Goodyear tries out glow-in-the-dark wheels in 1960s

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Goodyear tries out glow-in-the-dark wheels in 1960s

"Scientists spent the better part of a decade trying to perfect Neothane tires, but they couldn't get past the experimental stage.

For one thing, the translucent tires had poor traction on wet pavement. They began to lose stability around 65 mph. They began to melt under heavy braking.

On top of everything else, they cost more than regular tires.

Even if engineers had solved all of those problems, the glowing lights probably would have been too much of a distraction for night driving. Generally speaking, it's unwise to hypnotize other motorists."

April 2, 2017 Evening

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Good evening! Mostly clear and 49 degrees at the Elm Avenue Park. There is a west-northwest breeze at 11 mph. That breeze combined with the dampness does make it a bit cold down here at the park, but so be it. I expect to only get nicer as summer progresses.

I wanted to post some things to the blog and download some data to share on Monday, so I’m braving the cold as I ain’t got WiFi at home and the library is closed for the evening. It’s Sunday, not that I would notice being that I spent my very boring Saturday in the office. Kind of a drag. 

The sun will set at 7:23 pm with dusk around 7:51 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for mostly clear conditions and 47 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Kind of chilly, but remember it is only the second of April. It was certainly nicer earlier in the sun, although part of the reason I’m feeling cold now, is I switched to a t-shirt.
While unlike yesterday, I wasn’t stuck in the office, I was on call, and was sure that I was going to get called into the office any minute now. Didn’t happen, but I’ve been watching the budget negotiations on Twitter on my phone, so that’s kept me in the town for the most part ready to hop in the shower, and quickly throw on my suit. I washed all my dress clothes yesterday, so I have plenty of clean clothes, should I have to go in tomorrow. As been in a suit all week long, I’m still wearing the same jeans today that I wore last Sunday — because I figure for the five minutes in the evening when I get home and eat dinner, they aren’t getting really dirty for the crap I spill on them. After being down in the park, sitting the muddy grass, though, I think I will put them in washing when I got home.

I spent about two hours this morning walking around Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. It was nice and sunny and fairly warm, and I was glad to be out in the wilderness, or as close as I can get to it while still being on call. Saw quite a bit of wildlife, and it sounds like spring out there. I swear next weekend I will get out of town and do some fishing, although I think all of the trout streams locally will be totally flooded with all of the rain we have gotten recently. I promise myself that I will go down to the DEC HQ this week and renew my license, once the budget is passed, and I don’t have to walk back up the hill like a sweaty pig with my suit on.

Finally hooked up the low-voltage disconnect. I bought some wire and cables, but they didn’t fit — the four gauge battery cable was too thick and long to fit well under the seat, so I will have to buy some eight gauge cable and ring connectors, and relocate the inverter. Fortunately, I bought the cable at Autozone, and one they are good at is taking returns. They’re products may be shit, but they take them back. Right now I have the low voltage disconnect connected just to the CB radio and dashboard camera for testing purposes — I still need to connect up the control button for it, but I need to either remove a bolt from the seat to get an additional ground for it somehow relocate it. I can’t keep adding terminals to the back of the inverter to provide ground access to things. Next weekend! I want to move all the accessory load on the truck and replace the accessory battery before camping season, so I don’t keep destroying batteries by over-discharging them. I also got to haul the latest load of trash and recycables to the transfer station next weekend too. My goal is to have everything up and running, and fully tested before I leave for my North Country Road Trip on April 19th.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 32 degrees at 6am. One degrees below normal. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight. In 2016, it got down to 24 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of 16 occurred back in 1954.

First Quarter Moon tonight with 46% illuminated. The moon will set around 2:04 am. The First Quarter Moon is on Monday night with rain expected. The Full “Pink” Moon is on Tuesday, April 11th. The sun will rise at 6:33 am with the first light at 6:05 am, which is one minute and 44 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 11 hours and 8 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with a high of 58 degrees at 4pm. Five degrees above normal. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 38 degrees. The record high of 79 was set in 1981. 11 inches of snow fell back in 1891.

Right now, a split verdict on next weekend. Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 54. Typical average high for the weekend is 55 degrees.

In four weeks on April 30 the sun will be setting at 7:55 pm, which is 31 minutes and 48 seconds later then today. In 2016 on that day, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 66 and 44 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 64 and 42 degrees. The record high of 86 degrees was set back in 1903. I can’t believe we are already just a little over four weeks away from February.

Looking ahead, Palm Sunday is Next Sunday, Easter is in 2 weeks, Mother’s Day is in 6 weeks and Father’s Day is in 11 weeks.

April 2, 2017 – Looking Ahead This Week

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I guess you might say April showers bring May Flowers. Or at least a lot of mud. Temperatures will moderate next week but for the most part be somewhat cool for early April with lots of rain – maybe two inches totalled up by the end of the week. 

Weather Summary
Today. Mostly Sunny and 55 degrees , 7:23 sunset.
Tonight. Partly Cloudy and 31 degrees , 6:31 sunrise.
Monday. Partly Sunny and 59 degrees ,, 7:24 sunset.
Monday Night. Chance of Rain then Rain and 42 degrees , , 6:30 sunrise.
Tuesday. Rain and 50 degrees , 7:25 sunset.
Tuesday Night. Chance of Rain and 39 degrees , 6:28 sunrise.
Wednesday. Mostly Sunny and 58 degrees ,, 7:26 sunset.
Wednesday Night. Mostly Cloudy and 39 degrees ,, 6:26 sunrise.
Thursday. Rain is likely and 53 degrees ,, 7:27 sunset.
Thursday Night. Rain is likely and 42 degrees , , 6:25 sunrise.
Friday. Chance of Rain and 52 degrees , , 7:28 sunset.
Friday Night. Chance of Showers and 38 degrees ,, 6:23 sunrise.
Saturday. Chance of Showers and 52 degrees , 7:30 sunset.

April 2, 2017 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Sunday. Next week is Palm Sunday. Partly cloudy and 43 degrees in Delmar. Rapidly clearing. There is a west-northwest breeze at 7 mph. That breeze is making current wind chill is 33 but that won’t last. 

Today will become sunny, with a high of 57 degrees at 4pm. Three degrees above normal. Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph. Once the sun comes out it should be a nice day. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies and a high of 53 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 2010. 8 inches of snow fell back in 1924.

The sun will set at 7:23 pm with dusk around 7:51 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 12 hours and 49 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday. 

Maybe next week I can go to the park after work, assuming it’s not raining. It’s going to be very wet next week, with one to inches of rain expected by the end of the week. That should aggressively tackle the mountain snows and create lots of mud and flooding. Probably ridiculously high stream flows for trout fishing but he’ll next weekend I’ll give it a shot. 

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 33 degrees at 4am. Two degrees below normal. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm after midnight. In 2016, it got down to 24 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of 16 occurred back in 1954.

This morning after breakfast, I think I’m going to go for a stroll at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center because I don’t want to deal with the snow slop at Thatcher Park. I also am on call for work so I expect sometime later to go in. I don’t have my fishing license yet and it’s going to be too bright for good fishing. Some point today I may also run into the city to buy wire so I can figure out the size hole I need to drill through the grommet to run the new wire to the truck cap. 

As previously noted, next Sunday is Palm Sunday when the sun will be setting at 7:31 pm with dusk at 8:00 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 46 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1991.

Democrats Should Have an Improved Healthcare Plan

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One of the reason that the Republican’s got such head wind on the repeal Obamacare idea, was that Democrats never had a proposal to build onto Affordable Healthcare Act and make it better. Any law – indeed any idea – has weaknesses that are exposed over time, and it is necessary to adjust plans to make them better over time.

The Affordable Care Act is great if you are poor and are living on the edge of poverty, but it does little to help middle class families or small business who don’t already have group insurance. I suggest greater subsidies and mandatory enrollment to overcome these problems:

1) Not enough subsidies for purchasing health insurance for small businesses and middle class families.

Health insurance should be affordable for everybody – and as inexpensive as possible to individual consumer. I think subsidies should be provided for anybody making under $250,000 a year that will make healthcare an inexpensive proposition – no more then $30-$50 for the individual and $50-$100 for the family each month. Even for middle class families, budgets are tight, and subsidy levels for insurance should make it possible for even middle class families to afford insurance.

Small businesses with fewer then 50 full-time should be able to pay for health insurance with a fully refundable tax credit. Even if a business made no profit, the government would pay the business to offer insurance. This would mean that providing health insurance to employees would be a free proposition to business, and there would be no excuse not to provide insurance to employees.

Both are expensive propositions. But health care is important, and we need to make sure everybody can afford health care, even if they are middle class or own a small business. In a country that produces nearly $20 trillion in economic value each year, we can afford to devote a couple hundred billion more to ensure people can afford the care they need.

2) The government should enroll everybody into a health insurance plan, even if they don’t sign up for insurance.

Right now, everybody has to sign up for an health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act. But some people forgo this insurance, because they either can’t afford it in their budget, or don’t believe it’s necessary. Not having insurance puts those people at a lot of risk from sickness or injury, and can lead to financial catastrophe. I believe the government should automatically enroll people into an insurance plan.

Anybody who files taxes or visits a medical facility would be checked by the government to see if they had an acceptable Affordable Care Act plan. If they didn’t have a plan, the government would automatically enroll them into a Silver-level Affordable Care Act plan offered by a randomly selected insurer. The person would be then sent an insurance card, a statement of benefits, and a monthly bill for their coverage. If a person didn’t pay the the monthly bill, the insurer would be empowered to automatically deduct it from their wages or withdraw funds from their bank account.

Obviously, most people would prefer to choose their plan. This would be a lower cost option for individuals, then having the insurer get a court order to withdraw money from a workers’ wages. Most people who didn’t sign up for insurance immediately or pay their bills, quickly would choose to do so, to make sure they maximize their take home pay.

By automatically enrolling everyone, we would ensure nobody lacks coverage, and ensure even people who don’t want to sign up or participate are in the pool, paying their fair share. Should non-enrollees have a medical emergency, hospitals will know definitively that their patient has coverage, and that they will be reimbursed for their illness.

At Least the Affordable Care Act is Getting People Insured…

The numbers don’t lie. People, especially in states that did the Medicaid Expansion, have seen dramatic growth in coverage. We’ve made Universal Healthcare the law of the land. This means when people get sick or injured, they don’t have to fear bankruptcy or complete financial ruin — even if some of the plans offered on the marketplace aren’t as comprehensive as they should be.

But with increased subsidies and automatic enrollment, we can do better. Nobody should be left without health insurance.

Why Not Single Payer Healthcare?

There are many ways we can ensure universal health care. While not single payer, our universal health care system is providing financial protection and well being for most Americans. The Affordable Care Act got thousands of Americans the financial protection of health insurance, and ensures people will get the care they need to be healthy. I think it’s a system we can work with, especially if we increase subsidies to small businesses and middle class families, to ensure it is affordable.

Globally, only a fraction of Universal Healthcare Systems are single payer. But the important thing is they are making health care affordable for all.

Shown above:
1) Single Payer – Government pays all health care expenses (green)
2) Two-tier – Basic government healthcare system (e.g. Medicare in Canada) (yellow)
3) Insurance Mandate – Government requires all citizens to purchase insurance (blue)