Good evening! Clear and 10 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind.There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at Sunday around 10 am. 🌡️ Last real cold night for a while, but I so hopefully I can turn the heat down tomorrow and maybe my evening walk again.

Had a nice lunch at work when the director took everybody out to lunch 🍻 and I of course had enough beer that I was very quiet the rest of the afternoon and then left early. 🍲 Holiday parties can be fun especially when you don’t have to drive. Big meal, 🍴 I skipped dinner because I was full and very tired 😴 after all the food and drink. I only have a drinking problem when I want to.

Got home early, spent a bunch of time looking for parts and components I need to put together 🔍the voltage ⚡ switch on my truck or tomorrow. Had to dig all through my electronics box to find the Shotsky diodes I needed for the project. For a while I thought 💭 they were lost and I was concerned. Found them and built the harness.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 5 degrees at 5am. 14 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 5 at 5am; Calm wind. In 2018, we had light rain. It got down to 37 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1942.

Tonight will have a Waning Crescent Moon 🌘 with 18% illuminated. The moon will rise at 2:04 am. The New Moon is on Wednesday night with mostly cloudy skies. The is on Wednesday night. The sun will rise at 7:21 am with the first light at 6:49 am, which is 34 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 57 minutes of darkness, an increase of 6 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 28 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees below normal. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph 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 62 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2018. 6.6 inches of snow fell back in 2008.❄

I am hoping for a nice day tomorrow for the Save the Pine Bush Ski 🎿 trip in the morning. Hopefully the Pine Bush will be quite nice. I put together the wiring harness for voltage switch ⚡ and double checked the specifications of everything and studied the data sheet for the diode to make sure everything would work perfectly. Those Shotsky diodes have a higher voltage drop then I expected at higher currents although in the grand scheme of things not that critical as it only wastes a half watt when the trucks big alternator is spinning. The isolator relay itself uses about six watts – as it draws nearly 500 mA to stay closed – or so I’m told. I’m actually curious, I should test this.

Been thinking a little bit about getting a heating blanket as a cheap way to stay warm ♨ without having to turn the heat on so much. They don’t use that much power compared to a space heater and are typically safer. 50 watts is typical as you are only heating near yourself. But it just seems like more stuff and I don’t need more. It’s plenty warm under the covers. 💤

In four weeks on January 17 the sun will be setting at 4:49 pm,🌄 which is 24 minutes and 37 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 24 and 9 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 30 and 14 degrees. Coldest time of the year. The record high of 62 degrees was set back in 1889.

Looking ahead, Latest Sunrise of the Winter 🌄️ is in 2 weeks, Wolf Moon 🌕 is in 3 weeks, National Popcorn Day 🍿 is a month away, National Pie Day 🍰 is a month away, Save the Pine Bush Turns 42 🦋 is in 7 weeks, Valentines Day ❤️ is in 8 weeks, 5:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 2 months, 7 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 12 weeks, Spring 🌷 is in 3 months, Good Friday ✝️ is in 16 weeks, May 🕊 is in 19 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is in 24 weeks, Last Day of Session 🏛 is in 6 months, Summer ️⛱️ is in 6 months and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 13 months.