Lost

The TV show "Lost"has started a new season tonight. Since I didn't watch last season's show I don't have any idea what the show is about this season.

Other shows on TV this year can be placed in a crap can as far as I'm concerned. I don't need to see thirty people try to survive in a jungle for a couple of months. Maybe sports will have some good shows on this year...

Maybe it is because I can still remember when TV was still in it's infanicy. I was a kid when TV was first developed. We would gather around a neighbor's TV and watch anything that was being broadcast. We even watched the "Test Pattern". Heck, even the static was interesting. We said we were watching a "White horse in a snow storm". All the houses had 40 foot arials on the roofs so we could get the station from the "Big City"...

Turbo Tax

I'm trying the Intuit's TurboTax program to do my taxes this year. Even though I don't have a complicated return there was one "event" last year which needs attention. I got out of the stock market at a nice high on the last shares I held. Now I have to "Pay the Piper".

I've loaded the program in the computer and started the return. It really seems simple so far. Of course I haven't gotten to the part about the Capital Gains yet. I feel the "other" shoe will fall when I crunch the numbers. I'll have to pony up a sizeable chunk of my nest egg from the sale of the stock, even though the gain is "Long Term".

I hope before I pass on to my heavenly reward the Tax code and all the associated paperwork gets changed and simplified. I heard of one plan which had only two lines on the form.

Line 1. How much did you make last year.
Line 2. Send it all in to the IRS

How much simpler could it be??

Tuesday Tirad

I cringe when I see the television ads for new cars. Bigger, slicker, faster and the ad people make us think the cars are supposed to race and roar along just driving to the corner market.

More power and more distractions. Just what we all need. Touch the gas and rocket to ninety miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. Adjust the sixteen woofer speaker stereo system to the ear shattering volume which will vibrate the windows of the cars beside you. You are ready to roll.

NASCAR races have shown us how the "bump" draft has won lots of races. Sure there a couple of bent fenders and bruised egos of the superstar drivers who are revered like rock stars. But, then Joe or Jane Average gets behind the steering wheel and tries to set a new land speed record for the commute to the office.

As I see it, the problem is the way the ads show the cars doing crazy stunts, performed by "professional drivers on closed courses", which lead people to drive like nuts. If Madison Avenue would cool it then maybe everybody would calm down..

Poem to Ponder

My forgetter's getting better,
But my rememberer is broke
To you that may seem funny
But, to me, that is no joke

For when I'm "here" I'm wondering
If I really should be "there"
And, when I try to think it through,
I haven't got a prayer!

Oft times I walk into a room,
Say "what am I here for?"
I wrack my brain, but all in vain!
A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away
Where it is safe, but, Gee!
The person it is safest from
Is, generally, me!

When shopping I may see someone,
Say! "Hi" and have a chat,
Then, when the person walks away
I ask myself, "who was that?"

Yes, my forgetter's getting better
While my rememberer is broke,
And it's driving me plumb crazy
And that isn't any joke.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Who mentioned peanut butter cookies? The smell of a baking batch drives me nuts.. Talking about a peanut butter cookie makes my mouth water. People even use that smell to help sell their houses. Realtors will make a batch for the "Open House" they hold on the weekends.

I have dabbled in baking cookies. I made all my Christmas gifts one year by baking Peanut Butter cookies for everybody on my gift list. Boy, my house sure smelled good.

Today was a really good day to bake. Rainy day outside. Bright, warm kitchen with a willing companion to aid in gathering the necessary equipment and ingredients. Mixing and baking took about an hour. My aide likes her cookies a little bit more done then I do. I make her a special batch just the way she likes them.. Now after I finish my share I will help her finish her portion. Yummy Yum Yum

My cabin up north

I have to make a trip to my cabin up north every now and then to check that the facility is still okay. It takes a lot of planning to get ready to make the trip. Check supplies. Load the van. Get out on the expressway and drive the freeway. Usually the trip is pleasant and traffic is not too bad. The cabin is unheated during the absent periods between visits. I have to start the heat and check for critters that may have burrowed in during the time I was away.
Tonight I had almost forgotten to post for the 365 blog. So here it is. Not much news here. Yawn.

T G I F

Always appreciate the T G I F day. End of the work week and beginning of the weekend. When I was a working person I really enjoyed every Friday. My hobby then was boating. We spent almost every weekend at the boat. The boat was our vacation home. For twenty years we sailed and cruised around the bay. Great fun and fond memories forever.

