How fast those days come and go. I was pretty disappointed about the condition of the black berries at Norman’s Kill West Preserve last night after work but I got listening to Revisionist History’s Staten Island Podcast series about Dan Singleton and the Staten Island successionist movement. The cowboy-hat wearing Staten Islander artist with a big old mustache who ended up buying cows and moving to Jefferson in Schoharie County. Sounds like fun.
Staten Island Politics are crazy, ðĪŠ as are most of the people I’ve known from there over the years, though my only time I’ve ever been to Staten Island is heading cross the Staten Island Expressway and Verazano Bridge back and forth from New Jersey to Brooklyn to avoid the Manhattan and Bronx traffic on work trips. But yeah, I think if I lived in Staten Island I would want to move to Schoharie County and buy cows. ðŪ And maybe grow a mustache. Honestly, I do love New York politics and reading about the stories of how the power brokers got things done. ðĐâïļ I do want my own land, but I’m not quite ready to hang up my hat.
Riding the bike to work today, ðĩâïļ still having some shifting issues but I am continue to tweak that on the bike. I have a 1 PM meeting downtown, so I’ll ride downtown, and then a Happy Hour in Warehouse District, ðŧ although I don’t know if I’ll attend because I don’t necessarily feel like riding back up the State Street Hill or the Norman’s Kill Gorge a second time today. Last night was nice down at the Normans Kill Ravine West Preserve, though not a lot of good sized blackberries ð
Undecided about the weekend. ð§ïļ Cloudy and quite possibly rainy on Sunday, though Saturday looks nice. âïļ But there are only three weekends left in summer, ð and next week I am thinking off Friday for my last actual day off through November – to go up to the House Pond Campsite to float and swim in the Potholers. ðâïļ But my checking account is going to be pretty depleted after summer vacation and paying off my credit card, and I still need to buy my investments and Roth IRA for this week. All despite being paid on Monday, and no paycheck for another two weeks, though that should be enough to cover the rent. Maybe I should get away, what would it cost, maybe $50 in gas? â― I don’t really need supplies and it would be nice to get away at least a few more times before summer is done. ð Maybe it does depend a lot on the timing of the rain. ð
I’ve been continuing to explore my thoughts about mental illness using Google Gemini, ð§ burn barrels, off-grid living, and general life choices more generally. ðĨ I do like my fires, and it was great to see all those blackened burn barrels when I was down in Pennsylvania. I just kind of like taboo things like burning shit, and who really cares if some day I want to own land, and not recycle âŧïļ every stupid piece of paper and plastic that crosses my desk. ðĒïļ Still, there is something so comforting about AI agreeing to whatever you think, without all the judgment and negative tone of the the licensed mental therapist I saw now several years back. Judgement free on paper but you can always know what people are thinking when you talk to them in person compared to an anonymous algorithm. It’s not to say though you shouldn’t question what an AI algorithm spits back – often it is wrong – but it gives you a place to start your explorations into an issue, think about things in new angles. ð And that’s kind of comforting and gives you context. Maybe I do dream too much about that off-grid cabin with the burn barrel out back, but hardly a serious concern when I am a pretty successful professional.
