I am no fan of Buy Now, Pay Later 🎁

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I am no fan of Buy Now, Pay Later 🎁

As they say, we already know what the next recession will look like. Flooding the market with crappy junk people don’t need and can’t afford but are deceived by the easy-payments of Buy Now, Pay Later.  Stuff that people will later on have to pay for get rid later on. Things often with little value, often with most of the value used up shortly after the product is delivered, and before it’s paid off.  Stuff folks can’t afford and won’t be able to pay back. It just makes me sick.

I have never liked consumer credit for any purpose. If you can’t afford it now, then you shouldn’t go out and buy it. Instead, you should save money, put it away until you have the money to buy it. Don’t take advantage of zero percent financing, but instead take advantage of the interest you can get from FDIC-insured savings accounts, especially the higher-interest online accounts. And when you take your time, you can reconsider how essential the purpose really is.

There are a lot of people out there who are legitimately poor. I get it, I grew up that way too. But I also have always rejected credit — if I can’t afford something, I won’t buy it. If there is something I really want, then I will wait until I have enough money saved up to buy it. Time to consider the product more carefully before purchasing. And I have always learned to live with less, even if at times it’s less comfortable.

Cancers in Albany County, compared to expected Cancers

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Some of the spikes in cancer are due to the small populations of the town, where one cancer case can quickly spike above what the state-wide average would suggest for a similar demographic.

Cancers compared to expected cancer levels based on age/gender demographics in Albany County
Municipality Bladder Bone Brain Breast Colorectal Esophagus Kidney Larynx Leukemias Liver Lung Mesothelioma Nasal NHL Oral Other Ovary Pancreas Prostate Soft_Tissue Stomach Testis Thyroid Uterus Total
Albany city 19% −38% −18% 11% 5% 32% 6% 44% −6% 67% 26% −7% −10% 7% −4% 19% −4% 10% −4% −7% 6% 15% −36% −10% 9%
Berne town −3% −100% 110% 5% 1% 32% 32% −76% 3% −5% 8% −100% −34% 3% −4% 16% −22% −39% −16% 50% −15% 55% 7% 34% 3%
Bethlehem town 33% −11% −6% 21% −16% 11% 29% −0% 5% 8% 9% 63% −27% 13% 23% 20% 6% 13% −4% −22% −12% 45% 1% −21% 9%
Coeymans town 26% 53% −0% −4% 3% −6% 39% −12% −15% −5% 68% −28% −7% 42% 80% 17% −68% 23% −12% 24% −32% 66% 23% −3% 15%
Cohoes city 37% −100% −16% −6% 11% 10% 39% −5% −7% 12% 58% −49% 98% 20% −27% −9% −4% −29% −3% −30% −52% 32% −28% 9% 6%
Colonie town 19% −46% −4% 7% 3% −22% −2% 10% 10% −14% 16% −26% −50% 14% 9% 11% −12% −1% −8% −25% −22% 3% −5% −6% 4%
Green Island town 60% −100% −19% −11% 45% −5% 37% 27% −19% 61% 81% −1% 21% 10% 11% 7% 27% −20% 3% 1% −40% 30% −33% 19% 17%
Guilderland town 27% −78% 32% 15% −17% 28% −1% −23% −14% −25% 6% 45% −20% −9% −10% 6% −9% −8% −9% −27% −1% −15% −2% 9% 1%
Knox town −20% −100% 77% 39% −0% 69% 9% −73% 2% 47% −15% 135% −28% −25% 6% 13% −49% −32% −22% 32% 32% 9% 2% 46% 3%
New Scotland town 34% −47% 30% 24% 15% 21% 15% −3% 9% −21% 2% 102% 27% −7% 45% 18% −50% −15% −9% 14% −32% 90% 15% −4% 9%
Rensselaerville town 25% −100% 35% −6% 4% −50% −3% −67% −10% −49% 37% −100% −8% 9% −4% 30% 31% −73% −12% 189% −29% 133% −43% −7% 3%
Watervliet city 54% −100% 10% 19% 21% 2% 0% 40% 0% 38% 56% −14% −45% 0% 40% 8% −22% 18% −1% 35% 6% −19% −23% −27% 15%
Westerlo town −4% −100% 98% 9% −0% 71% −11% −75% −27% −52% 22% 1% −100% 4% 25% 26% −5% −60% −14% 143% −25% 171% 17% 2% 5%
Andy Arthur, 12/23/22. NYS Cancer Mapping Project, aggregated to town level.

