Day 240 – (AD 670) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.1 Miles – I Am Out of Western Australia On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I cycled 22.1 miles in 1 hour and 12 minutes on my Schwinn 170. My grand total stands now at 13,788.3 miles; 22,190.2 kilometers.

I crossed over into Western Australia on May 27 and here it is 153 days later that I have finally pedaled out. The distance that I have cycled on my Schwinn 170, the pedaling is real, is 3,331.7 miles.

I am now in the Northern Territory and headed in a southerly direction on National Highway 1. I am 485 miles from my next goal and destination point.

Here's a quick map of my Trek so far. B's where I am at. I've cycled 48.85% of my Jim's Trek III goal.

This is my 707th post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 54,746 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 239 – (AD 669) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.0 Miles – Just A Little Bit More in Western Australia On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I cycled 22.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. My total miles now equal 13,766.2; 22,154.6 kilometers.

I am now just shy of 2 years, (actually 1.93 years), that I embarked on this weird and crazy Trek. Today is my 669th day of pedaling. I have not cycled 37 days since I began on December 2, 2012. And my diabetes, my heart, my weight, maybe not my mind, are still under control.


This morning I trekked through the town of Kununurra. It is approximately 23 miles from the state border between Western Australia and Northern Territory. I can’t believe that I have pedaled the approximate equivalent of the perimeter of the state of Western Australia. The average rainfall for November in this area is about 2.8 inches.

I now have about 13.3 miles to go from my location to the state border. Once I reach the border I will have completed 55.34% of my journey through Australia. (Yes, I am a bit crazy.)

Here’s a thought from SidneyRose Reynen made within the last 24 hours at LSUreveille.com “In their native tongue, “small government” translates to “no government at all.” And as the people behind every government shutdown since 1995, voters are in for disappointment when they realize that the Republican Party will get absolutely nothing done..”

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Willibrord. Two choices for feasting recipes – Galuschde or German meatballs with Sour Cream Gravy.

The back fabric has arrived for our new quilt, NT Celebration.

This is my 706th post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 54,683 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 238 – (AD 668) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.4 Miles – Victoria Highway On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today’s pedaling – 21.4 miles on my Schwinn 170. Grand total now 13,744.2 miles, 22,119.2 kilometers.

This morning, on my virtual Trek I turned off the Great Northern Highway onto the National Highway 1 or Victoria Highway. I do like the green scenery as provided 6 years ago by the Google Map program.  So I'm virtually back in time.

For supper last night I attempted - Chicken Piccata with Rainbow Chard and Old Bay Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes. It was very, very good.

And then for some reason about 2 hours later I got into one of those “I-just-gotta-eat” moods. And I started glomming anything and everything that I could find…to the point that when I got ready for bed I just had to take two Alka-Seltzer fruit chew antacids.

I just discovered that this over-the counter medications is not necessarily approved by the FDA. The active ingredient, per chew is “750 mg of Calcium carbonate”. The following are the “Inactive Ingredients” –

 “acacia, beeswax, carmine, carnauba wax, citric acid, corn starch, corn syrup, DL-alpha tocopherol, FD&C blue #1 aluminum lake, FD&C red #40 aluminum lake, FD&C yellow #5 lake (tartrazine), FD&C yellow #6, FD&C yellow #6 aluminum lake, FD&C yellow #6 lake, flavors, hydrogenated coconut oil, medium chain triglycerides, methyl paraben, modified starch, phosphoric acid, pregelatinized modified starch, propyl paraben, propylene glycol, purified water, shellac, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, sorbitol, soy lecithin, sucrose, titanium dioxide”

My blood sugar this morning was up by 11 points to 110. One tablespoon of corn syrup has 16 grams of carbohydrates. Just wondering what's the hit of carbs I’m ingesting late at night with two Alka Seltzer Fruit Chewables? The only thing a can say is that I’ve noticed a bit of a spike in my morning sugar count after I drop two.

