Went Down to Huntersland

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Today, I decided I wanted to go snowshoeing in the extreme back-portion of Partridge Run, west of Bradt Hollow Road. I followed the ski trails and Long Path from where it crosses Bradt Hollow Road on down to the swamp in the back. I hadn’t been back there in years.

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After the snowshoe hike, I decided I wanted to drive down to Huntersland and poke around for a bit with my truck. Took High Point Road, then Canaday Hill Road down to Huntersland – and remember what beautiful country it is down by Huntersland. It might be generic Appalachian hills, as is seen in a lot of the Southern Tier, but the hills around Middleburgh tend to be particularly high and steep, leading to some remarkably beautiful views.

The Catskill Mountains and Adirondacks are beautiful. But I think little compares to the Appalachians in their beauty – how the tall, often rounded hills, shroud the deep hollows. Run-down houses and farms are often perched on the hills, often overlooking sometimes fast-moving creeks – or as they call them in most of Appalachia – runs.

Huntersland Hollow

On some of the hills, you see more and more large and cabins and houses. On Canady Hill Road there were a few amazingly big mansions, probably owned by wealthy folk who find you can buy rural land in the mountains for real cheap – and get some great views and hunting opportunities to boot.

Exploring a little bit of appalachia, not all that far from my home in Northern Schoharie County.

Started to Do More Maps

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With the Internet at home, it’s always a distraction from getting any work done on the blog. Sure, it’s nice for searching for a code scrap or a solution to a particular coding problem, or to download a data file, but the Internet is mostly a big distraction from reading or doing blogposts.

Single Cattail

I’ve figured out an easy way to get block-group level American Community Survey data from the Census department. The Census Factfinder lacks block-group data. It’s called the National Historical Census Database. Not only does it have Census data up to 2012, it also has old data back to 1790. It might be interesting to do some historical mapping of things like population, especially when mapping urban growth patterns. The trick to using that data is to make sure you use the NH Census Shapefiles and not the TIGER/Line as otherwise the codes will not be able to be linked.

Without the Internet at home, I sure have a lot more time to do mapping and other activities.

Good Morning! Happy Friday.

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We have almost made it to the weekend, on this bright and sunny morning. I do got to dig out my truck tonight, as it’s still buried in snow on my driveway. But hopefully a lot of snow will melt today, and cleaning off it won’t be too difficult. Tomorrow I hope to get out bright and early to do some snowshoeing.

With the bright sunshine and fresh snow still on the trees, it’s a very beautiful morning. Do bring sunshades if you plan to be going outside. It’s bright enough on the bus, despite the tinted windows.

Sloppy But Bright Out

The 719 varies a bit in time at times. Today I caught the bus at 8:54 – and some mornings I’ve hit it at 8:50. I try to be out by 8:50, because I really don’t want to ride the local (Route 18) if I can avoid it. Not that it saves much time, but I just find the Route 719 to be less stressful, as it seems like the bus is riding smoother and faster on the expressway, even if in reality it doesn’t do more then get me to work 5 minutes earlier then the Route 18 – and I don’t really need to be to at work that early.

My Internet Stopped Working at Home on Monday

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I don’t actually have Internet at home, as matter of choice, but sometimes I can get the public network from the doctor’s office down the street from where I live. I figure if I am using his network after hours, it doesn’t really cost him anything – and it’s open, for the sole reason of the public to use it. He also has a private network. On Monday though, the Internet over the doctor’s network stopped working.

I was a bit disappointed at first. Incessantly checking Facebook, Twitter, and social media is always fun. Somebody is always writing an interesting article on something, and you can always learn about something new on the Internet. But it’s also an incredible distraction, with a million things that could distract an individual, like looking at cute pictures of cattle or jacked up trucks.

But without the Internet, I can get done a lot more projects and reading that would other be wasted on stupid things. I can do more writing, more thinking, and more coding without the distraction of Facebook and Twitter. It’s actually kind of nice.

Untitled [Expires July 12 2024]

The other day I saw an advertisement for 2-megabit cable internet at home for $14.95 plus taxes and fees. So maybe $20-25 a month or $260-300 a year when you figure in all fees that Cable Companies charge. But I realized, I really don’t need Internet at home. I’d rather spend the money on gasoline or something fun. I’ve lived most of my life without high-speed internet at home, and no television.

There is the Bethlehem Public Library which is open daily from 9-9 on weekdays, 10-5 Saturdays, and 12-5 Sundays. It’s a short walk from my home. Walking is always good exercise, often missed if I play on the Internet at home. The BPL internet is quite fast and works well for all purposes. Plus I travel for work a fair bit, and I can either get Internet on the road, or use my work Internet card. In the summer, I’m out camping or down at the park reading books. And heck, maybe another network will appear or the signal get better depending on the weather.

Eventually I will get Internet at home, especially if I move out to the country and live on a off-the-grid hobby farm and can’t walk to a library. I am more interested in getting 4G cellphone/wireless internet, rather than a wired connection, as I can take it wherever I go. Plus if I live off-the-grid, the cost of running a wire back to my house would likely be prohibitive. Cheaper land tends to be located far off main roads. It’s a might cost too now, but I am hopeful that costs will drop in the future, and signals will be available in more rural locations.

I really like the peace and quiet of not having the Internet at home, but I sure was disappointed that the open network near my house stopped working on Monday.