The Shawangunk Ridge, also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.
You know, a lot of people think I am good with technology. I have some knowledge, having played with computers going on 30 plus years, but my knowledge of contemporary technology more limited then you might think as I abstain from a lot of use of technology at home and in my personal life. I have a laptop computer that runs Linux – but I have never had Internet or television at home – though my smartphone in recent years does provide limited mobile hotspot access which I use sparingly.
People often think I must know a lot about Mac OS, Microsoft Windows or Computer Networking. But neither have been a topic of much interest to me, as I’ve almost never used Windows outside of work, and I don’t have much of a need for knowledge of computer networking, when I get my internet over my phone or from public hotspots. Other people take care of making it work, I’ve never purchased or used a network router, as I don’t have cable service where I lived, and when I was growing up we just had dial-up internet.
Over the years, I’ve learned a lot of different programming languages and with nearly three decades of using Linux as my primary operating system, I know quite a bit of UNIX. I also picked up some SQL when I wrote my own blog platform before eventually adopting WordPress, though I do write most of the theme and many of SQL queries that are used to power the blog. And as the Director of Data Services, which officially is a non-technical position though I use UNIX, SQL and RStudio daily, I am using computers constantly and writing scripts and queries to get the most of data. Plus I’ve done a lot of mapping and GIS work using open source software like QGIS and RStudio.
Truth is without a television or home internet though, I never get to experience a lot of techie-stuff. I really don’t like playing computer games, nor do I like glossy operating systems or advanced video and audio technology. I am quite happy with the XFCE Desktop Environment, which I like to point out, pretty much remains unchanged from 20 years ago, and pretty much works like computers did in 30 years ago. You won’t see me running out to get a Windows 11 or Mac OS X PC any time soon, I hate how much commercial crap and advertising for the rare times I have to boot Windows on my laptop to connect to the work VPN.
At least according to Robert Caro, 1974. Whether or not he actually said that has been much debated like many things in his epic book.
Robert Caro didn’t pull the quote just from thin error though. It turns out that this quote was a favorite of Richard Nixon. He used it most famously in his eulogy for Senator Everett Dirksen and several other times. But again despite Nixon crediting Sophocles, there isn’t actually a lot of evidence that Sophocles actually said that.
It’s wonderful that it’s frozen enough to walk on it. Been years since it’s been that hard frozen from the cold. Of course I forgot the road back here – ended up on North Greatview Road and not Kling Terrace. I’ve been walking the marsh on the north side of the rail bridge but not under it due to the melt water from the bridge and faster currents making the ice thinner.
The rail trail was a bit rough riding with the pock marked snow and ice but it was passable. Heading to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center next then I’ll probably head home and read tonight. Get to bed early and see how much snow there is come the morning and move forward. Sunday dinner with the folks and then I’ll probably go to Walmart or I could wait until later in the week as my pantry is okay though I do need more fresh and frozen fruits.
