Riding Down Under - Tropical Cairns Australia

[MacDoc]

Not getting the right sleep regardless of watch reports.
Noraly finished in Yemen ....Socotra fascinating but glad we did not chase our desire to go there. Saw just about everything we could have and the massed dolphins unexpected.

Windy and rainy so no riding....wanted to try my throttle lock.
Have a 'roo kabob to cook then Bowls Club tonight for a meal I like.
Tempted to do the kabob now at 3 am but partner has had a long working week so don't want to take chance of waking her and the dog.
Should have brought the cashews to bed with me...good munchie fix.

 

[MacDoc]

...
Have to physically take all my meds to the heart specialist today ...
Sucks ..especially at 4pm on a Friday

1 hour charging in Thailand for 2 Euro...Marc very happy. Big time current from the charger, 100 amps plus.
Shell service station


Why does Thailand feel like it has better internet and charging than where I am in Australia.
Lovely night on the deck now I've turned off the fans. 22.5 feels like 23.4.
I've moved back to working on my desk from the glass table in the middle of the room. Can charge my watch without removing from my wrist, watch up to 3 of my travel photos at once while browsing other media.
Have a little bit of desire for an OLED screen as up close viewing of my Series 6 Samsung ....mid level LED from a couple years back is showing its weaknesses but then with a good feed it's right back in the hunt.

Enjoying this set up as there is no power to the central glass table so I can keep everything charged here and have far more workspace.
When partner is out I can listen via the sound bar which has Clear Voice....a break from the Momentum 4 headphones which are superb and can be charged while listening....60 hour use time too....worth the cost.
But listening without them to music via the Alexa Studio speaker is a treat as is watching with the Yamaha sound bar.

My little media corner quite satisfying .....tho now chat about moving to a granny flat with the kids... not thrilled but it's a while out yet. Our design has a similar workspace for me using the same furniture I have now so should be fine.
Heart doc today - not expecting any concerning news.
Still have 10 days to dental ordeal.....there is a horizon for it tho.

 

[MacDoc]

Heart doc today, something not quite right with lower left heart cavity needing more exploring ....nothing dire or urgent but....
June 2nd ( how did THAT get to be just 4 weeks out ! ) hospital for angiogram...put dye in blood and take images ( they do this instead of MRI) and IF needed an MRI down the road.
Wow - that's impressive.
At least I'll be past my next 3 hour dental on the 19th.
What a drag it is getting old..

 

[MacDoc]

Weekend a write off,

This weather pattern of coastal showers just won't leave.

It's nice temps for sleeping, 23 at midnight and also being outside as mixed clouds and sun but not inclined to get wet.

 

[MacDoc]

Not improving Wordle stats...4 am may be the reason

This not improving my mood...bloody rain. Have a decent throttle lock I'd like to try on a longer ride.

Noraly in fantastic scenery. Then about as tired as I've seen her after a problem day.

2 am brain worked.

Did not get enough sleep
Watch says 25 min rem, 3 hrs core, 26 minute deep since 11 pm last night.
I will likely add to that shortly if I drift off reading. Mellow just now in morning sun with Moody Blues in the background.

Might be okay for a lunch ride...showers still around but want to try the new throttle lock.
It's a good fit for my bars and seems to grip well and was sure cheap. I accidently ended up with 2.
Don't think it opens up if you have BarkBusters etc on the bar end.

 

[MacDoc]

Stumbled in a good use for my kangaroo meat.
I didn't like the marinade and have been boiling up baby potatoes lately for various uses...so thawed a roo kabob and chopped the meat up and tossed it in with the potatoes.
Noticed it was cooking down and looking like a stew so added frozen peas and corn and some butter.
Tasty stew.....tastes better than the $2.50 Heinz Chunky Soups which are good on veggies but very light on protein and they have celery which I don't like cooked or raw.
With the roo added it gives the stew some body and tasty and loses the marinade taste of the kabab.
Have not worked out the $ involved but I think pretty good.
$5 for bag of baby potatoes.
$8 for 5 large kabobs. 1 lb of meat.
peanuts cost for frozen corn and peas.
I'm guessing well under $2 for a decent bowl of stew with a lot more meat than the Heinz.
The Heinz is chunky but mostly veg and a smidgeon of beef.
At the normal $4.40 a can it's a rip off. at $2.20 it's just okay and very fast to prepare.
I'll boil up some of the roo meat and add it to the remaining soups and then do my own roo stew.

Eating roo is better for the environment as no methane and they are all wild harvested
Hard to get roo dishes in eateries but the ones I've had are excellent and the meat is low fat.

“Extremely low in fat, kangaroo meat has virtually no saturated fat,” she wrote. “Its levels of protein and zinc are similar to those of other meats, but it has more iron, twice as much vitamin B12 and higher levels of most other B vitamins.” And she's not the only nutritionist who has jumped on the Roo bandwagon

 

[MacDoc]

should do better - at least earlier to bed this time.

Election work finished so have a ride, medical errands today and maybe a ride.
Hungry Jacks tempting me.
That's two meals for me.

Nice temps. Might do the medical errands on the bike. Really low wind.

 

[MacDoc]

What a fast steep climb for Noraly to 8.200' All paved but work out for the Tenere with lots of hairpins.

That desert she is eating at the end looked really tasty.
4 am and getting peckish.

In praise of ceiling fans.
Forgot I turned the overhead fan off to stay warmer at night.
Was getting warm and stuffy this arvo and even the a/c was not helping.
Remembered missing fan, flipped it on, turned off the a/c and life is wunderbar again.

