Good morning! Now it’s mostly cloudy and 43 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a west-northwest breeze at 11 mph. It was a nice sunny morning for a while but then the clouds came it. More sun later, with a high of 58 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal. Northwest wind 11 to 15 mph.

The sun will set at 7:35 pm with dusk around 8:05 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 13 hours and 20 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 35 degrees at 5am. Two degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 39 at 1am; Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light after midnight. In 2016, it got down to 31 degrees under clear skies. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1973. Doesn’t get so cold at night anymore.

Went down to the park for a while last night  but it was darn cold with the wind. I wore a sweat and my vest which helped a bit but it wasn’t that pleasant and I was glad to be heading home. I guess I should have gone to the library but I much prefer the park and watching the sun set.

Got home and watched the PBS Independent Lens special called Invisible People, on the Deep Water Horizon and the people impacted. A very interesting special. It’s good to here real people speak and not just the pundits. Color television brings you much closer to the story then just NPR alone. I don’t care about Sesame Street but it would suck if independent films like this were no longer on the free television. Public media is important to our nation’s civic discourse.

Hooked up the light in my apartment I use for camping under my Big American flag. I forgot how pretty my big lit up flag really is. I can’t wait to be using it again up in the wilderness. Camping next week should be a lot of fun. Nice source of light for my apartment when watching television on my computer monitor.

I was looking at my solar panel again, and realized how big it really is. Those 100 watt panels aren’t tiny, which is part of the reason why I find it kind of a pain to use camping. But that sparked another wave of questions in my mind including the impact of wind resistance against the cap, stress to the fiberglass and noise. Apparently wind resistance won’t be too much of a problem if it’s pushed back a ways, as wind tends to get deflected up by the roof and the truck cap, but I still got to worry about height and securely attaching it in a way that distributes the weight and forces against a wide area of the roof. Some people suggest on Internet running a large plate or cross brace against the inside roof of the cap. Another concern I have is clearance issues because even with nine foot high car washes and repair shops, I only have a few inches of clearance left so I really can’t go much higher. That may be the bigger issue. I will put the panel up top and measure it this weekend.

I might go back to my original idea of building a box to store my panel in and just setting it up in camp when I plan an extended stay. A rigid box would make the panel much easier to handle. But then I wouldn’t be always topping off the battery when parked at the beach or other places where this is ample sun.  I want to have some kind of more permanent enclosure and set up for easy set up and take down of the panel come this summer.

Went to the dentist this morning and it went well. My insurance covered the cleaning and x-rays. I was in and out quite quickly and they were quite friendly and it didn’t hurt much at all. It seems dental tools have gotten a lot better in the past fifteen years, and the x-rays don’t use those big bulky cameras of yesteryear. No cavities but they suggested that I make an appointment for six months from now. I did so and I think it will be late enough — a week after Columbus Day — to avoid my October trip or work events but if I have to change it so be it. Columbus Day is early this year on October 9th. I hope the leaves have turned enough by then, but they should be in the higher elevation of West Virginia, if that’s where I decide to go.

Looking ahead, there are 7 weeks until Start of June when the sun will be setting at 8:27 pm with dusk at 9:01 pm. On that day in 2016, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 85 and 57 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 74 degrees. We hit a record high of 94 back in 1918.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Partly cloudy and 42 degrees in Delmar. There is a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Going to want that sweater this morning to stay warm on your commute. Probably a day to leave your windows closed too. 

Today will be partly sunny, with a high of 59 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees above normal. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Not a real warm day but not that frigid. Last year was colder with partly sunny skies and a high of 53 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 1977. 5.5 inches of snow fell back in 1950.