Well….running about on time this morning with another night of of okay sleep and some pretty weird dreams about college projects and I haven’t had one of those in a while….my foot is gradually getting better and the swelling is going down but I’m wondering if I should continue to treat it or keep the last three days worth of medicine in reserve…we’ll see after the bike ride in a few…..had the third no cocktail night last night and that is helping with the swelling but it looks like it will take a couple of weeks at least to get it back to normal…and not being able to use any salt at all makes the food a little boring…but I did that for years and years so I just need to activate the old habits….got through two rides yesterday with no problems but I throttled back to about 80% on both rides and I’m not sure I like that too much…going hard is my thing, after all, and I would hate to think that I can’t do that anymore…I know I’m old but damn, I need to have my hard rides…I did get out to HF yesterday to get some tools that I need and got myself a new hedge trimmer that I used immediately to start to clean up the bushes out front and it works great…don’t think I’ve ever had a new one before…especially with padded handles and I like it a bunch for only 12 bucks….and I got my electric sprayer so I need to get out to depot to get the paint to do the siding on the garage and the dormer….I am a little excited that the premier league starts back up today and I am going to veg all afternoon and watch the two matches that are on…it has been a long time coming….so I won’t be doing much other than that and the grocery run this morning…..more later….
But wait, there’s more…
Well…with all of the attention given to the miraculous supreme court decision announced yesterday that yes, LGBTQ people here in the US have the same rights as everyone else and can’t be fired or discriminated against for who they are, there were two more cases that were also decided that put the old advertising hook in my head..”but wait, there’s more!” The first one dealt with California passing legislation declaring itself a “sanctuary state” that would not cooperate with the thugs from ICE who were terrorizing the undocumented population there…some with deep roots in the state and most who are contributing members of California society…doing jobs that no one else wants to do at the pay that farm owners want to pay. After the law was passed, trump and his racist cronies sued California for not spending their tax dollars to help them carry out their racist policies of putting children in cages and separating them from their families. Every damn court upheld California’s right to determine how their state will be run and how it’s tax money will be spent…but even after losing in every court, Barr kept up appealing the ruling, thinking that their cronies on the supreme court would certainly allow them to force states to be as racist as they are…but he and the rest of trump’s racist cronies got slapped down when the court told them to go away, that California has the right to control their state. The second case is more about what the court didn’t do…they declined to take 10 cases on gun control that the second amendment nuts had shopped around to right wing trumpist judges who ignored the law to rule in their favor…but after the appeals courts ruled that reasonable restrictions on the second amendment are allowed…as with every other damn amendment, the court declined to take the cases, essentially saying the appeals courts got it right in what they ruled…so now trump is even a bigger loser today than yesterday….he has lost 99% of the cases his crooked justice department under Barr has brought but that won’t stop them for wasting more of the court’s time for the next 6 months….losers all…
June 16th
Well…okay, that was a little strange…had a good night of sleep and dreams again with a solid 6 hours and I’ll take that any day of the week….and the miracle drug that I am taking for my foot has worked it’s magic after only one day of treatment and I am walking around here with no pain at all this morning…but, I think me being good has something to do with that since the swelling in my foot is down by half at least and I can move my toes almost normally today…I think I’ll do another day of treatment and then save the rest of the medicine for the next flare…I could barely get my shoe on to ride yesterday and it hurt the whole 30 miles…yeah, I’m still doing 30 miles but I have throttled back to about 75% and that seemed to help how I felt all day…and I’m trying to eat more since I don’t have empty calories to think about anymore but as I have said before, I find it hard to eat more after years of calorie restriction…again, I didn’t get much done yesterday but work on the garden but today I am going to get out to HF to get the hedge trimmer I need to clean up the bushes out front and the paint sprayer I need to do the garage and the siding on the dormer….I have to remember that I have all day to get this done so I don’t need to rush to get the rides in and the errands run….I need to just relax about this stuff and treat it not as tasks but as life to be enjoyed…but to go against a lifetime of running as fast as I can is another thing that is going take some work….like right now, I’m going as fast as I can to get out on the bike by 7:30 but there is no reason to have to rush…I want to enjoy my coffee and reading the news before I get out so I need to take a deep breath and just relax for a few minutes…cripes, everything takes work these days….more later….
