Good morning! Happy Election Day 2018 🗳️. It’s the big mid-term elections. If you haven’t, now would be a good time to vote. It’s always fun to fill in the scantron, after all the craziness of elections. Next Tuesday is Average Night Below Freezing 🌌. Pouring rain and 49 degrees in North Syracuse. ☔ There is a east breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Saturday around 5 am. ☃️ Then the big chill comes, with probably some lake-effect snow, but I will have to watch it with my camping trip, so I don’t get stuck in a blizzard — although for most of my trip I don’t expect to be in the snow belt — so I will probably miss most of the snow, and it might actually be quite sunny but cold.

Today will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 3pm, then a chance of showers. ⛈ High of 62 degrees at 2pm. 10 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 50 at 11am.  East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 63 degrees. The record high of 73 was set in 2015. 3.2 inches of snow fell back in 1933.❄

The sun will set at 4:49 pm with dusk around 5:19 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for some clearing with a continued chance rain showers  🌦 and 60 degrees. The dew point will be 49 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 14 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over today.

Tonight will have a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 46 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees above normal. Breezy, with a southwest wind 14 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1962.

There are 14 hours and 14 minutes until the poll close on Election Day in New York. 🗳 Yeap, today is big election day. And then it’s over. then assuming we don’t have too much lake-effect snow, it’s my road trip. 🏕 A little snow, might actually be pretty. That said, I’m not expecting much down in the Finger Lakes or Southern Tier. At the Finger Lakes National Forest, a lot of the roads are plowed year round, and I’ll bring a shovel. I kind of prefer snow to a cold rain, just because I won’t get so wet with snow. I will pack lots of warm stuff.🌨

Actually, all said and done it looks like next week will be one of the best weather-wise all autumn. 🌤 At least several days with partial clearing and sun. Cold yes, but sometimes the sun will make up with it. 🌬 But I can string up tarps to block the wind. And hopefully it won’t be too cold. I am hoping that I can have all week off next week, so I can fully enjoy my vacation. We will see. I also need to get my registration done, and inspection done by the end of the month.

I plan to take care of the registration on Thursday or Friday, and then will get my truck inspected and possibly repaired over the Thanksgiving weekend. I have noticed some noise and hop when I really clink the wheels hard to turning on the very rough parking lot at campaign office,🅿️ so I am thinking I will probably need to have a ball joint or other suspension component replaced, but I don’t think it’s at a critical point now, but I want to get that fixed before it causes excessive wear on those big expensive tires I have on the truck. Or it could be nothing, just the suspension struggling to turn on the very rough pavement. I don’t have issues in most lots. I’ve not noticed anything on the highway or driving when I don’t have the wheels cranked almost to the maximum position when parking, but it will certainly get worse over time, and I certainly want it replaced before something goes bang on the highway.💥 Maybe when I have the inspection done. I always need something new to worry about.

I also need to top off the oil, (I have a quart ready to go in the back) ⛽and I would like to wire up the amp meter too, so I can monitor the amperage coming off the solar panel. The accessory battery is always very happy and well charged now, thanks to the solar panel keeping it topped off all day long. And obviously I have to get all my camping gear packed,🏕 my hunting licensed renewed,🎫 guns cleaned and oiled, 🔫 and food bought. I am thinking I might visit my parents on Thursday night if they are around, as I have an event to go to on Wednesday. I might see if there are any sales, as I might want to pick up some additional gear.

Then it will be probably one more trip to the Adirondacks in late November or early December, probably to the campsite I like near the East Branch of the Sacanadaga River, 🏞 before the snow sets in for the winter. The big game hunters usually start filtering out by then, so more campsites are available. ◼ I really like that campsite across from the Cod Pond Trail, as it’s set back from the road, but it has cell service,📲 and is very open above, which means I’ll have sunlight to power up the solar panel.

After that it’s the long cold winter, and I have many electronics projects I want to build from the components I ordered from AliExpress. 🔬I have a bunch of LEDs and other things I want to build, making signs and lighting devices. I am thinking of building some decorative vases with marbles that would change color, which would be especially cool with the UV “black light” LEDs I bought, mixed with something that will florescent under UV light. 💡 I certainly have a lot of components that I could build things from now. It’s going to be a long winter, but I kind of like not having drive much, and winter walks down to public library to pass away the time on the wi-fi.

Once I’m back home, I’ll be riding the bus to work, and not worry about traffic or driving will be nice. 🚌 It’s fantastic that they changed the bus route, so it will be on time more, and I will on cold days be able to get the bus at the turn-around. I hate the big gas and electric bills in the winter,🔥 but I’m continuing to invest and eventually I will be able to afford land and an off-grid house which will use solar for electricity and wood for heat, and maybe some propane.

As previously noted, next Tuesday is Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 4:42 pm with dusk at 5:12 pm. On that day in 2017, we had snow, cloudy skies and temperatures between 41 and 32 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 49 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 1964.

As a final note, don’t forget to get out and vote. ☑️ I am not thrilled by our leadership, or many of the incumbents which will certainly be elected, but it’s important to at least raise your voice and be heard in our democracy. It’s good to cast a protest vote here and there. ✊