Day: January 22, 2026

Let’s shoot those varmits, the Ground Hogs, the Whisle Pigs, the Woodchucks. Not only do they brake cattle legs, they deliver terrible weather news or so I’m told. As they say,  one more day before the cold and the snow. Hello, January my old friend. Where have you been? While statistically the coldest time of the year in Albany used to be mid-January it seems to get pushed later and later. Will we get a foot of snow on Sunday into Monday? How cold will it? Questions to be answered by the Weathermen of America, and if it’s like my experience riding in the past few days, they’ll probably be wrong.

All I know is next week I think it will involve busing it in, 🚌 or at least using Corning’s Hill. But today and probably tomorrow I can take the bike path in. I do need to decide if after work I should run down to the store and get groceries on my bike,  🛒 as Saturday looks to be mad cold and Sunday not just cold but also quite snowy. 🌨️ Middle of the night I woke up sweating, ♨️ I ended up turning off the heated blanket and the heat downstairs, as it warmed up last night and the heat really started to catch up and then go beyond what it should be. I am so used to sleeping in cold, that warm was uncomfortable. Didn’t sleep well at all last night, ended up listening to radio, then podcasts with endless hours of “Can’t sleep?! See What You Need is BETTER HELP and a SO-FAT Mattarress!” 🛏️ Ended up watching more videos on SuperDuties and the car buying process. I get so many ads on my social media now for 20-year old Hondas now. And extended car warranties, which aren’t warranties but actually insurance contracts misbranded. No, insurance is a scam, only insure for risks you can’t afford to pay out of pocket. Those Ford 7.3 gasser engines are some of most reliable out there these days, and the newest generation 10-speed trannies are supposed to be better. And, no I have zero interest in Audis or Lexis-Nexis automobiles, just big pickups. Ads trigger me.

I started putting in for a few quotes for car insurance yesterday, ⚖️ based on a Ford F-350 Extended Cab FX4. Looks like it will add about $200 to my six-month bill. Been trying to figure out what insurance levels I need and want – I really want to maximize my deductibles, do the $1,000 or maybe more deductible, just because I’d rather pay less for insurance, and a $1,000 surprise bill doesn’t have sting it once did, it certainly would not be ruinous. I mean if I’m buying a SuperDuty, I can afford that deducatable. Really shouldn’t insure losses that you can pay out of pocket for because that’s a waste of money, as self-insurance (paying cash) is always cheaper and encourages you to engage in less risky behavior. 💰 It’s both psychological and monetary, a fact insurers know. I mean, I wouldn’t love a $1,000 collision bill, but that’s a good reason to drive less and always drive safely. Also planning to sign up for the driver monitoring program, because it’s a good way to both save and make sure I’m always driving safe, because I know my insurance company is alway watching. 🔎

I want to get better coverage beyound 100/300k liability, 💰 but it gets expensive to go to 250/500k if insurers offer it all. I think the higher liability is bait for trial lawyers, but I would like additional protection as I don’t have money locked away from creditors in a homestead yet. I was going to also do $1,000 deducatable comphrensive, but maybe I’ll reconsider getting glass coverage, as I certainly do throw a lot of stones on the dirt roads I drive, and usually if you get glass coverage it also means you’re getting a lower deducatable comphrensive which covers deer strikes and floods, the maximum deducatable glass is $50 with $500 comphrensive. How much is glass to replace? Obviously less then $1,000 – otherwise it would fall under comphrensive except in a crash or my parked F-350 being struck by a hit and run. 💥 I heard comphrensive coverage (with or without a lower glass limit) not only covers the glass in the truck but also a permanently attached truck cap. I don’t know, it’s just one of many financial decisions I want to make responsibly while still ending up with a F-250 or F-350 on my driveway by spring time and a camper shell by summer.

Truth is I want to feel somewhat financially responsible when buying such a big-assed Ford truck. 🛻 That’s going to drink fuel ⛽ like no tomorrow but will provide hopefully for many nights in wilderness 🏕️ and good travels. These days though, I like to go up to camp, and set up for multiple days parked and do everything out of camp with my mountain bike 🚲 so I don’t drive the miles I once did. I will have solar set up, and probably a cell phone booster, so my hope is I can frequently just drive straight to camp, and not run my engine much. I know there is nothing financially responsible about buying such a big truck, but at least if big pickup trucks is my big vice, I do everything else right in life. 🤷‍♂️ With my 43rd birthday a week away, I keep watching the stock market like a hawk, because I want my net worth to be a certain round number, and I’m so damn close after getting payed next Tuesday but it all depends a lot on the underlying value of assets that fluctuate day by day. 📊 Shit I don’t control, and it’s all imaginary as many of them I can’t touch for another 16 1/2 years, but I was not happy to say the least about the President’s stupid this week messing up my little log book.

The bike basket 🚲 tightened up and the front brakes bled, I think it’s time to shower 🚿 and head off to work. I should leave a bit earlier as taking the bike path is a bit slower due to the ice and snow, then it would be if it was snow-free. I guess I could take Corning’s Hill but the bike path isn’t that awful right now but you do have to go a bit slow and cautious ⚠️. Winter won’t last forever and the bike ride is always great for the mental health, 😀 especially after a rough night’s sleep. I think studying weighting insurance policies gets you thinking about awful things, you know like having liability insurance to cover when you slam into that toddler on the highway, and the baby is burned 🤱 over 85% of their body. 🏛️ I tell you the news these days is all so bad in the era of Trumpster, 📰 though I did hear he was making some refinements to gun regulations and past illicit drug use restrictions which make a lot of sense, recognizing the modern science of addiction. 🔫 And just with my birthday 🎂 coming up next week, trying to figure out what is the best way to manage money, and get to life goals like that off-grid homestead – be it in retirement or whenever. 🐐 And I just wish I could be up in the woods and have a fire, 🔥 but I know that’s not really an option at this point as even if I did lay the cash down for that SuperDuty I like up in Latham, I wouldn’t have a camper shell until spring time, and I would have a salt-encrusted truck that sits mostly parked for the next two months, rusting while I pay insurance on it. 🏕️