back…how the heck does that happen? I am getting used to the wind… a little…and I have to if I want to get my miles in….have almost 400 miles in since I got out here but I won’t get to my goal of 5K for the year unless I get started doing doubles every day…I am going to ride out to Whitehall and Ravenna once I can find the start of the trails that go there…that will be a project for the next couple of weeks as I get the outside of this place finished…well…not sure when it will be finished or if it will be but I do know I need to get started on the inside of this place soon and I’m not sure I want to do that much work right now…I wonder when I get to just live? Not much to do today…I do need to do a grocery run out to Aldi’s and then back to Meijers since they show they have the bike tire I need in stock…but, I’m pretty sure their website is wrong….but, we’ll see….and then out on the bike early to try to get a double in today…and I do still want to play with my new toys but that might have to wait until tomorrow since there is the possibility of storms later in the day…more later…
I have equipment….
Well…I have equipment! My brother stopped over today and brought the equipment he didn’t need anymore and now I have a lawnmower, (a really nice Toro) and a gas string trimmer with an edger attachment and a blade for cutting down brush along with the trimmer head that has the thickest string I’ve ever seen…and a leaf blower/vac along with a set of car ramps that I can use to change the oil on the car…and string and two gas cans….and all for only 200 bucks. I can’t wait to get out and use them…I think I may use the edger to do the rest of my walks tomorrow and I want to try the blower to clean up after I’m done…should be pretty cool to have equipment again and have things to play with…yay…oh, and it was cool to have my brother come out and visit and just shoot the shit for a while…that was fun…
Cry me a river, mitch…
Well…you know I’ve railed about the oozing hypocrisy that coats everyone on the right and gets worse every time one of these morons opens his or her mouth…and now we have the hypocrite in chief, ole moscow mitch, crying his eyes out that corporations are being mean to repubs by opposing their attempts to suppress votes of black and brown people by speaking out against them…and the hypocrisy is not just oozing from ole mitch but is flooding out as fast as the pollution from the retention ponds in Florida. Let’s take a little walk back to 2011 when mitch was full of glee that the SC ruled that corporations had free speech rights to spend as much money as they want in an election in the Citizen’s United decision….and ole mitch couldn’t heap enough praise on it since he knew that most companies would give more to repubs than dems…but now? The hypocrite mitch is howling that companies should shut up and not interfere in the political process…but only if it goes against what the repubs want…and he has gone so far as saying that companies will “pay” if they keep it up…a not so subtle or legal threat that the tax breaks, etc. that the repubs have lavished on companies over the years might be at risk if they keep telling the truth about the repubs efforts to cheat in the 2022 elections. Suck it up, mitch…you can’t have it both ways…and companies are looking at the demographics of their customer base and it is more than just the old white people that the repubs serve….and you can bet they won’t want to alienate much more than 50% of their customers who are now black, brown, and lgbt people….just keep it up mitch…you’re speeding up the death of the repub party by this crap and that death can’t happen soon enough….
