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Cold mid-April morning 🌥️

Started out my day bright and early around 5 AM cooking up a big pan of veggies, eggs and some cornmeal with lots of turmeric and red chili peppers to ensure my nose still ran well. Did some reading, finishing up the e-book on green building I had form the library, continuing that e-book on sustainable farming and java programming.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Another shit weather weekend. 💩 That’s how I feel about this weekend’s forecast, now that the windows are closed in my apartment. 🪟 I like the fresh air, the lack of it makes me a bit cranky. Mostly cloudy with a few hints of sun, 🌥️ and 48 degrees in Delmar. Much colder then yesterday, and certainly quite a bit below normal. There is a south-southwest breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear around 10 pm.

One of the first things on my agenda 🔧 is to perform the usual adjustments on my bike 🚲️ to keep the gears working well. I also want to do scrub down some of the walls in my apartment and floor as the floors were soaked yesterday after all the rain and wet weather we’ve been having lately. 🌧️ I could smell the mold starting to grow once again. This place is such a run down dump, 🏚️ but let’s be honest, I kind of like it as it is. That said, I do like having the windows open. Fresh air is good.

Today will have a chance of showers. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 49 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 26th. Breezy, with a southwest wind 13 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 38 mph. S Chance of precipitation is 50%. Going to be a fairly cool day by mid-April standards. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had sunny skies. The high last year was 89 degrees, breaking the previously set record. But not today. 5.5 inches of snow fell back in 1950.❄

Thinking of heading out early for a ride out to Voorheesville 🚴‍♂️ before the wind picks up an things cloud up. I am actually happy to see a bit of blue sky 🌬️ but I know it’s not going to last with rain more likely later. I might then go down to the library. 📚️ They are renovating the unit next door now that my neighbor with the big garbage pile moved out. A bit noisy with all the construction going on. 👷‍♀️ New landlord seems to be pretty good at maintaining the yard so far and has been friendly. Rent is going up in June, but it’s not that much — $800 a month in these inflationary times isn’t bad. 🏘️ I’m kind of hoping for a new lease, so I can stay another year while I continue to evaluate my options.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 56.6° from the due south horizon (-14.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:58 pm with the sun in the west (277°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (284°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:36 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 8:04 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the west-southwest (256°) at an altitude of 57° from the horizon, 240,404 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:40 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. Breezy, 22 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 46mph. Today will have 13 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday evening, did a nice bike ride out to Five Rivers. 🚴‍♂️ It was a nice evening, with the spring peepers 🐸 singing their songs and red-winged black birds chirping along. 🐦️ One of the cows was out loose on Meads Lane 🐮 . It was a pleasant evening, came home and read for a while, 📖 the headed off to bed.

Tonight will be cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 39 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 20th. Breezy, with a west wind 13 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 58 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1973. More rain come Sunday.

I’m hoping next week to get out camping. 🏕️ It all depends on how things go weather wise, but it’s been a few weeks since I last spent a night in the wilderness. Thinking about the Green Mountains, maybe taking a three day weekend, but it depends on what roads are open. I could also do Rensslearville State Forest or maybe Madison County. Not sure, I need to think about it a bit more.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Arbor Day 🌳 when the sun will be setting at 7:52 pm with dusk at 8:21 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, patches of fog and temperatures between 62 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 65 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1962.

Old Lebanon Road

Long since abandoned and posted when you get into New York State, you can see the old drainage culvert and rock cut where the road once run.

Taken on Saturday April 10, 2021 at Pittsfield State Forest.

How Much Land Do I Need Eventually?

Driving out to the Green Mountain National Forest via Sand Lake, there was a sign advertising 6 to 10 acre house sites. My parents have 8 acres where they live in Westerlo, and I think the town requires a least 3 acres for new home sites, to protect the rural character of the land, even if it ultimately is just promoting sprawl and McMansions with abandoned, farm fields reverting back to woods.

When I eventually move out to the country, I want to own enough land to be back from the road, have privacy, be able to shoot guns, have bonfires, heat wood, burn trash and debris, and listen to music as loud as I want to. I’m not into burning junk tires or super amplified music, but I do like have my freedom to do what I want with my land, and nobody knowing or caring. If I want to butcher a deer or hog in my backyard, so be it. I guess you could figure out far you have to be from the road to be screened, how far smoke travels, how loud your guns are. Obviously, you have to respect local laws on when you burn and how far you have to be from other people’s homes and barns to be shooting. But we all knows that sometimes smoke and noise travels farther then you would like, and that’s why it’s important to have the right kind of neighbors.

No matter how remote you live, there are always neighbors down the way. Many country folk don’t give a fuck about how other people live their life, to them it’s live and let live. Which is good. But it only takes one person to call the cops when they smell the wrong kind of smoke, or are bothered by noise of shooting or music. Rednecks are usually good neighbors while the nosy, moved out of the city in the fancy McMansion is the worse. But you never know, so having distance is important. And sometimes a reasonable person can get annoyed or change. Good people sometimes move out and bad people move in.

Livestock and wood are another consideration. Livestock can require quite a bit of land for forage and you often don’t want them penned up right next to your house, because especially cows can be quite noisy at night and hogs smell like hogs. Wood heat can require a good supply of firewood, especially with those outdoor wood boilers – but even fireplaces can burn through a lot in a cold winter. All considerations on how much land I would need to save up to buy. But those are easy to calculate – in contrast having decent neighbors who don’t make a fuss about nothing is far more important then having a lot of land.

Conservative Politics and Moving Out West

One of the reason I want to move out west is to move into a political environment that is more comfortable and agreeable. Living in New York and being involved in City of Albany politics, I frequently run into people that are extremely liberal and whose views are much farther to the left then I could ever accept. At least for some city political activists, I’ve been characterized as downright conservative, even if I’m generally pro-union, pro-worker rights, and pro-strong environmental protections.

I find it particularly painful to be categorized as a conservative outsider. I support many progressive positions, and for people to just label me as a conservative who is against progress just bothers me. I want to have a clean healthy environment, I want to have a high minimum wage, and allow people to make their own private lifestyle choices.

In a more conservative area, many of core beliefs, particularly on rural issues, will be norm for the society. I may face an uphill battle in rural areas on more progressive issues like the minimum wage or clean air from big corporate polluters, but wherever one goes there still is a core progressive group that I can join up with that shares my progressive beliefs. I find it much easier to fight for a liberal cause, then against a liberal cause I disagree passionately with.

One the things I loved best about attending college in North Country of New York State was I could find like minded Democrats in the region. Many of the progressives of the North Country shared the same beliefs that I hold dear, but also where strong progressives on the major issues. Rural progressives generally where not proponents of gun control or hostile to rural issues but still cared strongly about labor rights and strong environmental protections against some of the worst abuses across our country.

Walking it from the Emperor’s Plaza to Menands 🚶

Bussing it downtown today because I don’t want to get soaked on the evening commute riding home. Instead, I figure I’ll catch the early bus in and walk from the Plaza to my office in Menands for some steps. Figure that way I can skip the shuttle while getting more exercise in.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Mostly cloudy and 38 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☁ There is a north breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Thursday around 5 am. ☃️

I was told it was an impressive sunrise 🌅 but I don’t have a good easterly view from my apartment. Pancakes with lots of ground carrots 🥕 and oatmeal in them topped with blueberries and real maple 🍁 syrup. I wish I could be riding in today but walk from the Plaza to the office in the suburbs 🏢 will be good. I catch the early bus in the morning so I have more time to walk. 🚶

Today will rain likely, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 48 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 24th. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 2010. 8.0 inches of snow fell back in 1924.❄

So yes, it’s going to rain 👣 so best to get my steps in early. Yesterday I got my truck washed, 🛻and stocked up on groceries. 🛒 Spent more than I would want to but that’s the normal thing with inflation. Pulled out some salmon from the freezer that will be dinner with some veggies. 🐟️🥦

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:59 pm with sun having an altitude of 52.5° from the due south horizon (-18.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:46 pm with the sun in the west (272°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (278°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:23 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 7:51 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:25 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 51 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain likely, mainly after 5am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 37 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 15th. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 24 degrees. The record low of 16 occurred back in 1954.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Typical average high for the weekend is 55 degrees.

As previously noted, next Tuesday is 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 7:32 pm with dusk at 7:59 pm. On that day in 2023, we had sunny and temperatures between 55 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1991.

A bitterly cold spring morning 🌬️

I am still planning on riding to work as I like the exercise and with the sun it won’t be that cold if I am fully bundled up. Erie Boulevard will be a refrigerator, but by the time I figure I will have worked up a bit of a sweat and be warm enough. The ride against the wind will be good cardio. The afternoon commute will be more difficult, climbing the hill in the face of the wind, but if all else fails, I’ll ride down to the Old Train Station and catch the express bus home from there.

