Americaโ€™s Loneliest Roads, Mapped

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Americaโ€™s Loneliest Roads, Mapped

Apparently NY 812, Indian River Road up between the Tug Hill, St. Lawerence Flat Lands and Adirondack Hilltowns is New York's most lonely road. I've driven it before -- years ago -- but never spent much time up in that area, because I wasn't aware of what kind of camping opporunties exist in the Frank Jadwin State Forest and other nearby state lands. I should really get back up there. And yes, US 219 north of Thomas WV is beautiful, but I'd hardly call it lonely. PA 36 out of Punxsy, often very straight but hilly and remote coal country, would classify on my list of very lonely roads, although certainly not as flat as Western Penna.

Wait a Minute. How Can They Afford That When I Canโ€™t? – The New York Times

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Wait a Minute. How Can They Afford That When I Canโ€™t? – The New York Times

Some say we’re focusing on the wrong thing if we’re looking at the outward signs of wealth. The reality now is that if we’re going to envy our neighbors, it shouldn’t be for their BMW or new swimming pool. It should be for their fat 401(k) or gold-plated health insurance, because the ability to put away large amounts of money to secure our future and our children’s future is the sign of real wealth now.

The top 1 percent of households still spend money on conspicuous consumption but “the thing that really separates them is their spending on inconspicuous consumption,” said Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California, who analyzed Americans’ spending habits for her book “The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class.”

Over the last few decades, wealthy people have increased how much of their spending they direct to education and retirement, compared with members of the middle class, whose expenditures in those areas have remained more or the less the same.

November 13, 2019 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Average Night Below Freezing 🌌! Nice. Not that today is expected to be above freezing. Three weeks to Average High is 40 🌨. Might be above average weather by then actually, depends a lot on the jet steam. ใ€ฐ Sunny and 14 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a northwest breeze at 11 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 21 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 0. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. โ˜ƒ ๏ธThings will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 11 am. 🌡๏ธ

Definitely feel like a winter morning, โ„ although the sun really helps make it feel warmer. The sun is still relatively strong this time of year compared to early January. โ˜€ But the roads are salt encrusted and while I’ve felt colder days for sure its always a shock ๐Ÿ˜ฎ when winter returns.

As I noted earlier, it’s going to be cold and maybe even colder than originally predicted. Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 25 degrees at 3pm. 24 degrees below normal. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became mostly clear by afternoon. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 1964. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1886.โ„

There is a crash 💥heading in on the inbound lanes on Southern Boulevard slowing traffic. But I should be to work in time, in the dungeon where no natural light exists. At least then I won’t have to look at the snow and the cold. Then it will get dark out and I’ll take the bus 🚍 home. No signs of ice yet on the Hudson River โ›ฒ but it does look a bit glassy.

The sun will set at 4:35 pm with dusk around 5:05 pm, which is 59 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 24 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have increasing clouds โ˜, with a low of 11 degrees at 5am. 21 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 16 at 12am; Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph after midnight. With less wind it might actually be easier on the heat and feel less cold tonight. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of 12 occurred back in 1996.

Cool this weekend with temperatures running 14 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. ๐Ÿ˜€ Saturday, sunny, with a high near 31. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 37. Typical average high for the weekend is 48 degrees. Bundle up and it will be a nice weekend for early to mid January.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Average High is 40 🌨 when the sun will be setting at 4:22 pm with dusk at 4:54 pm. On that day in 2018, we had mist showers, partly cloudy and temperatures between 39 and 21 degrees. We hit a record high of 63 back in 1998. Alas, winter season is upon us.

Break

Cold start

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It looks like it only got down to 15 last night. But no big warm up today, the high will barely reach 27 later with the wind making it feel around zero. โ›„Some sunshine though.

The truth is that it’s not all that uncommon for January but odd to be hitting this early. Like every cough of a smoker, one could blame the wavy jet steam and the polar vortex dipping so far south on climate change but I think that’s unfair and unscientific.

But in a week there should be a definite warming trend. Winters just ain’t as cold as they once were in Albany.