some good news from the supreme court…
Well…just a few minutes ago, the supreme court delivered a landmark decision that title VII of the 1964 civil rights act applies to LGBTQ people here in the US….and that means that no one can any longer be fired just for who they are…to say that I am surprised by this ruling is an understatement, and to have both Roberts and Gorsuch join the liberal justices in making sure that all Americans have the same rights and protections under the constitution is so surprising that it has many court watchers stunned given the outright hate that trump and his idiot minions show toward this community every damn day….as I have said for years now, this is exactly the ruling that should have been handed down…how can you uphold the 14th amendment that requires equal treatment under the laws and then carve out some Americans who are just not quite as equal as the rest of us? Do you hear those heads exploding at the WH? This is not the ruling that trump and his cronies paid for when they conspired with McConnell to put Kavanaugh and Gorsuch on the court and I wonder if Both Roberts and Gorsuch see the writing on the wall that trump will be gone in 6 months and they need to start thinking of the rule of law and the damage they have done to it…especially Roberts who is cognizant of his legacy and the damage many rulings from the conservatives have done to it. Whatever the reason, if they made the right ruling even by accident it is a good day here in the US for our LBGTQ friends and family…finally, equal rights means equal rights and I can’t be more surprised they did the right thing…
June 15th
Well….the first night of the new normal went okay and I got a little sleep so that was cool….still woke up around 5 but was in bed a little after 10 so that was better….and I don’t feel too bad so far with no cocktails for the foreseeable future…but my foot still hurts and that is to be expected with it being just the first day of treatment…I may have to call my doctor to see if they will give me another prescription since what I have left will only last through the week…we’ll see how it goes…I did only do one ride yesterday and I may have to do the same thing today to stay off my foot as much as possible and let the medicine and all the other changes I’ve made have some effect….just have been feeling lousy lately and had to make some changes in my life that I hope will do the trick….didn’t get much done yesterday and today may be another easy day but my well established sense of guilt is going to have to be suppressed for that to happen….had to go out to get some hydrocortisone to treat whatever the problem is with my arm….must have gotten into something poison and it’s not healing too well yet but at least it has stopped itching….not much to do today…going to ease into it with the temp still being too cold to get out on the bike but that’s okay…I need more coffee anyway and still don’t have a lot of energy so taking a little time to get ready is okay….more later….
This is just pathetic…
Well…still sitting here nursing the foot after skipping the second ride and thought I’d do a short one on the most pathetic thing I have seen in the host of pathetic things that trump and his minions have done. Just last week, when idiot boy got news he didn’t want to hear from a CNN poll that showed him losing to Joe Biden by 13 points, he screamed at his trolls to send a cease and desist letter to CNN to stop publishing the poll that shows that trump is a loser….now, threatening legal action because your fe fees are hurt because you are losing big and someone is reporting it is just the head slapping stupidity everyone expects from him…and it shows how far trump’s minions have to go to keep the toddler in chief from throwing fits every hour of every damn day…I am counting the days until this criminal is sent back to one of his tasteless, gaudy golf clubs while he waits for his crimes to catch up with him and the inevitable perp walk….150 days…
June 14th
Well…cripes…more problems with this wearing out body…okay, just a rash on my left arm that looks like poison ivy and I am having trouble figuring out where I got it from…I know it’s annoying as heck so I may even make a run out to Meijer’s later to pick something up to put on it since it does itch….and my damn foot is hurting again today as I try to not take anything for it but that’s not going to work…so it looks like no more cocktail nights for the near future since that is one of the big no nos with this type of inflammation…oh, well…I can use less calories and my liver can use the rest, too….had an okay day yesterday and got a couple of rides in but I think I’m only going to do one today to get a little rest…and it’s too cold to go out right now and it looks like it won’t be warm enough until 10 or so…so I have 3 hours to kill and that is going to be some work since I have already read the paper and the online news….I could clean some but I don’t have the motivation for that yet and my foot hurts to walk so I may just work on figuring out meals for the week…or take a nap since I was up all night and got up for good at 5…I did get the last of the green peppers planted yesterday and that ends putting anything new in and I’ll just live with what survives…I know I’ll get beans and jalpenos since they are already producing fruit and probably cukes too but I don’t remember what they look like when they flower…oh, and potatoes…I am a little disappointed that I am still having flower drop on some of the tomatoes and I may have to look to see if there is something I can do to treat them so I can at least get a few off the plants…but right now I am going to get another cup of coffee and take it easy for a while….more later….
