June 2, 2017 Night

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Good evening! Partly clear and 57 degrees in Delmar. There is a west-northwest breeze at 8 mph. The dew point is 44 degrees. Probably wouldn’t have been a bad weekend for camping but it’s going to be fairly cold and muddy up north, not to mention, black fly season. But for a while I’m sitting out back. 

Next weekend if the weather is decent, I will probably go camping. Maybe tent camping, we will see. I kind of want to see the Gas Up, maybe both weekends if dad wants to go. I just want more time to explore on my own. I guess if it’s warm I might go up to the Adirondacks but for now we are stuck in a somewhat cold pattern and I may be on call the next few weeks for work. I have to admit I’m more than a little bored with camping, it seems like I always end up going to the same places. I need to study maps more and come up with some new ideas for trips that aren’t so far away. Maybe I got to do more hiking. That said I’m bored with the long drives up to the Adirondacks all of the time. 

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 48 degrees at 4am. Five degrees below normal. West wind 3 to 8 mph. In 2016, it got down to 63 degrees with rain and mostly cloudy skies. The record low of 36 occurred back in 1986.

Waxing Gibbous Moon tonight with 61% illuminated. The moon will set around 2:52 am. The Full “Strawberry” Moon is next Friday. The sun will rise at 5:18 am with the first light at 4:44 am, which is 25 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 8 hours and 50 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 9 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with a high of 68 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 46 at 10am. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph. A year ago, we had rain, mostly cloudy skies and a high of 79 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1925.

Looking ahead to Sunday, rain likely, mainly after 2pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 67. South wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Maximum dew point of 53 at 5pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 75 degrees.

In four weeks on June 30 the sun will be setting at 8:36 pm, which is 9 minutes and 12 seconds later then tonight. In 2016 on that day, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 84 and 57 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 81 and 60 degrees. The record high of 98 degrees was set back in 1964.

Looking ahead, Strawberry Moon is Next Friday, National Nude Day is in 6 weeks, September 1st is in 13 weeks and Autumn Begins is in 16 weeks.

Tomorrow I’m meeting my parents for breakfast and getting my oil changed. I’m kind of glad to leave it to the professionals. Maybe in the afternoon I’ll go hiking locally and do some fishing. We will see. I also need to do some cleaning in the kitchen. I also want to wire up a light under the seat in my truck so I can find stuff at night there. I never bought a switch but I can run into Advanced Auto and buy one. It should take five minutes to make up the cables and wire the switches. 
I am hoping the color changing string I’m getting to decorate the truck cap comes early enough in the week, so I can wire that up. Should also be really easy to do, but a lot also depends how late I’m stuck in the office each night. I’ll see as th one week progresses.

I’m off to bed. Good night! 

Good Times

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In May 2017, as we learned today, the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the lowest rate since the summer of 2001. Despite full employment, inflation in April 2017 was only 2.17 percent. The stock market is at record highs. 

The fact is that things rarely exist for long in such a goldy locks economy, conventional wisdom tells us that either inflation or unemployment will increase. You can’t have both for long. 

Something to consider on this beautiful summer evening…. 

Is President Trump Correct That Coal Mines Are Opening?

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FACT CHECK: Is President Trump Correct That Coal Mines Are Opening?

"The coal mines that are opening up produce a special kind of coal used in steelmaking, and are opening largely because of events unrelated to federal policy, experts say. The market for the kind of coal used in electricity — the biggest use for coal — remains down relative to where it was several years ago."

"In other words, the industry has rebounded slightly after years of layoffs and closures caused mainly by competition from cheap natural gas. And a handful of new mines in Wyoming, Alabama, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are either opening or slated to open in the next few years."

Full employment

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Full employment

"Full employment, in macroeconomics, is the level of employment rates where there is no cyclical or deficient-demand unemployment.[1] It is defined by the majority of mainstream economists as being an acceptable level of unemployment somewhere above 0%. The discrepancy from 0% arises due to non-cyclical types of unemployment, such as frictional unemployment (there will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job) and structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements). Unemployment above 0% is seen as necessary to control inflation in capitalist economies, to keep inflation from accelerating, i.e., from rising from year to year. This view is based on a theory centering on the concept of the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment (NAIRU); in the current era, the majority of mainstream economists mean NAIRU when speaking of "full" employment. The NAIRU has also been described by Milton Friedman, among others, as the "natural" rate of unemployment. Having many names, it has also been called the structural unemployment rate."