Monday October 7, 2013

Fall weather is back. It was in the low 50s when I left at 0530. When I do the early morning swim I leave the MAC about 0815. A brief shower had passed through while I was inside the MAC. I wiped off my bike seat and headed to the Kava House. The WSJ today had several interesting articles. I always read about news from China. China is a major player in the world and what happens in China impacts the USA. I think our President made a major mistake by not going to the Asian trade conference. The WSJ's editorial today really savaged Bill deBlasio who is running for mayor of NYC. It appears the US Military is coming out with some rigid rules regarding tattoos. The end result is that the tattoo shops near military bases are very busy. If you get a tattoo before the rules are official you won't be disciplined. When I was in the Navy only a small percentage of sailors had tattoos. I don't know what the big attraction for a huge tattoo is? The Seal/Special Forces raids in Africa sent a message to the bad guys that you cannot hide. But will they deter other raids? It was raining when I left the Kava House. As soon as I got home I put my wet clothes in the dryer. We have to be careful this time of year because flu season is upon us. In fact Nancy woke up with a sore throat this morning. After lunch I took a quick nap. The sun was out when I got up so I took Ms P on her mile walk and then took another mile walk. The fall colors are in full bloom. The recent rains have caused the leaves to fall. Folks will soon be raking. This afternoon I voted and paid some bills. I also made an appointment to have our furnace checked out for winter. We are having a light dinner and then will watch some TV before heading upstairs.

Sunday October 6, 2013

It rained hard last night. The rain had stopped when we went to the MAC at 0730. After our swim we headed to Meijer's. Gas today was $3.21 per gallon. Since we had shopped at Meijer's yesterday we did not purchased many items. It started raining when we headed home. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. I read a few sections of the GRP before taking my nap. The rain stopped about the same time I ended my nap. I took Ms P around the block and then Nancy and I gave her a bath. Nancy said she stunk but I could not tell. It is now 1653 and as soon as I finish this blog I will go on a two mile walk. Nancy is fixing a seafood salad for dinner. We will watch 60 minutes and read the GRP. I hope everyone got their 30 in today. I am hooked on herring in wine sauce. I find it a great snack. Nancy thinks it is gross. I read everything about the "Afffordable Care Act" and I think that the law might result in lower health care costs. I think businesses will stop their insurance plans and give employees a lump sum to buy health insurance on the exchanges. Folks will now know how much health care really costs. I hope it would end the wide disparity between regions. Why should a hernia operation in LA cost $10,000 and only $2,000 in MN? The Republicans should give it a chance. The colors in GR have been great. The recent rains have caused a lot of leaves to fall. We will be getting the rakes out soon. Have you noticed all the typos in the e-editions of newspaper and blogs? I don't think folks are proof reading their articles. They rely on spell check.

Saturday October 5, 2013

We had some major storms blow through last night. A lot of thunder and lightning with these storms. I slept in until 0800. It was not raining on my ride to Bill's but the humidity was 90%. I had oatmeal for breakfast. It was not raining when I left so I pedaled around Reeds Lake. The trail around the lake was really crowded. It was so humid that I had to take a shower when I got home. Nancy was out of eggs so we all got in the Taurus and headed to Costco. Costco was jammed. We purchased eggs, facial tissue, V8 juice a pizza and a hot dog. Meijer's was having a special on grapes so we headed to the nearby store in Cascade. Nancy thought their grapes were poor quality so we left and headed to the Meijer's on Kalamazoo and 28th. She bought a lot of grapes. As soon as we got home we started putting the furniture on the breezeway away for the winter. Yes folks colder weather is coming. I watched the first half of the UM game. I took a nap. For dinner Nancy fixed the pizza we bought at Costco. It is now 2100 and we are watching the OSU/N game. We have the windows open and the humidity is oppressive.

Friday October 4, 2013

October 4 is Luca Scott's eighth birthday. Happy Birthday Lucas! The weather folks said it would be raining hard by 1000. I packed my rain suit and headed to the MAC. I was in the pool by 0615. Today is my lawn cutting day. On lawn cutting days I do my routine at 80% to save energy. Since it was going to rain I did the routine at 100%. I left the MAC at 0830 and no rain in fact the sun was shining. I had coffee at the Kava House. The Fed shutdown still dominates the newspapers. I got home at 1100 and the sun was still shining. After a quick lunch I started cutting the grass. I was done by 1530. After the lawn cutting I took a quick shower and nap. For dinner tonight Nancy and I went to Forest Hills Inn. Not much on TV so I am typing the blog on my Apple Air while channel surfing.

