Elm Ave Park and Ride 📍

Good morning! Happy Friday the 13th 🦹on this Make Your Dream Come True Day. 🚜. Honestly I think superstitions can be kind of silly, but I believe in power of compounding and dividends produced over time. ⌚ Everything done today can lead to a better future 🔮 if you so choose. You can’t change the past or even the world 🌎 but you can change yourself and future.

Rain showers and 38 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☔ There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️

Not a real soaking rain 🌧️ but I decided to skip the 6:45 am morning walk 🚶 in favor of catching the earlier express bus 🚍 downtown and walking inside the Concourse with the muzzle on. 😷 Last night was also raining so I stayed home 🏡 but I got my steps 👣 in earlier in the day. That said I’m thinking about increasing my steps goal 🥅 as most days I’m exceeding the goal.

Today will have a chance of rain before 4pm, then a slight chance of showers after 4pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 43 degrees at 10am. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 9th. Southwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1932. 13.1 inches of snow fell back in 1964.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.9° from the due south horizon (-44.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:01 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:45 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 20 seconds with dusk around 5:15 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:51 pm. Maybe not today though. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 9 mph with gusts up to 20mph. Today will have 9 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 30 seconds over yesterday.

I was hoping my December electric bill would be under $100 ⚡ but ultimately it came out to be $101. I forget how cold it was right before Christmas and on the holiday, even though we had that week when I had the heat off. I’m trying to save where I can but it’s hard, especially with inflation and higher energy prices. I guess it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I hate to waste energy.

Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 7pm, then a chance of snow showers between 7pm and 2am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 27 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 18th. North wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 6 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1957.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 33 degrees at 1pm. Typical for Tomorrow. North wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1932. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1999.❄

Then for Sunday, sunny, with a high near 34. ☀ North wind 10 to 13 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.

Martin Luther King Day looks to be another winner ☀ with a high around 38. Not bad for January at any rate. Still a few weeks off until January.

Should be a good weekend for getting out of town 🌲 but the question on my mind is how far I want to go from. Not a lot of snow around but Saturday is going to be really cold ❄.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 25 and 12 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1955.

Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 31 degrees in Delmar for my evening walk. ☁ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around noontime. 🌡️

Monday’s almost Done. Not a bad evening walk, not real cold no ice but the moon hasn’t risen enough to be visible on the horizon. Windy late but a fairly mild night by January standards.

Tonight will be cloudy ☁, with a low of 29 degrees at 8pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 24th. Maximum wind chill around 28 at 8pm; Light west wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1968. Back when it used to be a lot colder in winter.

I finally got that mouse trap I ordered a week and a half ago. 🐁 I am as excited as a pig in shit about that. Finally got one of those Rinne bucket traps you snap on a five gallon bucket full of water 💦 and they fall in, the peanut butter 🥜 flap drops and they drown. Their popular with farmers and snake owners as they can catch several mice in a night and they don’t involve toxic chemicals and can be used indefinitely. I figure just dump the buckets in the woods out back and it’s clean food for predators. Been waiting for a long time for the trap and I’ve not had a lot of luck lately with the spring traps or sticky traps. Both worked for a while till they stopped. I’m just annoyed the mouse chewed through the hole I patched a few years back.

Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 91% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the east-northeast (72°) at an altitude of 7° from the horizon, some 251,000 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by July 19^th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Wednesday, January 25. The darkest hour is at 12:03 am, followed by dawn at 6:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (120°) and last for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Sunrise is 13 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:10 am with sun in the southeast (128°). Tonight will have 14 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 18 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 37 degrees at 1pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 18th. West wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. A year ago, we had light freezing rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2016. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1984.❄

Tomorrow is the State of the State Address. 🎤 If there was ever a day I avoid the Capitol or Empire State Plaza that would be it. I’m not sure how many protestors there will be this year but I’m quite comfortable watching them from the window of my office 🏢. When I take the local in the bus 🚍 drops me two feet from the Alfred E Smith building where I work and I can slip in and upstairs without the craziness.

I sent the state a $250 estimated tax payment for Q4 of last year. 💸 With work and everything else I missed my Q3 payment though I should be good as I usually only average about $1,200 a year in taxable dividends. It always angered me a lot to have to take money 💵 out of my pocket to cover dividends I’m reinvesting and not taking but I was doing the numbers the other day how important reinvesting dividends is to a secure future. 🌎 That said, I probably should have paid estimated taxes to the fed as I’ll probably owe but those limits aren’t as tight. I think my taxable income will still be low enough this year to free file 📂 which is nice.

In four weeks on February 6 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (250°) at 5:16 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 42 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 36 and 12 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 34 and 16 degrees. The record high of 55 degrees was set back in 1991.

