Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all who may be reading whether here or anywhere. Safe travels and don't drink too much. We will be working much of the long weekend. No invitations so we will most likely be staying at home tomorrow. Hope to catch the parade and the dog show on TV from whenever we decide to roll out of bed. If you like dog stories... have I ever mentioned I wrote a book?

I went to the gym and it soon started blizzarding. The snow was flying in furious fashion. But it just melted and didn't stay long. Just the right time for snow to come. And the passing of Thanksgiving is a perfect entry into the Christmas season. Didn't stay at the gym long. Haven't been feeling well this last week.

I made rice pudding this evening and we have a turkey, just for the adventure of cooking it tomorrow. It is like cooking three weeks of meals if you do Thanksgiving right. Might go out Thanksgiving evening. Hope to see my brother Friday who is driving up from Indianapolis with his family.

Saturday may be a good day to put up the outdoor Christmas decorations. Or starting a couple of odd jobs I got some tips on this morning. Got everything off the roof today and after I replace the back door I'll have to go back to writing some more books. Haven't sat down for over a month but the stories keep growing in my mind. Have I ever mentioned I wrote a book? Note Image and Link to the left. Yes November sales have been much better than the October sales of three books. I hope to get back my investment eventually. If I have a future book that sells, all my books should take off. A long shot, but we always stay hopeful. The reality is we will most likely lose the land where we buried our dogs through bankruptcy. One of the two or three reasons we have been trying to fight off bankruptcy. The stories in my book are fiction but the places are built out of reality. Both the pictures, on the front and back of my book, are from our property.

Sunday is a huge game for the Packers. A great way to spend the afternoon. If they can win that game in Atlanta they will be in good shape. Still it may all come down to the final game of the season against the Chicago Bears. If you like bears you may enjoy the book I wrote, not to give too much away.


Happy Thanksgiving! again.

Hunting

The rabbits are back. Eating the food Misao puts out every night. And many in Wisconsin spent this day in the cold wilderness not in pursuit of rabbits but deer. I haven't had the money to hunt for many years now. I miss the cold that just gets colder as you venture out well before sunrise to set up in a stand or blind.

This Saturday I finished recovering from those two days of digging up hard clay soil. Felt like I was coming down with a cold and wiped out the last two days. Exercise keeps one regular. And strenuous labor all the better. After two rigorous days, not even eating much and cleaning out my guts, I thought surely I would have lost some weight.... Not even half a pound.

Slept eight hours last night. According to my cpap machine I averaged 6.4 hours of sleep a night over the last seven years. More medical bills and then they want to charge me to reset my machine to a higher setting per the doctors prescription.

Last Saturday we went to breakfast with my parents. Saw their new condo. They will be in Florida for Christmas. The last time we were in Florida was Misao's birthday in 1998 when our flight to Brazil had to make an emergency landing. They said they forgot to fuel the plane. Everyone got out and received a nice meal but us. They wouldn't bring our order, took our silverware, and then three guys showed up in front of me to say "That isn't the guy." We ended up very hungry and missing our connecting flight.

I feel sorry for 'the guy.' 'The guy' being the eternal nemesis of 'the man.' I prefer to be 'a man' plain and simply. Just like everyone else except where I excel far beyond the other and they beyond me.

Ray's is behind schedule but will be opening soon. I'll have to go at least once this Winter. A season pass would make a nice Christmas gift. But we still have clear streets (and trails) and if you know how to dress plenty of opportunity to ride. Metro will be having their Turkey Hurl ride I imagine, though they haven't posted anything on the site. Those lights the Metro Mountain Bikers got a deal with seem to be defective. That's the rumor anyway. As of yet we have no plans for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Good Luck! and happy hunting to all those hunter adventurers.

