Soggy Wet All Day

 It was raining this morning when we got up, and it only slowed a few times all day as we listened to flash flood warnings almost a few minutes apart.   I took the Ford to Ace Hardware and blew some money on various necessities for equpping a New Sewing Room.  I neglected to get everything I wanted but I needed a sore foot break.  Jacque left around 2 PM for West Plains, with me and the pooches staying behind.  I needed to go to the hardware store(s) for various needed materials but the trike isn't much fun with rain pouring down.

Along about 4:30 or so the rain finally quit - and a little later the trees stopped dripping.  I decided I had time to pedal over to our local CHC lumber store before they closed.

Success.  Spent more money, rode back on wet streets but the trike fenders did their job and kept me dry.

Terrific Tickly Toenail Tuesday

 Today's Trip Tracking via GPS and Ham Radio APRS

About a month ago Jacque convinced me to try her nail specialist at our local "California Nails" salon.
This doubtless is more than anyone wants to know, but my diabetic neuropathical feet not only hurt a lot, but the nails are tough to trim and keep from getting scraggly, and face it:  UGLY
So, last month was my first time in such a salon, and it was frankly quite fabulous.
I've had podiatrists (M.D. Foot Doctors examine my feet several times and about all I've ever gotten from them is prescriptions for exczema, ointment to rub on my feet.  The dude at our California Nails REALLY works the feet and especially toenails over, and thoroughly.  Washes the feet, massages them, grinds off the calluses, uses several soaps and ointments during the process, and then spends a LOT of time manicuring the ugly toenails.  All the while, the lounge chair is briskly massaging my back, almost putting me in an even deeper stupor than normal.
By the time he's finished, my feet actually look fairly acceptable, no scraggly nails catching on my socks..... and feeling rather pain free.  For a while.
BUT today I rode the trike there for the treatment, and then walked around our local Big Box store afterwards.  My blood glucose was a tad low when I left Big Box, so I ate a couple of Jacque's Famous Cookies before pedaling homeward.
I experienced a "mild" fright when I turned off Hiway 95 just south of the Route 60 overpass.  I was chugging along minding my own business when I heard a slight "clank", as though I had run over a tin can or something.  I thought I'd better turn around and check it out, and I'm so glad I did.  My RV keys had fallen out of my Velcro'ed cargo pants pocket and were lying in full view on the pavement.  MERCY.   What a stupid mistake to make.  I must make sure the cargo pants I'm wearing have decent pockets that stay secured.
I took a photo of a sign that is seen everywhere in this area, even months after our recent disastrous election:

                         It's a Steel Sign, so I guess he doesn't want to throw it away      

 
I was quite pooped when I got back and took a while to get my tired feets and bod rested sufficiently. 9:53-12:24

Ride Started: 9:53 AM           Ride Ended: 12:24 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.8
Lowest Temp:  64 F Highest Temp: 78 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  168   Ending BG: 61
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.48
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 2.2 MPH                              6.6 MPH            25.3 MPH
Total Trip Time                Moving Time      Stopped Time
  2 hours 27  mins             50 minutes        1 hour 37 minutes

Monday Madness

 Construction Short Shopping Trip Tracking 

Since the paid construction crew finished the walls and roof shell for Jacque's new sewing room, I am "up to bat" to get most of the interior done.
With my sore feet and brittle diabetes highs and lows, I am decades slower than our Amish bunch of young bucks who threw up their part in a bit less than 2 days.
Just gathering lumber and tools and climbing ladders to measure and see what needs to be done next wore me to a frazzle - several times before NOONish.
I was sitting in my easy chair resting my sore bod when Jacque suggested I should go for a trike ride since it almost always limbers me up and cheers me up.
I wanted to get more work done, but realized I could hitch up the trike B.O.B. trailer and pick up some materials I needed at one of the local lumber/hardware emporiums.  So I went.
First thing, I got stuck in a line of vehicles waiting for the train to pass.  It was a looong one and took 10 or more minutes to clear the crossing so the crossarms would let us through.
There were so many vehicles backed up on both sides of the tracks that I couldn't safely cut left across the street where I needed to for the closest lumber store.
So I made the easier right turn toward the post office - then turned around and waited in a much shorter line of 4 cars.  It still took a frustratingly long time for all the gas powered vehicles to open up enough space for a methane powered, er, that is, human powered one to get through.
I needed an attic gable vent, and while I was poking around finding that, I remembered I needed a bazillion feet of romex wire for all the lights and outlets to be installed.
Wire or ANYthing containing copper or much of any metal is NOT cheap nowadays, as most breathing humans realize.  It HURT to lay out over 70 bucks for 100 feet of wire and a cheap PVC gable vent.
After a long way around the block to actually work up a bit of a sweat, I got back just in time to rest my sore feet again.

