Red LightΒ 

I think the best $3 investment I’ve ever made is the red LED party bulb I got at Walmart a few years back. 

At night I put it in the light fixture next to my bed and kill all the other lights. The dim red light really helps to make me feel relaxed and sleepy. I find it also is a major mood booster – it’s hard to be blue much less depressed under red light. 

It’s bright enough to read and see things in my bedroom so I don’t trip although color rendition is nearly non existent. 

February 12, 2017 Evening

“If you ask me my opinion, I’m thoroughly disappointed with the snowstorm. It’s been very whimpy storm, and while we might ultimately end up with a close to a foot, the snow hasn’t come down that hard. But it was still good for cross country skiing around town.”

Good evening! Continuing to snow and 30 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. The skies will clear tomorrow around 3 pm. One month from now the clocks will have sprung ahead an hour. 

Tonight will snow, mainly before 1am. Areas of blowing snow after 4am. Low of 29 degrees at 6am. Mild, relatively speaking, 12 degrees above normal. Blustery, with a southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. In 2016, it got down to -9 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1875.

Waning Gibbous Moon tonight with 86% illuminated. The moon will . The Last Quarter Moon is next Saturday with partly cloudy skies expected. The Full β€œWorm” Moon is in 4 weeks. The sun will rise at 6:54 am with the first light at 6:25 am, which is 1 minutes and 21 seconds earlier then yesterday. Tonight will have 13 hours and 28 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of snow, mainly before 10am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 11am. Areas of blowing snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 32 degrees at 12pm. Two degrees below normal. Windy, with a northwest wind 24 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 20 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1900. 9 inches of snow fell back in 1893.

In four weeks on March 12 the sun will be setting at 6:59 pm (Daylight Savings Time), which is 1 hour and 34 minutes later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 62 and 25 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 43 and 24 degrees. The record high of 69 degrees was set back in 2012.

Finished putting together the Save the Pine Bush presentation for Wednesday night. Wrote a short little JQuery script that will show the slides. Most of it is old photos from the 30th anniversary dinner, although I added some new slides that I took. It should be a good presentation. 

Went out Cross Country skiing around town, first stopping at the library to return library books, then down to the four corners then along the rail trail heading westerly to a point out by Font Grove Road. It was nice skiing, the sidewalks had just about a perfect amount of snow on them and the rail trail had packed ski trails but the snow seemed a bit sticky. It’s fairly mild, it was a warm snow. Probably out skiing for about three hours, but I didn’t hurry that much and with the insulated coveralls I find it slows me up skiing quite a bit. 

Honestly for all the hype, I didn’t think the roads were that bad. They were slippery but the plows have kept up well with the snow all day. It snowed for most of the day but for the most part it was never a really heavy snow. 

Tomorrow it’s back to work. I don’t care that much because I’ll just wear my big boots and just walk to the bus stop. When you live in the city with off street parking and have the bus to get around, winter is hardly an inconvenience. I’ll dig out Big Red next Saturday. Hopefully it will warm up and melt most of the snow by then. I hate having to brush the snow off my big jacked up truck. 

Looking ahead, Daylight Savings Time is a month away, Palm Sunday is in 8 weeks, Easter is in 9 weeks, Mother’s Day is in 13 weeks and Father’s Day is in 18 weeks.

February 12, 2017 Morning

“Good morning. Please direct your comments and concerns on today’s forecast to Punxsutawney Phil, 1548 Woodland Ave, Punxsutawney, PA 15767. I know the fuzzy hog will appreciate hearing from you.” 

The snow has started and 27 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. The Ground Hog is bringing us extra snow to encourage us to burn more coal mined in general vicinity of Punxsutawney so he can put more people back to work with good paying jobs. 

Today will continue to  snow. Even a Groundhog could tell you that. High of 32 degrees at 2pm. Two degrees below normal. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 24 degrees. Winter, eh? The record high of 55 was set in 1932. 13.5 inches of snow fell back in 1988. We might break that record today.

The sun will set at 5:24 pm with dusk around 5:53 pm, which is 1 minutes and 18 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 10 hours and 29 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will continue to snow. Low of 28 degrees at 6am. 10 degrees above normal. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 13 to 18 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. Maybe Albany can ticket and tow old man winter’s car for illegal speeding of the wind?   Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. In 2016, it got down to -9 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1875.

There is 1 month until Daylight Savings Time gets underway when the sun will be setting at 6:59 pm with dusk at 7:27 pm (Daylight Savings Time). Maybe there is hope for spring before hell freezes over. 

Lots of onions and peppers, black forest ham in eggs topped with gouda cheese. Not a half bad breakfast after I got to Stewart’s and bought some milk. Kind of a slow morning, I’m in no rush to do anything today. 

Looking out the window, it looks like we are getting a lot of nice snow. So far per the website it looks like the Bethlehem Public Library hasn’t closed for the day but I expect it will. That’s fine, I don’t need to waste time on the Internet. Thinking instead of strapping on my cross country skis and heading on down to the Rail Trail and maybe heading out to Voorheesville. They don’t plow the sidewalks on Sundays in Delmar so I expect go skiing conditions even on the trip to the trail.