Good morning! Partly sunny and 23 degrees at the Delmar, NY. 🌞 Breezy, ️20 mph breeze from the west-northwest 🌬 with gusts up to 31 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 9. Things will start to thaw out at around 2 pm. 🌡️

Finished up the first 5 chapters of the Power Broker, 📖 though I’ve been skipping around a bit as I miss a few sections when I fall asleep listening to it. 🎧️ I want to catch up on the parts I missed before returning it, maybe tonight. Listening to the Power Broker is one of many ways I’ve been procrastinating later, as to avoid my anxiety about my housing situation. 😩 That and scrolling through Facebook and complaining about how anxious I am and how I’m avoiding doing research. Maybe because I’m undecided.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 34 degrees at 4pm. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 8th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 20 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. A year ago, we had sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1921. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1905.❄

More fillbustering last night. 🍞 I decided to bake two loafs of bread, one with lots of herbs and spices and other with canned pumpkin, ginger and pumpkin spice and a bit of stevia for added sweetness. Both were baked this morning, after rising in the oven overnight. It’s funny, I think the mice have managed to chew a hole through the rotted oven insulation and firebox, but I have no evidence that they’ve made it up the oven walls to nibble on the rising bread overnight. The two loafs of bread were delicious when baked this morning.

I don’t know why I fear information so much. 📜 It doesn’t cost anything to watch Youtube videos or read library books about buying land and building a house. Maybe it’s not the option I ultimately want to do, but research will make me a more informed consumer if I’m not hiding from it. 🧭 I just got to be very careful about giving my information to sales people, or the harassing phone calls and emails were start, every day. 📞 At least the mortgage officers have abandoned me for now, as I’ve expressed no further interest since them running the credit checks and submitting the paperwork for pre-qualification and most of it for pre-approval.

Starting to learning about some of the downsides of modular construction 🛖 namely how it doesn’t necessarily increase in value, which is good for you when it comes to the taxman but not so much if you plan to sell it. The speed and simplicity of permitting is a big upside, but the downside is the quality of building materials can be less, though often modular buildings have better insulation and fewer air-leaks. Plus far less of a risk of theft of materials on site. But that got me thinking more about whether or not I want to stay in New York State and if I really want the long commute. 🚘️ It’s not like it’s that long before I’m eligible for early retirement at age 55 — 13 years, 10 months, 8 days. The winter of 2011 was further away then that. To build would tie me to New York beyond that date.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 47.8° from the due south horizon (-23° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:32 pm with the sun in the west (265°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (272°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:09 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:37 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (106°) at an altitude of 41° from the horizon, 250,980 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:11 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 30 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 17. ☃️ Breezy, 18 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 29mph. Tomorrow will have 12 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over today.

All I can say it’s a hell of a situation that I am in these days. ❤️‍🔥 Every dollar I spend today is one that takes away from tomorrow, it’s stealing from my future. The thing about it is I am still living in that dumpy apartment that I’ve had since graduating college, 16 1/2 years ago now, even though I have that swanky office and good salary, that I’ve worked hard to obtain. 13 years and 10 months and 8 days isn’t that long, and it’s a chance to advance my career more, save more money and increase my pension. Then at age 55, I am free to move to a place like the Ozarks of Missouri where I’m free to have whatever fires I want 🔥 and have lots of money for land and stock 🐮 and really build a nice off-grid house, without the somewhat large budgetary restrictions I have. If I have $250k to build now, I’ll probably have a $1 million to buy land and build then, which goes far father outside of New York or any metropolitan area. And then to keep busy, I can find a job shoveling shit 🧹or something along those lines for the health insurance.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 19 degrees at 5am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 22nd. Maximum wind chill around 19 at 6pm; Northwest wind 13 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Pretty damn cold. I am going to have to turn on the heat I am afraid. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1875.

Nothing has happened with my neighbor’s garbage pile 🗑️ except some paper litter blowing along my door stop, but I haven’t been able to talk to him about it as he usually leaves before sunrise and doesn’t return until late into the night. I don’t care if he were just to get some trash cans, or stick in his car. At some point I would imagine the slumlord would notice. We should talk more but he works really long hours. I’m just up early, because I choose to go to bed early, 🛌 but he’s up early to work.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, rain and snow, becoming all rain after 11am. High near 42. South wind 6 to 13 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 48 degrees.

As previously noted, next Thursday is Average High is 50 🌸 when the sun will be setting at 7:18 pm with dusk at 7:45 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 53 and 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 85 back in 1945.