Now that I'm retired and don't own a boat the weekends are no longer special as they once were. In fact I like week days better now. Everybody else is at work. I can play every day and not wait for the weekend. Yipee

Rainy Day Exercise

Staying fit in winter is difficult. If you don't have a membership in a health club how do you get any exercise? Since my favorite exercise is to bicycle. I like to ride at least twenty miles for a good work out. That equates to about two hours riding. Of course I take a break at the half way point. But, I'm still on the bike for the majority of that time.

So, today I set up the "trainer" in the bedroom and "cycled" for almost an hour. I say almost because I found reasons to stop. To get my I-Pod and then another time to turn on the floor fan. I actually worked up a bit of a sweat while pedaling on the trainer.

The trainer is a device which holds my bicycle on a frame and allows the rear wheel to turn against a resistance wheel. You pedal and the trainer hold the bike stationary. Since you just sit there you need a breeze to cool you and some music to keep you from becoming too bored. So, I got my exercise today even though it was raining.

Getting Back to Business

My significant other is getting back into exercise and cycling after a two month "rest". Her ankle was badly sprained just before Christmas. Trying to exercise in cold weather is tough. You need to dress warm to start but after you ride about ten minutes you get too warm. We dress in layers. Base layer, second layer and an over layer. Plus gloves and head cover under the helmet. Remember to wear your helmet every time you ride. Serious injury can be caused even if you just fall over from an upright position.

The drill for the ride is to loop around our block two or three times. The distance of one lap is 1.5 miles. We got 4 miles today before we stopped. We'll be taking it slow for some time to come.

Wintertime Blues

It has turned cold here. Actually it isn't really cold like in Alaska. It is about 50 degrees and raining. There is a chance of snow on the hills around the valley. I will not need to go play in any snow that might fall here. I grew up in Nebraska where there is real winter. I hope to never have to step in snow again during my lifetime...

When I was young I loved to play in the snow. We ice skated on frozen ponds and even made ice rinks in the back yard by piling up snow and flooding the yard with water. The water froze and we could skate in our back yard.

School would sometimes close because of bad weather caused by a big snow storm and we would get to stay home from school. Instead we would go outside and play all day in the snow..

Snow and winter are fun when you are a kid but winter is a really big pain in the butt when you are an adult..

Thinking about things

I wonder if I should blog in the morning or afternoon. Evening would be good as I would have all day to think about what to write in my blog.
Then after I decide when I next must figure out what I want to write about. I have been writing about what I do during the day. Maybe it just turns into a diary ( or is it dairy )of my life. Should I become journalist of thoughts which run in my mind? Will I leap forward as the next blogmeister of the senior generation?
The answer will come to me soon, I hope...

My True Love

Yesterday I ended my post with a statement that "Life is Great". Well, the reason life is great is because of a wonderful lady who has become a giant part of my life. Karen and I found each other last year near her birthday in November. We both belong to a bicycle club in our local community. We have been members for years and had done numerous club rides but not especially drawn to each other. Karen lost her husband in 2005. I lost my wife in 1994.

What event brought us together? A simple E mail from her to me asking if I was doing any rides other than the one ride I lead on the second Saturday of each month. I answered her E mail and then decided to go on one of her rides. Karen leads a weekly ride around the neighborhood in the east side of town. I went to her ride and as we chatted during the ride I learned that Karen was ready to begin a relationship, or at least start dating. The rest is history. We are a couple now. We are engaged. We are in love and we want everybody to know about our love.

Now I can really say "Life is Great"...

Keeping track of my blog

Had a hard time finding my blog today. Seems I have used a very secret password and ID for my blog. I've used every reserve I know of to access it today. Finally I'm ready to blog.
Rode my bicycle 28 miles today with two friends. The pace was mellow. Average speed to the half way mark was 10.8 MPH. After coffee the return trip was a bit quicker and brought the average up to 11.7 MPH. The weather was brilliant. Sunny and mild. Temperature in the mid 60's. Life is good, no, life is great.

First ride of the year

I did my first ride of the year today. Twenty miles on my bicycle. Oh, the pain... Here are the sore points: Seat is sore.. Quads are sore.... neck is sore... pretty much everything is sore...
The flat part of the ride was not a problem. It was the part that went UP HILL that was the biggest problem. In the twenty miles there was a cumulative total of 1,500 vertical feet of climbing. Okay, that isn't a very high mountain, but for this first ride it was a struggle.. My favorite saying is: "the hills are our friends". Maybe later in the summer they are but not right now...