I wonder if the protein bars on the 2013 movie I watched, Snowpiercer had anything thing to do with my cravings. The protein bars were the food of sustenance for the passengers in the tail-end of the train. They, the bars, were created from what appeared to be protein from cockroaches and other insects.

Did I ever mention that I like apocalyptic and end-of-times books and films? Yup, and my viewing companion right now while I pedal is The 100. Who’d have thought that I'd find a Syfy series on the Country Western TV network? I certainly didn’t.

Break out the trombones and the balloons, the politicians have won. Incumbents have been returned and redundant officeholders have been replaced by more redundancy. I must be just a wee bit daft, but is there not a far better use of political ad monies and expenditures for something credible and beneficial to the American public than the obtuse idiocy of a Congress of dim-witted ne’er-do-wells?

Oh, and I found and was accepted to a new “completely free to use” online social media site, Ello. Ello began about this past July and “is a simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network created by a small group of artists and designers.”

This is my 705th post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 54,608 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 237 – (AD 667) – Jim's Trek Part III – 20.1 Miles – He’s Back On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled 20.1 miles on my Schwinn 170. Total to date – 13,722.8 miles; 22,084.8 kilometers.

I am once again located on the Great Northern Highway in the vicinity of Lake Argyle and in Western Australia. And he is back. The little drag-on-show-me-your-Google-images-man is back. I now have 545 miles to go to get to my next destination and goal point.

The only good thing about today is that the elections are OVER. Nothing has changed. Lie. We have some respite from those damn negative ads. The height of stupidity is the expenditure of close to $4 billion for a "no-big-deal" and "did-anything-really-change" election...

Did you know that when you search for the phrase “Ballot boxes for sale” Google throws up 432,000 results.

Spend this morning at the Vet again. This time with Max. We’re trying to figure out his allergy issues. Something to do with his feet and he is constantly licking them. I keep wondering whether this is a dog or not. And yes I know he is domesticated…but I wonder if I should just build a huge “hamster-run” for all the mini-mutts in this house. Would not be any different than keeping a child in a giant plastic bubble.

This is my 704th post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 54,514 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 236 – (AD 666) – Jim's Trek Part III – 20.9 Miles – Only 297.3 Miles Till 14,000 My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I was up bright and early. Had to take Tinker to the Vet as she is having two, possibly three teeth extracted. She’s having “trans-denture” surgery. Not sure how much this little dog can lose as she only weighs a mere 10 lbs.

And today I pedaled 20.9 miles on my Schwinn 170. My clocked total now equals 13,702.7 miles; 22,052.4 kilometers.

I am still located at a point, without the little drag-on-Google-man, on Gibb River Wyndham Road.

Early on I crossed over the Pentecost River. There is no bridge. I had to wade in the water, and I virtually got my Birkenstocks wet. Thanks to the Golftraveller I found an image of what the current Gibb River Wyndham Road crossing looks like…

Check it out. Yes that crossing is legitimate.

Our work continues on the quilting of our new Equality quilt. In a discussion with Siri, he cogitated that there are about 6,480 starts and stops that need to be buried.

And if you would like to find out what that means follow our progress at our site Quilts SB. (I will be updating shortly.)

This is my 703rd post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 54,449 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 235 – (AD 665) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.0 Miles – Kimberly Region On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled 22.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. With the doors open to the pool deck and patio my exercise happened in a brisk 65°F. The sun is shining and the sky is clear. Mind you, this morning I did not want to get on with my exercise routine.

My virtual Trek has me located on the Gibb Wyndham Road in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. I seem to be heading south-east in a parallel direction to the Pentecost River.

My blood sugar count is on it's way down. I registered 104 this morning.

This morning I decided to review the messages that had so deftly crept into my Junk Mail folder to check and see if I had not missed anything of note and of some importance. (Of course this was not intentional but I continued anyway.) Once I reviewed the first ten emails I figured out that maybe I was a very lucky and “much-loved” person.