April 6th
Well…I think I’m about back on time again with getting up a little before 6 and getting started on the first cup of coffee by 6:15…slept okay last night and had dreams about someone dying and my Miata turned to citrus yellow that they only painted about 200 cars and that was a little weird…but it was nice to have dreams again…feel okay this morning after being good and I really am edging up to no more cocktails…it’s just too hard on me….I do need to put the 4 bags of leaves and sticks out to go with the 14 bundles of branches that are already out there but I need it to get a little light first…walking around in my yard has not become automatic yet and I do need light to make sure I don’t fall on my ass…I think I’ve made some pretty good progress on the yard but need to get a spreader and feed what is there along with putting weed killer on it…I am a little reluctant to put weed killer on since the yard is mostly weeds and I would like it to stay a little green….and I think there will be much more seeding to do as the spring goes on….not sure what I’m going to do today…I think I may make the Meijer run today to get my Mega tickets and some parmesan cheese so I can make some pasta this week…I did get out to see the sub yesterday since it is just a few hundred yards father than the little park I discovered the other day and they have built a museum there when there was nothing but a vacant lot when I stayed on it 35 years ago….that was pretty cool…and I do have a 15 mile run mapped out for riding every day and it is much more scenic that riding through the oil fields back in GR….more later…
Damn, not sure what to do about my back…
Well…as you know, I’ve been having problems with my back for quite some time now and it is at the point that I don’t know what to do about it…just got done with moving the 14 bundles of branches that I cut up out to the curb and I had howling pain the entire time…but the strange thing is that right after I finished, the pain went away as it has been doing…..but now it even hurts when I’m just standing and walking around and that is a bit much….I had hoped that getting back on the bike every day would start to strengthen my core again and take care of it but no luck even after getting to 400 miles on the bike since I got out here….another strange thing is that I didn’t feel it at all when I was cutting up the branches and bundling them but I wonder if I had taken some ibuprofen before I got started? Who knows? I do know that I’m getting pretty frustrated with the whole thing and something needs to change…
What a bunch of third graders…
Well…damn, today almost got away from me again and I’m here for a political one but later than I like…so, Georgia repubs acting like 3rd graders again? Yep…after they passed their Jim Crow voter suppression law that targeted the AA community and everyone else who won’t ever vote for repubs, Delta Airlines, whose HQ is in Atlanta, came out with a mild statement that basically said they don’t think taking away the vote from anyone is a good idea….and of course, the repubs acted like the third graders they are and passed a bill that would take away some tax breaks that they granted Delta a few years back…this would cost Delta around 50 million dollars a year and these assholes were preening around in front of the cameras with pride, just like a toddler who has learned how to go potty. Now, these pricks are all about the first amendment when it comes to their side, protecting the right to lie constantly and just make stuff up, but when a company (who has donated millions to repubs over the years) takes them to task, they just have to lash out since some of them know what they are doing is wrong and they can’t stand having their noses rubbed in it…and this won’t be the last time….the tide is building for a boycott of the entire economy of Georgia and I wonder what they will do when one of these companies will just say enough and will move out of their confederate state? Explain that to the people who will lose jobs, morons…geez…
April 5th
Well…damn, my heel hurts again today and it was bleeding so badly that my sock was stuck to the blood and I had to peel it off to treat it…I thought I had healed them all but all of the walking yesterday must have opened one back up again…and now I’ll be limping around here for the next week while I try to treat it….and I didn’t sleep too well so I feel pretty crappy this morning…..and I did the one meal thing again yesterday since I got behind and didn’t have lunch until almost 2 in the afternoon so that put me out of schedule for dinner so I just skipped it….and that is three days in a row now and I can’t keep that up…so, I’m going to have some rye toast for breakfast to try to make up for some of it and then have some chicken for lunch….but I want to get a bike ride in before that since my brother is coming over and bringing the mower and string trimmer that I bought from him so I need to get everything done before 1 or so….and I need to get all of the yard waste out for pickup tomorrow which will split my heel even more but I need to get it gone so I can get back to work on the lawn…it is pretty cool that there is a thunderstorm out here right now and I think it’s the first good rain we’ve had out here in the 5 weeks I’ve been here….I do need to buy a lawn spreader to get some food and weed killer on the lawn as it starts to grow but that will wait until I get the 1400 dollar check…if I get it…more later….
I’m beat…
Well…who knew that working on the yard for three hours and then taking a 20 mile bike ride with only having a half a chicken breast and some rice to eat yesterday would have any ill effects? I am beat….and I know part of it is not eating enough but I am losing some weight so I think it’s a good trade off…I got all of the front of the house edged and raked the rest of the leaves and even edged the side fence…but that took 5 loads of sting for the string trimmer and that was a pain constantly filling the spool….but, it does look pretty good so I guess it’s worth it…and I am going to get some grass killer this week to spray under the fence and keep it from growing back and kill off the grass that is on the neighbor’s side of the fence since it appears they never trim it….and I got all of that done before the rains we are supposed to get later in the week…then, even though I was sore as crap from working, I got on the bike in a t-shirt with it being 58 when I got the yard done and took a nice ride out to the lake…and I discovered another nice park right out by the beach that is on the channel into Muskegon Lake that I am going to add to my daily ride to get it closer to 15 miles every day…but again, I’m beat and need to take a break…so I am…