Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Final full day I’m 36 years old. Tomorrow at 5:28 am or something like that according to my birth certificate, which is handwritten but not fake, I’ll be 37. Two weeks to Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day 🥛. I don’t know, rancid milk can be pretty pungent 👃, says the dirty hick that I am. 👨‍🌾 Cloudy in Trump’s America and 35 degrees in Delmar, NY, as I take the old hybrid bus from 2010 downtown. ☁ There is a northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 6 pm. ☃️

Yes, I learned my lesson from yesterday and took the earlier bus 🚍 downtown. Its a bit annoying because this bus gets me to work much earlier than necessary but at least I won’t clock in late 🕒 and then have to stay late to get my seven and a half in. It’s tough with the 20 minute headway on the bus 🚏, I preferred it when they had the 15 minute headway but they’re wasn’t enough ridership to justify that level of service during the morning rush hour.

I was a bit worried I was getting a cold again 😷 after hearing John Wolcott was feeling sick again but I’m okay this morning. I sure hope I don’t get sick any time soon. I try to be a lot better washing my hands, but it can be difficult to do good handwashing practices.

Today will have isolated snow showers before 11am. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 38 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 26th. Northwest wind 8 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 22 degrees. The record high of 56 was set in 1916. 9.6 inches of snow fell back in 1897.❄

This morning I realized that I forgot to get pan spray 🍳 the last time I was at the store but I have my dentist appointment on Thursday so I’ll get it then. Kind of essential for making waffles. I think I will drive to the dentist just based on the timing of things. I also wanted to get another set of Bluetooth headphones 🎧 and more drain solvent so I had plenty in stock the last time I went to Wally World but they didn’t have it in stock..

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 29.1° from the due south horizon (-41.7° vs. 6/21). Adding sun angle quickly at this point, so when we get a bright sunny day it’s bound not to be quite as cold out as only a few weeks ago. You saw the February average high chart 📊 I posted yesterday – it’s a steady climb through March.

The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:21 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (238°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (246°) starting at 5:00 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 11 seconds with dusk around 5:33 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the southwest (222°) at an altitude of 31° from the horizon, 252,182 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:07 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 14 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 49 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 12 seconds over yesterday. Definitely getting longer.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 4th. Maximum wind chill around 12 at 6am; Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 5 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1925.

While Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be quite nice, clouds and some rain or snow showers for the weekend. ☔ Saturday, a chance of snow showers before 1pm, then a chance of rain showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees. At least another mild weekend is on tap, good for the heating bills. The woods might be super sloppy again this weekend after the rain but maybe I can road hike at Partridge Run or maybe in the Albany Pine Bush where the sand rarely gets muddy.

🌹🌻🌼Only 51 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

In other words, tomorrow marks 50 days until calendar spring. 📅 As that song by Godspell Soundtrack says, Day by Day.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day 🥛 when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:50 pm. On that day in 2019, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 18 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 34 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1981.

Slowly but surely we are climbing out of the deep and dark of winter. At this point average temperatures will be increasing about a degree each week, then will start accelerating as we get to mid-February as spring approaches. When March gets underway, days in the 40s will not be uncommon and by April many days may hit the fifties. It’s called spring, and it eventually thaws out.

In the evening, you will notice we are past the five PM sunset, with daylight growing to 10 hours a day by next week. Seven weeks out from now will be daylight savings time with it not getting pitch black until well into the seven o’clock hour.

Good afternoon! Mostly cloudy and 39 degrees in Delmar. There is a west breeze at 10 mph. The skies will clear around 6 pm. It’s been a pretty gray, but I spent sometime playing with some code for the blog, got a haircut and some time cleaning and painting. Made some new maps and content for the blog, and finished fixing some minor bugs I discovered with the roll out of the ChartJS plugin I wrote for the blog. I would go out hiking, but it’s kind of cool and gray, and with the crusty nasty snow, it’s not good for hiking or even skiing. Tomorrow, I do plan get out hiking somewhere tough. Been saving a lot of miles on my truck, not going that much this winter.

The sun will set at 5:04 pm with dusk around 5:34 pm, which is 1 minutes and 18 seconds later than yesterday. Days are getting longer for sure, especially in the evening — although some sun would be nice for sunset. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 36 degrees. There will be a west-southwest breeze at 7 mph.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. 10 degrees above normal. South wind 6 to 8 mph. In 2016, it got down to 25 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1925.