Forgot a couple of things…
Well…my brain wasn’t working too well this morning when I did the first post and forgot a couple of things that I wanted to talk about…first, and I am going to be blunt about this…don’t take zyrtec…just frickin don’t…no matter how bad you are sneezing, coughing, or your head is plugged up…don’t take zyrtec. I got up with all of those symptoms and I was miserable but without being able to take any red dots, I broke down and took a zyrtec and regretted it as soon as I started to feel it…cripes, I don’t understand how anyone can function taking that crap…I felt nauseous and like I had a thousand cups of coffee in me and the damn crap lasts all day…I even cut 5 miles off the second ride I felt so lousy and I never do that…did I say Don’t take zyrtec? Don’t take zyrtec…the second thing is something that is making me smile…as I reported earlier, I bought some new bike lube since I was tired of the wd 40 leaving black gunk all over the chain and sprockets and having to apply it all the time to keep them quiet…so I bought what is called Finish Line dry bike lubricant on Amazon for 9 bucks….kind of a steep price for 4 ounces but it works so well and makes such a difference in the bike that I think it is worth it…it has paraffin and teflon in it and all you have to do is clean the chain and then apply a drop to every link and let it dry overnight…it makes such a difference in how the bike rides and shifts since I use it on the suspension and the rear shifter too….and it stays on the chain and keeps it quiet for over 300 miles with no gunk build up even with riding in the rain and slop….I know some of you out there are bike riders so give this stuff a try…I’m sure you’ll like it and I think this one bottle is going to last me at least 6 months with weekly applications…that’s not a bad deal…more later…
June 13th
Well…that was a little better…slept better last night and didn’t get out of bed til 6 or so and it is strange just how good you feel after a small amount of better sleep….and my eye is slowly healing too, and that is welcome after a couple of weeks of treating it…but, I’m still feeling old and decrepit with my foot still swollen and red..oh well….I can still get on the bike and ride and it’s a little better today so I’ll take it…didn’t get anything done yesterday and today looks the same with just some gardening in the plans…have a couple more green pepper plants that have sprouted downstairs that I need to put outside today but that will end the additions to the gardens and I’ll just have to go with what I have out there…I am a little disappointed that the peppers have been hard to get going but I am going to have way too many beans and jalapenos and probably tomatoes too if they ever set any fruit….I am curious about the garlic too, I may even dig one plant up to see what they are doing underground…..I do need to get started on the rest of the outdoor work on the house next week but I am taking the weekend off other than just fooling around outside and cleaning some in here….and there are two races on today so there will be some napcar going on this afternoon….more later….
They’ve just given up…
Well…I guess governing and protecting the American people is too hard for trump and his cronies so they have just given up on the pandemic and idiot boy is back at his golf course prepping for more “rallies”…the coronavirus task force doesn’t meet anymore and all of the people who were reporting on progress (what little there was) have been told to stop making trump look bad and have been forbidden to talk to the press since idiot boy feels the whole virus thing is over and it’s time to move on…the only problem with that is in the red states that did little or nothing to prevent the spread of the virus are now seeing their cases spike and their hospitals overwhelmed….doctors in Houston are saying that they are close to “disaster” as all of their ICU beds are full but cases are still rising sharply…and this is the case in Florida, Arizona, Alabama, Alaska,Arkansas….where the average increase in cases since “reopening” has been around 300% and the pandemic is still in full force…not just the smoldering dying embers as idiot boy describes it…but a full fledged emergency with the death toll across the country now over 110,000 and predicted to go to 250,000 by mid July…and trump and his cronies do nothing…this is an impeachable offense right there and every damn one of them should be in jail for malfeasance after they are thrown out of office in November since the senate repubs won’t do a damn thing to protect Americans, either. One small bright spot is here in Michigan where we had the fourth highest amount of cases and deaths in the country but now, after our science based reopening, our cases are down 64% and are still falling…gee, I wonder if using fact based decision making had something to do with that? It sure looks like basing public health decisions on politics isn’t working too well in the red states….and it is going to get worse with idiot boy crisscrossing the country to put on his hate rallies with no social distancing or any other form of protection for the attendees…but trump is protecting himself by forcing everyone going to the rallies to sign a waiver saying that if they get sick, they can’t hold trump or his campaign responsible…so, there’s no danger but you can’t blame trump for killing you…sounds like danger to me….