Search Results for: photo starting to cloud up to west

Hump Day starting out nice ๐Ÿช

Sunny and not too cold for mid April but so far no real warm weather. Those days most certainly though are coming.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. But as they say, the nice weather is not expected to last. Mostly sunny and 43 degrees in Delmar. โ˜€ There is a north breeze at 7 mph. ๐Ÿƒ

French toast this morning ๐Ÿฅ–, slicing off some slices of the homemade bread I made last week that was getting stale. Not bad topped with strawberries ๐Ÿ“ and honey ๐Ÿฏ. Dinner last night was fried zucchini ๐Ÿ† with sweet onions ๐Ÿง…, riding home last night I picked up some more.

When I was cooking this morning ๐ŸณI apparently startled a mouse ๐Ÿ which proceeded to jump from the counter to the hot stove and then across the room in the air. Apparently the electric mouse zappers didn’t get him as I ignored the mouse captured blinking light on it last night. ๐ŸชคA mouse trap don’t work if it’s full.

Today will have increasing clouds โ˜€ ๐Ÿ‘‰ โ˜, with a high of 64 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 25th. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the morning. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 64 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 2002. 0.3 inches of snow fell back in 1965.โ„

Should be a beautiful day for riding in ๐Ÿšฒ but depending if it rains โ˜” I might have to bus ๐Ÿš it home. So be it. Still good exercise. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿป Yesterday it was nice reading ๐Ÿ“– down at the park. ๐Ÿž

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 58.1ยฐ from the due south horizon (-12.8ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 7:02 pm with the sun in the west (279ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-northwest (286ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes with dusk around 8:09 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon in the south-southeast (155ยฐ) at an altitude of 64ยฐ from the horizon, 250,209 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 8:45 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 59 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 33 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

They’re continuing to gut the apartment next door and tore up part of the slab. ๐Ÿ‘ทQuite the construction ๐Ÿšง project, they’re must have been a lot wrong with the physical plant of the unit next door, probably this explains why my apartment is always wet and the bathtub never properly drains. ๐Ÿšฟ Or the mold issues. Who knows if the fixes next door will also improve my unit as a side effect. I can hope.

Tonight will have showers likely, mainly after 10pm. Cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 45 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 5th. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1948.

Cool this weekend with temperatures running 6 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. ๐Ÿ˜ƒ Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 58. Breezy. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees.

Still not sure what my weekend plans are going to be ๐ŸŒฒ in part because it’s going to rain on Friday evening and I’m thinking in a few weeks it would be nice to go out to Schoharie County and do a spring time ride along the Catskill Scenic Trail rather than do it this weekend. I do want to camp โ›บ maybe just a quick overnight but it’s probably too cold to do a hammock camp just up in the woods. I thought about heading back to the Adirondacks but it’s a pretty good trip to just head there for the weekend.

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until May ๐Ÿ•Š when the sun will be setting at 7:57 pm with dusk at 8:26 pm. On that day in 2023, we had rain and temperatures between 59 and 45 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 66 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 2001.

Winding Road

Cue the music, the DIRE EMERGENCY SNOW STORM is upon us ๐ŸŒจ

Aldis in Colonie was so packed with people yesterday, picked over grocery wise with people stocking up for the winter storm that is supposedly approaching today, I just turned around and left. I look across the street at the Market32 with the packed parking lot, and tossed my hands up knowing chances were slim I’d get any whole-wheat flour or other needed groceries. Best to wait until today, when the stockers have been able to restore the shopping experience by morning. I’ll just do Walmart after I shower this morning.

Good morning! Happy Soon to be Wet and Sloppy Sunday. ๐ŸŒง It seems like it rains every Sunday lately. Without fail. Rain loves the weekend. Clouds and 35 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜๏ธ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 6 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Decided I wanted pancakes today, ๐ŸŠ ๐Ÿฅž and I have a lot of oranges, so I decided to try out full-orange pancakes, milling both the orange and peal to make some rather zesty fully flavored pancakes with some lemon juice topped with some greek yogurt and honey. ๐Ÿฏ Wow did they come out good — that orange flavor really shined, especially some ginger, vanilla in the mixture. Finished up the remaining oatmeal I had in the mixture, along with the whole wheat flour and had to fall back onto using some rye flour, but it worked out well.

Today will rain and snow. ๐ŸŒง High of 35 degrees at 7am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 9th. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. Not going to stick more A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 56 was set in 1916. 9.6 inches of snow fell back in 1897.โ„