Ride Started: 2:57 PM           Ride Ended:  3:43 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.6   Ending Battery Voltage:  13.0
Lowest Temp: 75 F Highest Temp: 84 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  97   Ending BG: 65
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:   1.77
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
  2.7MPH                              6.3 MPH            14.6 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time                Moving Time      Stopped Time
 39  minutes                          17 minutes         21 minutes

Sunday Drivers

 Short but Sweet GPS Track

We've been busting our butts recently, between Jacque's canning food storage, multiple chores in yard, garage, house, vehicles in my case (which rarely equals Jacque's efforts).
Our Amish construction crew of 4 snapped the outer walls and windows, doorway, and roof, in an astonishing 2 days.  They even left early both days for group barbecues, but the second day they made up for it by showing up at 6:00 AM
and woke us up with their banging and sawing just outside our bedroom window. 
They apologized - but I reassured them it was a great sound to wake up to.
We really looked forward to today. Sunday, it being a "legal" excuse for a true Day of Rest.  We enjoyed Church services and then watched Christian videos a couple hours afterward.
I, feeling partially guilty for enjoying loafing so much, suggested a short tandem trike ride and Jacque readily agreed.
With all the junque in the garage it's a bit of a project to drag the Terratrike out, but it was worth it.
The day was beautiful, after several cold, cloudy, and wet days, and after a "downtown" run (3-4 blocks across the tracks from our house), around the empty city square, almost no cars and only a couple of walkers encountered, and back home again, we were satisfactorily tired.
A little over a mile?  Good stuff.  So happy we made it.

Ride Started: 4:09 PM           Ride Ended: 4:30 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.2   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7
Lowest Temp: 67 F Highest Temp: 78 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  182   Ending BG: 58
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 1.38
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 3.6 MPH                              5.8 MPH            13.9 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time                Moving Time      Stopped Time
 23  minutes                          14 minutes         9 minutes

The Day After the Big Snow

 Today's Wanderings with my Buddy

Yesterday, the twentieth of April, with all our local trees and vegetation blossoming forth in the joy of early spring, we got FREEZING temperatures and - of all things -
SNOW.  The day started normally enough, cool but clear, but before the sun had a chance to warm things up, the dark clouds rolled in and took over and it began to precipitate.  It blowed and snowed all day, accumulating 2 inches or so.... and then just before sundown, the clouds cleared a tiny bit and the deep snow began to melt.
Then it got dark and cold and below freezing for the rest of the night, leaving chunks and pockets of half melted snow for the doggies to struggle to find a satisfactory spot to "do their business".

BUT it was much warmer today and within a couple hours it was warm enough to saddle up the trike for a ride.  My buddy, young Jack, was visiting, so I also hooked up the B.O.B. trailer with the cobbled-in child safety seat for him to ride with me.

 

He always attracts extra attention when cruising along behind me, and today was no exception.  He was pretty tough today.  In spite of the cold breeze, which often gets worser while riding, it caused no complaints from him whatever.
We stopped to mosey around the City Center park for a while and then decided to ride up the hill to the old Brown Shoe Factory, where lies a nice Ina Crandall Memorial Park complete with slides, swings, and climbing stuff.
Jack loves this place, and choused me into chasing him up and down the slide, and being his launcher for  the big boy swings.
He of course has much more energy than I do, and I was happy when he agreed to head back for the house.
We have an Amish construction crew putting up walls and roof for Jacque's new sewing room addition, and the Foreman expressed interest in the Catrike and enthusiastically asked how many miles I rode today.  Just as enthusiastically, I told him "Oh, only 5 or 6 miles today."  As he peeked at my GPS readings I was chagrined to see we had only REALLY made a little over THREE measly miles.
Whatever.  It was still fun, after all. 