2022 US Census Population Estimates

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State Population Estimates 2020 through 2022
April 2020 Census Count July 2020 Estimate July 2021 Estimate July 2022 Estimate Change April 2020 to July 2022
New York 20,201,230 20,108,296 19,857,492 19,677,151 −2.6%
District of Columbia 689,546 670,868 668,791 671,803 −2.6%
Puerto Rico 3,285,874 3,281,557 3,262,693 3,221,789 −2.0%
Illinois 12,812,545 12,786,580 12,686,469 12,582,032 −1.8%
Louisiana 4,657,749 4,651,664 4,627,098 4,590,241 −1.4%
California 39,538,245 39,501,653 39,142,991 39,029,342 −1.3%
West Virginia 1,793,755 1,791,420 1,785,526 1,775,156 −1.0%
Hawaii 1,455,273 1,451,043 1,447,154 1,440,196 −1.0%
Mississippi 2,961,288 2,958,141 2,949,586 2,940,057 −0.7%
Massachusetts 7,029,949 6,995,729 6,989,690 6,981,974 −0.7%
Michigan 10,077,325 10,069,577 10,037,504 10,034,113 −0.4%
Ohio 11,799,374 11,797,517 11,764,342 11,756,058 −0.4%
Rhode Island 1,097,371 1,096,345 1,096,985 1,093,734 −0.3%
New Jersey 9,289,031 9,271,689 9,267,961 9,261,699 −0.3%
Pennsylvania 13,002,689 12,994,440 13,012,059 12,972,008 −0.2%
Maryland 6,177,213 6,173,205 6,174,610 6,164,660 −0.2%
New Mexico 2,117,527 2,118,390 2,116,677 2,113,344 −0.2%
Kansas 2,937,847 2,937,919 2,937,922 2,937,150 −0.0%
Wisconsin 5,893,725 5,896,271 5,880,101 5,892,539 −0.0%
North Dakota 779,091 779,518 777,934 779,261 0.0%
Alaska 733,378 732,923 734,182 733,583 0.0%
Oregon 4,237,291 4,244,795 4,256,301 4,240,137 0.1%
Kentucky 4,505,893 4,507,445 4,506,589 4,512,310 0.1%
Minnesota 5,706,504 5,709,852 5,711,471 5,717,184 0.2%
Iowa 3,190,372 3,190,571 3,197,689 3,200,517 0.3%
Nebraska 1,961,489 1,962,642 1,963,554 1,967,923 0.3%
Missouri 6,154,920 6,153,998 6,169,823 6,177,957 0.4%
Connecticut 3,605,942 3,597,362 3,623,355 3,626,205 0.6%
Virginia 8,631,384 8,636,471 8,657,365 8,683,619 0.6%
Vermont 643,085 642,893 646,972 647,064 0.6%
Indiana 6,785,668 6,788,799 6,813,532 6,833,037 0.7%
Wyoming 576,837 577,605 579,483 581,381 0.8%
Alabama 5,024,356 5,031,362 5,049,846 5,074,296 1.0%
Washington 7,705,247 7,724,031 7,740,745 7,785,786 1.0%
Arkansas 3,011,555 3,014,195 3,028,122 3,045,637 1.1%
Colorado 5,773,733 5,784,865 5,811,297 5,839,926 1.1%
New Hampshire 1,377,518 1,378,587 1,387,505 1,395,231 1.3%
Oklahoma 3,959,346 3,964,912 3,991,225 4,019,800 1.5%
Maine 1,362,341 1,363,557 1,377,238 1,385,340 1.7%
Georgia 10,711,937 10,729,828 10,788,029 10,912,876 1.9%
Tennessee 6,910,786 6,925,619 6,968,351 7,051,339 2.0%
Nevada 3,104,624 3,115,648 3,146,402 3,177,772 2.4%
North Carolina 10,439,414 10,449,445 10,565,885 10,698,973 2.5%
South Dakota 886,677 887,799 896,164 909,824 2.6%
Delaware 989,957 992,114 1,004,807 1,018,396 2.9%
Arizona 7,151,507 7,179,943 7,264,877 7,359,197 2.9%
Texas 29,145,428 29,232,474 29,558,864 30,029,572 3.0%
South Carolina 5,118,429 5,131,848 5,193,266 5,282,634 3.2%
Florida 21,538,226 21,589,602 21,828,069 22,244,823 3.3%
Utah 3,271,614 3,283,785 3,339,113 3,380,800 3.3%
Montana 1,084,197 1,087,075 1,106,227 1,122,867 3.6%
Idaho 1,839,092 1,849,202 1,904,314 1,939,033 5.4%
Andy Arthur, 12/23/22.
Data Source: US Census Population Estimates.