Out to Bowls Club this evening and my fav pigout dish which happens to be the cheapest meal on the menu and kind to my diminishing teeth count.

 

[MacDoc]

medical stuff today and maybe a ride. Pigged out at the Bowls Club tonight. Excited about maybe a new place to live

 

[MacDoc]

seems I missed a day tho did the puzzle.

Unlikely move to the place we visited but some small possibility.
Finished off For All Mankind .....was an okay ending ....
There is a Season 5 promised.

Murderbot looks good too. I listened to Network Effect on Audible and enjoyed it. Jaded sentient robot.

Scored two Whopper Jrs for $6 on Shake n Win with no onions and extra pickle. Thought I would take one home but hungry enough to eat both.
- did not look like that but double pickles helped/
My Ozempic seems to be fading as far as suppressing appetite. Was thinking of asking doc to move me to 1.5 mg dose instead of 1.25 original dose which led me to lose 60 lb in 2 years.
Gorgeous day out.

 

[MacDoc]

Riding a bit yesterday, two new drugs and the watch reported anomalies.
Took the beta blocker for the first time in the morning and the watch reported lower than usual heart rate over night.
Took the 10 mg amitriptyline at night as directed and nearly 9 hours sleep.
Now I was tired last night after some riding and only a few hours the night before.
My uro appointment cancelled so might get a ride depending on how I feel after 3 hours in the dental chair.
Depends if the codeine wears off.

Three root tooth but came out okay and no stitch.
Will pick up some gloves this arvo. Out of dentist early/

 

[MacDoc]

Going to 17 tonight....brrr...layered up at midnight.

Tried on gloves tonight which were sized large but too tight.
Same gloves 2xl available trying tomorrow. Look okay. $15 !!
$80 new still current.

Needed something warmer and with more protection than my cheapies.

• Nylon stretch fabric & cowhide construction
• Hipora waterproof and breathable membrane
• Thinsulate insulated Thermal liner
• Super fabric protection on palm
• PU Knuckle protectors
• Reinforced silicone printed Clarino palm to enhance grip
• Stretch comfort panels
• Pre-curved fingers
• Dual adjustable Velcro closures
• Adjustable velcro closures at cuff and wrist
• TPR visor wipe

Hope they fit - just what I want for the cooler weather and waterproof.

 

[MacDoc]

Gloves from yesterday did not fit but DriRider model in 2XL available on Saturday.
.......
Long dentist session for a single cavity today ...no pain just tired of keeping my mouth open so long. The defect more extensive than she thought and I was out of patience after the extraction on Monday which still aches a bit.
There were two more to do today but we killed that idea by mutual consent.
No freezing today - just a long grind ...pardon the pun.

Not so chilly tonight.
Getting used to the AirPod Pros - enjoyed them on the bus - sound quality for Audible book was excellent and had not realized how loud the bus was until the ANC killed most of it. Also useful in transparent mode so I can hear ambient noise/announcements while still hearing the book. Low end sound quality nowhere near the Sennheisers Momentum 4s I treated myself to a while back which makes sense as the Senns are over the head fully isolated studio cans.
Hoping the memory foam tips arriving for AirPod Pros soonish will improve lower end and also isolate better on the mcycle. zzzzz now

 

[MacDoc]

Noraly in Ryhad Saudi Arabia, very big very busy very modern city of 8 million deep in the desert.

Not a productive day. Two new drugs and one of them is both enhancing my sleep by 2 hours a day and making me lethargic despite my doubling my pseudoephridine dose which would normally have me buzzing.
Bears some sleuthing.

Aside from extended sleep my heart rate got as low as 54 when sleeping...that's a bit concerning I think but what do I know, partner sez it's fine since I'm on Bispropol.

 

[MacDoc]

Binged some F1 series.
Happy to find these on sale. RevIt Sand 4 for $50 shipped

Think I've sorted the lethargy. No more amitriptyline for the nonce.
Those long hours of sleep felt good but the low heart rate and tiredness not worth it. See how we do tonight without it.

So much for that idea...
Stupid house fire alarm went off again for no reason at 5am. Something with the spefic ambient temp and humidity. Oh well 5 hours is okay.

Had help..need early brekkie now. Better energy this am at sparrows,

 

[MCT]

Look, can you stop stealing our warm weather. It is friggin freezing in Canada.

I'd gladly take that 39C back in January we had in Cairns.

 

[MacDoc]

I miss the sort of 4 seasons in S Canada but not a lot.
It's perfect here. mid to high 20s in day, low 20s high teens at night.
Little or no rain. To many medical appointments sigh.
Nanda I'm really starting to enjoy her.

Marc nursing his failing Zero along

 

[MCT]

I miss the sort of 4 seasons in S Canada but not a lot.

For a guy that was born here, I do not miss the seasons and the pi$$-poor weather in Canada. The pathetic politics and high cost of living aka being taxed to death here does not help matters either. I could put up with the latter if at least the weather was great as it is on the Gold Coast.

 

[MacDoc]

Not setting the world on fire here.
Pretty lethargic still from drug interaction to be determined. Dropping the Amitriptoline seems to be helping. Watch not triggering alerts.

Think I missed a weather window. Might be okay midday.

At this point just getting the energy up to get out for a ride was a challenge the last few days.

 

[MacDoc]

Listening to Blade Runner soundtrack most of the night and NOT sleeping.
Showers anyways

and urology appointment in the arvo...
Lovely 24C at 3 am tho feels like 27 is still comfortable sans blanket. Try again

or not ...Noraly on the move. Her book is out in English.
Dubai is otherworldly