Most of my cycling is done on the road. But I also ride paved trails where I need them to cross major highways. That has been a challenge this week. In places there are so many leaves on the ground that I can’t see where the pavement is. I just slow down and aim for the center of the trail. It’s kind of like a winter white-out, but in the fall and with leaves. My other issue lately has been my back and neck. My body isn’t as flexible as it used to be. In the last few weeks, I’ve been getting pains in my neck and upper back. I’ve found some relief in doing “yogling” (yoga cycling). I stretch my head out and keep a straight line from my sitz bones to the top of my head. But I don’t close my eyes, say ooom, or put my hands together at the center of my chest.

Bud is turning 90. We’re having a small shindig this afternoon. It will be Ed, Lynne, Danita, and me in Bud’s apartment. Lynn and Gene will participate by Zoom, as will Rick and Suzy. Bud asked his neighbor to attend, but the neighbor declined due to Covid concerns. Tuesday we’ll take Bud to an oral surgeon to have two teeth extracted. I won’t be welcome in the waiting room. I’ll bring plenty of reading material.

A lot of our Zooms are ended or ending. The Fitzgerald and Hemingway class is done, as is the Maryland Music class. We have our last Jazz class this week. Other Zooms are picking up the slack. There are several presentations about Baltimore architecture, Day of the Dead traditions, and art topics. The Walters Art Museum had a wonderful presentation on transparent enamels. Plus we start a class about Mystery Novels under 200 pages. Danita found so many Zooms that I don’t watch them all. I missed two yesterday, trying to figure out where the pavement is that gets me over US 29.

Our neighborhood finally got our door security software moved to the new computer. That meant I was clear to do the last computer swap. I did that Saturday. The new computer is installed, but it took so long that I didn’t get everything done. One issue is that the monitor is so old that it doesn’t have an HDMI port. The computer offers only HDMI. I am lending my monitor to the neighborhood for now.

Another interesting development was the outdoor WiFi. The question was whether we can use existing security camera wiring to get an Ethernet signal outdoors. It took many hours of poking around to figure out what the security folks do. (They are habitually secretive.) Eventually I was able to figure out how our existing security camera wiring works, how to use that wiring for an Ethernet signal, and that the solution costs several hundred dollars. I suspect we’ll be looking for a cheap way to run an Ethernet cable through the wall. It took a year to do the computer swap. We’ll see how long it takes to install the poolside WiFi.

That’s it for us. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

We had lots of Zooms this week. The sleeper was a tour of Clifton Mansion. This estate was owned by Johns Hopkins. He wanted his university to be on this property. It didn’t happen. The mansion was used as a golf course clubhouse for a while. One of the chimneys fell down along with part of the roof. It was a mess and an eyesore. Today its being renovated. The roof and chimney are fixed. Many areas are completed. It has a commanding view of Baltimore. Here’s one pic. You can find plenty more on the internet. We were inspired to put it “on the list”. But we weren’t inspired enough to donate money or volunteer.

Danita and I took Bud to the podiatrist Tuesday. Ed and Lynne took him to the dentist Wednesday. It takes two of us to get him between his wheel chair and the car.

Our clubhouse WiFi was very slow. I don’t know what the problem is, but there’s no doubt it was the WiFi Access Point. Another guy and I installed a new one today. The speed is back, but the signal isn’t as strong. We’re considering how we will get WiFi poolside.

That’s it for us. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Not much new is happening here in Columbia. The food truck was a success. Instead of eating in our driveway with a few neighbors, we moved the cars and ate in the garage. With cooler weather, it was good to be out of the breeze. It was also nice to have the garage lights to counteract the earlier sunset. Unfortunately, the free ice cream was a dud. The freezer in our clubhouse stopped working. Instead of ice cream, we had melted goop. Fortunately, I was able to buy a key-lime-pie-in-a-jar. We also enjoyed an evening of wine, snacks, and conversation with the Jonses this week.

Other than that, we’re watching educational Zooms. I’m bike riding. Danita’s walking. We’re reading. We even watch a little TV.

I hope this finds everybody well.

I reached a milestone this week. To my knowledge, the house works. I’m sure that means I’ve overlooked something. But for the moment, I’ll accept my false sense of accomplishment.

Danita is the queen of interesting stuff. We are taking our Osher course on Hemmingway and Fitzgerald. We are taking a course on jazz, taught by a Peabody professor. We are taking a course on Maryland music, taught by another Peabody professor. This week we start “Quantum Sensing for Everyone”, taught by an APL PhD. We have prep work for Quantum Sensing. The first class will be about error estimation. There’s no math in this course, just general concepts. I think starting with error estimation is an excellent beginning. It’s a far cry from college. But it’s good to keep the mind active. We’ve never benefited so much from being Hopkins Alumni. As an extra bonus, UMBC has a twice a year lecture series that is available through video streaming this time around. We will attend a lecture about Cleopatra.

I’m enjoying an almost embarrassing level of good food this week. Danita made meatloaf last night. That means meatloaf sandwiches for lunch. Plus we had our big Sunday breakfast — from Bob Evans this morning. Plus we have a neighborhood food truck dinner this evening. Danita and I will be ordering from the seafood truck. Danita is looking forward to crab cakes. I want the shrimp salad sandwich. They also have Key Lime Pie in a jar. It is quite tasty. And the neighborhood is giving out free ice cream — Nutty Buddies or ice cream sandwiches. By the end of the week, I’ll be waddling around the house.

This is the last day our pool is open. Danita has been going in the afternoon after temperatures are 65 or so. The pool has a heater, but it isn’t keeping up. Danita plans to try walking for exercise next week. I’ve been riding in the afternoon to catch warmer weather. It’s going to be a long winter. We’ll be finding lots of ways to keep our spirits up.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.