Day 302 and 303 – (AD 1,465) – 20.7 + 21.3 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Yesterday morning I pedaled 20.7 miles on my Schwinn 170. This morning I cycled an additional 21.3 miles. To date – 31,203.3 miles; 50,216.9 kilometers.

According to my calculations, this morning I reached my goal of Libra Montes. My new destination of Amenthes Rupes is 790 miles away. I completed 0.9% or 7.11 miles.

I now have 6,998.3 miles remaining in my overall journey of 38,201.6 miles.

Note - Don't forget to try the links embedded on this page.

Jim’s Gotta Eat –

Kalamata Olive Pepper Bread

Ingredients and Process–

14 oz. warm Water;
1 1/2 tsp Sugar;
1 1/2 tsp Yeast;
1 tbsp. Olive Oil;
Mix;
4 c Bread Flour;
1 1/2 tsp Salt;
1/2+ tbsp. Red Chili Flakes;
1/2 c chopped Kalamata Olives;
Mix;
Proof in 80F oven for 1 hr. & 40 m;
Risen dough mix in about 1 c Bread Flour;
Set dough for 2nd rising on counter covered.
Heat oven.
I use either Covered Dutch Oven or Covered Pyrex Dish. Your cooking container needs to heat up in the heating oven. When oven is ready, carefully remove cooking pot, put in formed Dough.
Slash dough top.
Sprinkle with Salt.
Cover.
Return to oven. 30 m covered; 15 m uncovered.
Remove cooked Loaf.
Let cool for about 15 - 30 minutes.
Eat.

You are going to have to start again because you’ll want to make another loaf.

 I made a “Throw 9-Ingredient Cake”. I didn’t have a Yellow Cake Mix in the pantry, so I used a Red-Velvet Cake Mix.

Here it is before going to bake.

And here it is baked.

Here it is before I cleaned my plate.

And for supper last night, apart from the Bread and the Cake, I made Greek Chicken Pasta.

And quess what? My early morning FBS dropped 36 points to 115 mg/dL.

Quilting –

Check out "OUR SHOW 2017", featuring 8 Fabric Artists and 50+ works of art at the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater Octagon Arts Center, 2470 Nursery Road, Clearwater, Dec. 8, 2017 - Jan. 10, 2018.

Times: Tues - Fri - 9 am - 12 Noon; Sun - 10 - 10:30 am & 12 Noon - 1 pm.

This is my 1,563rd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,503 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 301 – (AD 1,463) – 20.5 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled 20.5 miles on my Schwinn 170. Totals are now at 31.161.3 miles; 50,149.3 kilometers.

And I have now completed 94.5% of the distance to my next destination and goal point. It looks like I am going to complete the last 650-mile leg of my Jim’s Trek Part V. I’m going to have find a new location to set as my goal.

Grandpa is babysitting this afternoon.

Quilting –

Our new Crane Quilt top has been completed. Here are a couple of images from different angles. We're working on the quilting design. We're excited. Yes, I can give a clue - local Sushi restau-rant.

Check out "OUR SHOW 2017", featuring 8 Fabric Artists and 50+ works of art at the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater

Octagon Arts Center, 2470 Nursery Road, Clearwater, Dec. 8, 2017 - Jan. 10, 2018.

Times: Tues - Fri - 9 am - 12 Noon; Sun - 10 - 10:30 am & 12 Noon - 1 pm.

This is my 1,562nd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,503 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 300 – (AD 1,462) – 22.7 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today is 300th day pedaling on the Red Planet. Yes, that is 300 days and 6.239.2 miles in the Martian dust. Today is also my 1,462nd day since I began pedaling on December 2, 2012 on my Schwinn Fitness cycles. I still have 7,060.8 miles more to go.

This morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170, and as I was ignoring the clock I pedaled for 63 minutes instead of my regular 1 hour. I cycled 22.7 miles. Totals now stand at 31,140.8 miles; 50,116.4 kilometers.

Today I have completed 91.3% of the 650 miles between the two points and the next destination on Mars.

Something to Think About -

Quilting –

Check out "OUR SHOW 2017", featuring 8 Fabric Artists and 50+ works of art at the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater Octagon Arts Center, 2470 Nursery Road, Clearwater, Dec. 8, 2017 - Jan. 10, 2018.