Riding trail in the Albany Pine Bush was great yesterday ๐Ÿšต‍โ™€๏ธ ๐ŸŒฒ though by mid-day I was starting to feel a bit worn out from all the trail riding. The section off of Kings Road was closed due to them logging and using a tub grinder to chop up the black locus, blackberries and invasive trees as part of the restoration effort. ๐Ÿฆ‹ Ended up riding my bike around Morris and Curry Road to see what I could spot from the road both ecologically and development wise, to further educate myself for Save the Pine Bush. ๐Ÿ’ญ In the afternoon, after shopping at Salvation Army I decided to head up Balltown Road to Aquaduct, as I wanted to check out the old Aquaduct that once carried the second Erie Canal across the Mohawk River and then NY 146 until the 1964 bridge was completed, and the aquaduct demolished to improve the river’s flow and prevent ice jamming. Seems odd these days when Mohawk River ice jams are rare, because the river rarely jams up with so much ice. โ„๏ธ Climate change has changed a lot in our world. There was some ice on Mohawk River but not a lot. Then I rode my bike down the Erie Canalway to the ALCO Trail through that swanky new Mohawk Harbor development, then through the Stockade and Riverfront Park, then the Erie Canalway Trail to Lock 8 and ultimately out to I-890 – NY 5 Connector near Rotterdam Junction. ๐Ÿ›ฃ

While Aldis was insane yesterday, ๐Ÿ‘” I did luck out at the Salvation Army in Karner – Niskayuna – Lisha Kill or whatever the area off of Central Avenue and got two nice dressier shirts. The stuff you get there is nicer then anything you might find at Walmart and cheaper then going to a place like Macy’s or JC Pennies. Plus often much higher quality. Two really nice shirts for $9.60. Can’t beat prices like that. Not only are there wonderful deals at Salvation Army, you’re supporting their disaster and community development efforts. That place is a complete dump on the outside, with people leaving discarded furniture and trash all around it, but inside it really is the best thrift store to get really nice clothing, often for prices far below other thrift stores around. Not going to find anything that nice so cheap at Goodwill or one of the “high end” thrift store boutiques like in Delmar or Slingerlands. Also looked at lamps for my new office, ๐Ÿ›‹ but I’m going to wait until I move into my permanent office before committing to buying a desk lap, assuming I can’t find one in a storage closet somewhere. Thrift shop’s the way to go for that — I am thinking I can put a 150 watt equivalent bulb ๐Ÿ’ก in it as a bright desk lamp. I just hate the overhead florescent lighting.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 29.1° from the due south horizon (-41.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 4:21 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (238°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (246°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:03 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 11 seconds with dusk around 5:33 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:07 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and snow ๐ŸŒจ and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 8 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 54 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 14 seconds over today.

Tonight will snow, mainly before 4am. ๐ŸŒจ Low of 33 degrees at 5am. 18 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 5th. North wind 9 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. Ain’t going to be much snow on the roads with that temperature, especially if they’re treated with the tons of deicing chemicals as they most certainly are. Maybe this week will be a good one to wash my truck. 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 22 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1925.

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day ๐Ÿฅ› when the sun will be setting at 5:22 pm with dusk at 5:50 pm. I was totally getting teased the other day in my old office for being such a complainer. I know, I’m such a perfectionist. ๐Ÿ’Ž Cheap bastard too, but I’m saving all my money so I can blow it someday on land, ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐ŸŒพ goats ๐Ÿ, hogs, ๐Ÿท and cattle. ๐Ÿ„ I’ve been told cattle are the fastest way to be broke forever, maybe except for horses. ๐Ÿด Probably someday I’ll meet a girl who is as much a hillbilly as I’m and I’ll have to agree on horses in exchange for having a burn barrel and land. ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ›ข Actually, I think I complain about things, but it’s different from what others complain about. I don’t like working in suburbs, when so many others love the acres of parking for easy motoring and the convenience of avoiding crowded elevators, lol. ๐Ÿคฃ On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny skies snow showers and temperatures between 38 and 23 degrees. I wouldn’t say that’s spilled milk, but a rather nice day. Maybe just a few drips of milk after the teats are stripped. ๐Ÿฎ Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. Going to be in the forties during this up coming week. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1981.

Recharge

Rain is starting to clear on this start to the Martin Luther King Weekend ๐ŸŒฆ

After much of the summer having rainy Sundays, this winter seems to be dominated by rainy Saturdays. And it will get cold come tomorrow, for an extended time period, though that’s somewhat to be expected this time of January. I bet by my birthday at the end of the month things will start to warm up again. Maybe that’s when I take that left-over carrot cake in my freezer and camp then. Who knows!

Good morning! Rain and 48 degrees in Delmar, NY. ๐ŸŒง There is a south-southeast breeze at 14 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

I slept in until 5:30 AM this morning โฐ which was late for me, and I was in bed by 8 PM but I think the net result was I got a good night’s sleep. Probably was the excessive amount of sugar ๐Ÿฐ I had yesterday. I didn’t want any parties, but they still threw me two different parties for my going away at work. One of them had carrot cake ๐Ÿฅ• and yes it was super sweet, as I no longer normally eat sugar. ๐Ÿญ ๐Ÿ˜‹ I was pretty wound up for the rest of the day, and I wish I ad been able to ride to work ๐Ÿšฒ to burn calories but that was not to be due to that loose bolt. I did have a nice walk last night. ๐Ÿšถ‍โ™€๏ธI like yellow foods, note my obsession with turmeric, ๐Ÿ’› only followed by obsession with oranges, e.g. carrots and citrus like oranges and grape fruit. ๐Ÿฅ• But then again, Red is kind of my favorite color, โค๏ธ witness my big jacked up truck. ๐Ÿ›ป It’s not like I don’t love smoked paprika and red peppers especially when good and sweet too. And then dark orange, which is another word for brown, ๐Ÿ’ฉ which I do poop a lot with my fiber rich diet. ๐Ÿคฃ

Breakfast was onions, eggs, some spinach, canned tomato with some milled corn mixed in. ๐Ÿณ The result was pretty good, though I wish I had more fiber ๐Ÿ’š but by this morning my pantry was pretty bare. ๐Ÿฅซ I like carbs a bit too much, but at least I always try to include lots of fiber with my carbs, and almost always whole-wheat carbs. First this this morning after showering ๐Ÿšฟ and breakfast I went to Hannaford. I don’t love shopping there, they have a small spice selection, and while their produce selection is higher quality it’s also more expensive. But with coupons ๐ŸŽซ I was able to knock $35 off of a $121 shopping bill, which got it down to $86. ๐Ÿ’ธ Still things are more expensive then Walmart and of course I had to settle for regular plain yogurt, as they didn’t have non-fat Greek yogurt. That did not make me happy, and included a few cuss words. ๐Ÿคฌ I probably should have given the full-fat yogurt a try. Some fat isn’t bad, even if it is omega-6 saturated fat, and it fills you up quicker then no-fat, or so I’m told by the dairy farmers, who want to get a better price on their milk fat. ๐Ÿคฐ Shopping is so depressing ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ›’ with inflation these days.

Got home from shopping and decided on an early lunch. ๐ŸŒ The banana I had wasn’t satisfying enough, so I decided to fry up one of those wonderful sweet onions from Hannaford along with a bunch of peas, broccoli, and some tofu with lots of turmeric and red-chili spices, plus a dash of salt and black pepper to maximize vitamin up tick. That finally got me filled up. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Now I’m feeling good. Probably still on that glycemic roller coaster ๐ŸŽข from all that sweet and wonderful carrot cake yesterday. I actually took home a quarter of that carrot cake, and promptly stuck in the freezer for some time down the road, after licking down the box. The frosting they use at Cookie Factory in Troy is just pure cane sugar and egg whites. Pretty heavenly ๐Ÿ˜‡ especially when you don’t normally eat sugar. Of course now I have a big sweet tooth again, ๐Ÿ˜ฌ but I’ll keep it filled apples, bananas, and especially that mango I got. I am so happy to have bananas again this week, last week was sad without them. The carrot cake is locked away in back of the freezer. ๐Ÿฐ

Today will rain likely before noon, then a chance of showers, mainly between noon and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 51 by 11am, then falling to around 39 during the remainder of the day. ๐ŸŒฆ South wind 11 to 16 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 43 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1932. 13.1 inches of snow fell back in 1964.โ„

What to do today is the question on my mind. ๐Ÿ’ญ I intentionally got up and early and to the grocery store a little after 8 AM so I could shop both before the crowds ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿ‘ฆ‍๐Ÿ‘ฆ ๐Ÿ›’ and so I could have the balance of my day free. Really I could see today going in three ways. Stay close to home, go to the library, ๐Ÿ“š and maybe a bike ride on the rail trail ๐Ÿšฒ. Another option would be to go to the Village of Colonie, check out clothes at the Salvation Army off of Central Avenue ๐Ÿ‘”, and then ride trail in the Pine Bush. I do get best clothes from Salvation Army, so much of the new stuff is China-made fancy-label crap. For riding trail this afternoon though, even with the sand though, the trails might be soft. But if it clears out later, might be nice to watch the sun set from Albany Pine Bush. ๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒฒ The third option would be to get my stuff together, do a night or two up in the woods, though I’m sure after all this rain things would be soft. ๐ŸŒฒ ๐Ÿ• Tomorrow everything will be frozen, and it will be sunny, but it’s going to be cold with the wind. Maybe one night in woods freezing my ass would be refreshing though if the balance of day is sunny. ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.8° from the due south horizon (-45° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 4:00 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:44 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 20 seconds with dusk around 5:15 pm, which is one minute and 7 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent ๐ŸŒ’ Moon in the southwest (224°) at an altitude of 18° from the horizon, 226,726 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:51 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 15 mph with gusts up to 28mph. Today will have 9 hours and 23 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 28 seconds over yesterday.

Tuesday I finally start out my new position in earnest, ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ’ผ moving up to the office in North Albany. Looking to put my data science experience and knowledge to work at new Director of Data Services. And be the keeper of the LOL book, the list of lists, as they called them when I worked at Higher Education Services Corporation years ago. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿซ I won’t how much of the Job Control Language and COBOL I remember from back in those days. ๐Ÿ“œ I’m sure it will come back quickly, it’s sort of Unix like, and programming is ultimately just programming. COBOL is just extra verbose. And operators and programmers probably do most of that anyways.. I could drive, but I think I’ll take the express bus in then transfer to the shuttle. ๐ŸšŒ Everybody says it’s not worth the effort to transfer buses, but it really won’t impact my morning commute much, and maybe I’ll get home later on days I don’t ride my bike in, but it’s a chance to walk laps in the Empire Plaza ๐Ÿ‘ฃ or visit with people in the Capitol Complex. ๐Ÿ‘ฅ It’s important to be seen at events, and meet up with people. Honestly, in person I’m not as obnoxious as on the blog where my slogan is, “All My Heroes Burn Their Trash and Smell a Little Like Cow Shit”.

I finally learned my new salary, it is a bit less then I hoped, especially these days with inflation, but if I work hard to get the bonuses, it will be find and with next year’s inflation adjustment and step increases, it will be the nice round number I was hoping for. ๐Ÿ’ต It’s just tough with inflation, but I’m doing better then a lot of people. And I got paid early this week, so I no longer have $162 in my bank account, though come next week when the auto investing is done, it’s probably be hovering around $1,000 again. ๐Ÿ“ˆ But it’s still a good time in stock market after last year, even if this year is starting off soft. ๐Ÿฆ I do worry about some damage being caused in economy by pay-now-pay later’s exploding popularity, though I don’t think it’s likely to be as damaging as the housing crisis of 2008.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒฅ, with a low of 28 degrees at 3am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. Southwest wind 11 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. In 2023, we had light snow. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1957.

I’d loved to spend the night in the woods, ๐ŸŒฒ ๐ŸŒฒ and it’s not going to be super cold but that wind will be cold, as will the dampness of things after that inch of rain we got last night. Who knows my urge for camping ๐Ÿ• and having a fire up in the woods ๐Ÿ”ฅ might get the best of me and I’ll be huddled over the propane heater either tonight or tomorrow. At least there is no fire risk, even with the wind. Kind of wish there was some snow and less mud. It’s that wind that’s what will get you. ๐ŸŒฌ

Sunday will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 9am. ๐ŸŒจ Partly sunny, with a high near 35. Breezy, with a south wind 11 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Then Sunday night, partly cloudy, with a low around 16. West wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Going to be ducking cold. ๐Ÿฆ† And for M. L. King Day, mostly sunny, ๐Ÿ˜Ž with a high near 26. West wind 7 to 9 mph. Still rather old.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Clean Your Computer Day ๐Ÿงน when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy, mild, rain showers and temperatures between 51 and 34 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1955.

Low Clouds Over the Field

Today was a great day up on Canaan Mountain โ›ฐ

Morning started out cold and so was the evening but tons of sunshine by midday and beautiful deep blue skies with temperatures in the low sixties by afternoon.

Good evening! Clear and 45 degrees in Canaan Heights, WV. Calm wind. The skies are full of stars. โœจ

It was a nice day though it started out cold โ„ with a hard frost. As the previous night it was cold and I got here late, spent the morning pitching the tent and setting up camp for the week, gathered firewood ๐Ÿ”ฅ , then a nice lunch of salmon ๐Ÿ  , broccoli ๐Ÿฅฆ and onions. ๐Ÿง… Dinner was rice and lentils with too much garlic and some beer. But I enjoyed most of all was the many cups of coffee โ˜• โ˜• โ˜• and eggs and vegetables. ๐Ÿณ I mean the hard boiled eggs and banana ๐ŸŒ limited piss breaks on the way down but I was all for having a real breakfast this morning.

I spent a lot of time getting camp set up for the week, โ›บ organizing gear and food. Laid back in the hammock for a while. It’s vacation, and this year I’m determined not to spend every waking hour rushing from point A to Point B. It’s not like I’m planning fewer adventures but I’m trying to explore more what is close to camp but have previously overlooked then the crowded tourist trap kind of places like Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks. I’ve been to all those places many times before, no reason to go back. Truth is though I kind of want to go back to the Dolly Sods ๐ŸŒพ๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒณ but I don’t like the crowds or the rough steep road up there and it’s a bit out of the way. I guess I’ll decide later in the week.

Did a leisurely bike ๐Ÿšฒ ride along a portion of upper Canaan Loop Road and then hiked down to Blackwater Falls State Park ๐Ÿž spending some time at the scenic overlooks before hiking back through the mountain and giant laurel lined trail. With the giant laurel so tightly growing in Canaan Heights there wasn’t much of a chance of loosing the trail.

Tonight will be mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Colder then Albany but also tomorrow will be warmer than back home. Lots of sun too. In 2022, we had mist in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became humid as the night progressed. It got down to 58 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1981.

I’m starting to upload photos ๐Ÿ“ธ but with spotty cell service I’m having trouble. You might have to wait until next week to see more photos of my adventures, though I might upload some to Facebook in the meantime. Plus I’d rather be out doing fun things then messing around with social media on vacation.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon with 76% illuminated. The moon will set at 4:17 pm. The Hunter ๐Ÿน Moon is on Sunday, October 29. The darkest hour is at 12:40 am, followed by dawn at 7:01 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:33 am in the east-southeast (105ยฐ) and last for 3 minutes and 1 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 8:09 am with sun in the east-southeast (112ยฐ). Tonight will have 13 hours and 17 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 69 degrees at 3pm. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 2017. There was a dusting of snow in 1962.โ„

The plan for tomorrow is to drive down to Davis ๐Ÿ›ป then to Blackwater Falls State Park and hike out to Lindey Point. Then poke around the village, ๐Ÿ˜๏ธ and then ride Camp Seventy Road along the Black River to Canaan Wildlife Refuge. Then get milk, ice, coffee grounds and paper towels at the Stop and Shop Express or Dollar General, the only real choices you have here.

Today in 1973, President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations. ๐Ÿ“ผ Nowadays politicians rarely tape themselves in preparation for writing books in retirement ๐Ÿ“ though apparently George Romney’s son is a profilic journal writer.

While so far every night I’ve camped has been below freezing in the High Country, there are 3 weeks until Average Night Below Freezing back in Albany ๐ŸŒŒ when the sun will be setting at 5:06 pm with dusk at 5:33 pm (Standard Time) here in West Virginia. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 36 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 1964.

Hang Gliders Cliff Ridgeline

My electric use is up nearly 33% since last October โšก

Shocking I know. It’s all the baking and cooking I’ve done lately, that extra kilowatt or two adds up each day. Fortunately the difference is maybe $8-10 at the most, as I was using under 100 kWh a month before I got into cooking and now it’s closer to 150 kWh.

As I don’t have a lot of electronics at home, and go to bed early not using a lot of lights, most of the energy I use is the hot water heater, the refrigerator and the stove/oven. And doing cooking uses all three of those appliances a lot more.

But it’s worth it for the fresh bread, healthy delicious meals, and the good life. Who knows, with inflation these days, I’m probably coming out ahead with less money spent at the grocery store on processed foods, though my grocery bills are way up too. I’m not complaining, eating healthy is an important part of being an adult and living the good life.

Wow that was a long intro to my Wednesday blog post!

Good morning! What day is it? A day and cloudy hump Day, of course. Mostly cloudy and 50 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜ Calm wind. Charging the light on my bike now, showering shortly and then off to work. Not a lot sun expected tonight, but will clear out late tonight around 8 pm. Might be good for an evening walk, though I haven’t been doing a lot of walking lately, as I’ve been riding to work, intentionally taking the long way in and home to get in more miles on the bike. ๐Ÿšด‍โ™€๏ธ

This morning I burned up more kilowatt hours ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿณ making more homemade bread and butternut squash in the oven, with eggs and coffee up top. โ˜• I had a lot of coffee this morning, and the eggs ๐Ÿฅš ๐Ÿณ were cooked with onions, kidney beans, cilantro, and some frozen veggies. It was a good morning but I had too many cups of coffee to walk though I was fine riding in as I stopped drinking early enough to piss off some of the excess coffee. The doctor says only one cup of coffee in the morning, which some days I ignore as I like more then one while I’m cooking and having breakfast. If I’m not walking, it’s not like I need a pee break.

Today will be mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒฅ, with a high of 61 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 47 at 12pm. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 58 degrees. The record high of 84 was set in 2016. There was a dusting of snow in 2015.โ„

I will need my bike headlights both directions on for safety. ๐Ÿ”ฆ Not because it’s super dark out but the skies are gray, and it’s so important to be seen by other motorists on the road. I left my taillights charging over night, so they should be plenty bright for the night to come. ๐Ÿšฒ โš ๏ธ The past few nights I’ve been riding out to Slingerlands at the end of the day, to get in a few more miles of exercise as I haven’t been doing my morning walk as it’s so dark, and I don’t love walking in the dark any more, preferring to retire to bed earlier. ๐Ÿ›Œ

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:41 pm with sun having an altitude of 37.8° from the due south horizon (-33° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 5:32 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (251°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (258°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:10 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 6:37 pm, which is one minute and 34 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent ๐ŸŒ’ Moon in the southwest (216°) at an altitude of 11° from the horizon, 235,132 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:12 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 58 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 57 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 45 seconds over today.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, partly cloudy ๐ŸŒฅ, with a low of 43 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 11th. Light south wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1974.

Yesterday, I had a project that I worked on down at the library for a while ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ’ป then I went home and kneaded bread. Dinner was just a quick finishing off of the pea soup, covered with curry and dipping the remaining bread I had a home. ๐Ÿฒ It was a good dinner, after I had a good bike ride home. Tonight I need to think about starting to pack and what food and supplies I’ll need for camping. I told myself today I would run to the store, but I may wait until Friday. Figure I could do the shopping and laundromat at same time, though I kind of want to get more sticky traps for mice ๐Ÿญ and maybe replace that increasingly problematic smoke detector with a modern ten-year one that detects flash over rather then just smoke from cooking.

Weekend still looks wet. Saturday, rain. High near 60. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Sunday, a chance of rain before 8am, then a chance of showers after 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 60 degrees.

Not as wet though heading south it seems like it will be a wet day ๐ŸŒง as will be the first day camping and by mid-day Sunday in Cumberland Maryland, it might actually have some nice sun for riding the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail Trail before heading down to West Virginia to set up camp for the night. ๐Ÿšฒ I want to spend a fair amount of time poking around Cumberland, but I also realize that night will sneak up before you know it this time of year. ๐Ÿ• ๐ŸŒ†

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Average High is 55 ๐Ÿ‚ when the sun will be setting at 5:50 pm with dusk at 6:18 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny, warm, mist and temperatures between 69 and 54 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 1950.

 Morning At Glacial Lake

After a cloudy start the sun is out โ›… ๐Ÿ‘‰ โ˜€

Starting to finally get nice out this morning. Going to be a beautiful day.

Good morning! Happy Sunday from Vacationland 2023. Partly sunny and 60 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 57 degrees. Much cooler than before the front came through.

Woke up pretty early this morning, thinking that it would be a nice morning ๐ŸŒ… and I could get up, use the bucket shitter ๐Ÿšฝ and they have coffee โ˜•. I even thought ๐Ÿ’ญ about taking a ride over to Searsburg Road and watching the sun rise. They promised it would be a beautiful day, and it probably will be but it didn’t clear out by nine o’clock last night as promised by the weathermen. โ˜๏ธ I looked to the sky this morning and all I saw was clouds. Maybe I should have pooped ๐Ÿ’ฉ and gone back to bed but instead it was apple banana pancakes ๐Ÿฅž using the remainder of the pancake mix I bought last winter mixed with whole oatmeal, fried apples and mashed bananas. Through
In chia seeds ๐ŸŒฑ for an extra health punch ๐Ÿ‘Š.

Going forward I won’t buy any more pancake mix but instead use that whole grain oatmeal with water and bananas. ๐Ÿฅž I like the hardy more fiber rich oatmeal over the bleached flour, sugar and chemicals of Aunt Jamina’s pancake mix. Less garbage and cost too by using just simple oatmeal and bananas. Really don’t need to waste money ๐Ÿ’ต on packaging to burn. Likewise I’m using real silverware and dishes now while camping as paper plates, and plastic silverware have gotten so expensive with inflation plus who wants to burn all that toxic plastic trash? ๐Ÿ—‘

Today will be sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 71 degrees at 3pm. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8am. Northwest wind around 9 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 82 degrees. The record high of 100 was set in 1933. Cool but getting sunny for sure.

Today I have a busy agenda planned. ๐Ÿ“œ But it’s going to be a great one. I plan to get a fairly early start, bike most of the Cayuta Valley Rail Trail. ๐Ÿšฒ Then swim at the Watkins Glen Pool, get ice cream at Glen Dairy Bar ๐Ÿฆ, ride along Rock Cabin Road, watch the sunset ๐ŸŒ‡ on Seneca Lake. Then back to camp for some hammock time before bed. Greased my chain ๐Ÿ”— up well on my bike this morning, cleaned off the mud, and set up the GoPro mount on my bike ๐Ÿ“ธ so I can do some video today riding for the blog and YouTube and other social media. ๐Ÿ“น

Despite a fairly soggy day yesterday, ๐ŸŒง๏ธ I’ve been feeling great without the alcohol and calories ๐Ÿคฐ of years past, choosing healthier nutrient dense meals ๐Ÿด and whole fruits and vegetables ๐Ÿซ‘up here at camp. โ›บ A healthy diet I believe really does improve ones mental health. โ˜บ While I’m not one to blame the chemicals in processed foods – most of them are relative safe, ๐Ÿงชโš—๏ธ most of them mask crap ingredients that are rich in low quality fats and sugars while providing not much vitamins, fiber or protein. Plus being skinner I feel great though I certainly have been stuffing myself this weekend ๐Ÿ‘ but with higher quality whole foods.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 1:14 pm with sun having an altitude of 66ยฐ from the due south horizon (-4.7ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 7:51 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (290ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-northwest (297ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:31 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 14 seconds with dusk around 9:02 pm, which is one minute and 5 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Full ๐ŸŒ Moon in the southeast (146ยฐ) at an altitude of 11ยฐ from the horizon, 228,672 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 9:43 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 64 degrees. The dew point will be 53 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 35 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 6 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday became a wet day, though later then expected. Rochester got the rain early, we got it later in the Finger Lakes. ๐ŸŒง๏ธ Breakfast was eggs with tomatoes, onions and peppers with a side of old breakfast sausage I bought last winter. Rode Blackie ๐Ÿšต to the top of Hector Backbone though I admit I dismounted and pushed the bicycle part of the way. I had lower gears โš™ to drop it down to but I wasn’t feeling motivated. At the top by Blueberry Hill Campground ๐Ÿซ it started to rain – it was already one o’clock before that happened. More of a passing shower, waited waited it out under a tree. ๐ŸŒณ Rode around the campground, the fee is now up to $15 a night though I can’t imagine camping so packed in with others. I like my fires ๐Ÿ”ฅ and music ๐ŸŽถ, I would be a nuisance if I had to camp around others. ๐Ÿคซ

Tried to get good cell service up there ๐Ÿ“ถ without much luck. A few bars but it was slow, possibly due to the weather. โ›ˆ Rode down the backbone to Potomac Road, much more fun going down then over to Potomac Ponds which I started back, started slinging mud ๐Ÿฝ and decided to turn back when the trail got too muddy. I rode down old Chicken Co-op Road as my GPS calls it ๐Ÿ—บ and the sky just opened up. โ›ˆ๏ธ I wanted to see my favorite old campsite and see how the mud wallow was holding up after all the stone I dumped in it last year. Still quite muddy. Glad I got the site I like on Potomac instead. I headed back to camp, I didn’t mind being soaked as it was still quite warm. ๐Ÿง… Fried up another delicious ๐Ÿ˜‹ Vadella onion on the griddle – sliced it into rings, put it on a cast iron skillet and added a little MSG to really make it pop. Dessert was red kidney beans with some maple syrup ๐Ÿ and a beer ๐Ÿป. Had two beers yesterday between lunch and dinner which is my limit though the first day I had one and maybe none today.

As the front came through the rain picked up and the temperature dropped. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ I read for a while ๐Ÿ“– and listened to a podcast ๐Ÿ“ป from Focus on Albany with Cynthia Pooler interviewing Leon Van Dyke. Interesting history about how the Democratic ๐Ÿด machine worked and the $5 votes ๐Ÿ—ณ and the fear people had about ever speaking up about the machine. Found out John Wolcott is returning home Monday for hospice care, ๐Ÿง‘โ€โš•๏ธ but he’s still pretty much in his final hours, hope to visit him at least one more time when I get back from vacation. Had some great interviews with John Wolcott and Leon Van Dyke over the years though I wish we had started years earlier ๐ŸŽค before John lost much of his memory and became so frail after getting bit by a tick and collapsing one day in his bathtub ๐Ÿ›. Tick born illnesses are no joke. ๐Ÿœ

After a while with the wind and the rain โ˜” I started to get chilled through at camp and decided I needed to take off my wet clothes. ๐Ÿ‘š I got jeans and a hoodie on, bedded down in my truck with the remainder of the Boggleheads investing book ๐Ÿ“™ which I finally finished off before putting on a different podcast about the history of Mad Magazine before nodding off. ๐Ÿคก Got some shut eye ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ for a few hours before dinner time.

Dinner was more salmon ๐Ÿ  with delicious pearl onions, mini red potato ๐Ÿฅ” , sweet corn and fried slices of tomato ๐Ÿ… – the second half of the big juicy one I got at the farm stand. I still have a full tomato left, it’s like heaven. Eating good. Rode up to Searsburg Road ๐Ÿšฒ hoping to catch the sunset but it was still gray last night but I do have good reception ๐Ÿ“ถ there. Maybe tonight though I think I’ll watch the sunset tonight from Seneca Lake ๐ŸŒ‡. Decided I wanted to get some more miles in before bed ๐Ÿ› after a fairly lazy day ๐Ÿ˜ด so around dusk started over to Foster Pond on the bicycle but turned back as drizzle started. ๐Ÿ”™ Had a small campfire ๐Ÿ”ฅ at warm myself and retired to bed around ten ๐Ÿ”Ÿ. Early by vacation standards when it’s not really dark out until around nine.

Tonight will have increasing clouds โ˜, with a low of 56 degrees at 5am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 6th. Maximum dew point of 54 at 6pm. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming southwest in the evening. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 60 degrees. The record low of 49 occurred back in 2021.

One month ๐Ÿ“… from now will the Average High Falls To 79 ๏ธDegrees โ›ฑ๏ธ๏ธ๏ธ when the sun will be setting at 7:47 pm with dusk at 8:14 pm. As they say, all good things must come to an end, autumn leaves must fall. But first, summer vacation! ๐Ÿ–

Mud Lock In Cayuga Lake

A slow and warm day for setting up camp for the next five days in the Finger Lakes ๐Ÿฎ

Finally made it to the Finger Lakes National Forest which is exactly my reaction when I pulled to the roadside desperately to piss in my wheel well as all day I’ve been peeing. I didn’t think I drank too much coffee this morning but those peaches and other farm fresh produce I was snacking on my ways to the Finger Lakes National Forest kept my bladder full and looking for trees, rest rooms and stops. Didn’t help I got stuck in bad traffic in Ithaca with construction and a tourist bus that used the back bumper of a flatbed trailer to stop and oh, yeah no power in East Ithaca or working traffic lights. Plus besides all the bathroom breaks, shopping at Walmart in Oneonta and an amazing farm stand in Caroline that made me wish I hadn’t gotten so much in Oneonta. Regardless, lots of good eating over the next few days.

Good evening! Partly clear and 79 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 66 degrees. The muggy weather ends tomorrow around 11 pm. ๐Ÿ˜“ Kind of buggy with the heat and humidity, though I expect things to improve come tomorrow. The real question is how wet will tomorrow be. Not sure, the Finger Lakes this year haven’t been as wet as Albany but not quitgy dry spell like Western New York. Seasonably wet you might say.

Got the big ol campsite โ›บ I wanted on Potomac Road. I admit I kind of raced the last two miles up here after a leisurely drive as I wanted to ensure I got the site I really wanted including swerving to dodge a pothole on the road and maybe even cutting off a driver a bit in determination to get the site though I doubt they were looking to camp here. I did see a camper van who was obviously looking for this site around 4 or 5 pm but I was here by 1:45 and it’s first come first serve. I took Friday morning off for a reason, lol. I really like this site as it’s farther off the road, well shaded but also where my truck is parked in a sunny field. No cell service at camp ๐Ÿ”• but I look at that as a benefit because I like the quiet ๐Ÿคซ. And my radio ๐Ÿ“ป is broke so no endless hours of talking heads ๐Ÿ‘ฅ discussing Jason Aldean’s Try that in a Small Town. I don’t need that crap or the endless stream of emails ๐Ÿ“ง and notifications on vacation. ๐Ÿ–

Spent the balance of the afternoon unpacking, organizing and setting up camp ๐Ÿ’ผ so everything will be perfect ๐Ÿ‘Œ for the next nine days. Did a lot of cooking – chicken, potatoes, onions, peppers and other things for lunch, then a similar thing with frozen samon for dinner. ๐Ÿ  I have so much good food to eat it’s hard to know where to start. Diet, lol. ๐Ÿ˜‚ Actually truth be told, I don’t have any cookies or junk food, just solid quality minimal whole fruits and vegetables ๐Ÿ that I’m cooking and eating this week. Had a beer ๐Ÿป but only one and no more then two each day if that all. Had some fresh squeezed lemonade ๐Ÿ‹ with stevia and used the rest of the lemon with the salmon. Yum, I’m eating good. ๐Ÿ˜‹

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒƒ , with a low of 67 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 9pm. Northwest wind around 7 mph becoming south in the evening. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 68 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1987.

My phone shows a chance of rain โ˜” late this evening, so I’ll put away anything I don’t want to get wet before bed like my hammock and store my clean clothes in the cab of my truck to ensure they stay dry. I have a tent ๐ŸŽช set up for the dirty clothes, boxes and other camp supplies I’m not immediately using, mostly for organizational purposes. I think I need to get some crates for storing food, like I use on the back of my bicycle ๐Ÿšฒ especially as I have so much fresh stuff that I am not keeping in the cooler as I don’t have the space and I don’t think it strictly necessary but I worry about bruising and disorder in the reusable shopping bags ๐Ÿ›.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon with 82% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the south-southeast (158ยฐ) at an altitude of 17ยฐ from the horizon, some 233,176 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. ๐Ÿš€ At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by January 21st. Buckle up for safety! ๐Ÿ’บ The Strugeon ๐Ÿก Moon is on Tuesday, August 1. The darkest hour is at 1:14 am, followed by dawn at 5:23 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:56 am in the east-northeast (63ยฐ) and last for 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Sunrise is 59 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:36 am with sun in the east-northeast (70ยฐ). Tonight will have 9 hours and 21 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 3 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 3pm. ๐ŸŒฆ High of 73 degrees at 12pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 14th. Maximum dew point of 71 at 12pm. ๐Ÿ–๏ธ West wind 9 to 15 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. It was sticky. The high last year was 89 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1894.

I am not expecting a real nice day tomorrow ๐ŸŒง๏ธ but I got books to read ๐Ÿ“– and podcasts to listen to and I’ll spend a relaxed day around camp doing some good cooking ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿณ healthy ingredients from the bounty I got at Walmart and that farmers market. ๐ŸŒฝ I have a ton of delicious Vadella onions ๐Ÿง…and lemons, ๐Ÿ‹ and so much else from grapes ๐Ÿ‡ to strawberries ๐Ÿ“ that I won’t go hungry and if I do I have more salmon, fresh spinach, rice ๐Ÿš beans ๐Ÿฑ and hot peppers ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ. Nice days I’ll head into town or other activities, ๐ŸŠโ€โ™‚๏ธ rainier stormy days, I’ll tool around the National Forest with Blackie my mountain bike ๐Ÿšต, hike into the back country and do some fishing ๐ŸŽฃ.

In four weeks on August 25 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (286ยฐ) at 7:55 pm,๐ŸŒ„ which is 38 minutes and 26 seconds earlier then today. In 2022 on that day, we had hot, humid, mostly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 87 and 60 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 81 and 60 degrees. The record high of 99 degrees was set back in 1947. Too soon, I’m not willing to think about summer coming to an end on vacation, lol.

Looking ahead, Average High 70 ๐ŸŽ‘ is in 5 weeks, September ๐ŸŽ is in 5 weeks, Labor Day Weekend Begins ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿญ is in 5 weeks, Autumn ๐Ÿ‚ is in 8 weeks, Buy Nothing Day ๐Ÿ›๏ธ is in 17 weeks, December ๐ŸŽ„ is in 18 weeks, Bill of Rights Day ๐Ÿ“œ is in 20 weeks, Days are Getting Longer โ˜€๏ธ is in 21 weeks and 4:30 PM Sunset ๐ŸŒ† is in 5 months.

Summer day