NPR

Fed Cuts Interest Rates For First Time Since The Recession : NPR

The Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates for the first time in over a decade — a preemptive move aimed at extending the already record-long economic expansion.

The Fed on Wednesday lowered its target for the key federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point. The move should decrease the cost of borrowing, including for credit cards, auto loans and mortgages.

Well, it delivered the Nixon to the White House in 1972. And worked out quite well for the nation until about 1973.

July 31, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Teeth Cleaning Day 😃! I found out for the first time ever I have a cavity in my tooth and I’m getting a filling next Monday. That’s no fun. Two weeks to Altamont Fair Opens 🎡. Cloudy and 76 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 69 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 pm.

So the good news or the bad news first? 📰 Well, I guess the bad news. I have a cavity in one of my rear teeth and I’m going to have to get a filling on Monday. I guess that’s part of getting old. I didn’t go to the dentist for ten years and didn’t have any problems but over the past two years I’ve been doing regular cleaning.😁 I thought it was all the milk I drank 🐮, two gallons a week plus eating fruit instead of sweets most of the time at home although I admit that I drank a lot of beer 🍻 and didn’t brush a lot up at camp. But I guess I should get it filled so that’s what I’m doing. I heard that’s not fully covered by insurance but I guess health expenses are legitimate. I also got a flouride treatment, which I don’t know if it was worth the $49 but maybe it will prevent problems down the road. At least even after vacation and other expenses I should have sufficient money to cover it in checking. 💵

The good news is $13 later and a half hour of my time ⌚ my low beam – daytime running headlight bulb 💡 is working again. I can’t figure out what failed in the bulb, it doesn’t look burnt out or cracked when I pulled it from the truck but as soon as I plugged in the new bulb it’s working. Pulling the front accessory battery wasn’t a big deal 🔋 even if it’s a bit heavy lift and I always have to worry about touching the positive post against the body. I’m tempted to hook the bulb to my bench power supply at home to see if it lights or passes current. And I’ll be careful about putting it in the burnable trash, the last one I tossed exploded when I was up at camp. 🔥

I am making progress on the Pine Bush project 🌲I am working on. I wrote a program to convert tax rolls into data I can query in my GIS program. Besides for that I think I can make some interesting maps of assessed property values and other data.🌐

Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 2pm and 4pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 82 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 69 at 10am. West wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1917.

The sun will set at 8:16 pm with dusk around 8:48 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds 🌧 with a chance thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 75 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 14 hours and 29 minutes of daytime, an decreaseof 2 minutes and 10 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 64 degrees at 4am. Two degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. West wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1964.

A hot and humid summer weekend is on tap. 😎 Saturday, a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 63 at 5pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Maximum dew point of 61 at 6am. Typical average high for the weekend is 82 degrees.

I am still thinking about heading up to Piesco Powley Road this weekend and the Potholers. ⛺ I might once again paddle lily lake as that’s an easy thing to do Saturday or maybe I could go down to Little Falls and paddle on the Mohawk. 🚤

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Altamont Fair Opens 🎡 when the sun will be setting at 7:58 pm with dusk at 8:28 pm. On that day in 2018, it was humid, with partly sunny skies, rain showers and temperatures between 85 and 71 degrees. ☀ Typically, the high temperature is 81 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1988.

East Sidney Reservoir