Times: Tues - Fri - 9 am - 12 Noon; Sun - 10 - 10:30 am & 12 Noon - 1 pm.

This is my 1,561st post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,433 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 299 – (AD 1,461) – 20.8 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning, Black Friday, instead of standing in line I pedaled my Schwinn 170 20.8 miles. Totals now – 31,118.1 miles; 50,079.8 kilometers.

And I have completed 87.8% of the distance to my next destination. Also, this morning I have totaled just over

Just off the phone with a very slow “fella-bot”. The caller or should I say the fella-bot sounded extremely out of breath. Its call was to insist that this was the “final call from the IRS”, Fella-bot was extremely explicit “how serious this call is.” It mentioned that “the authorities have been contacted and would be given notice to have me arrested”. Fella-bot urged me to contact a specific telephone number as quickly as possible. Hell no! To date, and within the past couple of days, I have received 4 of these untouchable and macabre calls from fellow fella-bots. Must be because I soon will be celebrating the 1st year post retirement.


Definitely not a day to get into an intellectual conversation with me. Just check out my biorhythms.

Quilts SB –

Our newest Crane Quilt is taking shape according to our design. We’re amazed at the flow of the Solid-ish fabrics, by Kimberly Einmo. Am currently working on the pattern of the quilting design. Should prove very new and interesting.




This is my 1,560th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,360 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 298 – (AD 1,460) – 21.0 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170 21.0 miles. Totals have now reached 31,097.3 miles; 50,046.3 kilometers.

And today I have completed 84.6% of the distance to my next destination.

Jim’s Gotta Eat –

At this point there are 3 loaves of bread in the oven – Pumpkin Raisin Spice and Cranberry Cranraisin. The 4th is in process – Harvest Raisin Bread. Yes, this house smells like a bakery.

Last night’s supper, a quick Thai Basil Chicken Eggplant and Bok Choy on Jasmine Rice.

My early morning blood sugar count 6 points to 116 mg/dL.

Quilts SB –

Work continues on the creation and piecing of our design for our newest Crane Quilt. The Cranes all represents 25 of 30 of Kimberly Einmo’s newest fabric line Solid-ish.

Question - Does anyone know how to recover an image from an iPhone 7s after I had deleted it?

This is my 1,559th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,193 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 297 – (AD 1,459) – 20.6 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled my Schwinn 170 another 20.6 miles. Totals are now at 31,076.3 miles; 50,012.6 kilometers.

And I have completed 81.4% of the distance to my next goal point and destination on the Red Planet.

My calculated A1c is on a steady downward path. This morning it calculated to 6.11%. The A1C test measures the glucose (blood sugar) in your blood by assessing the amount of what's called glycated hemoglobin. ... An A1C level below 5.7 percent is considered normal. An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 percent signals prediabetes. Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed when the A1C is over 6.5 percent.

And as a diabetic I’m slowly getting back to where I need to be in the normal range. Still some time to go but I keep trying.

This morning I made 1 ½ gallons of pickles; Cucumber – Fennel; Caraway; and Habanero with Onions. And this time I am trying Grape Leaves instead of Bay Leaves to provide the Tannin containing agent.

This is my 1,558th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,128 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 296 – (AD 1,458) – 20.5 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled 20.5 miles. On Saturday morning I cycled 20.1 miles on my Schwinn 170. My two-day total was 40.6 miles. Overall totals now stand at 31,055.7 miles; 49,979.4 kilometers.

And I have now completed 78.2% of the distance to my next goal point and destination. To date I have completed 6,154.1 miles on Mars; Part V of Jim’s Trek.

Soapbox -

Jim’s Gotta Eat –

Fermented Pickles – Ingredients: Water; Small Cucumbers; Dill Weed; Black Peppercorns; Garlic Cloves; Sea Salt. And 7-day waiting period.

The one on the right, I included one Habanero Pepper.

Harvest Grape Bread – Recipe from The Italian Dish.

What can I say? Lunch Bread and Pickles.

And this today I am trying a new No-Knead Bread recipe. Pumpkin Artisan Bread. It has almost finished its first proofing.

Quilts SB -

Save the Dates December 7th, 2017 through January 10th, 2018. A small group of fabric artists will be presenting 50-plus works of fabric art in Clearwater. Details to follow. Yes some of Andy’s and my quilts will be included.

Yes, we’ve started a new Cranes Quilt. We’re using 25 of 30 fabric colors from Kimberly Einmo's new fabric Solid-ish.

This is my 1,557th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 185,063 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 294 – (AD 1,456) – 19.5 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I reached and surpassed the 31,000-mile mark. 31,015.1 miles!!!

And I am still going, excuse me, pedaling.

This morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170 19.5 miles. Totals stand at 31,015.1 miles; 49,914.1 kilometers.

I have now completed 72.0% of the distance to my next destination and goal point.

And Grandpa must go and babysit this morning.

Today I am trying a completely new, and different sort loaf of bread. Stay-tuned.

This is my 1,556th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,977 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 293 – (AD 1,455) – 20.0 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Born in Jamaica, having lived in various places through-out the West Indies, and now in Tampa, Florida, I only accepted Croton for their multi-coloured leaves.

I had to stop, and look at the fragile beauty of one flowering in my garden this morning.

Well it looks like my Schwinn 170 may be back in gear, no pun intended. I was able to pedal 20.0 miles at the 15/25 resistance. It seems that the error was that due to some glitch the 25/25 resistance that I had been pedaling at after power was returned and after the power surges at 12/25 resistance. The correct and increased resistance makes me happy. I will continue to keep pedaling on my Schwinn 170. I now have 7,206.0 more miles to go.

This morning I pedaled 20.0 miles at 15/25 resistance for 1 hour. I also, burned 653 calories.

I have also now completed 69.0% of the distance to my next destination and goal point.

And my efforts to reduce my FBS seems to be working. This morning my early morning blood sugar recorded at 117 mg/dL. My A1c is calculated at 6.12%. The blue line on the chart shows my current and actual tracking.

I couldn't use my calculator, iPhone, or PC or scale to solve this issue.

Peppercorns can remind me of an abacus.

And Max needs his own chef’s seat to watch me cook. He liked the idea, as the counters are so, so very high above the grasp of his vision…or mouth.






This is my 1,555th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,875 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 292 – (AD 1,454) – 21.5 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning something happened, positively I think, to my Schwinn 170. Since Irma there has been something screwy regarding the cycle’s resistance setting. To get a good work-out I had to set the resistance at 25/25. (Yes, I did legitimately pedal each time for 1 hour.) The screw up must have happened when there were the power surges during and after the passing of the storm.

I had tried several re-boots. To no avail. I was looking at replacing the cycle’s control panel. I was tossing between that or getting myself a new fitness cycle. After this morning’s exercise I still have 7,226.0 miles to go.

Well this morning, partial way through my cycling, the resistance, I believe corrected itself. There was no way I could last another 40 minutes at the 25/25 resistance.

I reduced the resistance to 15/25 and finished a total of 21.5 miles. Now it looks like, fingers-crossed, that the computer components somehow fixed itself.

It must have happened when I received the bogus scam telephone call during my work-out. And today I really was soaked with sweat. Maybe I’m not the super viellard I thought I was.

My totals this morning are now recorded at 30,975.6 miles; 49,850.5 kilometers.

I have now completed 65.9% of the distance to my next set goal.

And oh yeah, the telephone call. (One would think that the idiots would learn.)

Land line rings.

Me: “Hello.”

Heavily accented male voice: “This is Senior Benefits.”

Me: “What company?

Caller: “Senior Benefits Insurance.”

Me: “What company?”

Caller: “Senior Benefits!”

Me: “Concerning?”

Caller: “Senior…”

Me, interrupting: “Concerning?”

Caller: “Mother-f#####!”

Click.

And of course, a postscript to my short span and idiot-call, yesterday I completed my registration for my Retiree Benefits…without a hitch.

Work continues piecing our newest quilt KES-25. Andy’s comment is that it is the “happiest set of colors” that he has work with in some time.

This is my 1,554th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,812 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 291 – (AD 1,453) – 24.7 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled my Schwinn 170 24.7 miles. Totals stand at 30,954.1 miles; 49,815.9 kilometers.

I have completed 62.6% of the distance to my next destination and goal point.

Soapbox –

The word “great” is defined as “of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above the normal or average; excellently; very well”. I know that I, when rating something or someone, and “great” is the highest choice on any scale of reference, I seldom use the top choice, “great”. I do not feel that ranking something or someone is credible to be ranked as the definitive.

And then there is #45. Not that I am comparing myself or would ever think of equating myself against any occupant of the Oval Office. Does he, #45, have an understanding that his “great” when he uses the word in any series of statements or rhetoric babble, verbal or electronic, has been reduced to an expression without any substance of credible meaning?

Does he grasp that his buffoonery is so much less than anywhere close to “great”?

Does he understand that the more he continues to use this superlative as an adjective or an adverb, he has cheapened the power of the word?

Does he understand that many of the people that he claims to represent, now shake, whether with mirth or in fear that he will only take the time to “grate” us with the non-sensical eruptions of his mouth, mind or fingers?

I suppose it is the understanding that his use of the word “great” is one method that he believes that he will garner the respect and “adoration” of whomever or whatever he is attempting to describe. The algorithms tracking and an amassing the hits of his popularity most definitely do show that his adoration of the unmatched “great” may just “grate” on the nerves of many who are listening.

Reading –

Something to think about before one takes the plunge.

“What it’s like cooking with meal kit startup Chef’d”, TechCrunch.com, Megan Rose Dickey, Nov 12, 2017.

"In the last year, I’ve been to the grocery store no more than four times and I’ve cooked for myself about the same amount. What I’m about to say is probably not news for anyone who is comfortable in the kitchen and makes meals for themselves on the regular, but cooking is a lot of fun. And it’s quite a rewarding experience.

The box is easy enough to recycle. But the foam liner needs to be taken to a polyurethane recycling depot! I didn’t even know those existed. Chef’d says the foam liner is reusable, but in what normal context one would reuse it, I’m not sure."

Just think of all the Keurig cups sitting somewhere on some exposed type Alro Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.

“So we took the half-a-ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW Microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction, and headed On toward the city dump. Well, we got there and there was a big sign and a Chain across the dump sayin', "This dump is closed on Thanksgiving," and We'd never heard of a dump closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in Our eyes, we drove off into the sunset lookin' for another place to put the Garbage.”

New Quilt 25-KES update - 208 of 850 pieces, excluding the background, have been sewn/pieced together. We're in a shamble if we lose our design and coordinating pattern.

Answer to question(s) - Yes, each finished block will be 6-inch square.

This is my 1,553rd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,764 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 290 – (AD 1,452) – 25.1 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Yesterday morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170 25.1 miles. Totals are getting closer – 30,929.1 miles; 49,776.1 kilometers.

I have now completed 58.8% of the distance to my next goal and destination point on Mars.

Soapbox -

I've notice that some family and "friends" have blocked me on Facebook, on Google+, and are not responding to any of my email correspondence.

Oh well. Not an issue.

They do know my thoughts and, even though they may not understand them, my sarcastic iterations regarding #45. Their loss. Each to his/her own.



Supper night before last - Trout with Shrimp and Tomato Brown Butter Sauce, Fried Baby Bok Choy, and Muffin Scallop Parmesan Garlic Potatoes. Hell, I’ll cook this again!

And my FBS dropped 22 points.

And last night I re-created a recipe called One-Pan Mongolian Beef Zoodles.

I used Mandarin Oranges instead of Pineapple; I added seeded Habanero, I added Carrots and A-Choy, I substituted Black for White Sesame Seeds, I added White Onion as well as Green Onion, I added Fried Egg Omelet strips. I added Mushrooms. There is the sweetness from the suggested Hoisin Sauce, but I used Okonomiyaki Sauce as a substitute.

Including the Ice-Cream from last night supper, my FSB recorded at 119 mg/dLs.

We've started a new quilt with 25 of 30 choices of fabric from Kimberly Einmo's newest and latest, Solid-ish.

The fabric pieces have been prepared and 850 pieces have been cut.

Also I watched The Great Gatsby last night. I'm always looking for I new idea for a new design of a quilt. I've already designed the quilt and if it works the way I hope we will be cutting 10,000 pieces to create this new quilt.

This is my 1,552nd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,717 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim