Going to be a beautiful day for riding to work. Carrot pancakes, need to stop at Hannaford to get bananas on the way in as a snack as I’ve not been shopping this week. Felt good to toss that empty plastic milk bottle in the trash on Earth Day knowing soon enough I’ll get it burnt, lol. Makes an excellent fire starter. Gotta celebrate Vladmir Lennin’s birthday with a little black smoke, as you turn the dirt with your plow or spreading manure on this Earth Day.

Good morning! Mostly sunny and 39 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 3 am. ☃️

Didn’t get a real early start 🛏 as when I first awoke I had a bit of nausea like I had been spinning. 🤯But once I finally got out of bed, got some coffee and carrot 🥕 pancakes 🥞 in me I was feeling better. I think I just have a bad case of the Monday’s. I am looking forward to the ride to work today, going to be a nice day. The weekend was cloudy, colder and wetter then expected but I had a lot of fun in the woods and a nice fire 🔥, rode some trail 🚵 and went for a nice five mile hike at Huyck Preserve.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 55 degrees at 5pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 7th. Northwest wind around 10 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 68 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1985. 1.0 inches of snow fell back in 1928.❄

Going to stop on the way to work and get some bananas and apples at Hannaford 🍎 🍌 Got to fuel up for the busy week ahead, and I like having lots of fresh fruits and veggies to snack on when I’m in the office.  🤤 On the bike ride home I will stop and get more onions 🧅 and frozen fruit and veggies, and try to use up what I have around the apartment rather then doing a full grocery shop 🛒 until at least Wednesday, as I want to get down to the park after work to walk and read.  🚶📚️ I figure why fire up Red and spend a bunch of money on groceries 🛻 when I have a fair amount bar the fruit and vegetables, 🐄 which I can pick up riding to and from work. Also need to get more milk at Stewart’s. I know more plastic! 

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:54 pm with sun having an altitude of 59.8° from the due south horizon (-11.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:07 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (282°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (288°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:46 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 8:15 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (119°) at an altitude of 16° from the horizon, 250,219 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:52 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 51 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 46 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over yesterday.

I think it’s interesting how the greenies this year are focusing on single use plastics 💚 on Earth Day. Gets a little bit silly but I think they needed a new issue as they got their climate legislation through on the state level 🌎 but only time will tell what the effect is beyond using a lot of farm land and forest for massive solar farms. I’d be more concerned about the really toxic things in garbage today like all the electronics commonly discarded. ☠️ Or all the wasted building materials not the silly little plastic water bottles that are a tiny part of waste production made out of the least toxic forms of plastic – polyethylene. ♻ I really should get milk 🥛 delivery set up with Meadow Brook but it’s a pain having to call as they don’t have a website, and at least in the winter months I do recycle most of the discarded Stewart’s milk bottles. I wish they still had milk in glass for less trash like Byrne Dairy does. 🐮 I don’t drink as much milk as I once did since getting into healthy eating, preferring to drink more water from the tap, 🚰 but I still think those milk bottles take up much too much room in the trash or the recycle  ♻️ when so inclined.

Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 31 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 1st. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming south after midnight. In 2023, we had thunderstorm in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 43 degrees. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1975.

First half of the weekend looks decent Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 62. Maximum dew point of 41 at 4pm. ☀ Not too bad but certainly can change. Sunday, a chance of showers. 🌦️ Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 53 at 3pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 65 degrees. It is what it is, good I got out last weekend.

I am not opposed to doing a three-day weekend and heading up to the Adirondacks  🏕️  but only f the weather looks good. It would be nice to spend some time in the wilderness, have a good fire  🔥 and ride trail or explore the back country  🚵 before black flies are out in mass, 🦟 but only if the weather ain’t shit. 💩 I kind of want to wait until things green up  🌱 before heading out to Schoharie County to camp, and eat fresh ramps I found in the woods, and ride the Catskill Scenic Trail from Stamford to Bloomville 🚵‍♂️ and back again, enjoying the colors of spring and the smell of all that freshly turned dirt.🚜 Maybe that will be Mother’s Day Weekend.

Looking ahead, there are 9 weeks until Latest Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:38 pm with dusk at 9:12 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 86 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 82 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1943.

Well we know who is going to be living high on the hog today. Not me, but the government certainly will be as $1,600 is transferred from my bank account to the state and feds. I think I did end up overpaying the state due to a mistake on my tax returns, but alas either state tax and finance will catch my mistake or I’ll file an amended return and get like $400 back. With high interest rates and lots of dividends, it was a good year last one, and I ended up making more then I expected so I didn’t deduct enough from my paycheck.

Good morning on this Tax Day! You know how I feel about that. Cranky, especially as I think each year we get a little less and less out of government while it cost more and more, as it eats up more and more resources and demands more growth. 🐉 Fog and 44 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌫️ Calm wind.The skies will clear around 6 am.

Yeah, I do need to adjust my paycheck deductions upwards further 💸 I think this year and I do need to plan on making an appointment to meet with an CPA to decide better ways to manage my taxes going forward, especially if I’m thinking of potentially buying land 🚜 later this year to build a cabin 🛖, that is if I decide to stay in New York. Last night I was actually watching a movie on Kanopy — the free library app for watching documentaries — on a 30-year old that went and built a Tiny Home on wheels. It was an interesting video 📺️ but really not for me. I like the idea of small but I would want something a little more permanent and long lasting, small but not tiny. Maybe modular or maybe stick built, with an actual foundation and complying with building codes for energy and fire safety. 🧯

Today will have patchy dense fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 60 degrees at 5pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 16th. Light northwest wind becoming west 11 to 16 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 84 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 2003. 2.4 inches of snow fell back in 2014.❄

Going to be decent enough to ride to work, 🚴‍♂️ get some exercise and save on the bus fare. I know I can ride into today and tomorrow, but the second half of the week looks a bit dicey with the forecast. 🌲There is a Save the Pine Bush meeting tonight at 6 PM via the Zoom, but I should be able to ride and be home before then. Might do the meeting while I’m cooking dinner.

Around 7 AM the fire alarm went off again 🧑‍🚒 — first time that’s happened in a while which is surprising as I have most of my windows open but it’s pretty foggy and humid. I cleaned the smoke detector with canned air the other day which seemed to help somewhat. At least it hasn’t been going off at night. I made sure to open the remainder of the windows in my apartment and it should be good with plenty of fresh air once the fog burns off and things warm up.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 57.4° from the due south horizon (-13.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:00 pm with the sun in the west (278°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (285°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:38 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 8:07 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the south-southwest (211°) at an altitude of 71° from the horizon, 245,994 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:43 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 54 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 11 mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over today.

Still having issues with my phone screen acting up. 📲 At some point I really do need to get a new phone and my boots have holes in them 🥾 but with inflation you know you gotta cut corners wherever you can.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 39 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 20th. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light west. In 2023, we had partly cloudy skies. It got down to 57 degrees. The record low of 22 occurred back in 1981.

I’d like to get out of town this weekend 🏕️ but it all comes down to the weather and whether or not not the state budget is done. Looks cool and maybe cloudy to start the way. Maybe take a three-day weekend if the state budget is done. Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 52. Monday, mostly sunny, with a high near 59. That’s actually kind of cold for the second half of April, at least by historic standards. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees.

As previously noted, next Monday is Earth Day 🌎 when the sun will be setting at 7:47 pm with dusk at 8:15 pm. On that day in 2023, we had rain showers and temperatures between 68 and 53 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 63 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 1985.