December 23, 2022 Evening

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Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 20 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a west-southwest breeze at 15 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 37 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 6. There are 3 inches of snow on the ground — the rain didn’t kill that off. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at Wednesday around noontime. 🌡️ The warmer weather and rain heading into New Years Eve might kill it off though. Plus a fresh coating of black ice and slipperiness outside this evening, though I stayed home today so I don’t really know. Turned up the heat a bit tonight, maybe too much with the cold, but maybe I’ll put it back down before bed. Doesn’t need to be set at 55 degrees, I can do 50 and lower heating bills. I’ll leave the cabinets open before bed. It’s not like sub-zero weather tonight. Wind has died down a lot.

Yesterday I got home fairly early, 🏘 and got unpacked from camping. I wanted nothing to do with driving home in the rain and snow that was predicted, especially as the day predicted. Plus my ski boots were frozen hard from the cold so I couldn’t get them on my feet ⛷ and the surface voltage on my starting battery 🔋 was starting to make me a bit nervous on my truck, so as soon as I packed up I headed home. I thought about, and probably should have used my hunting boots and hiked up to see the Rensselaerville Falls but parking was limited in the hamlet due to the snow banks, and I simply was in the mood to get home, get unpacked before the heavy driving rain came in. It came but was later then I thought at first.

Wednesday was absolutely a perfect day for winter camping, ❄️ lots of sun, a reasonable amount of snow, and no wind. It was cold enough, but not too cold that the snow wasn’t melting. ⛷ Places though where a trail wasn’t well packed down from snowmobiles, like the parameter trail at Rennselaerville State Forest proved to be a lot more difficult skiing then I had hoped. But for winter camping, the weather was awesome. Wednesday night was mild, a nice night by the campfire, but it did get dark early.

Thursday was dreary, much like today 🌧 and I spent the final two days of my vacation at home. I wanted to get to the library 📚 this evening but they closed early due to the icing of the roads. 🌨 I am sure the librarians appreciated being able to head home early into the holiday weekend. They are also closed on Monday after Christmas. It’s fine, I have the hotspot I can use at home. 🤳 Going to be cold but I will try to bundle up and get some steps in over the holiday weekend. 👣 Probably could go to Five Rivers with just the microspikes this weekend, which means I wouldn’t have to drive or take the skis there. I probably should have been more active the past two days, but while camping, it was a ton of work, especially shoveling that heavy, deep wet snow to park my truck and clear out camp, then trudging the skis through the deep snow.

Today was quiet, 📗 some reading and FreeCodeCamp and too much time probably wasted on Youtube and working on various R graphs and charts. I finished up the Web Libraries class, though I still have to do the projects. 🤖 I really don’t enjoy this unit, and while I started a bit on the web visualization class — which I think may be more interesting, I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself. Reading another book about probability and how people always get large numbers wrong.

