The new campfire thread...ooooh purrrrty!!!!!!

[Fenlason]

We were at 5 below this morning, which isn't as cold as we were expecting. We did get another 2.5 inches of snow last night.

We did finally get out for a ride yesterday, although it was late. In some places the conditions were much better than the day before [some not]. Because of the late start we didn't go the full distance. We got in 12.5 vs 15. Even though it was colder out.. I was warmer. I paid more attention to not over heating. I was coolish the first few miles. I was unzipped etc. trying to not get sweaty. The conditions the first few miles were tougher.. and Laurie had a harder time.. so even riding slower.. I had to stop a bit waiting for her, which didn't help. I was worried about there being a lot of snowmobiles out… but we only met 6 the whole time.

My left knee is kind of tender.. quad tendonitis.. so no riding today. I am not sure we will do all that much either.

[toypusher]

Woke up with a cold this morning! It's been coming on for a couple days now, but definitely here this morning!

[Fenlason]

Happy Birthday [again] Kerry.. and sorry about the cold.. I hope it's a quick one.

I did work on the porch some yesterday. Although it is pretty crazy working on it in that weather when there is no rush on that job. We are cold again today.. but the next few days we will be warming up. So I don't plan on working out there today.

I could be thinking about some plastering. I need to see what I have on hand for materials.. and where they are. Stuff got moved around when we took the porch apart.

Today will be mostly house work.. and working out. I would like to get a bit of time on the bike today [inside] and something for an upper body weight workout.

[Fenlason]

9 below this morning. Although it is supposed to warm up a bit today. IF it does do that, I hope to work out on the porch.

I did get three rides in yesterday.. A moderate one in the morning.. and then a harder one once Laurie got home. That second one we should have done a warm up first. We did a ride that was already going.. a live ride.. so it became a race. I did fairly well on it. I ended up wanting to do a little more.. and decided on a 3 miler… again another live ride. I joined it just after it started.. There was one other rider.. and a bot. I quickly caught the guy… and we played cat and mouse a little.. we drafted each other a little.. and each of us.. dropped each other a few times.. THEN.. he buried me. I was pretty toast from my previous rides. When a more significant hill came.. he dropped my like a stone.

[Fenlason]

grrr not all that great a day. Our temps are still in the single numbers… so much for our warm up...

My van door is still a problem. I went to move my van so I could work on that.. and it wouldn't start.. I knew the battery was under the floor.. so I have to move some stuff stored between the seats.. take the carpet up.. take up the "door". I think though I should perhaps check out the owners manual before I try to jump it. Well it seems I have remote spots under the hood for jump starting... So I put the floor back together.. while my jump pack is being topped off.

It did start ok with the jump pack. I let it run a bit.. and actually took it for a little drive. Now I have a check engine light on...

I work more on the door… and it's still not latching all the time. It's a mess of cables and levers inside the door. I get my remote mirror.. and the mirror glass has fallen off the tool. I glue it.. and the glue didn't work.. so I tried something else..

Oh.. I did 2 bkool recovery rides this morning.. bkool Lost one of my rides.. no data saved.. It seems not much has gone right today...

[caseydog]

I braved the weather today, and went outside. It was 79-degrees.

Of course, it would have to be, since I just spent 600-bucks fixing one of my furnaces. It was 23 degrees when the heater didn't work.

Tomorrow, looks like 80-degrees for the high. Then, it goes into the 60s for the next week, or so. Rain is coming, which is good. We need to fill the reservoirs now to get through the summer without any extreme water restrictions.

Sheepman, I have some wonderful experiences with jump-boxes, working so much with classic cars. "Are you sure this is a 12 volt system?" And, my favorite, "Are you sure this is a negative ground?" Those are the questions I ask before something exciting sometimes happens. After all these years, when I see smoke coming from my jump box, I just bill it to my customer. There goes another one. The real fun is when the cables on my jump box weld themselves to the posts on a six figure classic car, and start to smoke.

I've gotten used to putting out carburetor fires with a towel. Battery melts still scare me.

CD

[Fenlason]

We had 9 below yesterday.. this morning 45 and rain. The rain is supposed to move out fairly quickly. I need to go to the dealer with the van. I do have a recall I need to have addressed.. as well as that check engine light… but I might wait until it cool downs again. I would like to work here outside while it is warm.

Melting batteries don't sound good at all. I purchased my jump box back when my motorcycle was broke down. It did not work for that for I had a bad alternator.. and a dead battery. I would get the bike started.. but it would not stay running.

I have used it a little since. It's so much better than using another vehicle to jump with.

I hope to work on that porch counter/ bar… and I can always get back to work on re-building my inside porch.

[toypusher]

Yeah melting batteries - NOT!!

Should be sunny and hit 50 degrees here today. We had freezing rain overnight last night. And my cold is still really kicking my butt! Hope this is the last bad day and I can start improving.

[Fenlason]

I am mentally still feeling a little…off but it was a much better day than yesterday.

Our rain stopped fairly early and it got pretty gorgeous out today. I didn't really check the temps but easily 40.. and for us this time of year.. man that feels good.

