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July 9, 2021 Morning

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Get away day, at least after my eye exam 👀. I can see clearly now. At least as long as I don’t fail my exam. Need to pass it for my driver’s license. 🚘 Next Friday is Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆. That’s why in two weeks I’m heading west to the Finger Lakes where I can find more sun in the evening. And good places to swim 🏊🏻‍♂️ on summer vacation. 🏖 Cloudy and 68 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 67 degrees. The skies will clear around 11 pm.

I have a lot of my gear packed 💼 and I just have to get my personal stuff like deodorant and towels packed and coolers ready to go. Then I will be able to leave directly from the eye doctor to head up north. I am probably going to stay there until Tuesday working remote Monday and Tuesday in Spectulator. I’m thinking Piseco-Powley Road but I could change my mind as I’m thinking I haven’t done White House or Pumpkin Hollow in some time. ⛺ Not going to be a real nice weekend to spend at the Potholers and it would be nicer to be closer to Spectulator come Monday. I just don’t want to camp anywhere this weekend where I have cell service and all those obnoxious distractions. Also, where ever I stay needs to be well drained as it’s been so wet the past few days.

Supposedly the landlord fixed the clog in the sewer lateral toilet 🚽 although truth be told it wasn’t effecting my unit too much and any flooding never reached my unit. I don’t know if he actually had to do anything as my toilet drained fine by morning.

Today will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. 🌦 High of 78 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 11th. Maximum dew point of 70 at 1pm. 🏖️ South wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was humid. The high last year was 94 degrees. The record high of 103 was set in 1936.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.7° from the due south horizon (-1.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:53 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (295°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (302°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:35 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 24 seconds with dusk around 9:08 pm, which is 26 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:54 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 75 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 10 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and 1am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 63 degrees at 4am. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 6pm. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2020, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was very sticky. It got down to 74 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1963.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers between 1pm and 2pm, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 77 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 8th. Maximum dew point of 64 at 8am. North wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was humid. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 100 was set in 1936.

Looking ahead to Sunday, a slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. ☀️Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 65 at 4pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

Today in 1850, U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore. 🐮🍓🥤 While the Weston Price foundation and the good ol boys who drink straight out of the bulk tank won’t agree, pasteurization has saved a lot of lives.

As previously noted, next Friday is Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:30 pm with dusk at 9:04 pm. On that day in 2020, we had rain and temperatures between 80 and 65 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1900.

May 9, 2019 Night

Good evening! Rain showers and 57 degrees ☔ Breezy, ️18 mph breeze from the south-southeast 🌬 with gusts up to 29 mph 💨💨💨. You can hear the wind blowing around. The skies will clear Saturday around 2 am.

I went over to John Wolcott’s house for a while to keep going through his files. 📂 I found a few interesting tidbits and a lot of other random stuff that both of us struggled to figure out. Never know what you will find in the archives. I’m more interested in contemporary history although lately I’ve not seen much of that in the boxes.

John was saying Another Save the Pine Bush person is donating their family land to conservation. 🌳I think that’s a wonderful thing to do. If some day I own 50 or 100 acres of a mountain somewhere it would be nice to donate it to a state forest preserve after my time has gone and the house is burned to the ground and the foundation backfilled in. It’s not like I’m going to need it when my time is thru.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after midnight. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 52 degrees at 3am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 30th. South wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 56 degrees. The record low of 28 occurred back in 1958.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 39% illuminated with the moon setting at 12:58 am. The moon will set at 1:00 am. The First Quarter Moon will be tomorrow with mostly cloudy skies. The Flower Moon 🌝 is on Friday, May 17th. The sun will rise at 5:38 am with the first light at 5:07 am, which is one minute and 11 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and 33 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 5pm. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 66 degrees at 5pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 5th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 4pm. South wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. I think the Western Adirondacks may have more. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 73 degrees. The record high of 92 was set in 1970. 5.0 inches of snow fell back in 1945.❄

I decided to call off the weekend trip. Saturday may be half decent but the inch plus of rain we may get tomorrow – especially in the Western Adirondacks – doesn’t sound real nice. ⛺ Unless a campsite is well drained, it’s going to be saturated as will all the wood for burning. 🔥 I am a little worried about the campsites at Stewart Landing being really wet, as I don’t think they are particularly well drained and there always is some big mud puddles back there, and honestly the ground is not really firm as snow has been gone from that area less than a month now. Plus parking tomorrow in the city with the tulip festival 🌷 would be a female dog 🐶.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Saturday doesn’t look bad but the woods will be so wet. Maximum dew point of 41 at 6am. Maybe I could hike Platte Kill Road in West Saugerties through the gorge? Sunday, a slight chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Typical average high for the weekend is 68 degrees. I’ll take it one day at a time I guess. I’m hoping now for better weather come Memorial Day Weekend.

I’d love to have a big ass fire 🔥 and drink some beer 🍻 but things can wait until Memorial Day Weekend. Probably black flies will be bad that weekend ant 🐜 but that’s what staying up late is all about. Hopefully the ground will dry out by then. If

After reading that Bloomberg article 📰 on wealthy hermits without wills I’m actually kind of fascinated by the topic – and hermits more generally. I know that I at some point should write a will 📝, especially as I acquire property and would like it eventually to be public land 🌲for hunting and recreation. I really like the idea of the simple life, living in the backwoods without all the material crap of modernity. Maybe a 4×4 truck, al tractor 🚜 and an ATV but duck a television 📺 or home internet.

In four weeks on June 6 the sun will be setting at 8:30 pm,🌄 which is 25 minutes and 38 seconds later then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 72 and 48 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 75 and 54 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1925.

I am thinking now about a June trip to Moss Island. 🌼 It will be warmer than and maybe more wildflowers at that point. I believe Green Acres dairy bar 🍦will be open and I can grab a burger 🍔 after hiking and then camp ⛺ up on Piseco Powley Road and if it’s warm enough out cool off in the potholers.

Looking ahead, Average High is 70 🐮 is in 1 weeks, Summer ️⛱️ is in 6 weeks, Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 8 weeks, August 🌻 is in 12 weeks and Last Sunset After 7 PM 🌆 is in 21 weeks.

Happy Tax Day 🤑

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.

The Beautiful Springtime Sunday Isn’t Expected to Last 🌸

I guess enjoy it while you still can. It will be a nice morning for driving to the Glenmont to get groceries and supplies, maybe fill the propane tank in preparation of traveling next weekend should the weather be decent. I adjusted my bike derailleur and aired up the tires but who knows if I’ll get a chance to ride before the rain returns. I should also replace at least one of the bad windshield wipers too.

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Partly sunny and 44 degrees in Delmar. 🌤️ There is a west breeze at 6 mph. 🍃.

Out to Walmart this morning 🛒 to by food and the plastic packaging it comes in for fire starters 🔥 then over to Tractor Supply 🏮 to get propane so I’m ready to get out camping. 🌧️ As rain is coming later on today, I should also look at getting a windshield wiper blade for my truck. ⛽️ Then gas things up as I want to keep my truck full because with the Middle East going to all shit and summer coming, prices are only going to go up. Hello, inflation my old friend, how are you doing? Unfortunately I am concerned the Middle East situation causing inflation is going to mean elderly Joe Biden is going to get his clocked cleaned this November by the soon-to-be-convicted felon, Donald John Trump. But maybe it’s good, as government really needs to get knocked down a peg or two.

Today will have a chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. 🌦 High of 55 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 11th. Maximum dew point of 46 at 6pm. 🏖️ West wind 6 to 9 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 89 degrees. The record high of 83 was set in 1968. 1.4 inches of snow fell back in 1950.❄

While this morning is real nice, 🌞👉️🌧️ it’s going to turn to rain much too early this afternoon it seems. Getting shopping though before the rain will be nice, and I might try to squeeze in a bike ride later on now that I’ve adjusted the derailleur on my bike and aired up the tires. 🚴‍♂️ It should be a good for riding in at least the first half of the work week. Heading out to the parents house this evening, 👨‍👩‍👦 It’s good to visit the family, as you never know how many times you’ll get another chance to do it. If the rain holds off, I’d like a chance to get some exercise — be it a bike ride or an evening walk 🚶 but based on the latest forecast I’m not that hopeful.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 57° from the due south horizon (-13.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:59 pm with the sun in the west (278°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (284°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:37 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 8:05 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the west-southwest (239°) at an altitude of 66° from the horizon, 243,304 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:41 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 54 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday ended up staying home 🏠️spending a lot of the day reading and thinking 💭 or maybe better said dreaming. I finished up a book on permaculture 🧑‍🌾 and one on beef farming 🐂 and was doing another book on Java programming 🖥️ and ended up digging into writing C code and working with CSV and Excel files 🤓, as I want to improve my C programming skills as a lot of the code we work with at work is written in C.

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a chance of showers between 10pm and 11pm. 🌧 Low of 47 degrees at 4am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 5th. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 52 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1940.

