Well…up at 4:54 this morning but I slept okay so I’ll take that tradeoff….just made some coffee in the french press from the whole beans I bought and it’s a nice luxury to have to start my day…man, I am so happy that I have the doctor appointments done for three weeks and can just hang out for a while here and enjoy my house and my life…it is getting short and I can see the end coming but I’m not going to think about that right now…going to grill some burgers for the second meal today and that will last me into the weekend to go with the BAH I’m making tomorrow…I really do need to get the empty boxes taken care of from the 150 bucks of amazon orders I’ve gotten in the past two weeks…damn, sneezing like crazy this morning and I need to take some allergy meds soon…along with the BP meds…and that is going to be my life from now on….I do need to clean at some point but that will wait til I get the rides in…have been thinking about taking some time off but I’ve gained 10 pounds in the past month and I’m not sure how that happened…I sure don’t eat much so I need to think about that…not much to do today…I started the 1,000 page “Lord of the Rings” trilogy last night and that is going to be a slog and will probably take all winter to get through…it looks like it is going to warm up the next few days an I am going to try to get outdoors on the bike to try my new gloves…it might get to 48 and that is plenty warm enough if the ice melts…more later….

Well…just got back from the doctor appointment and yep, I’m on BP meds forever starting today…it’s a tiny hexagonal blue pill called Lisinop that is supposed to be the “gold standard” of BP meds…and I actually laughed out loud when the clerk told me the cost for 30 days…2 bucks…so I think I can afford 24 bucks a year…only got 30 days so they can check to make sure it’s working correctly on January 13th and then they will give me 90 days at a time…so I guess it’s no big deal…there was no winter storm out here as was forecast so it was a breeze getting in and out of the alley and now I’m in until late next week…I did break down and buy one more BAH to make Wed with all of the other fixins…stuffing and green bean casserole with mashed potatoes and gravy…oh, and some Hawaiian rolls to go with it…so now, it’s cocktail time tonight and I may eat a handful of pretzels, too, since nothing I did had any effect on my BP…

Well…up and running at 5:20 this morning and it is going to be a busy day today…need to get the rides and weight work in before I head out for the dr appointment at 2…and I’m going to hit the grocery store before that and buy one more BAH to make a traditional dinner for christmas…wasn’t planning on doing a big meal this year but I can’t pass up protein for 89 cents a pound…and that will make the next batch of ham soup very hearty….I will need to go out to pick up the BP meds tomorrow since they are going to prescribe that today…if I can get out of the alley with the rain/snow mix that is coming in…I may have to shovel the entrance to the alley so I can get the car out…crap…slept okay last night but I’m feeling worn out today…tried to not eat much yesterday and will do the same today…just a bowl of soup and a ham sandwich yesterday and probably the same thing today…I really hate that I’ll have to go out to Meijers for the prescription tomorrow…I plan every year to not be out the day before christmas with how crazy it gets and I may just say the hell with it and wait to go out til Thurs…I guess we’ll see…not much to do today…just the rides that I’ll start by 7 and then out for groceries by 1 or so…haven’t taken it easy on the bike yet but that is coming soon…ha, ha…that made me laugh….more later…

Well…after getting up and feeling so lousy…I really expected to do only one ride downstairs but Man U stunk the place up so I went down for ride two and still had time to do a third one before the Lions game started…and I got the last item that I ordered…a nice black leather ratchet belt to replace the 20 year old one that I had been drilling new holes in as I’ve lost weight…for 12 bucks I think that’s a pretty good deal…not sure how durable it will be but I guess we’ll see…when I was talking to my daughter last week, she informed me that she changed jobs and now works for the University of Virginia doing the same job as she was doing for the “toxic” company that worked her 70-80 hours a week at the same pay…she interviewed for this job all the way in January and they held the job open for her for almost a year they wanted her so much…and now it’s a 40 hour a week or less job…I know she did nothing but work when she was here after my surgery and I was worried about her…and the school is closed between christmas and NYD so she’s already getting time off…pretty cool..

