I could work remote today, but I have a pretty bad cold with a running nose and a sore throat, so it’s best to rest up as much as possible. Still have campaign committee work to do, but the state work is going to have to wait while I try to get in some rest and isolate from others. Truth is if hadn’t been for the pandemic, I would soldier on and be at work, but you just don’t work when your sick anymore in these days after the pandemic, especially when you have paid sick leave.
Yesterday I so wanted to believe I had anything but a cold. 🤒I don’t fully understand why I feared having a cold, it’s not it was the worse thing ever. Had to be food poisoning or the bad air in my apartment. Maybe because it’s the first actual cold I’ve had since the pandemic. So it’s been years. And like usual, the days when I’m sick are the most beautiful, sun filled days of the year, though cold. Colds are werid — at times I have tons of energy and feel like I could just suck it up and go to work — but other times I’m ready to collapse in bed. That said, I will probably spend some time working, isolated, in my truck down at the library where I have Wi-Fi and don’t have to worry about using too much bandwidth on my phone. 📱 They’re also detailing a car outside of my apartment, and the noise of the vacuums is annoying me. But so far no banging on the unit next door. I think they’re too busy doing dairy stuff 🐮 to work on that unit. It’s starting to look very swanky, I wonder when I’ll finally get new neighbors.
Today is the first day I’ve had all the windows closed in my apartment 🪟which is an admission on my part that maybe the colder weather is coming. Tuesday was actually so cold riding in I wish I had worn the insulated gloves, as🧤 my fingers were cold while I was riding in. Truth is come November, I’m going to have to decide if I keep riding in each day. The problem is with he time time change it will be dark, 🌃 which means I can’t ride home 🚳via the rail trail, though I have a light on the bike so I could ride to old train station and get the bus there, but I don’t love the idea of riding after dark in the city each day. But on the other hand, I’ll miss otherwise riding to work. 🤷♂️
Between the cold and the rain coming Sunday into Monday, 🏠️ I plan to stick close to home this Columbus Day Weekend. That’s not quite true — I might go up to Thacher Park or ride somewhere locally on Saturday but Sunday into Monday I’ll probably stay home and get caught up on reading the books I got out of the library on Hoopla before they all expire. 📚️Next weekend though I might do Charles Baker Friday through Monday, remote working those two weekdays, getting to the state horse camp by 9 AM next Friday. Assuming the weather is nice! Then Saturday or Sunday — one of those days — paddle on Nine Mile Swamp 🚣checking out the new boat launch and maybe riding around Hamilton and the Old Chenango Canal Trail and the other day riding trail and roads at Charles Baker. 💻️ The bulk of the work days will be remote work though, as I’m so busy — and probably they’ll be some of that in the morning and evenings during the weekend too.
at first thinking maybe it was a bad air and mold in my apartment as last night was the first one I’ve had my windows closed since late March from the cold, but I realized when I took a good poop in the morning 
that it probably was food poisoning from the free lunch that they had at work on Tuesday. Or more like that extra sub 
and macaroni salad I packed on my bike, rode back to Menands and then rode home on back of the bike in 65 degree weather. Plus it had been sitting out on the table for much of the day. I’m hoping that’s all it was, just some minor food poisoning. I made a breakfast of edamane, broccoli, garlic, eggs and shredded oatmeal which with all that protein is making me feel better. I got to stop bringing home leftovers from the campaign committee, especially perishable food that sits out all day. 🪰 Same goddamn problem I had last Friday as I was heading up to camp. Better not mention on the Internet, or I’ll get more good damn ads for Cronh’s disease. I shouldn’t complain, the advertisers paid me over a thousand bucks for the privilege on the blog.
then I had expected. Lots of rust and mud stains on them. Maybe I didn’t notice in the darkness of my apartment this morning I grabbed a dirty pair of jeans or maybe it’s just the mud ground into them from hauling wood up at camp. 
It’s fine, I don’t have any meetings downtown today. I’ll make sure to grab clean ones tomorrow. I kept hearing a clicking noise on wheel land riding in, and discovered the speed sensor from the speedometer which never works because it’s wet or batteries are dead was hitting a spoke. 
Then the front brake were squeaking. I’ll have to see if I can put a small amount of brake be quiet on them to quiet down the pads and make sure the wheel is on straight. Listening to Peter Paul and Mary this morning, maybe the music wasn’t loud enough to drown out the noise. 
Also can’t find the bike chain grease, but I know Walmart stocks that and I’ll need to get to Walmart this weeend at any rate for supplies. 
but then I looked at the price and location, and the interior, and realized no. The price was high, at $300k, but if was the perfect property, I would just sell off more stocks and bonds while the market is high and eat the taxes. I would still save money over getting a mortgage on a cheaper property. 
Must be nice to be able sell some stock and buy your dream house when you want to. Life isn’t all awful as the Director. But then I realized it’s too far away when I actually read the address, and the interior was a bit too fancy and perfect for my low class tastes, even if it’s on 16 acres out in the country. 
I want a place that not only is heated by wood but tracking mud and manure into isn’t some kind of sin like my current apartment. I guess dream on. Why are all the nice houses too far from work? And located in New York State? I see the targeted ads on my blog now are trying to direct me to a scam site selling abandoned houses cheap, 
that mostly are trying to sell you sponsored links towards people interested in buying houses as-is.
It’s one of those composite doors, that two or three years ago was falling off the hinges and the bottom was rotted out so the old landlord used some screws to hold it together. And now the wood around those screws has rotted away. Its not like the new landlord doesn’t have a stack of doors in garage next door and I’m sure he plans to replace it at some point, but I’m hesitant to ask until it’s really bad, though I should probably before winter. 
But it’s being annoying as the screws snag and it doesn’t always want to close perfectly. I remind myself, I am staying here month to month, and I’m free to leave at any time, and my landlord is free to kick me out at any time so I’m not complaining much unless it’s dire. I just don’t want to pay more for a rental that I’m not getting anything out of besides a month’s worth of shelter. Maybe I can tape up or glue those screws so they quit snagging the carpet and door still and avoid that call to the landlord. 
Saturday or maybe Sunday go down to Nine Mile Swamp 
and paddle there, and maybe ride around Hamilton and the Old Chenango Canal. Then the other day ride the truck trails and some of the horse trails 
I should have called in sick but there is so much work to do. I’ll survive, things aren’t bad in the grand scheme of things — and only are getting better. 
The truth is so much of America is built out of shit, fake silvered-plated plastic. 
A lot of America smells like sewage treatment plan like my office does. 
I am sure I’ll recover from the sore throat and make it out to Madison County next weekend or the weekend after, riding trail. 
And some day I’ll have that property I actually want and not the shit apartment that is literally falling apart at all the seams, full of broken and poorly functioning stuff. 
But maybe not today.