According to eight out of the first 10 emails, in the electronic trash bin, I was being left and was the "lucky" recipient of so, so much “highly deserved” and “unclaimed” monies and funds. I think a quick tabulation showed that the sum totaled somewhere near $870 million, US dollars of course. And the emails were from all and sundry different parts of this spherical mass in which we live. (And I would have thought it was somewhat bogus if there had been at least one from some extra-terrestrial location.)

It seems that I was, I am, the luckiest person around to have had so, so many considerate close and far -reaching relatives who in their focused, (or unfocused), way felt that with or without their dying breath that I, me, lowly JKLS, should somehow benefit such great and opportune fortunes.

And all I had to do was to press the oh-so-tempting, the magnetic and supercilious link or box provided in the body of the emails. Even the email from RBC, The Royal Bank of Canada, one of my former employers were asking me for the electronic account information to my unclaimed and optical dust-gathering bank accounts. Hell, I did work at The Royal Bank of Canada and it was from that last job from where I returned to University just about 42 years ago.  Wonders of wonders how I remember the crank-pulled account calculators…even though that type of pseudo-smart phone was a tad bit over-sized to fit into my vest pocket.

I feel privileged and overjoyed to have been remembered and possibly thought about by so, so many now dearly departed souls.

This is my 702nd post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded 54,316 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 234 – (AD 664) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.0 Miles – You Can’t Keep Me Off My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Yes my blood sugar this morning dropped 33 points to 111. And now I become serious about November. (The blue dotted line represents my downward moving average.)

Urban Oasis has begun their season once again which of course means fresh hydroponically grown produce.  I'll be spending the month of November, at least until Thanksgiving, checking my diet and food intake.  I really like food.  Period.

This morning I pedaled 22.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. My total to date adds up to 13,659.8 miles; 21,983.4 kilometers. Since I began this obscene Trek I have only cycled 665, and not pedaled 37 days. This is the real part.

On the virtual part of my journey I am still on Gibb River Road. I am still in the State of Western Australian and I am headed in an easterly direction, sort-of. Google Maps did not file a series of images for the current road that I am on. What you see is my location, the B-marker, from 100 feet up. Certainly doesn't look like a lot to see.

Here are my recorded stats as of today –

• Location – Home, Tampa, Florida
• Virtual Location – Western Australia
• Start Date – 2 December 2012
• Today's Date – 2 Nov 2014
• Trek Distance – Today 22.0 miles
• Trek Distance Part I – 4,257.1 miles
• Trek Distance Part II – 4,360.0 miles
• Trek Distance Part III – 5,047.7 miles
• Grand Total Miles – 13,659.8
• Miles to Go – 45.14%
• Avg. Miles per Day – 20.6
• Calories Burned Today - 627
• Number of Sit-ups Today - 0
• Weight –166.9 lbs; Total Loss – 3.9 lbs
• BMI – 23.3
• Fat – 19.9%
• Belly Measurement – 32”; Total Loss – 12”
• Blood Sugar - 111 mg/dL
• A1c ~ 5.40%
• eAG ~ 96.2 mg/dL
• Blood Pressure – 124/85
• Age – 62 yrs, 10 mths

This is my 701st post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded 54,204 Pageviews. That’s an increase of 2,880 for the month of October.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 233 ½ – (AD 663 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – Not On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today was has been a fast and furious day. Had to get up early to make it over to the opening reception of our Fiber Expressions 2014 show in Clearwater.

I will tell you and I know I am not into beginning the holiday with Halloween, but the eating season has begun. Halloween equals leftover candy. Damn. Halloween starts the eating frenzy… and this will last until January 6, 2015. Yup my blood sugar spiked this morning up to 143.

I suppose the craving and wolfing down, late at night, a Burger Monger double burger topped with Swiss cheese and grilled onions, half a plate of French Fries, and a large chocolate shake did not help maintain my blood sugar count. Last night I just had to do it. I had a hankering, and it weren’t no small hankering. Coupled with the pizza and Coke Zero earlier on, Trick or Treat candies… You get the picture. (And I ain’t worrin’ ‘bout my English construction.)