Been watching as the landlord works on the unit next door. 👷‍♂️ Been doing quite the gutting of the next door apartment, but I realize it’s been a least a decade since that unit was overhauled and I think it needed a lot of work as does my unit. 🧹 I don’t feel nearly as guilty for all the wear and tear in my apartment, things wear out and building materials — especially cheap ones like my apartment is made up — have a fairly limited lifespan. The refigerator in my apartment is more then 30 years old, and I am sure the carpets and floor are probably at least that old if not older. The mold issues aren’t my problem, or the water that is everywhere due to issues with the foundation not being properly insulated and the building not properly vented. 🏚️ It’s a cheap, dumpy apartment but despite all my complaints I kind of love it and hope to stay here until I find a permanent home.

Looking ahead to May, which isn’t that far away, there are 3 weeks until Cinco de Mayo 🤠 when the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm with dusk at 8:31 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 68 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1944.

Keeping moving forward 👣

One of my fears is that I will get stuck in the process of buying land and building a cabin on it. In many ways, it’s a much more complicated and drawn out process then simply looking at a house, going through a well established path of real estate agents, title searches, house inspection, and traditional mortgage but it also turns out not to be an impossible project without many construction skills or equipment.

In some ways buying raw or minimally developed land (such as an old trailer site or badly damaged home with some infrastructure), especially with cash is a much harder road to hoe. While I haven’t totally written off getting a mortgage — there are tax benefits, namely you can reduce your total income by the amount you pay in mortgage interest — the cost of money these days makes it seem like a waste. And I worry about getting ripped off, and regulatory issues more generally as all of this world is very new and complicated to me. I’ve always preferred to pay with cash, it’s generally cheaper though it will involve cashing out stocks and paying a shit ton of Capital Gains taxes.

Where I am today

Right now I am at the stage at studying parcels that are currently on the market and giving it some thought. What is out there without a home? What are the prices? How far from work? How close to neighbors or potential neighbors who could complain about things to the town? Since drafting my first draft of the homestead and cabin on Saturday, I think I have a better idea — the priority being having the right redneck kind of neighbors, general distance from neighbors, ability to homestead with livestock and have bonfires, ride an ATV around the property, heat with wood, compost, garden and use on-site solar to avoid being tied to growing expense of the dirty power of the electrical grid. Buy and build what I actually want, even if that’s somewhat more expensive then I’d like to spend and not what other people want from the property.

I’m teaching myself LibreCAD so I can draw my vision for the home and the property that I want in a way that is presentable to potential sellers or their real estate agents, town building officials, and architects. I am not a very good hand drawer, and knowing at least some CAD and floor plan design drawing techniques will be good to illustrate my vision to the appropriate people. While I am sure not all of my ideas can be implemented due to regulatory and cost reasons, being able to have a clear idea of what I want on paper, in an easily readable form will make it much easier to obtain what I want.

Maybe the best way to judge my progress is to have a rough time table :

