Well…damn, I wasn’t good last night and I was supposed to be…so I guess I’ll get back to it today…it’s pretty cold out here right now so the first ride will be on the indoor bike…the lows are going to be in the 30’s Wed and then bouncing around in the 40’s and that is to be expected in October here…it’s only 49 here right now and it won’t be warm enough to ride outdoors until 10 or so and that puts me behind for whatever I have planned for the day…I wonder if there will ever be a time that I don’t plan my day? I almost got there yesterday when I was sitting at the beach when I just sat there and felt instead of thinking…the feel of the wind and the noise of the waves almost broke through the urgency of getting the rides done…but not quite…oh, well…I did get my ballot filled out and signed yesterday and I’m going to drop it off tomorrow and pay the water bill at the same time…it is nice to live in a small town where it’s just easy to get things done…I am going to try to find the trail to Whitehall and do a color tour on the bike in a couple of weeks…it’s a 34 mile round trip and should be pretty easy if I can find out where the trail starts…might have to take the car to scope it out…not much to do today…have one more day of leftovers for both meals but I am going to make potato soup tomorrow to use up some of the 10 pounds of potatoes I bought Friday…and I’m going to try to make scalloped potatoes for the first time but I need some whole milk for that…will probably have to make a half batch to fit it in my toaster oven…more later…

Well…didn’t get out of bed til 6:30 this morning but I don’t feel like I slept much…but I feel okay and just poured the first cup of coffee so we’ll see after I get that down…the wind is supposed to come up to 20-30 mph by noon so I’ll need to get two rides in before then…so I’ll have to skip the Man U match that comes on at 9…or miss the first half and call it good at 25 miles…so that means on the bike by 8 for the first ride…didn’t get anything done yesterday but I will have time to do some cleaning today and I just need to decide what to clean…the house at the end of my street either sold or turned into a rental since there were people moving into it yesterday so I’ll be making a noise call soon…every time someone new moves into the neighborhood, they bring their thumpy assed bullshit music that I have to squash and I wonder where they are from where that is acceptable? Oh, well…it’s going to be cooler here from now on and I will enjoy that…I have always loved the fall and look forward to a color tour…have never been north to Whitehall and I think seeing that small town would be fun…have even thought about riding the bike the 17 miles to get there and there is supposed to be a trail that goes all the way…that will be on my list to do this fall…after all, 34 miles is right in my sweet spot for riding…not much to do today…have 14 minutes  before I need to get on the bike so I’ll pour down another cup of coffee and get going….more later…

Well…last week, I sat on a pair of my reading glasses and broke them…glued the bow back on but can’t fold them anymore so I decided to look for another cheap pair at Meijers…so I found another heavy duty pair and bought them but there was something familiar about the color of them…black on the top of the frame and clear on the bottom and that had stayed in my thoughts when I was looking in the bathroom mirror…and today I came to the realization that I knew why they were familiar…while I was growing up, my father wore glasses that were just this same color…and now I can see him clearly with those glasses on…the thing is, I don’t look much like him…I look more like my mother but now I think I see the resemblance in my memory…just a bit of a funny realization that has made me smile a bit today…I did get three rides in today but the wind was nuts out here..we have been under a gale warning all day and the wind was blowing 20-25 with gusts to 35 while I was riding outdoors and I had to push myself to remember to take it easy going into the wind and just not push it…and I don’t think I hurt myself much…hope so…time for tv and getting ready for the Michigan game…

Well…running late this morning with not getting out of bed til 7 and I needed that…and I even went to bed early last night…had a petty huge sleep deficit with only getting around 5 hours a night for the past week or so…but I’m not sure about the whole cocktail thing…it didn’t keep the boredom at bay last night at all…darn…I guess that will give me more incentive to be good and healthy…it was cloudy here last night so I couldn’t see if there were any aurora and that sucked with there being an X9 flare that should have given us some…it’s only 41 degrees out here so that is going to keep me off the outdoor bike until 10 or so but I need to get an indoor ride in before then…Michigan doesn’t play until 7:30 tonight so that opens my day up some…have been so damn sore lately and that continues this morning…my neck hurts to move it again and my knees have joined in the fun along with my right forearm…how the hell does that happen? I wonder if my body is telling me I need a day off? Yeah, it’s been telling me that all year but that isn’t going to happen at least until New Years…the chicken dish I made yesterday came out so good I really do need to remember what the heck I put in it so I can do it again…the first time using the new pot was interesting and now I know the changes I need to make to have to have the food come out better…put too much in it and it overflowed onto the stove top so I need to leave more room…not much to do today…crap, I should be on the bike right now and I’ve only had one cup of coffee…need to get moving…more later…

Well…it’s 20:05pm and I am finally done for the day after being busy again today…started with an indoor ride since it was sprinkling and cold at 7:30 this morning…then out to run the errands to pick up the veggies for the chicken dish I’m making this aft…along with the celery, carrots, and potatoes, I’m going to add red and green lentils, mushrooms and rice that will almost turn it into a gumbo but I really can’t afford 10 bucks a pound for shrimp…might have to add some chicken broth since the pan is quite big…I wonder if I should put 6 thighs in instead of 4? that would feed me until mid week and I like having easy leftovers…then two outdoor rides for 33 miles today and just put laundry in since I wanted clean bedding and I haven’t washed it for more than a week…I guess I could have just put another set of sheets on since I now have 3 sets but I was doing laundry anyway so I figured I’d just wash these…when I was at aldis today, they had potatoes for 3.49 for 5 pounds but I looked around the corner and you could get another 5 pounds for an extra buck so I got 10 pounds…not sure how I’m going to use them before they spoil but potato soup sounds good…there was an X9 solar flare and CME yesterday so we may get an aurora tonight…I’ll check if the clouds cooperate…okay, I need a rest and some veg time…

