Going back to my blog feed a year ago …

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It seems hard to believe it was a year ago I took a drive out to Grandma Moses Country – you know along the Batten Kill and NY 40 – Buskirk, etc looking at land that way to potentially buy and build my homestead out there. I still can’t believe a year came and went, and while I looked at houses and explored my options so little happened. Still just a dream, as I put away more money, boosted my savings and investments.

It’s now a bit tough when I look back at what seems like a wasted year, when I could have had land. I could be getting chickens at this point, planning a garden. Doing on my own composting, heating with wood not freezing in my dumpy apartment. My net worth has gone a touch since the market declines, and it’s painful as I could have baked in some of that by buying something.

But as I’ve said time and time and again, In my mind, a rural suburban subdivision that smells like cow shit is really no better than living in the city. So many of the options I looked at were essentially that, a lot of money, not a lot of land, a long commute without much of a value proposition.

If heaven wasn’t so far away … I keep telling myself.

Another View Of The Hills

It’s fine, and I know it will be fine for now. But I feel like I’m wasting time, though I think when you run the numbers, it actually come out ahead staying where I am even with higher rent. Small apartments are cheap to heat and light, and bicycling to work saves a lot of money. I can put off replacing my pickup truck for a while.

SVGZ Graphic: 2020 Median Household Income vs. Presidential Election
Terrain Map: Lows Lake
Map: Gilman Lake
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High Temperatures in July Past 15 Years
Date 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Jul 1 89 77 91 81 85 87 97 85 83 75 95 87 79 90 94
Jul 2 85 87 90 77 76 85 97 84 93 66 87 77 84 87 96
Jul 3 87 87 88 78 82 81 94 90 83 65 83 87 85 84 93
Jul 4 90 91 73 70 87 82 96 91 89 72 84 89 85 80 86
Jul 5 83 90 80 83 89 84 92 92 91 78 74 93 87 84 84
Jul 6 92 87 85 85 90 82 86 92 88 87 81 92 93 90 77
Jul 7 85 91 85 86 89 83 80 81 85 84 85 87 89 88 74
Jul 8 88 85 87 81 83 80 86 85 89 68 85 87 92 86 86
Jul 9 84 87 83 76 68 83 92 86 94 80 80 86 95 86 90
Jul 10 86 84 80 83 79 84 92 89 88 78 81 74 94 86 83
Jul 11 89 83 81 87 79 84 83 86 90 72 91 90 86 86 82
Jul 12 91 83 87 87 86 85 85 81 90 68 91 86 85 87 83
Jul 13 91 80 79 87 90 78 88 88 88 74 87 90 91 86 88
Jul 14 89 90 87 85 87 70 88 86 84 84 85 86 91 87 94
Jul 15 83 91 81 75 91 81 93 85 86 83 86 88 94 90 88
Jul 16 88 92 80 77 83 85 96 92 80 83 88 85 93 93 —
Jul 17 98 94 78 82 85 87 80 85 81 78 92 87 88 92 —
Jul 18 86 94 80 87 86 86 82 80 87 68 81 87 83 78 —
Jul 19 84 96 78 91 79 86 83 94 93 80 92 85 83 85 —
Jul 20 74 87 80 87 81 88 88 95 87 84 97 86 86 88 —
Jul 21 84 85 84 87 88 86 84 91 82 76 96 82 85 78 —
Jul 22 86 87 87 81 94 79 87 74 85 76 93 83 87 77 —
Jul 23 85 83 91 82 91 80 85 79 82 76 97 87 83 85 —
Jul 24 87 76 79 83 88 72 89 82 82 79 97 86 83 90 —
Jul 25 82 73 81 83 89 67 84 85 85 80 88 83 83 90 —
Jul 26 84 77 82 85 88 78 85 87 87 83 80 87 85 86 —
Jul 27 80 83 83 88 90 72 86 88 93 84 83 87 86 78 —
Jul 28 76 74 75 93 91 79 83 90 81 76 92 92 87 91 —
Jul 29 80 81 74 95 87 76 81 92 86 70 89 86 84 92 —
Jul 30 82 80 77 88 79 81 81 91 81 74 82 79 91 91 —
Jul 31 82 81 78 85 71 87 86 81 83 70 86 80 89 76 —
Andy Arthur, 7/15/26
NWS Observations, Albany Airport.
Map: Severence Hill Trail
Map: Gilman Lake