Going forward

Late Winter 2024
- Apply for conventional mortgage to learn more about the process, see what credit resources are available and investigate conventional properties in rural areas sold by conventional realtors.
- Read library books on the process of buying a home
- Start the conversation with friends about what their experience is on buying rural land and homesteads, what resources they used, what contractors and banks they utilized
- Draft up on paper what I am thinking I want my “practical dream” homestead and house would like so I can present my idea to various friends, colleagues, realtors, and town officials.
- Change from buying additional stock to saving in an a high-interest savings account
Spring 2024
- Turn my paper draft of what my “practical dream” homestead into a CAD project that I can present to others to get feedback.
- Learn more about the process of building a home by reading and talking to people, specifically the process of working with an architect, getting town approval, selecting a quality, reliable contractor.
- Learn more about building materials and methods, including what is the latest in affordable off-grid solar.
- Continue to study properties on the market and tax records, write code to analyze the pros and cons of various properties.
- Grab the latest list of tax-delinquent properties from the county, match against county tax maps and records, and see if there are properties worth pursuing. Write owners listed on tax records via certified mail.
- Drive the back roads, looking for abandoned or vacant properties then pulling up their owners from the tax records, searching to the internet to see if the owner passed away or what the story is about the reasons for being abandoned. Write owners listed on tax records via certified mail.
Summer 2024
- Develop a list of properties that meet my desired criteria and have been preliminarily vetted using publicly available GIS data like tax maps, LiDAR, orthophotography — new and old. Run my analysis code on the slope and direction of the land, along with consulting DEC wetland maps, distance to other properties, especially other homes, and other potential nuisances such as junk yards, barnyards, dumping grounds.
- Reach out to property owners and realtors to confirm the property is still available and to get tours of the land, sharing my vision for the land.
- Work with an architect to draft plans for the cabin
- Develop a short list of contractors to build the home
- Develop a short list of companies to drill the well, put in the road/improve the road, put in the septic tank and leach field
- Meet with town officials to discuss my vision for the property, including showing a draft architectural drawing, or at least my own concept
Fall/Winter 2024
- Work to close the deal on the land after title searches, consulting with a real estate lawyer, getting the land perc tested for septic, speaking to neighbors about their experience with drilling wells and other potential nuisance concerns with the land, such as something they’ve heard about the land like dumped toxins or flooding that is non-obvious from public records and GIS data.
- Do not renew my certificate of deposit but keep those funds in a Savings Account, possibly start cashing out some of the stocks and bonds I have saved, reserving funds to cover Capital Gains taxes.
- Try to close the deal on property, paying with cash if possible. While I will have to pay a full year’s worth of taxes on the undeveloped property, having it on the bag with tentative approval for the cabin for plans would make it worth it.
- Potentially have some infrastructure work done on the property — improving the road, water well, septic, etc. Might make sense to wait until the new year due to delay Capital Gains tax hit.
Late Winter/Spring 2025
- End my lease for the rented apartment and move out onto the land, camping or using my truck camper (assuming this is allowed — it’s possible at that point that Big Red will be replaced but can be taken off the road, used for hauling gear around the site and camping out of).
- Live on the land, getting to know it well. Maybe get chickens and rabbits for eggs and mea, a shed to store things including the well pump and gasoline generator.
- Have finished the infrastructure improvements, especially the driveway/roadway to cabin, site foundation.
- Work on getting the septic and water put in.
- Work with contractor to get town permits secured to build the cabin.
Summer 2025
- Work with the contractor to have the cabin built to the point it’s habitable with water and septic and plumbing but not fully complete inside, work with building inspector to get certificate of occupancy based on minimal legal completion
- Get the cabin to the point where it’s waterproof and secure, start to move inside
Fall/Winter 2025
- Get woodstove and propane heaters professionally installed and up to code
- Have cabin fully insulated and ready for winter so pipes don’t freeze and I have a comfortable place to spend the winter
- While I don’t anticipate having the solar done at this point, I can string up extension cords from the gas generator, a few small solar panels and batteries, use small portable lighting through the winter — rather live “without electricity” for a winter to really get to know the land and spread out the tax costs
- Finalize the design of the solar equipment, inverter, and batteries
- Work on completing parts of the interior such as flooring and walls, working with an electrician to do the breaker box, while doing some of electrical wiring myself with review of the electrician and town building inspector.
2026
- Have internal electrical wiring and fixtures finished and approved by the electrician and building inspector.
- Obtain, mount and install solar panels, inverter, batteries.
- Work to complete inside walls and flooring
- Secure a full-size, energy efficient 120 volt refrigerator and full-size gas oven and range for the kitchen
2027
- Add additional solar panels to the system
- Add a chest freezer for storage of meat in unheated shed or building overhang
- Build a shed or small barn, start adding goats and/or maybe hogs to the homestead
- Various site improvements

I found the perfect property yesterday … except for that one little dealbreaker 🏠

Ironically, not one I drove by but one I found on Zillow that had been by years ago on my back-roads explorations, and dirt cheap at $90k. But just a little bit too far away from work, and it was on Travis Hill, which is steep probably isn’t well maintained in the winter. But I loved everything else about it — 6 1/2 acres of land, no close neighbors, a simple 1,050 square foot beam-foundation cabin with a central wood stove and also back up oil heat, shower, flush toilet, well, septic, and electricity. But probably the price had to do with the location and that the inside needs a bit of cleaning and repair. I do wish something like that could be what I called home.

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Sunny and 13 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around noontime. 🌡️ Hopefully the final last real cold day of the year. At least that’s my hope as I want to keep the heat off for the season, especially with all the air leaks in my apartment. I don’t mind the cold but the pipes can’t freeze.