I can only speak for myself but… I am to blame.

Got to get back on my Schwinn 170 tomorrow morning.

And if you get a chance to check out the Fiber Expressions 2014 show definitely do so. The fiber art show continues through to November 23. Six fiber artists, 72 pieces at the Unitarian Universalists Octagon Art Center at 2470 Nursery Road in Clearwater.

Viewing times at the Octagon Art Center -

Tuesdays - Fridays: 9:00 am to 12:00 noon;  (Doors may be locked.  Please ring the bell.)
Sundays - 9:30 am to 10:30 am; 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm.

For special viewing arrangements please contact (727) 789-3536.

Jim’s Trek – Total mileage now equals to 13,637.8; 21,948.0 kilometers. Google Blogger has counted 54,141 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 233 – (AD 663) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.2 Miles – 5,000 Miles Plus On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,


Today I cycled 21.2 miles on my Schwinn 170. And this morning I broke two more goals.

• The first - 5,020.7 miles on my Part III; grand total 13,637.8 miles, 21,948.0 kilometers. 
• The second - 54,006 Pageviews; an average of 77 per day over 698 days. I now only have 45.23% of my overall Trek to go.

I am still, yes still, in Western Australia on the virtual part of my journey. I am still, yes still, located, marker "B", on Gibb River Road. I just cross over Bamboo Creek. No drag-on-image-little-man yet.

My "Golden Ticket", my health and a sense of personal accomplishment. Period.

Work continues on our two crochet projects.

Afghan #5 - All blocks are sewn together. (No machine involved.) Now to tuck in the loose ends and crochet the border(s).

Afghan #7 - The length continues to grow. Am working on border design.

Thank you for the compliment, "Everything you do, is always different and exciting." Thank you.

Be healthy and enjoy... Don't eat too much chocolate.

Jim

Day 232 – (AD 662) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.3 Miles – I Had To Ride My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I cycled another 22.3 miles on my Schwinn 170. And today I hit a new total of 13,616.6 miles; 21,913.8 kilometers.

Still no close up images available on my virtual Trek. I am still on the Gibb River Road and headed in a sort of north-westerly direction. According to my quick calculations I should be able to make it to my next destination and goal point in about 15 days.

I'm just wondering about the fish-bone like dirt roads, sort-of, of the main road. And there is about another 104 miles until the little drag-on-man reappears.

I crashed my PC yesterday. This time it is my fault. I did it. I thought I was being smart trying to clean up the start-up programs. Not paying attention and thinking way to bloody fast, I hit the wrong button. And I got a "system overload" type error.

I lost the sound. I lost my internet connections. I lost the updating capabilities. And I took it into the fix-it shop. So you know what that means...NO desktop PC for a while. Damn!

I have a couple of questions but I am not sure how to ask them.  Accordingly Google has got to pay.  Just wondering whether in Canadian or American funds?


But the questions that I would definitely like to ask -

How much did Le Journal de Montreal pay for the pictures?

And to whom?


I tried it and I ate it. And it was so, so easy to make and it was so, so good. Fresh gnocchi, pancetta, garlic, olive oil, half-and-half, Parmesan cheese, spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  (No I did not make the gnocchi. I haven't summoned up the courage.)

Google records 53,914 pageviews this morning. Still doing okay as a crazy blog and Trek journal.

Please feel free to contact me via email with any thoughts, ideas, comments, questions at Jim's Trek.

Enjoy and be healthy,

Jim

Day 231 ½ – (AD 631 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles –Celebrate and Happy Birthday

Good Day,

I took the day off from my pedaling to celebrate someone special's birthday.


Happy Birthday, M&MII...

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 231 – (AD 661) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.8 Miles – Leg Power Needed On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled 21.8 miles on my Schwinn 170.

I am still in Western Australia and I am still located on Gibb River Road. I am certainly glad that I do not have to stop for gas on this road. I would presume that any drive requires that an extra container of gasoline be carried. I am now 673 miles from my next destination and goal point. I’m just looking for a change of scenery… I do miss the little Goggle drag-on-man.