I did more work on my bar/ counter. Not that I might not do more.. it is sort of done. [It does need to be stained.. but that will have to wait]. I did spread a little sand.. and had to chip out some ice in front of a barn door [so I could open it] I made a run into town to pick up a pair of hinges.. and my check engine light went out.

I was hoping to bike earlier.. then get another in later. It got too nice, to soon this morning so I didn't take the time. I am also sore and tired enough… that I won't need more. I am quitting work earlier than I planned… but I am finished what I was working on… and have been awake since before 3:00 am.

So I will try to head down for some riding shortly.. and see what I can come up with.

[Fenlason]

I did get a ride in last night.. I was pretty sore.. and tired. With that in mind… why did I choose such a hard ride?? It was 19= miles.. uphill.

I joined an a live ride that was already going on. I was just going to ride it… so didn't worry about a warm up. When I get in the ride… there are riders "right there". So of course I had to try and catch them.. I reeled in everyone. The last one took some time.. and some work. Once past him.. he stayed around 20 or so seconds back for a looong time. Then the previous 2 that I had caught and dropped.. were moving up… they ended up moving up pretty strong… first one then the other caught me despite my efforts at trying to prevent that. By the time the second one was done.. I was pretty spend.


I did do another 3+ mile easier spin on the track after.

We are grey with temps in the lower 40's today.. and are showery. We had an appointment for the cats this afternoon. This morning I decided on some errands. Some groceries.. some fleece.. some for the porch.. for our newer rocking bench. I also picked up some fabric for curtains for the van. Lowes showed that they had some patio bench cushions left over from last season… some that match what we got for the porch. We need one more for that rocker. I drive down… they tell me they don't have them.. I mention they showed that they did on-line… so they call someone.. I am told he will meet me in isle 24.. I go.. and wait.. and wait.. and wait some more. Finally he shows up.. and suggest chair or chaise lounge cushions.. I repeat myself again… BENCH cushions. He asked if I happened to get the item number.. I told him no. So we go to his computer.. and he scrolls right by it.. to more chaise lounge cushions.. I told him it was back up.. there.. and there is the cushion I wanted. He tried to also show me a teal...

So eventually he tells me what I am looking for is out back wrapped up.. and it might take a couple of hours to find it. [on line it says it is on the floor.] which it clearly wasn't. He asked if I am in a hurry.. I said sort of. He said he can find it and then call me and I can come back. {I drove 20 miles.. for the cushion] [and didn't want to have to drive back again for it].. I told him never mind.. and left…

That's twice that Lowes has let me down.

I have puttered around here.. waiting for the vet to show up. They decided that some blood work would be good for our older cat.. possible thyroid issue.. so they have taken her… and we will go pick her up shortly.

No ride today…

[toypusher]

Hey! Mid 40s and sunny but windy today. It hit 65 here yesterday! I am starting to get overt my cold and yesterday did go for a 45 min walk. Still feeling a bit weak and tired but will go for a walk again today. Not sure about doing anything else though.

[Fenlason]

We picked up our cat last night. The doctor said her thyroid is fine.. but she does have some kidney issues. She is 17 years old. We are trying some kidney healthy food.. otherwise there is not much we can do.
We had a great evening sitting by the fire on our outside porch. We love sitting out there by the fire.

We had temps in the lower 30's this morning.. and that will be our highs for the day. We have a cold front coming through.. it's quite windy with some sun. I am working on the inside porch today. I think I have one side pretty much put back together. Now onto the other side.

Bkool ride[s] later this afternoon.. then to Dave and Angela's for dinner.

[caseydog]

Winter whiplash continues. It was 80 on Wednesday, but in the mid 40s today, with rain.

Not much else to talk about. It's pretty quiet here at the doghouse.

CD

[Fenlason]

It's a beautiful starry night.. oh.. and a fairly big moon also. The cold crisp air.. lets that light through the atmosphere much better.. and the snow of course makes it extra bright.

I had a pretty good ride tonight. During the ride, I would have said it was just ok. Not particularly racing.. we did no warm up before hand..we just started a ride that was already going on. We used the first part of the ride as our warm up. I ended up moving up 3 levels in my ranking. Also in overall results. I did ok. They only list the top 50 places in any catagory. Over 3400 different people have done this ride. I did not make the overall top 50…it appears to be a pretty stacked field…. but there have been quite a few over 60 riders do it. [There is a full top 50 for that… although I don't know how many over the 50 riders there were] Anyways I am #2 in that. With a warm up.. and a better day could I move up? I am not sure. I guess maybe if there were others in the ride that I could draft.. I time trailed it this time.

I did get some work done on the porch.

Dave and Angela's for dinner.. although Angela ended up not feeling well. They had gotten a movie and we watched that. "Deep Water Horizon" It was a good movie. Although hard to watch also.

[toypusher]

29 degrees this morning and might hit mid 30s today. They say we will get an inch or so of light snow then some sleet and then freezing rain later.

So, Glenn, you liked that movie, but it was hard to watch? I have thinking of getting it from redbox.

Not planning much today - just laundry for sure and maybe watch a couple shows we have on DVR.