Only hitting on 7 cylinders.....

The day we were leaving Stuart, and our friends Ernie and Carol, Ernie was coming down with a cold.  Well, now I have come down with a full blown cold....I'm not bed ridden, but I am not hitting on all 8 cylinders.  Tuesday morning TLE woke up with an upset stomach....so aren't we a fine pair!

Even though I was under the weather, our hosts have bikes that need some TLC (tender loving care).  One is a Nishiki ridden by Ann when it is tuned up, and a tune up is what it needed. 

After unloading the T'Bird I walked over to Ann and Elliott's to pick up the Nishiki and bring her back for a tune up.  The tires were flat, but they just needed air.  I pulled off the wheels, pedals and cranks, then proceeded to start cleaning the bike.  The shifters and brakes worked fine, so it was just a matter of cleaning the bike of some rust, and grime.....then putting it back together.

When I'm working on a bike time just seems to melt away.  I kind of get lost in the process, but the process is what I love.  Putting a "smile" back on a bike that has been sitting for a while gives me a lot of pleasure and this Nishiki provided a lot of that.  I finished with the bike around 1 pm, and rode it back over to the hangar.

The weather was very pleasant....plenty of sun, but not too warm.....just about right after all the cold weather we had in St. Augustine.  After finishing Ann's bike I decided to just relax the rest of the day, and give this cold a chance to run its course.

I gradually emptied a bag of Ricola cough drops trying to keep my cough at bay with only modest success.  For a while I read a book......"Wild" by Cheryl Strayed.  The book is about her partial hike of the Pacific Crest Trail back in the late 1990's......something I once thought about doing, but never got around to actually doing.  It is something I am capable of doing, but it takes 6 months and since TLE is not into long distance hiking I could not see myself away from her that long.  I watched some NCAA basketball, then at 11 pm I watched NCIS, then NCIS L.A., then Body of Proof, which started at 1 am.....remember we are still on the West Coast feed from Direct TV, so prime time starts at 11 pm Eastern Time......:D

I coughed on and off all night.  I wasn't able to sleep in my  bed for the first time in 2+ years.....I needed to sleep in a more upright position, so TLE got out a comforter and I settled into a fitful night of sleep.....or at least tried to go to sleep.....it wasn't until 1:30 am, half way through Body of Proof that I finally dozed off for 4 hours waking at 5:30 in  a spasm of coughing.  TLE heard me and got up to make me some lemon/honey tea for my throat.....it helped a lot, and finally around 6:30 I dozed off again for 2 more hours.

Today, Wednesday, I feel a little ragged, but I am alive and feeling optimistic about life after this cold.

Thanks for stopping by!