Day 350 – (AD 780) – 22.2 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I cycled 22.2 miles on my Schwinn 170.  And now the total to date - 16,187.2 miles; 26,050.8 kilometers.

As you can see I am somewhere in Queensland headed in a northeasterly direction.  I am located on Urandangi R Road.

The congestion, from what I think is due to allergies, seems to have begun to wane. But the frustration is that this is the most beautiful time of the year in Florida, the time between our one week of winter and the just-about-at-the-horizon hurricane season. I truly love to open of my house...but those damn yellow clouds of oak pollen seems to filter in to every nook and cranny of my limited breathing space.

It is getting to be much more than just sad. It is not just that the levels of "verbal incompetency" has reached and continues to slid down the scales of popularity or lack thereof, but when newscasts outside the state of Florida compare our lack-luster governor to a dastardly fictional character of worldwide renown you know that he is a "dipstick". Period.

"I think we should start calling Rick Scott the 'Harry Potter Governor.' Remember with Voldemort, he was 'He Who Must Not Be Named?'" she said.

"Governor Scott is just living in la-la land, catering to some ideology. Ideology only goes so far until mother nature reminds us that ideology goes too far," Kayyem continued."

And our one week of Spring in Tampa is over.

This is my 831st post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 63,819 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 349 – (AD 779) – 21.7 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – Finally Queensland On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Allergies, allergies, allergies. Damn, damn, damn. In retrospect I should have taken stock in Kleenex. Period. Last night was a two-box Kleenex night. Damn. Gesundheit! Exclamation mark.



This is an image of oak pollen.




This is an image of my brain ailing on oak pollen.

Even with the congestion, head wise, this morning I pedaled 21.7 miles on my Schwinn 170. My totals are: 16,165.0 miles; 26,015.1 kilometers.

I finally crossed the state border out of the Northern Territory into Queensland. I cannot tell you where I am at ("B" marker) as Google Maps has the road and location labeled as “Unknown road”. And from my virtual point image I am somewhere that even Google Maps doesn’t have any attached images.

I did find an image at the border crossing posted in 2011 by someone called “Prozac”. For all intents and purposes this is the point that I crossed the border on my crazy journey.

From my calculations I won’t be able to use the little drag-on man to get a road image for about 82.2 miles. And then I will have to pedal another 328 more miles after that to get to my next destination and goal point.

My blood sugar registered 106 mg/dL or 5.89 mmol/L. Last night’s supper was definitely experimental – Korean Kimchi Shrimp on Green Onion Pancakes.

I’ll be writing this one up on my site Jim’s Gotta Eat. Oh yeah, I’ve got a new URL address – http://jimsgottaeat.com.

We’re finishing up the prep work for delivery of our Equality and Sleep Jezebel quilts to New Hampshire. Both have been accepted as juried finalists at MQX Quilt Festival in April.

This is my 830th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 63,776 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 348 – (AD 778) – 22.1 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – On The Border On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Allergies, I think, are messing up my head this morning.

Today’s high, per the majority of agencies including Pollen.com, is slated to be 9.7 out of 12. Of course Fox13 ranks this as low tree pollen levels. (They can’t even report the allergy numbers correctly.)

And today I pedaled 22.1 miles on my Schwinn 170.

I thought I was going to cross over the States line this morning but I veered to the north as I reached the border. I am now located on what Google Maps lists as “Unknown road”. I am still on my way to my next destination and goal point but if I had continued and crossed over into Queensland, where I thought I was going to cross, I would have added about another 100 miles of Trekking.

And of course there is no image but the satellite view from 100 feet up. That’s me at the B-marker.

As you can see I am sort of parallel to the Northern Territory/Queensland state line. This image is from 2 miles up.

This is my 829th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 63,582 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 347 – (AD 777) – 22.8 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – Sneezing On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Allergy attack early this morning 1 to 4 am. Didn’t realize that this human being could sneeze so many times in a short 3-hour timespan.

No, I’m not going to clock the speed of my sneezes. But I could be eating way too much salt. Wait a minute I have to go and shed my skin.

I truly did not think I was going to get on my Schwinn 170 this morning…without my bodily-attached box of Kleenex. But I did, as I thought that I could sweat out some of the sludge inside this cuerpo of mine.

I pedaled 22.8 miles on my Schwinn 170. My totals are now 16,121.2 miles; 25,944.6 miles. And the sweating did help.

