March 22, 2018 Night

Good evening! Partly clear🌌 and 32 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Not a half bad evening, having just got back from my evening walk. Even though I’m not under 35 anymore I went to the Young Democrats meeting at City Beer Hall because I like drinking Utica Club at City Beer Hall. I really got into drinking Utica Club out there in Utica but that’s hard to find in the Albany area. I’m a Democrat but sometimes I’m cynical about some of the things my party does to appeal to its base.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 25 degrees at 5am. Three degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 24 at 10pm; Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. In 2017, we had clear skies. It got down to 13 degrees. The record low of -4 occurred back in 1875.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 34% illuminated with the moon setting at 12:53 am. It was a pretty nice moon when I was out walking, I’d consider sitting out back if it was a bit warmer. The First Quarter Moon will be tomorrow with a chance of showers. The Blue Moon 🌝 is on Friday, March 30th. The sun will rise at 6:53 am with the first light at 6:25 am, which is one minute and 45 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 11 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 56 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have some scattered snow showers, mainly after 4pm. Mostly cloudy ❄ , with a high of 41 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal. Northwest wind 6 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 80 was set in 1938. 2.7 inches of snow fell back in 2005.❄

I wish we could have more sun tomorrow but I’m fine with it at least getting nicer for the weekend. 😎 But I’m really looking forward to it finally warming up and getting nicer come April.

Cool but fairly sunny this weekend. 😨Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 41. North wind 6 to 9 mph. Sunday, scattered snow showers, mainly before 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 48 degrees.

Saturday is my niece’s birthday party so I’ll probably visit my parents that day. 🎂Sunday I am thinking about going out with the Young Democrats to Utica to knock on doors for Anthony Brindisi.β˜‘📃 I think he can win that Congressional seat and I worked on one of his races and long time ago and was quite impressed by him. I think it’s petitioning they are doing right now but I don’t know as congress is a different schedule than state races. It would be fun to volunteer on a political campaign, as except for David Bissember in Troy last year I’ve not volunteered for a political campaign in a long time. 📮When you work in politics professionally, it’s rare to get to actually volunteer going door to door. Plus it sounds like a fun day.

If the Democrats win back the house then it will be good for keeping the president accountable. 🏰Policy wise I’m not sure the Senate is really on the table based on the number of seats Democrats have to defend themselves but we’d never get sixty votes and the president still has the veto pen.βœ’ But I’m fine with that as both parties need an effective check on one and another. I have my views on guns but I also believe federal action is important on climate change and automobile emissions. The problem isn’t rednecks rolling coal or having bonfires its the millions who live in the cities and suburbs.

I was looking today at my pay stub trying to judge the impact of deferring more of my compensation, and found for the first three months of the year I averaged $900 a month in payroll taxes – social security, federal and state taxes. 💰Seems like a lot of money when you figure your rent is only $650 a month. 🏡 Maybe I need to start saving more money for retirement pre tax and less as post tax Roth IRA or general investment. I do like the idea of a Roth IRA being free of taxes when mature but maybe I’m paying too much in taxes especially if I’m looking at moving eventually to a non-state tax state🌄 for my off grid cabin eventually. The states that have lax gun and open burning laws to say nothing of low property taxes and no zoning are also low state income tax. The Trump tax cuts helped a lot with my taxes and increased take home pay but not having children or student loans, and being a renter I get killed by taxes. I do get paid fairly well with my seniority but most of the money goes towards retirement and savings for that day when I can afford to buy land and a off grid cabin. It’s a dream a ways off but every dollar invested in market paper and FDIC savings is one dollar closer. Markets will go up and down but once your in and you wait it will grow eventually.

Yesterday I got the Warm White LEDs in the mail I ordered from China. πŸ’‘They seem fine but I couldn’t test them as I didn’t have a USB breakout board soldered together ready for use. I’m thinking of using them for several projects including a decorative wall star for my niece’s bedroom. I just need free time, some more foam board and silver sparkly paint.🌠 And some time to solder it together. But I’m thinking I could make something special as a gift. Lately I’ve been so busy with work and everything else, and it’s been quite emotionally draining. Just a lot going on in the office.

In four weeks on April 19 the sun will be setting at 7:42 pm,🌄 which is 31 minutes and 57 seconds later then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had rain, drizzle, cloudy skies and temperatures between 54 and 45 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 60 and 39 degrees. The record high of 92 degrees was set back in 1976.

Looking ahead, Average High is 80 🏖 is in 3 months and Thanksgiving 🦃 is in 8 months.

🇺🇸🦅Only 63 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🦅🇺🇸

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