Bridges

Monday was a day of errands by bicycle. The days are short and it is best to get all the riding in before 4 pm. After my errands I took a tour of the new Hank Aaron trail extension. To the left is a shot West from the 70th street bridge. A two short block run down a side street gets one onto the trail. A trail that runs parallel to a quiet neighborhood street until one gets to Hawley. In fact another biker was riding alongside on the side street. But I guess we need a trail. Above is the eastbound approach to the new bridge at Hawley. Below a closer shot.

East of the new bridge the trail was quite crowded with walkers, dog walkers, and some other bicyclists. Then passing through the Veteran's Administration grounds we come to a tiny bridge. So short they made it out of wood. Pictured below. Great for those who like to burn their bridges.

Keeping east you come to the bridge that was covered in granite stone, and a run well past the stadium so you would have to double back if that is where you are headed. Then you come to a crossroads. Or a crosstrails.

You can go South.

You can keep going East, maybe.

You can head back from whence you came.

Or you can go North.

Access to the trails from the south is a nice little space if you don't mind the risk of a mugging. No riding since Monday and no gym as I have been doing some odd jobs. Hopefully will have more work tomorrow. Keeping hydrated and a good energy drink make a big difference when your digging trenches all day. I think the electrician would have wanted it done quicker but he wasn't complaining as I do a good job.

The Leonid meteor shower is at its peak tonight.

Autumn

I finally raked the leaves into the street. Why rake before all the leaves have fallen? At least on my side of the road. Getting the outdoor work done before Winter cuts into my riding time. A couple of good rides and lots of ladder climbing. The roof may need a bit more patching. We'll see after it rains again. The chimney is somewhat hazardous to work on without buying more roofing brackets which are expensive. But I did enough of the tuck pointing that I'm fairly certain that the chimney will not collapse.

The book sales are actually growing (you can find a discount code in previous posts), but it will be a long while before I see that money. I'll have to try to stir up more e-bay and other Internet income for some holiday money.

Nothing seems to change all at once. Some trees have green leaves, others none, and still others are full of color. I take my camera when I ride hoping to get some nice shots but most of these shots are from home. The Japanese barberry is always fiery red every Autumn. The garden has been finished for a week. I still need to treat the peach tree. Will have to call the nursery where we bought it for the proper stuff to use.

Buddha embraces his fatness. I think I'll confront my fatness by hitting the gym more. Maybe today. Tomorrow I will be in Waterford as I qualified for a big poker tournament. It is a long drive but not quite as far as Kenosha, where I thought the tournament was. Then I will be driving for work in the evening. That's a lot of sitting. Maybe Buddha is right.

New Days Coming

The Hank Aaron bicycle or multipurpose trail across Hawley is now in place. Not sure when it will be done, but they promised this year. And we saw a lot of leaf pickups these weeks before the election though most of the leaves were still on the trees. I guess we were supposed to think the mayor was doing a good job, though we never saw that much city hardware when there wasn't an election.

I stepped away from the election fervor after I voted and visited all the dogs at the humane society, our polling place, and took a nice long ride. The Hoyt Trail is good and then I went to check on the bridge. Leaving the trails I caught these ducks enjoying something tasty to fatten up on before Winter. Possible snow tomorrow and then it looks like Indian Summer next week with temperatures in the 60's. Still some good riding weather ahead.

In the evening I followed the election results. Watched the BBC coverage. A bit too excited and clunky but more enjoyable than the liberal propagandists on our mainstream media. Even Misao, not a native speaker, could tell from their remarks that the various media big shots were democrats. And then there was the Geritol junkies on PBS that seemed about two hours behind in calling the races.

My weight is going down but I skipped the gym to open up the ceiling where the leak persists. It is good to see that the roof framing is in good shape. Have to prioritize the roof work and look long term to painting the entrance canopy.

Feeling hopeful on my weight loss goals and the future in general. Feeling prosperous and won my first poker tournament on Halloween. Misao always gives me job postings for teaching English in Korea. Have to improve our income somehow. The book sales will not be evident for some time as I was told some sales channels I will not receive a report from for 30-60 days. Inferring that I actually have sales through those channels like bookstores and other Internet retailers.