Back from Grandma Moses Country 👵🏽🎨

You know it was worth an exploration, I tell myself even if it didn’t have the right feel for me. Pointed Rocks on the Batten Kill had been on my bucket list for a long time to hike – it’s a surprisingly long and steep hike outside of Adirondack and Catskill Park and the whole area around the Batten Kill is quite spectacular, full of birds and nature if not a pungent this time of year from the manuring. Shits gotta grow come the summer.

Good morning! Rain and 44 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a south breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 4 am. ☃️

Honest, I wasn’t planning on going to Washington County yesterday 🏞 but I ended up that way after looking at some houses, properties and land in Hoosic, Pittstown and Valley Falls. Rural country out that way but it didn’t have the right feel in my mind. I totally get why that former Research Services director used to live out in White Creek but that’s a bit too far away from work especially having to drive through Troy and all those other little speed traps and hick towns. 🚓 Of course he did move to Pennsylvania as soon as he could retire.

I had wanted to hike Pointed Rocks and explore the area along the Batten Kill for some time now. 🚶 🏞️ but somehow I never got up that way as there isn’t any place right nearby to camp, except maybe for the Green Mountain National Forest on the other side of Bennington. Nice country up along the Batten Kill State Forest and along NY 313, but certainly too far from Albany too commute. 🚦🚙🚗🚚🛻 There was an interesting property along NY 22 that was 20 acres of moutainside and woods, with a steep creek for micro-hydro that looked quite attractive from the road and on paper, if not for all those damn traffic lights, hick towns and NY 7 traffic cluster. Had a nice little mobile-home sized site on a ledge over the road, with a somewhat steep driveway but partially cleared. I think it was a former hunting camp. 🏠️ Looked like the neighbors would have been good, they’re distance away, have horses and a small pre-fab house. Price was good, but it’s all about the location.

And I didn’t have the natural attraction to Grandma Moses country that I have to the Heldebergs, and I don’t know anybody who currently lives out that way. 👨‍🚒 I’m sure if I got involved in the community, maybe became a volunteer firefighter I could make friends, but it’s still tough. Plus, despite all the kitsch Grandma Moses Painting, that area of state is quite poor. 🐐 But I kind of like that, those are probably good friendly people who work hard, not yuppies.

Today will have showers likely, mainly before 8am. Mostly cloudy with some clearing later on 🌦, with a high of 51 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 29th. South wind 7 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1990. 4.1 inches of snow fell back in 1982.❄

The major plan for today is to go to the grocery store and get more groceries 🛒 fairly early on. I am as shocked as anyone that it’s already Sunday again and my pantry is fairly bare, although not as bad as some weeks in part because I stopped and got a few more things on the way home when driving in on Friday, as that was when I had my dentist appointment with that mean hygienist.🦷 I am not going to put up with her abuse, she was abusive in that dentist chair how she treated me. I am going to cancel my next appointment and see if I can reschedule with my usual dental hygentist Hamid.

I might head out to Coeymans to do some more poking around later on the back roads. 🛻 That said, I’ve checked out many of the listings, and I’m kind of tired after all the driving and exploring yesterday. Hell of it is because I decided to head up to Washington County to hike, 🚶 never made it down to southern Rensselaer County to explore some of the homes and properties around Lebanon Valley that are for sale. The thing is down there, you’re getting into the Taconics ⛰️ which are quite nice, but land prices go up there, and you start mixing with a lot NYC pukey-pukes down that way. Get south of the Berskshire Spur Thruway and there is some shit ton of NYC money that way, thanks to the Taconic Parkway. Not only is land is expensive, you know who is going to be living next door, people closer to Elliot Spitzer who is responsible for the burn ban, then some dirt-farming goat-rising good ol’ boy. 👛

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 46.3° from the due south horizon (-24.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:28 pm with the sun in the west (263°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (269°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:05 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:32 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south (172°) at an altitude of 75° from the horizon, 241,964 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:06 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 45 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Another work week ahead, 👨‍💼 back to being a professional rather then a cowboy-hat wearing good ol’ boy or so I play on the weekends. One more week until the long Easter Weekend when I’m hoping to get to the Adirondacks to camp 🏕️ and have a big ol’ fire 🔥 with flames mostly less then 3 feet high and not too much plastic, because you know the burn ban and stuff. 🤣 Ah, New York State. I should bring my .22 rifle and make some noise too while I’m up in the wilderness. It’s been too long since I’ve spent much time in the woods. 🌲

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 31 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 30th. West wind around 8 mph. In 2023, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of -08 occurred back in 1900.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 7:30 pm with dusk at 7:57 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 48 and 34 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 87 back in 2010.

Andy Arthur.org

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