February 23, 2018 Evening

Happy Weekend! Cloudy, damp with maybe some drizzle and 36 degrees in Delmar, NY.☁💦 There is a south-southeast breeze at 11 mph.  It was kind of chilly evening out waiting for the bus. Don’t expect a real nice weekend. The skies will clear Sunday around 11 pm.:'( At least we are getting closer to spring. I look forward to being able to head north after a long week at work. 

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly before 11pm. Cloudy, with a low of 34 degrees at 6pm. 💦15 degrees above normal. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2017, we had partly cloudy skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 41 degrees. The record low of -11 occurred back in 1894.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous Moon with 60% illuminated. The Worm Moon is on Thursday night with a chance of showers. 🌔The sun will rise at 6:38 am with the first light at 6:10 am, which is one minute and 33 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 12 hours and 59 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy, with a high of 46 degrees at 2pm.β›…Nine degrees above normal. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies with more clouds in the afternoon. The high last year was 74 degrees. The record high of 74 was set in 2017. 8 inches of snow fell back in 1962.

Looking ahead to Sunday, rain, mainly before 4pm. β˜”High near 42. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Typical average high for the weekend is 37 degrees.

So that’s the weekend to be. Doesn’t sound that nice for sure. 💦The Save the Pine Bush hike is tomorrow at nine thirty, and I hope to go. I have some family business to attend to before then but so be it. I think the rain should hold off tomorrow for the hike. 

After looking at my options for power supplies for the LED lights in my bedroom, I ended up reordering that cheap $13 power supply that broke after three months. πŸ’‘Ran cool, provided sufficient voltage at close to 10 amp and was great until I unplugged it with a full load on it. I’m going to be more careful about how I use it and unplug the load before wall outlet. The reviews of the alternatives, especially the more expensive ones weren’t all that much better. Eventually I’ll fine something that works. Because ultimately all I really need is a big enough 120 volt to 12 volt transformer and a some diodes for a bridge rectifier and a capacitor. Power regulation isn’t that important for this project as the Arduino will regulate its own voltage and as long as I have sufficient forward voltage it should be fine. I figure it’s free electronic components I can scrap. 

I can’t wait until it’s nice to get back out camping and traveling again. It’s been a long time, although I think I want the snow to be gone before my next night in the wilderness. 🗻β›ΊBut the days of winter are long on tooth and can’t last forever. Living in the city is fine but I love those small towns, the countryside, and the long nights by the fire. 🔥

In four weeks on March 23 the sun will be setting at 7:11 pm (Daylight Savings Time), which is one hour, 33 minutes and 27 seconds later then today. 🌇In 2017 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 37 and 13 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 47 and 28 degrees. The record high of 80 degrees was set back in 1938.

Looking ahead, Read Across America Day is in 1 weeks, 📚Good Friday is in 5 weeks, Arbor Day is in 9 weeks, 8 PM Sunset is in 10 weeks, Memorial Day Weekend Starts is in 13 weeks, 🎆Average High is 80 is in 17 weeks and Buy Nothing Day is in 9 months.🎁

🎆Only 90 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🎇

December 2017 US Unemployment

As of December 2017 preliminary numbers, unemployment is lowest in the Midwest and New England, and is generally higher in the West and some states. Unemployment numbers are implemented by each state's Department of Labor using a standardized federal formula but there may be some differences in how each state collects the data.

Data Source: US Department of Labor, Local Area Unemployment Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/lau/

County Legislators Urge NY Gov. To Halt Sheridan Ave Fracked Gas Plant, Seek Clean Energy Instead

County Legislators Urge NY Gov. To Halt Sheridan Ave Fracked Gas Plant, Seek Clean Energy Instead

"A spokesperson for the Cuomo administration told WAMC "NYPA announced further study on this two weeks ago." Albany County Legislator Merton Simpson, co-chair for SHARE, the Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy, hand-delivered the proclamation. "Well we don't wanna hear about studies. We wanna hear about a specific request for proposals. The information that we provided the governor gives a number of actual programs throughout the world where geothermal options have been used, from St. Patrick's Cathedral to the Nashville Airport. Right now, one of our major mentors and consultants is working with NYSERDA to develop projects all over New York state that actually use geothermal options. So the real question is 'Why is it that there are some places in the state that are doing what's right, but in communities of color, they're willing to do what the governor says he's against,' which is fracked fossil fuels, but they actually have a proposal which they said they're gonna look at alternatives, they're gonna consider alternatives. We don't want that kind of vague language. We want a concrete commitment to do what's right."

"Dunlea fears the proposed microgrid would cause the Empire State Plaza to rely on natural gas produced from fracking for at least 90 percent of its electricity and 100 percent of its heating and cooling for years. "It would basically commit this low-income neighborhood to another 30 years of having gas burned in their community. We think we can do a much cleaner alternative, and if the governor is serious about moving away from burning fossil fuels that he should be using the Empire State Plaza as a model."

Sensibile Regulation and Capitalism

Sensible regulation, combined with the innovations brought on by capitalism, helps to make better products for the American families.πŸ’‘πŸ’‘ Are there better ways to make products safer and less polluting, while preserving the quality and affordabilty of services they provide? 🏭I believe there often are — sometimes it poses technological challenges — but we have scientists and engineers that can find good solutions to tough problems.πŸ”¬

Many times businesses are risk-adverse, unwilling to change unless the government pushes them. Why take a risk or invest in expensive new engineering if consumers are not demanding it, despite an obvious social good.😣 People want a product that does what they need, they aren’t concerned that much about the externalities. πŸš— Granted, not all new technologies are perfect when they are first adopted, but the markets will help make the technologies better for the consumer.πŸ‘¬