February 6, 2016 Night

Good evening. Currently overcast and 34 degrees in Delmar. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 25. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Tonight we will have a Waining Crescent Moon with 9% illuminated. It will rise at 5:51 am. Tomorrow’s sunrise will be at 7:02 am with first light at 6:32 am, which is 2 minutes and 13 seconds earlier then today. Sunday will be sunny, with a high near 41. Light and variable wind. Should be a nice one.

Went to Schodack Island State Park for a while. A bit chilly, but as you can see from the pictures I posted, it was pretty nice out at least when the sun poked out. I then went to Resin’s House and folded dinner announcements for Save the Pine Bush. I went to Shoprite and bought a pork roast and baked it for dinner. I was planning on baking one for a change but it turned out when I got there it was on sale, so all the better. It took a while to cook but I followed the directions and set the alarm clock on my phone, so it came out good. I also had stuffing and corn. It was good for a change and made two extra meals, frozen for later in the week. I then went for my evening walk.

Thinking about possibly going to the Catskills for a hike tomorrow, maybe Plateau Mountain if I’m not too stuffed up with the allergies / cold. I bought and took some cold medicine that matches my symptoms but I’m not sure it’s the right stuff. Regardless, beautiful weather is predicted for tomorrow.

I hope you had a good day. Sleep well!

February 6, 2016 at Schodack Island State Park

Good afternoon. Currently mostly cloudy and 41 degrees in Castleton-on-Hudson.

Out for a walk at Schodack Island State Park. A bit chilly with the breeze. It’s weird to see the Hudson River ice free in early February, but there is not a drop of ice on it. Nearly high tide currently. Took some pictures on my Digital SLR camera that I will upload later. Bit muddy as the river muck on the trails has melted.

It looks like all the new camping facilities are ready to open with the park in May.
While camping at Schodack Island State Park ain’t for me, it is conveniently located near the city.

Not a terrible day but I have fairly bad allergies today or maybe a cold. I don’t feel sick but for a good portion of the week my nose has been real runny inside, leading to coughing and general congestion for most of the week.

February 6, 2016 Afternoon

Good afternoon. Currently mostly cloudy and 39 degrees in Delmar. This afternoon will be partly sunny, with a high near 42. Southwest wind around 9 mph.

Sunset will be at 5:15 pm with twilight at 5:45 pm which is one minute and 19 seconds later then yesterday. Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Tonight we will have a Waining Crescent Moon with 9% illuminated. It will rise at 5:51 am. If you get up before dawn, look east for that tiny little sliver of a moon before daybreak. I won’t probably be up that early.

Did my oil change this morning, putting a nice fresh filter and six fresh quarts of oil in my truck. Big Red’s DIC said 19% oil life left but I always like to change it a bit early because I drive on a lot of dirt roads, and honestly the last time I changed it was August 8th or 8,000 miles ago. I put a lot of miles on my truck during the West Virginia trip. Regardless, it was an awesome adventure. I wanted to change the oil as soon as possible, as I had noticed last week the oil was low, so I added a quart. I figured that probably stirred up sludge in the bottom – and I wasn’t hundred percent sure what the dipstick read last week, so to be safe I changed it. Dang synthetic oil is hard to read on the dipstick as its such a light color, even after many miles. Not the jet black used oil color of the old school oil.

This is probably the last time I’ll change the oil myself. It’s such a dirty job. But beyond that I always can’t find a tool or have trouble getting the filter off. I had to borrow dad’s socket set today, which involved driving out there because my socket set was missing. No idea where I put the dang set. I don’t like how the lube pits only have cheap oil and filters, but if I go to my regular mechanic, I’m sure he’ll use good quality parts. The truck roof is too high to get into most of the lube pits too. I thought about going to Walmart oil change place, though as I think they’ll use whatever filter they have in stock, and have a higher roof. But I did it myself. It’s not that hard to do an oil change on my truck, especially with the lift kit that makes it easy to crawl under.

I have to admit I like changing my own oil. I might not be a mechanic or do most of my own repairs, but I can do the oil change easily. Makes me feel like a man. Kind of being a gun owner, having a lifted truck, and bringing my own garbage to the transfer station. Burning it fun too but like shooting guns I can’t do that in the city either. I’m probably on some kind of terrorist list for changing my own oil in the suburbs.

In thinking about going for a hike for a few hours at Schodack Island State Park once I take a shower. That said, the fact that it’s getting cloudy out now sure is disappointing. It was an amazingly nice morning for sure.