Today it’s off to Walmart to get groceries and then some cleaning, 🧹 🧽 and maybe a short bike ride 🚴‍♀️ before going out to see the folks this morning. Then this afternoon, I’m hoping to visit with my friend from Boy Scouts who has that beautiful homestead out near Greenville, 🚜 and learn whatever insight I can from him.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 39 degrees at 4pm. Typical for today. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became snow by afternoon. The high last year was 21 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2017. 16.8 inches of snow fell back in 1966.❄

Going to be a nice day for driving around and looking at property. 🏠 I hope to learn a lot. After discovering that cabin on Zillow the other day, I’m starting to explore the pros and cons of having something constructed like that for me, but smaller. I don’t need a second floor, really a single room with a stove, oven, sink, woodstove, table, rocking chair and bed plus a bathroom would really be what I need. Less stuff to clean or maintain. I 🪵 like the idea of a beam-foundation cabin, as it’s less expensive then a full basement, provides easier access for maintance of pipes, though you have to worry more about pipes freezing, animals burrowing underneath plus sufficient insulation to keep the cold from coming on up. 🛖

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 38.1° from the due south horizon (-32.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:01 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (252°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (258°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:40 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 6:07 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:41 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over yesterday.

Just another Sunday, Funday. 🏘 I wish I could find my dream property right away, but I concede it’s going to take time. I got the Albany County back taxes list, and I am going to link it to the NYS Property Tax Database, to see if there is any interesting parcels with back taxes. 🤖 Maybe I can find an abandoned homestead and house that way, one that hasn’t gone to the land bank, but maybe I can find the owner and make some kind of deal. Then back to work on Monday. 👨‍💼

Tonight will have a slight chance of sleet before midnight, then a slight chance of snow showers and sleet between midnight and 1am, then a chance of snow showers after 1am. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a low of 28 degrees at 3am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -11 occurred back in 1950.

Hopefully just one more day that I’ll need the heat on. ♨️ Maybe tomorrow will be warm enough to open up windows and let some fresh air into my moldy, dusty apartment. I don’t pay much for the heat because I keep it so low, but I like the fresh air and I don’t like things excessively warm, especially with my heated blanket. Plus with all the air leaks in my apartment, whenever the heat does kick on, it gets excessively warm, especially in the bathroom. So I’ll be happy when it’s done for the year. I’m just hoping to be out of here by the end of the year.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Daylight Savings Time 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 6:57 pm with dusk at 7:24 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 44 and 20 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 43 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 1977.

Shed-to-Homes and Cabins

I often read a lot about alternative living arrangements from the modern suburbanite way of living. I don’t want a 3,000 square feet home with vinyl siding, I’d be quite happy with a small floor plan structure that is easy to clean. I’ve been reading a lot about cabins, tiny homes, shed-to-home and off-grid-living to see what kind of options are available today. Lots of land, tiny house is what I would prefer. Shelter is important,

The Shed-to-Homes, which are popping up like daisies in the rural south are quite interesting. They are a little more problematic in the north due to concerns over snow-loading, insulation, and zoning codes due to size of the beams they’re built with — below the 6 inches state code requires. They can be done, and I’ve seen them done in a few places of Rural New York but they’re a bit challenging to get approved with state and local codes, especially if they are a permanent foundation. That said, I’m not really interested in setting down roots in New York State. Too expensive, too many regulations, too anti-second amendment and too opposed to self-reliance. It’s fine living in an apartment in New York, but it’s not my future.

Some of the smaller cabins I’ve seen are quite nice too. I was very impressed with the Thomas Mountain Cabin that the DEC recently burnt to the ground and hauled off to thel andfill. Cabins are typically much more robust structure, and free of some of the formaldehyde treated wood that is commonly used to build the shed-to-homes. They are somewhat more expensive, and pre-built you are a lot more limited to customizing the building. I want to go totally off-grid and minimalist. A so complicated, full-featured cabin is not something I’m really interested in. I would rather have something I could do the wiring myself on, primarily focused on 12 volt, low voltage, low amperage design primarily for LED-based lighting and a few higher amperage drawing things like an energy-efficient refrigerator/freezer, water pump, and a laptop charger.

Tiny homes more generally are interesting too. The smaller the home, the easier to heat with wood or maybe anthracite coal. Well insulated building, they will use a lot less fuel and can be heated with smaller fires. Less area to clean and maintain, less area to collect stuff that becomes clutter. I’m not into all of the fancy artsy designs, I’m more concerned with what is durable, inexpensive, and easy to clean. My truck camper is nice, but it’s not insulated, it’s unheated and it’s a bit to small to really spend much time in except for bedtime.

Whatever I end up doing, once I have the money, knowledge and technical capacity, it’s not going to be the boring conventional way of living. I want to have my freedom, not be dependent on the fossil-fuel grid or all of the modern ways that people take for granted. I want to be able to have money for nice toys like four wheelers and guns, be able to burn wood and trash, shoot guns and ride four wheelers in my backyard, and just be left alone by the government.

Andy Arthur.org

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