Looking ahead, Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is Next Monday, National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 is Next Monday, Save the Pine Bush Turns 43 🦋 is in 4 weeks, Average High is 35 ☀️ ️️| 3 is a month away, Presidents Day 👴 is in 6 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 3 months, 8 PM Dusk 🌆 is in 13 weeks, May 🕊 is in 16 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is in 21 weeks, Average High is 80 🏖 is in 23 weeks, World Mosquito Day 🐞 is in 32 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 34 weeks, September 11th 🇺🇸 is in 35 weeks, 7 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 36 weeks, Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 is in 44 weeks, Cyber Monday 🛍️ is in 46 weeks, First Sunday of Advent ✝️ is in 47 weeks, Average High is 40 🌨 is in 11 months, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 11 months, Bake Cookies Day 🍪 is in 49 weeks and Christmas 🎅 is in 50 weeks.

Good evening! Mostly clear and 26 degrees during my moon lit evening walk here in Delmar. 🌖 Calm wind.Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 10 am. 🌡️

I was going to stay home this evening after walking about ten miles today 🚶 but with the weeks schedule ahead and the moonlit night I decided to go out and walk this evening. Making good progress on breaking in the boots, they’re pretty comfortable now 👢 but I figured give them a rest and then do my evening walk with the old ones. I’m really trying to maximize them as much as possible with inflation.

Walked out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center 🐸 in the morning, then visited John Wolcott up in Colonie for a few hours and then stopped at Colonie Center Maul to look for reasonably priced dress shirts. First time I’ve been into a shopping maul since the pandemic. I looked at Boscov’s first but ended up at Macy’s. 👨🏻‍💼 They didn’t have a lot reasonably priced. I did find one I liked ultimately. That said, I think I’m going to take a risk order online next time from like Amazon or Ebay take the risk and if I find something I like order more.

I felt so out of place at the Maul. 👨‍💼 Especially those fancy department stores like Macy’s and Boscovs. I liked the old Sears better, but truth be told, I’d rather be in the woods 🌲 or a barnyard 🐮 then any maul. The whole maul environment seems so oppressive, with so much future garbage on shelves. 🗑 I guess people need stuff and want fancy things for their suburbanite homes, but I can’t imagine spending money on half the things they sell at mauls. 🚜 Of course, that’s why on Facebook I look at farm tractors and implements so much lately. But at least they’re not all shiny and fancy. 🏚 The more time I spend in suburbia the more I want to have my off-grid homestead, as simple as possible. Maybe even no electricity. 📺 Don’t get me started on the television.

Later on I did an evening hike in the Pine Bush 🌲as it got darker out. The crowds thinned out before dusk, I did the loop from the Discovery Center past the landfills. I really don’t get up to the Pine Bush as much as I should but I don’t like driving 🚘 and try to avoid the city as much as possible. I would and probably should visit John more too but like the Pine Bush I really avoid the city as much as possible. Northway traffic is so heavy. Then I picked up a few more groceries I forgot at the store 🏬 on Friday. Should be good for the week now.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 21 degrees at 1am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 26th. Calm wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light freezing rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1968.

Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 95% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the east-northeast (76°) at an altitude of 18° from the horizon, some 251,964 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by July 18^th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Tuesday, January 24. The darkest hour is at 12:03 am, followed by dawn at 6:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (120°) and last for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Sunrise is 11 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:11 am with sun in the southeast (128°). Tonight will have 14 hours and 42 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 15 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 40 degrees at 3pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 28th. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 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 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2008. 9.9 inches of snow fell back in 1953.

Back to the grind tomorrow. 👨🏻‍💼Got to make that money 💵 for a better tomorrow. Like walking 🚶 it’s one step at a time, learning, thinking and becoming a better person. it’s one way closer to fifty. Money is a key part of Mission Fifty, but there is so much I can do learn and become better also over the upcoming decade. Soft skills can make it easier to succeed beyond age 50, provide income and so many other benefits — and they are as key to Mission Fifty as saving and earning in the mean-time. 👨‍🏫 When that day comes in 2023, the adventure is really just starting, but the next ten years, on the mission gives me a change to develop who I want to me as I undertake whatever my goals are to be implemented with Mission Fifty. Skills, life experience, are equally as important as money as I look to the next ten years. 📈

In four weeks on February 5 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (249°) at 5:15 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 26 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 38 and 17 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 34 and 16 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1890.

Looking ahead, Coldest Week of the Year on Average 🌬 starts Next Sunday, 38th Birthday 🎉 is in 3 weeks, Daylight Savings Time 🌆 is in 9 weeks, Last Day of Winter 🏂 is in 10 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 13 weeks, Average High is 60 🌷 is in 14 weeks, 8 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 17 weeks, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 18 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 5 months, Fathers Day 👨 is in 22 weeks, Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 is in 27 weeks, 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 is in 35 weeks, Constitution Day 📜 is in 36 weeks, October 🎃 is in 38 weeks, Average High is 65 🍂 is in 9 months, Day After Election Day 🛀 is in 10 months, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 48 weeks and Christmas Eve 🎅 is in 50 weeks.