Ride Started: 11:50 AM           Ride Ended: 2:29 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.3   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9
Lowest Temp: 46 F Highest Temp: 64 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  39(- COOKIES ! )   Ending BG: 76
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 3.13
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 2.0 MPH                              5.9 MPH             16.8 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time                Moving Time      Stopped Time
 1 hour 32  minutes              32 minutes          1 hour 1 minute

A Ten Dollar Trip

 Today's fun route (GPS/Ham Radio tech)

We had another beautifully sunny (but Cool) day today, after our supposedly "Last Freeze Warning" in the state of Missouri.
Meaning, of course, a great day for goofing off on the pedal - Catrike .
Trouble is, we had to do a doctor run to Springfield first thing in the morning. 
Thus we assumed we wouldn't be back until mid-afternoon at best.
Howsomever, the trip was not as time consuming as we thought.  Especially nice was the doctor's pronouncement that Jacque will be breathing easier in a few days at most, following doctor recommendations and prescriptions.
We "Did Lunch" at the LA Cafe, only a few blocks from home in the city square, and got home shortly after 2:00 PM, leaving plenty of time for me to saddle up and ride.
Of course, I frittered a bit of time away before I got started, but it worked out okay.
I had a huge black trash bag full of crushed soda cans I wanted to sell to our local recycler, and I also needed a few piddly plumbing items.
Thus after a couple of uncertain starts, I first rode to our closest lumber/hardware store to get $6 worth of PVC caps.  Then I started the much longer trek to S&S recycling on the west end of town.  I thought it would make a nice long ride for the day but it turned out to be only a bit shy of 7 miles.  Good exercise, though, of course..... a couple of quarter mile low grade uphills resulted in almost getting down to Granny Gear - but not quite.  Huff Puff.
Finally arriving at the salvage yard, I was pleased to receive something like $9.97 for my cans, but I was surprised to learn it had only weighed in at 21 pounds. 
Even with that light weight discovery, it WAS much easier on the return trip in spite of more low hills to climb.
As I rode east from the Mountain Grove International Airport (cough, sarcasm) I startled several dozen sleeping cows on the other side of the fence.  You'd think they would be used to seeing me come by so often..... every other month or so.

Ride Started: 3:22 PM           Ride Ended: 4:29 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.9
Lowest Temp: 60 F Highest Temp: 75 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  108   Ending BG: 137
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.97
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 5.3 MPH                            8.1 MPH             21.0 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time                Moving Time      Stopped Time
  1 hour 7  minutes                 44 minutes        23minutes

Joyride in Tandem

Short but Doubly Sweet Tracking 

Our Easter weekend has been extra special for us this year.  Everything we've read and viewed and heard has reminded us deeply of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Resurrection, and our tears have flowed freely.
Today we enjoyed the Easter General Conference sessions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The first session ended at 1:00 PM and did not resume for the second session until 3:00 PM.
The day was so sunny and bright and warm (in spite of freeze warnings two nights before last) that I halfway planned to go for a trike ride.
My lovely bride Jacque mentioned the idea of dragging out our tandem Terratrike for a dual ride.
This being a great idea, I didn't get it set up too early and she worried we would be too late to catch the start of our afternoon Conference .    I assured her we would not be gone that long so we loaded up the doggies and took off.
Riding the tandem is more work than riding single, for both of us, and a mile or two is plenty sufficient to get the pulse rate going.
We often get big waves and smiles from onlookers and passers-by, and we were treated today with a big wave from a lady looking almost as old as I am, hollering "I LIKE that!"  Of course she got big waves back, but Lilly just barked without waving.
It didn't take long for us to get back and we enjoyed another tear-jerking conference with so many wonderful tributes to our Saviour.

Ride Started: 2:00 PM           Ride Ended: 2:24 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.1   Ending Battery Voltage:  12.7
Lowest Temp: 72 F Highest Temp: 75 F
Beginning Blood Glucose:  156   Ending BG: 138
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 0.7
Overall Average Speed      Moving Avg       Max Speed
 4.5 MPH                            5.0 MPH         13.5 MPH
Total Trip(s) Time                Moving Time      Stopped Time
  16  minutes                        8 minutes        13 seconds(!)