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Good morning, Happy Hump Day After Primary Day ☀️

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The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful morning but I’m busing it in as I have a Save the Pine Bush Meeting to go to after work. And then Thursday looks like rain, but Friday I’ll be back to biking it to work.

Thinking next week will be only a one day to ride to work, 🚲 as I want to take off Wednesday and Thursday, and leave work early next Tuesday in the SuperDuty F-350 to get bacon 🥓 at For the Love of Bacon, 🐷 and then head north. Speculator likely, but with the forecast pushing towards the warm side of things, the Potholers sound nice for a few days before heading north to Moose River Plains. 🏕️ It will be nice to finally put the SuperDuty to work, though first I need to get gas. ⛽

It was a long night last night, 🚌 ended up getting the bus home and then driving the SuperDuty back to election night event. 🗳️ People voted, shit happens. 💩 What can I say, America is becoming Trump Country, both on the left and right. Kind of fun, in an entertaining way, though you would hope that government would be run by adults and not teenagers on Instagram. I don’t even know who won the judge race, though I probably should care as it may very well impact what happens should Save the Pine Bush 🌲 end up in court trying to save the last remaining acres of Pine Bush from being bulldozed. I do like how the headlights auto dim at night on SuperDuty, it makes night driving much pleasant. ☺️

This weekend I want to get over to Rensselaer County to get fireworks 🎇 to light off when I’m off of work up at camp, you know sparklers and ground fountains that fit into my budget, which ain’t much plus more gas for the SuperDuty ⛽ as I let it get low hoping for cheaper gas prices. I’ll probably get $50 for the weekend, and fill ‘r up in Rotterdam when I get bacon heading north next Tuesday. Maybe Papacanee Island and some of the Albany Electric Trail on the Mountain Bike 🚵‍♂️ and then East Greenbush Wally World for food, supplies, and sparklers 🎇 before heading home. Sunday go out to my parents house fairly early to clean out and photograph Big Red and get hims ready to sell. 🪧

I was up early making pinto beans 🫘, rice and lentils for lunch, but it didn’t help that a bunch of police 🚨 cars came roaring through at 5 AM with sirens going and I found it hard to get back to sleep. 😴 I’m going to be tired in the office today, but I expect a relatively quiet day. It’s really too bad I can’t ride the bike to work today, 🚲 it’s going to be a beautiful day. Been learning about MapLibre GL, I want to eventually switch the blog over to that for beautiful, interactive 3D maps 🗺️ to replace Leaflet Maps I currently use, but it’s API is quite different and there is a lot to learn. 🤓

On that note, as Steely Dan sung a half century  ago, “Your ever lasting summer, you can see it fading fast…”

Map: Mountain House Trail and North Mountain
Thematic Map: Albany Art

Primary Day 2026 🗳️

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I voted months ago at this point, but yes, today is the big day for people running in primaries, though the only interesting ones are judge primary locally, as it seems like Tom DiNapoli is going to scoop up the Comptroller’s race. Maybe because I liked his ice cream sundae day at Capitol some twenty years ago, I’m biased towards him. Good reason to vote for Comptroller.

Yesterday it was a busing it work day, 🚏 it was fine, walking laps 👣 after work in Empire Plaza. They have so many security guards patrolling the Concourse this day, the homeless people aren’t around to ask you about the Trilaterial Commission, but instead are in hiding outdoors. Rained all evening, we needed the rain, but it also meant when I got home at 6:15 PM I had a dinner, 🛏️ and headed to bed bed shortly thereafter, as I was tired all day. Today I am taking the SuperDuty… Just kidding… The bike to work. 🚲 Still damp and cloudy today, but it will get progressively nicer as the day goes on. I have a primary day event to go to after work, and then it’s home. 🏡 Wearing my Paisley and Power Brokers shirt today, not sure if he’ll be there tonight. 🦴 Maybe on bike or bus home depending on when I get out of event, probably be closer to 10 or 11 so yeah, bus.  I got to either put more money on the CDTA app or better yet, just get one of those updated smart cards to use for the next ten years, so I don’t have to worry about having my phone working.  🪪

Tomorrow after work there is another development for Save the Pine Bush 🦋 to oppose, so I’ll be back out in Builderland with the crew. Then maybe Thursday I’ll work on wiring up the truck, and this weekend I want to remove and clean up the rest of Big Red 🛻 and take pictures of him and get him listed for those who are interested. Going to offer both the truck cap and truck itself for sale, and see what goes. Ultimately at this point I just want to get rid of old truck, once all my gear is out of it. Maybe move over the CB Radio this weekend, still need to get the antenna pulled, run wires back from relay box in the front, but neither is a big priority. And definately check battery lugs and get the solar connected in if I don’t do that on Tuesday. Also need to get to the grocery store at some point, though in them mean time I can run to Stewarts for milk and eggs to hold myself over.

Thinking of taking off July 1 and 2nd, 🇺🇸 as it looks like we have staff in the office for those days, leaving for Speculator on June 30th at 3:30 PM with a side trip to For the Love of Bacon 🥓 🐷 on the way up to you know, avoid the Thruway Tolls by driving past the Rotterdamn Maul. Farmer Chandler was selling some of her bacon seeds earlier this spring, you know feeder pigs. If I only had land, I could have my own bacon. But I’d rather work my way to Moose River Plains early on July 3rd morning, set up camp through the July 6th which also is a holiday at my office, and come back late that evening. Nice long trip to enjoy my new truck that I’ve spent so much money on but have barely used so far, waiting for the cap to come, gas prices ⛽ to come down, and get things wired up. But it should be ready this weekend. Of course, being gone form June 30th – July 6th means I can’t necessarily be around to show the truck, but I can put it out there I’m thinking of selling it. Really push it on July 7th, as I want it gone by vacation by July 29th. I think I’m banned from Facebook Marketplace through July 18th due to my stupid comments about how wonderful drugs are 💊 but fuck Facebook, and all those stupid ads. It will fun up north floating in various creeks, 🏊‍♂️ maybe smoking some weed and drinking beer. 🍺

Map: Indian Lake
Map: Squaw Lake
Thematic Map: Percentage of Green Cars
Terrain Map: New York and New England Terrian

Substantially complete 🚛

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That’s what I said about my truck build when I got the solar panels mounted and the wires routed back to the bed. I noticed a loose battery lug and misplaced my hex key so I didn’t connect it up but that’s a 10 minute job from within the bed when I hook up the lights and USB charger in the bed probably on Tuesday evening.

Yesterday I went to the Gas Up 🚜 though dad didn’t join me as he was too tired. 😩 He was working in the garden 🫜 and other projects all day and I was disappointed because you never know how many more chances you have. Time lasts forever before it’s gone. I also finally got the solar panel mounted and wired, though I did not connect the fuse as I wanted to make sure all the battery connections were good and snug before I burned down the truck. And now it’s mostly doing the low amperage stuff in the cap, like the lights and USB chargers. Probably do less lights then I did in the past, as I just need enough to see at night.

I was hoping to get out of town next weekend and it’s still possible 🏕️ but the weekend weather look marginal and I’m thinking of just extending the Independence Day Weekend longer and leaving a week from Tuesday. I need to finish up wiring and I want to clean up the old truck so I can sell it some point over the month, and move all my camping gear over to my new rig. My new truck with the cap, kayak racks and solar on it now really is starting to feel like my truck. Without the cap, the SuperDuty didn’t feel like my old truck. But now it looks and feels a lot more the same like the old rig. Many people had advice on how I should change things, but ultimately I chose the option of the more things change, the more stay the same.

Going to be a rainy day, so I’ll be taking the bus in. 🚌 Hasn”t started yet but it’s definately coming. I guess I could take the SuperDuty in but I don’t like driving, and this gives me a chance to walk laps in the Plaza after work, and maybe walk in Knickerbocker Arena Walkway down to Broadway to get some more steps in. ♻️ Gives me a chance to donate one of those plastic milk bottles for recycling in the Empire Plaza bin on my way in too. Being green for a bit longer until I get the SuperDuty up and running. Then I want to get some Greek Yougurt too. Been avoiding it as No 5 Recycling is fake. 🌧 I think the high is going to be in the low sixties for today, unusual for early summer but it happens..

I am just kind of tired today. 😫 The weekend went by like a flash with all the work wiring up the truck. Maybe it’s rain or something groing around. Then again, dad was also tired yesterday. Now that I have the truck up and running, I really should plan out my summer, though so much of it depends on the weather.

Map: Empire State Topography
Map: Empire State Color Relief