Well…up at 5;30 this morning and that is a lot better than 4:04 so I’ll take it…slept okay and only got up a couple of times but I’m sore everywhere for some reason…didn’t do much yesterday other than the rides but I need to do better today…and I’m going to start it off with a ride before 8 and then I need to go to aldis to get the carrots and celery that I need for a chicken dish I want to make this afternoon…and I remembered that I have lentils and chickpeas that I think I’ll put in it, too, to make the sauce a little more hearty…might have to see if they have potatoes on sale since mine are a little old and wrinkled…and after aldis I need to go to the library since I finished the three books I have checked out…it’s only 52 out there right now so I may do an indoor ride to start the day…I’ll have to make that decision here in about an hour but that gives me time to enjoy my coffee…but that might end soon with wholesale coffee prices up 80% over the past couple of months…I did buy a big can before the increases kick in and I think I’ll buy another one next week if I can find some on sale…oh, well…it looks like it’s going to rain a bit this morning so I guess I’ll be on the indoor bike for the first one…not much to do today…just cooking and cleaning since I’m too damn sore to work outdoors..why the heck my knees are hurting is confusing  me…I wonder if it’s the weather change that is coming or maybe I slept with them contorted? Who knows? More later…

Well…damn, I know it says that it is 70 outside but I am freezing my butt off right now…and I wonder if it is still from going out when it was in the 50’s this morning? I did get three rides in today and then repackaged the kielbasa and burgers and got them in the freezer and I’ll have to make room for some chicken thighs I have in the fridge…going to make a dish in the cast iron dish my daughter gave me with chicken thighs, kielbasa, potatoes, carrots, celery and onions with a tomato pasta sauce as the liquid…should be good but I do have to go out and get the veggies at aldis tomorrow when they open…don’t feel like going today…ooo.. I’ve got mushrooms that can go in it, too…yummy! And that will make about 4 days of meals to go with the 4 burgers I left out of the freezer…going to have one of those for dinner along with the rest of the pasta salad…I was going to work on the stump today but my thumb and neck hurt too much…need to vacuum the floor in the bathroom before Man U comes on at 3 and I want to try to finish up the last book I have going so I can get new ones tomorrow…so, I’d better get going…more later…

Well…darn, I would really like to sleep a full night for once…up at 4:54 this morning and that broke the string of getting up at a little after 5:30…oh, well…I did get my ballot in the mail yesterday so I don’t have to make a run over to the city clerk today…and I’ll wait to pay the water bill til next week since it’s not due til the 14th…didn’t get anything done yesterday but ride 33 miles and do the grocery run and bought too much food again and now I have to find room in the freezer for it all…but not buying booze saved me almost 30 bucks so that is cool and I won’t have to buy any for another 3 weeks since I’m being good 5 days a week now…still need to figure out how to not be bored without cocktails but that just needs a little work and I’ll figure it out…it looks like it’s going to be a 38 mile day today with it being warm enough to get out as soon as it gets light around 8….going to try to work on the stump left over after cutting out the shrub Monday…then I can start getting the fence tied back to the posts with the ties I got yesterday at menards…I got a new 5 gallon bucket for only 4 bucks and may use those in the spring to have a container garden since the in ground was a bust this year…not much to do today…just going to sit here for a while and have coffee and I may have to get out the french press since I didn’t leave much for this morning…more later…

Well…man, this getting up around 5:30 every morning is getting pretty old and I’m worn out again today…and I wonder why the hell I’m being good if I’m going to feel like I did yesterday…had no energy at all and didn’t get anything done but the bike rides and I only did two of them the wind was blowing so hard…hurt my neck again so I’ll have to hit that with biofreeze before I get on the indoor bike for the first ride…have the grocery run to do today and I’m going to hit DD for some mushroom burger patties for 2 bucks a pound and then look around there for other bargains…no one has protein on sale this week so I’ll have to make due with the burger and then make some burritos…it’s only 45 degrees here and it’s not going to warm up til about 10 so I can have coffee after I get back here…have to hit menards this morning to get some fencing ties to fix the fence and get a new 5 gallon bucket since my old one started to leak and I need a bucket to mop the floors…and I need to do that today since I tracked dirt in on my riding shoes and it bugs the hell out of me to walk barefoot on it…so, I need to get going here by 6:30 so I can get out the door by 8…the grind to get to 10,000 starts today and I’ll hit 8,000 today…more later….

Well…when I was out on the bike this morning and heading toward 8,000 miles, it dawned on me that I still have 90 days left in the year to ride…so immediately I did the math in my head and realized to do 2,000 more miles to get to 10,000 would only take an average of 22.5 miles a day…so guess what? A new goal of 10,000 miles is now accepted and gives me something to shoot for instead of the vague one of just getting as many miles as I can…so for this last goal oriented year of riding, here we go to a new goal…and the thought hit me that if not now, when? I’m getting nothing but older and less capable so this is it if I’m ever going to get into 5 figures for a year…so, I’ll get started piling on the miles tomorrow after just doing two rides and 25 miles today…just too strong of winds out there and after all of the work yesterday, I need a recovery day to just clean a bit…and I hurt my neck pulling into the wind that really does need some rest…