Had a surprise expense on my credit card 😱 which had me worried for $21 dollars. I had forgotten I got my truck inspected last week. 🔍 Truck passed inspection, despite the trailer hitch among other things beings a rusty mess under the frame. I do need to wash the truck again. It’s getting old, but with the passed inspection, I’m hopeful to get it through one more year. I am going to cut back on driving and trips next summer again, because of my truck getting older, high gas prices, and because I want to keep my focus on growing my investments and retirement. I had a good year this year, and I know if I keep my eyes on the prize 🚜 I can get to a better tomorrow.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 8 degrees at 2am. 13 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -6 at 1am; Southwest wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. In 2021, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of -15 occurred back in 1989. Cold night ahead. Maybe this the cold moon, with none in sight.

Tonight will have a New 🌚 Moon with 0% illuminated. Not going to see the stars either — with those clouds.The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Friday, January 6. The darkest hour is at 11:55 pm, followed by dawn at 6:52 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:24 am in the east-southeast (122°) and last for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. Sunrise is 27 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:10 am with sun in the southeast (130°). Tonight will have 14 hours and 54 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 8 seconds over last night.

Made my final investment and retirement account payment for the year today. 💸 I think I ended up investing $52,000 for the year, maxing out my Roth IRA, 457B retirement accounts and increasing my stock and bond portfolio quite a bit, skipping savings, due to the low interest rates and inflation. Still, my next worth ended up farther in the red this year then I would have liked due to the heavy hit on both the stock and bond markets from the rising fed rates. 📉 Killing inflation, before it gets out of hand has to be priority, and the way I look at it, I probably got good deals this year. But who knows, we might have a recession next year, and things decline further. But I think I did good, even if it was kind of a tough year with inflation, high gas prices, and finding myself sticking closer to home then I would have hoped for much of the year.

People say that I should spend more money 💵 and buy more garbage but I am concerned that I’m falling farther and farther behind in life and that I’m not going to have a secure 🔐 future. So much of the things I own are worn out and taped together, despite my good paying job. My apartment is such a dump. But I hear about so many seniors 🧓 living in poverty and not being able to afford to retire and that is not the life I want to live. Plus all my friends and colleagues are buying houses and homesteads and I don’t have that kind of money yet saved up, at least not in cash and I don’t borrow. I just hate throwing away money and my future 🔮 like so many do these days. I really do want to own my own land 🚜.

Christmas Eve will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 17 degrees at 2pm. 19 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -5 at 6am; Southwest wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 29 degrees. The record high of 72 was set in 2015. 13.0 inches of snow fell back in 1966.❄

Heading out to the folks house 🤶 for a Christmas Eve lunch with my niece and parents, and then who knows what I will do later, probably just head home because it’s cold out. But I do need to get back out and start doing my steps again. I’ve done so bad this week, with the rain and cold. To be fair, several of those days though I was out camping. And I did spend a lot of time updating and working on my blog.

No jury duty next week, 👨‍⚖️ and only one final week of the federal jury term remaining after New Years Eve. Maybe I’ll never get called in. At least I will be able to be in the office next week, when I’m the only supervisor that will be in my unit. I enjoyed my week off — well the best based on the weather — and now the other director is off next week. Will be a busy week for me, despite only being a four-day week. Who knows on jury duty ⚖ though – I think the federal term will get me off from the state, but I also know I have state deferral that they might try to get me for if I don’t serve. I almost wish I would get called in for a day to be certain.

In four weeks on January 20 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (243°) at 4:54 pm,🌄 which is 26 minutes and 54 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 30 and 14 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 15 degrees. The record high of 53 degrees was set back in 2006.

I do want to get out camping again 🏕 maybe for New Years Eve, or Martin Luther King Day Weekend which is now three weeks off. Maybe take off the Friday before the holiday weekend to get in three nights of camping. For NYE, if there isn’t too much snow, I would like to go out to Brookfield Horse Camp, 🐴 otherwise I might do Cole Hill or another state forest. Maybe for MLK weekend, I would do Renselaerville State Forest again and ski there again. ⛷

Looking ahead, tomorrow is Christmas Eve 🎅, Bacon Day 🥓 is Next Friday and Bacon Day 🥓 is Next Friday.