Yesterday started way earlier than any sane person should be awake. My alarm went off at 4 am, so I could head out and set up my communications station before the Cheaha Challenge bicycle ride began. I left with plenty of time to spare and figured I’d be sitting there relaxed and ready by 7 am.

Well… that didn’t exactly happen.

About halfway there, traffic on the interstate came to a complete stop. Not just eastbound traffic either — westbound traffic was stopped too. Since there were no warning signs or construction notices heading east, I naturally assumed there had been a major accident somewhere ahead.

After sitting there long enough to question every life decision that led me to that interstate at 5-something in the morning, traffic finally started moving. A mile or so ahead, I spotted three state troopers slowly leading traffic and preventing anyone from passing them. Later, I found out the state had scheduled paving work between 6 am and 8 am.

Because apparently that sounded like a wonderful idea.

By the time I finally arrived, I was an hour and a half late. Thankfully, the folks working with me had already set everything up and had the station ready to go before the race started. That was a huge relief.

The ride itself actually went very smoothly. Considering the number of riders spread out across those routes, that’s always good news. We had only a couple of reports of cramps and dehydration. Usually, there are at least a few wrecks or injuries somewhere along the route, so we were fortunate not to have any serious incidents this year.

Today was a completely different kind of long day.

I had another doctor’s appointment to have more cancer removed from the side of my back. The doctor gave me strict instructions to take it easy for the rest of the day. After several mornings of getting up before daylight, I wasn’t exactly heartbroken to hear those words.

So I obeyed the doctor’s orders perfectly.

I came home, got settled into my recliner, turned the heating pad on high, and took a long nap. Right now, I’m starting to feel a little more pain creeping in, so I’ll probably take some pain medication before heading to bed tonight.

At the moment, I’m also keeping an eye on the weather radar. We’ve got several thunderstorms moving through the area. Nothing severe, but some of them are putting on a pretty decent lightning show.

Oddly enough, I’ve always loved listening to distant thunderstorms. It reminds me of being a kid when summertime storms were just… storms. Back then, nobody seemed to classify them in three different ways or warn us about them two weeks in advance. They would roll in during the afternoon, cool things off for a while, and move on.

Tomorrow will be another early morning with yet another doctor’s appointment around 11:30. Then, Thursday brings another pain block procedure. I’m really hoping this one works better than the last one did.

Until then, I’ll probably remain parked right here in my recliner with the heating pad doing most of the heavy lifting.