I am still on Plenty Highway/State Route 12 in the Northern Territory. I just had a vision of myself holding my iPhone and shouting “Can you hear me yet?”

Only 8.3 more miles to the States' border, Marker C. And from that point I will only have another 455 miles to go to get to my 14th scheduled destination and goal point.

Last night for supper I decided to try and recreate an almost vegetarian meal – Vegetable Upside-Down Cake. But I ate it right-side up. The recipe was from Mollie Katzen’s The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest. This one took some time to prep and create and cook. I’ll write it up shortly at Jim’s Gotta Eat.

I added the Tomato Chili Dressing…  Oh yeah, and Jim's Gotta Eat now has a new URL address.  You can now use - http://jimsgottaeat.com.

Oh yes, forgot to write, my early morning blood sugar stayed at 116.

This is my 828th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 63,534 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 346 – (AD 776) – 22.1 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – Jump Ahead On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,


Getting used to springing ahead this morning.


Today I pedaled another 22.1 miles on my Schwinn 170. Pedaling and housework. Exercise done. Real miles – 16,098.4; 25,907.9 kilometers.

And the Google images are no longer working. Guess what? All I can say from 200 feet up is that I am on the Plenty Highway. I just found an image online, taken in about this location in 2007 by Michel Rapelli.

Plenty Highway, Northern Territory - Michel Rapelli, 2007

It is great shot and sort of enhances my virtual Trek into the nothingness of the Australian Outback. Damn. There’s nothing here. Oh yes, red dirt.

Is not "The Convention of States" just a modern replay on the North vs the South theme. I thought that ended April 9, 1865? And of course expect it to be in Arkansas – “Convention of States Legislation Moves Forward In Arkansas” – Inquisitr, March 7, 2015

And of course the Palins genetic material, or lack thereof, is involved. And the two Palins should take up munching on pemmican. It might help to incite some brain cells.

NPR’s “From Naked Mole Rats To Dog Testicles: A Writer Explores The Longevity Quest, (Feb. 27, 2015)

“On anti-aging supplements 
There's very little evidence for most of these supplements that you see marketed to older people. Supplements are very poorly regulated in this country and there just aren't the same evidentiary standards that you need for say, a drug. There was just a recent case where the attorney[s] general of several states found that supplements sold in places like Walmart had things like grass clippings in them.”

This is my 827th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 63,377 Pageviews.

And something has to be screwy. Today Blogger is recording at Blogger Stats that Jim’s Trek has had 453 Pageviews. From an average of 76.7 Pageviews a post to all of a sudden a 600% increase…Say what?

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 345 ½ – (AD 775 ½) – 0 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – Day Off My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I decided to take a day off from virtual red dirt of the Northern Territory in Australia.  I plan to stay off my Schwinn 170. I rode for 13 days and I figured that it probably is good that I just rest a day. 

The oak pollen is running through the roof. Today it is targeted at 10.8 out of 15; forecasted to increase through Tuesday. And these are the type of days I wish it would rain all day in Tampa.

Yes this is what the sidewalks near my house look like.

Our Equality quilt has been completed and since I am not pedaling I can write up our adventure on Quilts SB – http://quiltssb.com.

Andy and I received the news that two or our quilts, Equality and Sleep Jezebel, have been accepted as juried finalists at the MQX Quilt Festivals – New England 2015.

This is my 826th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 62,904 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 345 – (AD 775) – 22.2 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – Yes Still On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Did I mention that the orchids are beginning to and are blooming?

This morning I pedaled another 22.2 miles on my Schwinn 170. My totals to date are 16,076.3 miles; 25,872.4 kilometers.

Only about 29% of my proposed cycling and Trek III goal remaining in Australia. I am, yes still, on the Plenty Highway, and it looks like the scenery is not going to change.

Alex Brown in his 2008 article in the NY Times - The Rail

“Getting a Horse Ready to Race” stated that “It is far easier to get a horse fit that has already been fit. This is no different to a human athlete. Horses getting fit for the first time are also generally “babies,” and while you are trying to get them fit you are also providing lots of education, like switching leads and so forth. Getting a horse fit and ready to run for the first time may take many months.”

Well the Presidential race has begun. To date - 16 possible Republican and 1 Democratic contenders. I am sure there are many ways to spin the “who-will”, “who-won’t” and “who-yet-to-come”. And of course there are many, many ways that the potential candidates will be changing feet. Hell, they are all would be politicians. (Thanks to Dr. Ben Carson. He jumped the gun.)