Waxing Crescent Moon tonight with 9% illuminated. The moon will set around 8:01 pm. The First Quarter Moon is next Saturday with partly cloudy skies expected. The Full “Snow” Moon is in 2 weeks. The sun will rise at 7:11 am with the first light at 6:41 am, which is 57 seconds earlier then yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 6 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 17 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of snow showers between 11am and 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high of 37 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees above normal. South wind 7 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had snow and a high of 38 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 2002. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1990.

Finally decided to take action on the rust on my refrigerator in my apartment. I bought some primer and paint, and it seems like it is going to match close enough that my landlord will never know the refrigerator was painted. It’s coming out well and I only gotten primer on, it’s already looking very nice, almost restored to original conditions. Trying to do a very professional job, so even if it’s not perfect, it looks good without further inspection. The paint does stink though. The mildew problem I used to have in the kitchen — which is mostly gone after much concentrated bleach and lots of scrubbing — kind of did some damage to the finish. Figure it’s better painted then rusted.

Been working hard lately — a half hour a few times a week — to clean my apartment. I think I’m going to stay there for a few more years, and it’s better not to have it look so dirty and run down. The new vacuum cleaner and with some help from brush-in carpet cleaner, really is getting the stains out of the carpets and just reducing the dust load a lot. Little things, like dusting shelves make sure a big difference. No more cob webs either.. I occasionally have company over and it’s nice to have things looking nice.

Been wanting to move the USB port that powers my dash board camera and cellphone to a different place in my truck, hooked up to the same switch as the CB radio, but that has yet to happen. I did find the wire endings the other day, so I know where to splice in. I want to make sure I have better power source for the dash board camera, as sometimes I find I’ve been losing my dash camera recordings on backroads — and that’s where they are mos

In four weeks on February 25 the sun will be setting at 5:40 pm, which is 36 minutes later then today. In 2016 on that day, we had fog, rain, snow and temperatures between 58 and 33 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 37 and 20 degrees. The record high of 67 degrees was set back in 1976.

Looking ahead, Average High is 40 is in 5 weeks, Average High is 50 is in 2 months, April Fools Day is in 9 weeks and Arbor Day is in 3 months.

The corrosive weather of the rust belt continues today with cloudy skies and salt encrusted everything with temperatures around 36 degrees on our way towards forty six. Galvanized steel and billions in largess from the New York City somewhat covers up the rust but that road salt ultimately does its damage. On mornings like this you have to wonder why anybody in their right mind would stay in the rust belt. Millions have already left. 

I did not sleep well last night. Maybe that’s why I’m cranky.  I was in bed by a little after 10 PM but I laid in bed listening to podcasts until after midnight and kept waking up. I guess I should have put the red light on earlier and had less screen time, and taken a sleeping pill. Maybe draw the curtains. I forgot to turn the heat up when I got home last night, so everything we frigid in my apartment by early morning. I hate sleeping in the winter, I find it incredibly difficult. Kept hearing about Trump wasting taxpayer dollars on the stupid wall and going after undocumented immigrants, who just came to our country to work hard scrubbing floors and milking cows, so we can have clean office buildings and delicious milk in our cereal.

Despite the clouds, days are getting noticeably longer.  The sun will set at 5:01 pm with dusk around 5:31 pm, which is 1 minutes and 17 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 47 minutes of daylight, an increase of 2 minutes and 11 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 31 degrees at 6am. 17 degrees above normal. West wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2016, it got down to 20 degrees under partly cloudy skies. The record low of -23 occurred back in 1994.

As previously noted, next Thursday is Ground Hog Day when the sun will be setting at 5:10 pm with dusk at 5:40 pm. On that day in 2016, we had partly sunny skies and temperatures between 46 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1981.

I’m still giggling over that article that I had some country boys calling Hillary Clinton a mean old heifer. Like all stereotypes, there is a lot of truths about it, even if it’s ugly and awful. Hillary was one of the worse candidates Democrats have had in a generation. That said she was put forward in era of rising expectations by Democratic activists and forced to be a bad candidate by those who pushed her so far to the left. I told people that 2016 was going to be a lot like 1968, and so it turned out to be. Unfortunately for us all, the Republicans nominated a megalomaniac fire cracker that’s going to blow up in all our hands. So be it, we are all victims of the results of our elections. Public policy can always be reversed in future years.  So far, I’m not a fan of the new President, but that’s not to be expected as a liberal Democrat.

The first chart is up on the blog today. Didn’t work earlier in the morning, but it has been fixed. Minor typo in the code. Many others are being worked on, and as I master ChartJS, I expect the diagrams and charts only improve. I’ve been wanting to add charts for a while on the blog but I had to implement and fully test the supporting code. There is a few glitches to fix over the weekend and I hope to further automate the code to make it easier to create new graphs and charts.