Thursday October 3, 2013

This morning Nancy had her stress test. She passed. I got up at 0730 and it looked like rain so I put my rain suit in the back pack and pedaled to the MAC. After the swim and calisthenics I headed to Starbucks in Gas Light Village. The sun was shining bright. I got home about 1330 and after a quick lunch Nancy and I took a drive to Belding. Our goal was to stop at several roadside stands and buy some apples, squash and pepper. We accomplished our goal including a jar of rhubarb/strawberry jam. We bought 1/2 peck of apples. Do you know how big a peck is? It was a great drive, the colors were great. It is Thursday so of course we are heading to Great Lakes Shipping for dinner. I don't think we will sit outside because we have been having intermittent showers. It is very warm with the temperature in the 89s. Not much on TV tonight so after we read the GRP we will head upstairs to read our books. Actually I will read my Kindle.

Wednesday October 2, 2013

Today is Breakfast Club day. They had a great turnout today. Maybe it was because the speaker was the founder of Founder's Beer. Founder's was started in GR about 15 years ago and it is now one of the largest craft beer brewers in the US. They sell their beer in 26 states. No free samples. The cooks at the Women's City Club prepared a great breakfast. Eggs, sausage, fruit and fresh scones made on site. After BC I ran errands. I stopped at Rylee's Hardware to get some parts for my bike mirror. Our GP started offering flu shots yesterday, so I stopped and got a shot. I had coffee at a Starbucks in Knapp's Corner. It is only one day old but I am already tired of reading about the Fed shutdown. Costco had some wool zip up shirts for cold weather, so I bought two. My last stop was Target to look at electric trimmers for my hair. They had some trimmers but they looked too complicated. I want simple. I think I will go back to shaving my head. It is important that old men looked neat and clean. I got home about 1200 and Nancy was getting ready to head out to work at Meijer's Garden. I decided to go on a bike ride. I loaded up my every day bike (urban) and headed to Millennium Park. It was a great day for a bike ride. The sky was blue and the temperature was in the high 70s. We are almost at peak fall colors. Fall in Michigan is great. Even Ms P did not complain when I took her on a mile walk. We are having a light dinner and will watch the TV news. Nancy has an early morning Stress Test so I just set the alarm. Don't want to miss this test. It was not so nice on Oct 2, 1938 in Ossineke, Mi. GGF Sanborn wrote that they had a light frost last night. A thin crust of ice was on all the water surfaces. GGF drove to Alpena to pick up his daughter, Laura. She spent 2.5 hours picking vegetables out of GGF's garden. GGF and GGM drove Laura back to Alpena and stayed for dinner. Oct 2 was a Sunday and GGF commented that they had 15 folks at the Ossineke Methodist Church service.

Tuesday October 1, 2013

Today is the first day of the last quarter of the year. At the start of each quarter I get a new tooth brush and change blades in my fusion razor. Today is also the first day the Fed Gov shut down. Idiots reign! Ms P and I got up at 0430 to answer "nature's call". I really don't know what "nature's call" means. I was up so I had my morning breakfast and then went back to bed. I had the pool to myself this morning. Every 10 weeks I buy a lottery ticket for the Mega Millions, etc. I buy 1 ticket for each draw and the ticket is good for 20 draws. About every two years I will win $100. I had my coffee at Starbucks in Breton Village so I could buy the lotto tickets at D&W. Nancy and I got home at the same time, 1230. We had a quick lunch and then headed downtown to visit some more Art Prize Venues. We spent about 90 minutes viewing the exhibits. Both Nancy and I were tired when we got home. I took a short nap. Tonight I will finish Sunday's "Baked Bean Casserole". Good TV tonight. The NCIS shows and "Person of Interest". I don't know if I can stay awake for POI. We also got a paper edition of the GRP. Today the high temp was 72. We will have three more days of 70s and then fall weather moves in.