Our Equality quilt has been completed. Check Quilts SB http://quiltssb.com shortly for updates. Work continues on the quilting of our new Chopsticks.

This is my 825th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 62,740 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 344 – (AD 774) – 21.4 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Yes I rode my Schwinn 170 this morning 21.4 miles. Yes I am keeping to, just-about, a daily routine of cycling. And it has done wonders to my health and overall physique.

And on this part of my journey all I see is red dirt. Seriously it is red. (But then again it could be white and gold.)  I am still on the Plenty Highway...plenty of red dirt.

My brain is only working this far today.  I am currently doing my volunteer work at the Family History Center in Lutz.  And there seems to be some sort of holding pattern affecting my brain and grey matter.

I'm sure I'll be back and working tomorrow.  But hold on, I just checked my biorhythms.  I now understand.  My physical cycle is at the lowest point and my emotional and intellectual ones are following suit in the next 7 days.  Now I can smile.

This is my 824th post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 62,709 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 343 – (AD 773) – 22.2 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – On My Soapbox On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Orchids and Amaryllises are blooming. Some are just waiting to burst open.

 

Today I pedaled another 22.2 miles on my Schwinn 170. Grand totals - 16,032.7 miles; 25,802.2 kilometers.

And I have another 538 miles to go to get to my next destination and goal point in Australia.

My virtual journey, that's the fantasy part of this crazy Trek, has me located in the middle of nowhere...even though it is somewhere, according to Google Maps. I am located on the Plenty Highway and I am headed in a north-easterly direction, I think.

Not making any excuses, but today is a soapbox day.

Is there a certain age that, and I must not have a choice, that one eventually reaches when one becomes crotchety and cantankerous? I certainly wasn’t born crotchety and cantankerous…  But then again I must, because of my age, chose to become crotchety and cantankerous.

Here’s a bit to note.

Monitoring my turned on PC this morning I opened up Google Maps in preparation of getting on with my morning routine. In about 1 hour, my ADBlock app on Google Maps blocked 14 ads. Just think, that’s like silencing 14 telephone calls of unsolicited sales and whatever. AdBlock is a free extension for Chrome and available at the Chrome Web Store.

Question - Why is it that some persons who for all intents and purposes are book-smart enter into politics and then reveal that they are so bloody out-and-out stupid?

Ben Carson: Prisons prove being gay is a choice.

Shall we ask Evelyn Ntoko Mase, Winifred Nomzamo Zanyiwe Madikizela, and Graça Machel?

Question – Why does Lakeland in Polk County, Florida seem to attract the dregs of criminal society?

Lakeland Police Release New Details in Fatal Shooting of Rape Suspect (Stephanie Allen, The Ledger.com, March 3, 2015)

And this is not an singular nor isolated incident. Let the finger-pointing and blame-calling begin. Is it a game of positioning?

Technical issues suspend some computer-based testing for 8th-10th grade in Florida 

Two days testing. The key word is “TESTING”.

 “Commissioner Stewart is looking into any reported issues to determine the cause and will work to immediately resolve it," the Florida Department of Education said in a statement.”

Hell didn't anyone in government and administration learn from the HealthCare fiasco. Oh I forgot. This is Florida. Period.

How do we survive in spite of ourselves?  And Florida has made it this far; 170 years, as a "viable" State of the United States of America?

We finished our final stencil for our new quilt Equality.  Thank you Keith Haring. Follow our progress and work at Quilts SB.

This is my 823rd post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 62,586 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 342 – (AD 772) – 21.1 Miles – Jim's Trek Part III – 16,000 Miles On My Schwinn Fitness Cycles

Good Day,

Today I was not going to get on my Schwinn 170. I had an early morning meeting and had decided that as was 10-day spread of cycling I could just not.

But I did anyway. I pedaled 21.1 miles. I have now passed the 16,000-mile mark. Damn. Really? Yup, 16,010.5 miles; 25,766.5 kilometers.

I have now completed 7,393.4 miles on the 3rd part of my journey, my Jim’s Trek III. This is also 46% of the total miles that I have cycled. It’s almost like repeating Parts I and II, my trek from Tampa to Seattle and back.

And I was gone again for the remainder of the afternoon.

This is my 822nd post. According to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 62,429 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim