January 23, 2020 Night

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Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 29 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 10 am. 🌡️

I went over to John Wolcott house 🏡 for a few hours this evening, sorting files 📂. I had a very interesting conversation with him about Fort Orange and Interstate 787, I wish I had recorded it. 📼 I’m sure there are many audio recording apps that I could download. Had a quick burrito for dinner 🍣and then sat back in bed finishing off the book I was reading 📖 on Storm Lake Iowa and moved on to reading a book about the history of Rupert Murdock’s media empire.

Besides going to bed earlier and getting up early, I’ve tried to make reading a much higher priority this year 📚. I plan to go to the park much more this year once it gets nice and also read out back more.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 4th. Calm wind. In 2019, we had light rain. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -17 occurred back in 1948.

Tonight is New Moon. The Snow ❄ Moon is on Sunday, February 9. The darkest hour is at 12:08 am, followed by dawn at 6:48 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:19 am in the east-southeast (116°) and last for 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Sunrise is 44 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:02 am with sun in the east-southeast (124°) at an altitude of 6°. Tonight will have 14 hours and 20 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 2 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 40 degrees at 2pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 4th. Light and variable wind. Should be a real nice Friday. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 48 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 1999. 7.6 inches of snow fell back in 1948.❄

Been such a busy week for me 💼 but at least tomorrow is Friday. Getting to bed earlier and getting up earlier seems to have helped a lot with my sleep, even if it does seem a bit odd to be getting up on Saturday before dawn. But I feel so much more rested at work. That’s good. Saturday is the Save the Pine Bush Hike that I’m leading at 9:30 🚶 then the No War with Iran protest 🐦 at 11 am which I want to do but I’m not sure if the hike will be done by then and it might be wet. Chet’s Wake is at 3 pm and I probably should put on my suit and black tie 👔and attend that.

In four weeks on February 20 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (256°) at 5:32 pm,🌄 which is 36 minutes and 29 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 28 and 9 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 36 and 18 degrees. The record high of 66 degrees was set back in 1930.

Looking ahead, Save the Pine Bush Turns 42 🦋 is in 2 weeks, 5:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 4 weeks, Flower Moon 🌕 is in 15 weeks, Memorial Day Weekend Starts 🏕️ is in 4 months and Primary Day 🗳️ is in 5 months.

Helderberg Escarpment

Marijuana Legalization

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Lately in our country, there has been a major push to legalize all kinds of formally banned substances and practices, in order to increase government revenue. The latest has been marijuana, with Massachusetts recently allowing heavily regulated businesses to sell over-priced recreational cannabis to consumers.

The stinky weed, can now be lawfully purchased in Massachusetts, although it would still be illegal to bring across state lines under federal law or possess in New York, at least for now. That’s expected to change. But just because something is lawful, does it mean one should smoke it? I say no.

For one, legal pot in Massachusetts is still very expensive for what you get. A joint or maybe two small ones, which is about a gram for $15-20 is pretty expensive. Even in a high-tax state like New York, a pack of 20-good quality regular cigarettes is less then that. Maybe only a few puffs is necessary for a non-user to get it’s mind-bending effects, but it’s still incredibly stinky nasty stuff, that certainly is no more healthy then smoking cigarettes. I know I’m not willing to spend that kind of money to just burn up.

I concede a drag on a regular cigarette or pint of beer once and while, isn’t the greatest expense ever. When the national ban on marijuana comes to an end, maybe prices will fall lower. That will be bad for people who abuse pot and consume large quantities of it, but it also might make it more affordable and in the reach of the rest of us.

Even with cheaper, legal pot, I really doubt I would ever smoke much. I don’t need the high from drugs, I don’t need the cost. But I think it might be fun on a long weekend, camping up in the wilderness, to have a toke or two. It might open my mind up to new experiences, find a new sense of relaxation. I’m certainly not rushing out to buy cannabis products at current prices but it’s something I’ll continue to monitor as the laws change.

Smokey Campfire

Doomsday clock lurches to 100 seconds to midnight – closest to catastrophe yet | Nuclear weapons | The Guardian

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Doomsday clock lurches to 100 seconds to midnight – closest to catastrophe yet | Nuclear weapons | The Guardian

The risk of civil collapse from nuclear weapons and the climate crisis is at a record high, according to US scientists and former officials, calling the current environment “profoundly unstable”.

They said the rise of “cyber-enabled disinformation campaigns” compounds both threats by keeping the public from insisting on progress.