Well…I don’t remember feeling this crappy in a long time and I’m going to pay for it this morning and for the rest of the day…I did sleep okay last night but I think life has caught up with me and I do need a rest…only 9 more days and I’ll have the full calendar year of riding every day in and I am in fear of gaining weight if I slack off….feel it already and I’ll need to not eat anything for days to get back on track…crap….okay, damn, it’s already 6:44 and I’m not on the bike yet and it looks like it will be 7:30 before I get going…it’s only 14 degrees out here right now but it is going to warm enough later in the week to ride outdoors but I don’t think the snow on the trails is going to cooperate…I do need to remember to reset the bike computers Sat to start the new year and I don’t know what the goals are going to be yet…do I need goals? I know I need more coffee…is that a goal? Not sure what I’m going to do today but I do know I hurt myself sleeping again and my abs hurt like crazy….along with my neck…does that mean I slept well? Who knows? I just want to curl up and lie on the couch for hours but in 31 minutes I’ll be down on the bike grinding out more miles….oh, well…more later…

Well…damn, just tasted the ground coffee beans that I ran in my drip coffee maker today and I really am going to need to resist doing that every day…it tastes like coffee should…smooth and flavorful but I really do need to use that 45 ounce can that I bought this week so the beans will go into an airtight container and I’ll use them for treats…all of the 150 bucks worth of stuff except for the ratchet belt got here yesterday and I can’t believe how nice the Fiskars shrub shears are for only 10 bucks more than the cheap ones from HF…can’t wait to try out the new gloves on the outdoor bike this week when the temp is going to get up over 40…they are supposed to be good down to zero but they always lie about that..and they will replace the gloves I got when I was in my 20’s and I can’t believe that I’ve had them for almost 50 years and they are still the warmest gloves I’ve ever owned….might do one more order from amazon before the free trial of prime ends on the 2nd of January…it is really weird to buy things that I want instead of need…a luxury that I really do appreciate…bought 4 wooden fingernail brushes for 7 bucks so I can have one for every sink I have with one left over…not much to do today…just want to sit here for a bit and have a second cup of coffee before I get on the bike…after that, who knows? More later…

Well…another busy day so far today but I have everything done but the weight work and it’s just after 1pm…got three rides in and shoveled the snow and even got some lunch in there…don’t have a whole lot to do today after going the laundry yesterday and putting my new hooks on the shower curtain along with the 6 new weights on the bottom and it now hangs into the shower and doesn’t drip on the floor…going to grind up some beans and use them in the coffee maker just to see what it will taste like and that will probably take two loads in the grinder…I even took another container of the ham soup out of the freezer since the taste is growing on me and it’s easy to have for the second meal of the day…I might even get a chance to read this aft and finish up “The Mote in God’s Eye” but I think it will last til tomorrow…okay, need to get on the weight work…

Well…just made my first cup of coffee with my new coffee grinder in the french press and I will say it’s damn good coffee…no bitterness and very smooth…reminds me of the first cup of coffee I had that my brother made when my mother was in the hospital…I was in my 40’s and was not a coffee drinker but damn, it tasted smooth and sure woke me up…this is what coffee should be…crap, I’m going to get spoiled…slept okay last night but feel pretty crappy today with having cocktails last night…watched the last “Yellowstone” last night and it was a bittersweet night…I hate it when a show I like ends…it’s like losing a friend and leaves a hole that can’t easily be filled…going to have to go out and shovel the snow today at some point but that will wait til later…it’s 6:45 and I am feeling the pull of taking a day off but I can’t…11 days more to ride for a full calendar year of riding and that’s my last goal for the year…not sure what I’m going to do today but I need to do something…can’t be a slug and just sit here…damn, the new coffee is smooth….I was really thinking of tossing the ham soup I made the other day but after it sat in the fridge overnight, it tastes okay and I am going to keep it…weird…more later…damn, should I grind more beans?

Well…got a package this evening in the mail that had swag from my daughter’s trip to Peru…got the softest t-shirt I’ve ever felt, a cool embossed Macchu Picchu hat that is now my new favorite, and a fridge magnet like the ones she gets me whenever she travels…pretty cool stuff so then I had to call her and we talked for more than an hour to catch up sine I haven’t talked to her in a while…and I got my new little coffee bean grinder and a big bag of roasted Colombian coffee beans so the first two cups of coffee tomorrow are going to be made in the french press just to see what I’ve been missing…the grinder is small but it will only take two passes to grind enough for even my drip coffee maker…sure hope I don’t get spoiled with the taste after just opening the 45 ounce can of ground coffee yesterday…I guess we’ll see…oh, and we are going to Europe in 2026 and will be riding trains all over the place…hope we can take the TGV in France that goes over 200 mph…that would be cool…

Well…I know companies lie all the time to try to get you to use their service and amazon is just another in the long line…I’m in the middle of a 30 day free trial since I needed to get the new BP machine delivered before my DR appointment…and I just ordered 91 bucks worth of stuff Tuesday and clicked on the free two day shipping for it…and no peep from amazon if the order has shipped or not and that means the earliest it will get here is Friday so the whole two day delivery is bullshit…so, of course, I will be cancelling it before the trial is up…and go back to not ordering anything from them…oh, well…