And this is how my beginning and ending points appear today from 2 miles up.

I have now completed 54.59% of my total and intended Trek and pedaling goal.

Why is it that politics, local, national or international, all provide me with visions of the spinning ballets of Fantasia?  Methinks it is the Kissimmie effect.

I need to revamp and schedule our quilting and crocheting projects.

Jim’s Trek counted 53,662 Pageviews as of this morning.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 230 – (AD 660) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.0 Miles – Heading North On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Back on my Schwinn 170 this morning, I pedaled 22.0 miles in 1 hour and 12 minutes. Grand total miles to date – 13,572.5; kilometers – 21,842.9.

I am still, and it appears that it will NEVER end, on the Gibb River Road. Still no sign of the little drag-on-image man who works for Google. I can’t figure out what the clearing with the couple of possibly cultivated rows are just north of the road.

I now have 695 more miles to go to get to my next destination and goal point.

My blood sugar jumped up 2 points to 107 this morning. I had a craving for Hank’s Pulled Chicken, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Pickles, Collard Greens, Potato Salad, and Corn Bread. And then I had to have some yogurt from Yogurt Mountain. And even after my 5-hour walk in the woods at Withlacoochee Reserve I was able to maintain. Looks like this week I have got to check out my food and meals to try and drop by at least 10 points.

Competition begins in a new phase for the continued cut of the electronic payment pie – Google Wallet versus Apple Pay versus CurrentC versus Bitcoin. Get ready for the games…and the confusion. Today’s article from the British site the Inquirer.net “US retailers shunning Apple Pay in favour of QR code-based system.”

Immediate work in progress – Quilts: NT Celebration; Equality; Moon Over Bayshore. Afghans #5; #7.

November 4th cannot arrive quickly enough. Period. And then the shenanigans will begin all over again.

Jim’s Trek counted 53,577 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 229 ½ – (AD 659 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – Alternate Exercise Today - I Went For A Walk

Good Day,

Today I decided not to cycle on my Schwinn 170. Instead I was invited to join a group of friends to go for a short hike at the Withlacoochee State Forest.

And yes I walked; we walked 8.9 miles today on the Blue and Orange trails at Tucker Hill.

And we didn’t get lost. I can trust people.

I haven’t done such a trek since the day that I completed my last and final requirement for my Queen’s Scout requirement at Camp Tamaracouta in Quebec some 50 years ago. Oh and I did get lost then. But I was found and I did actually complete the Trek and I did get my Queen’s Scout emblem which presented to me by the late Governor General of Canada Georges Vanier.


FYI, the Queen’s Scout Award in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, and the British Commonwealth is equivalent to the Eagle Scout of the USA.

And my legs are a wee bit stiff this evening.

Jim’s Trek counted 53,342 Pageviews.

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

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 229 – (AD 659) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.1 Miles – Nothing to See on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

First thing, Tinker, blood, and John Crows. Early this morning Tinker did not like the John Crows at the Popeye’s dumpster. No we were not ferreting around the dumpsters at Popeye’s.

Tinker had an appointment to give blood for testing for her pending tooth extraction. The things we do and go through for these dogs.

So this 10-lb. little Rat Terrier is standing there in the parking lot scolding, in her yapping way, at these half dozen or more vultures that definitely appeared to be larger than her puny little size. And all flew off.

And then when we returned home I got on my Schwinn 170 and I pedaled another 22.1 miles. My total is now up to 13,550.5 miles; 21,807.5 kilometers.

The road and my B-marker location on Gibb River Road are still in a visual quarantine. What can I say? I’m pretty sure that there is not much to see but red dirt and desert scrub.

Grandpa spent a couple hours this morning at the Grandson’s school Fall School Festival… There were a number of knee-and ankle-biters scurrying around in costume. Pizza, Doritos, and Halloween.

Jim’s Trek counted 53,308 Pageviews. It appears that my blog is still averaging about 76 Pageviews a day.

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


Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim