2018 November 29

This book I am reading makes a good point about the Midwest – the land is cheap, people are friendly and laid back, zoning and codes regulations tend to be much less with less enforcement. Conservative cultural norms are more laid back, preferring that government stay off people’s land and out of private businesses.

Building and living in an off-grid ‘tiny’ house or cabin is much easier when you don’t have to deal with nearly as aggressive of code inspectors. Buying a handgun or other firearm for hunting and personal protection is just as easy – fill out the federal paperwork, have them do a quick background check, and pay the cashier, and walk out with your new gun. Outhouses and composting toilets are easier to get approved, if there is any review at all. As long as there isn’t a high fire risk, you’re free to burn your trash and debris, typically with no permit. Off-road shops, ATVs, snowmobiles, and alike abound, often with a good trail system to ride not too far from home. Good-sized white tails, geese, ducks for hunting and other wildlife abound in the rural landscape.

The flip side, as the book notes, is the Midwest is mostly flat or with rolling hills. There aren’t the big mountains to hike, the state forests and national forests are much smaller part of the landscape – and often far away. The distances are spread out, they mean a lot of driving to get to work, shopping, or healthcare. Much of the Midwest is gritty and industrial, with lots of big farms and industry in cities and surrounding areas. Farmers for the most part don’t care what you do on your land, but recognize they have a business to do and that includes spreading manure and applying pesticides their fields, sometimes late at night with big loud tractors. Cows can be noisy, even if they are fun to watch graze. Hunters hunt, they have loud guns. People love shooting. I get it, I grew up in the country. I like doing many of those things too.

I am not one for conservative politics per se. If anything, I have become less political in recent years, focused on my own life concerns, making and saving money. I actually kind of like the idea of living in a culture that is less politically liberal, one more focused on natural resources and using them efficiently. Is there a thread in conservative politics that is entirely irresponsible and not based in reality? Sure, but it’s hard for a farmer, a hunter, and outdoors-man not to love and respect the resources that produce for them.

Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 37 degrees in Albany on the old 787 taking the bus home. ☁ Believe it or not, it is a 30 foot Gillig bus with the strange sideways seats and what sounds like a broken strut. There is a northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Just some rather sad looking piles of snow remain. ☃ Frosty would not approve of this message. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 8 pm. ☃️

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 27 degrees at 6am. Typical for tonight. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light. In 2017, we had clear skies. It got down to 18 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1875.

Tonight will have a Waning Crescent Moon 🌘 with 48% illuminated with the moon rising at 11:31 pm. The moon will rise at 12:00 am. The New Moon is next Thursday with a chance of snow showers. The Cold Moon 🌝 is on Friday, December 21st. The sun will rise at 7:04 am with the first light at 6:32 am, which is one minute and 6 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 28 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of rain and snow showers, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 36 degrees at 1pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around December 14th. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies with more clouds in the afternoon. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 67 was set in 1933. 7.1 inches of snow fell back in 1972.❄

So the story of my life is that the lights in my office remain broken, 💡 they still haven’t gotten the 277 volt feed fixed so its just the 120 volt desk lamp after dark. Fortunately today was a bright and sunny afternoon, well relatively speaking. I mean I think I saw the sun for a few minutes. Rare things these days even by November standards. I guess the darkness wasn’t that bad and honestly I was so busy with work I didn’t really notice the lack of light.

The skies cleared and today’s lunch hour walk was on the Empire State Plaza. 🏦 Nice walk but it was a bit cold. Still the fresh air was nice for a change. That said I’m starting to learn all the publicity available tunnels and nooks in the plaza to make the walk a little more varied. You got to mix it up from time to time. 🏃

Despite the crash on 787, I’m crawling slowly out of the city. 🚗🚙🚚🚓🚒🚌 I will get home eventually assuming the broken strut on the bus doesn’t leave us broken down along the road. Only the finest buses are sent out to Voorheesville. Sometimes you have to wish you had just taken the local home although Delaware gets backed up too. Sometimes I don’t miss working late, it makes the commute home faster if you leave work right before the bus leaves. Sucks though when you have to wait 45 minutes for the next bus home.

Glad the teeth cleaning and truck inspection are done. Those were the big orders of business this week. Tomorrow is Friday which is nice and I think it will be a quiet weekend for me.

Saturday continues to look nice but not so much for Sunday. 😕 Saturday, a slight chance of rain after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunday, showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. Not a terrible but not a banner weekend either. I don’t know if I will head out of town. I’m leaning against it.

In four weeks on December 27 the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm,🌄 which is 5 minutes and 30 seconds later then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 17 and -4 degrees. It was cold last year. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 17 degrees. The record high of 60 degrees was set back in 1895.

Looking ahead, Latest Sunrise of the Winter 🌄️ is in 5 weeks, 36th Birthday 🎉 is in 2 months, Valentines Day ❤️ is in 11 weeks, Spring 🌷 is in 16 weeks, Average High is 50 🌸 is in 17 weeks, Average High is 60 🌼 is in 20 weeks, Average High is 70 🐮 is in 24 weeks, Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 31 weeks and August 🌻 is in 35 weeks.