I was thinking this morning that it’s been 17 years now since I was a bushy-eyed intern for now-Congressman Joe Morelle back at the Assembly. Many years have come and gone since then, lots of hard work, fun and some tears. Soon I’ll be moving to the suburban office to take over as Director of Data Services for Assembly, though this week I’ll be training the person who is taking over my position in Research Services. Lots of Lists of Lists (LOL), as they called it back when I was working in college at Higher Education Services Corporation. But first a nice bike ride to work, probably for the only time this week.  

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Mostly cloudy and 26 degrees at the in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 11 am. 🌡️ Not a terrible morning for the bike ride in but I was hoping for more sun earlier on. That said with session tomorrow and rain on Thursday and Friday, it will likely be the last bike ride in of the week.

A new year, the same ol’ deja moo. 🐮 Except it’s framed in a new way. As the more things change, the more things stay the same. Gotta dig out my politician suit for tomorrow, which doesn’t fit the way it once did now that I’ve lost so much weight. 🕴 But first today it’s riding the bike to work, 🚲 listening to some Oliver Anthony. 🎤 🎻 And then time to chase the money, 💸  because your dollar ain’t shit and it ain’t tied to no hen, as he would sing. I have a bit of an obsession with Oliver Anthony, mainly because his life is my life goal. 🥅 You know that $750 trailer on the 96-acres in West Virginia, though I heard he actually lives in Farmville, Virginia, down the way from Cam Edwards. But first I need to make some money, because I have to pay those bills, especially all that food 🍏 and gasoline ⛽ I’ve been buying. At least calling off the camping trip this weekend, my propane tank is full 🏮 so I won’t need more propane before the next time camp.

Today will be cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny ☁, with a high of 36 degrees at 2pm. Kind of like yesterday. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 14th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1890. 7.1 inches of snow fell back in 2014.❄

While I will say I’m blessed to ride in today, I do wish there had been more sun. That said it is supposed to get sunnier as the day progresses but then more clouds tonight and over the next few days. Often winter days are kind of cloudy and depressing, especially in years as mild as it’s been. As much as I like the reduced heating bills, I do not love how cloudy the days have been as of recent.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 24.4° from the due south horizon (-46.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:48 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:33 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 24 seconds with dusk around 5:05 pm, which is 52 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:41 pm. At sunset, look for partly sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 11 minutes of daytime, an increase of 52 seconds over today.

Yesterday was New Years Eve Fondue with the family. 🫕 It was delicious, a nice treat. I figure enjoy these special moments with the family as it’s been three weeks since I last visited my parents before the holidays when we went and saw the Nutcracker as both of my parents the past few weeks have been really sick with a bad cold, which is particularly serious with them getting up there in the years. It’s been over a decade now since Mom retired, dad turns 77 years old. They also gave me some Christmas presents, which I always think is silly as an adult, but I think I’ll find uses for the immersion blender, and not just for smoothies, which I tend to think are kind of silly and unhealthy. 🥤

To make up for all that unhealthy saturated fat, I decided to start my New Years Day out with a 5-mile bike ride to Five Rivers, then another 15-miles riding out to Voorheesville, then down to Elsemere and along some of the side streets in Delmar. Then I hiked up Bennett Hill and then did an evening walk, for a total of 7 1/2 miles walked. I made sure to have a healthy lunch with lots of peas, corn, spinach, and tofu with spices and skipped desert at the end of the day for a glass with apple cider vinegar. I figure if you’re going to eat crap you should make sure your at least including a fat-soluble vitamins from natural sources to mop up all that fat. Breakfast yesterday was apple-oatmeal-cake baked in the oven. No sugar, but some whole-wheat flour, an egg, bananas and several chopped up apples with cinnamon.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 26 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 15th. Calm wind. In 2023, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mist by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of -14 occurred back in 1970.

The thing we’re watching is the snow storm possible on Saturday or Sunday. 🌨 No guarantees at this point though. NOAA is leaning heavily on GFS model, which is showing the storm hitting the west coast hitting West Virginia and pushing out to see and we just having cold and cloudy weather. Seems like Appalachians have been hogging all of the snow this year. 🐷 ❄️  Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 33. Sunday, snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. Maybe not that cold, as next weekend is one of the coldest on average in Albany, though it seems like lately winter has been coming later and later. I expect the really frigid weather to come February, about the time the record man says it should be warming up.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Static Electric Shock Day 🧼 when the sun will be setting at 4:41 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. But to more static electricity, we need it to be colder and drier. This year hasn’t been that shocking by any measure of that. On that day in 2023, we had cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 36 and 18 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 62 back in 2008.

Two weeks until Martin Luther King Day. 🖤 I am hoping things will be cooler and drier by then for good camping. That’s my next adventure on the agenda.