Hmm. Sunday afternoon into evening looks very wet as of the latest forecast, 2-3 inches of rain. Fortunately I have good books to read and this campsites is relatively well drained. Rest of the week has improved. Got camp tidied up, ready for a good rain.
Brought to you by Big Tobacco π¬
Thank you for smoking.
There are few industries quite as demonized as the tobacco industry today. It is not only considered acceptable but almost polite to demonize smokers, or to at least see them as little more then “addicts” in the grip of an awful deadly addiction to nicotine. The anti-smoking crowd has been very successful.
We’ve known for a long time – at least 100 years – quite possibly longer that smoking is harmful to health, especially on an aggregate fashion to the publics health. There is a clearly measurable impact on the rate of smoking compared to the rate of lung cancer deaths, heart attacks, emphazema. While it’s impossible to know if anyone’s dealth was caused by smoking and not a many factors such as poor diet, air pollution, the concetion obvious on a public health level, and there is a strong correlation and only sometimes strong evidence of causation on individual health.
Smoking is a pretty disgusting habitat, it smells bad, dirties your teeth and your lungs. Certainly don’t do it indoors or around others. It’s good to discourage smoking for public health, but I don’t love the idea of public shaming of smokers or tobacco makers. At the same time, I have very little tolerance of tobacco health impact deniers, nor those who claim that smokers are little more then those caught into a chemical addiction.
It was a beautiful morning before the clouds started to push in β
No rain expected for today, though they are talking about rain showers tomorrow, though less rain then maybe earlier estimates. Tomorrow will be a day for hanging out at camp, reading, maybe doing some fishing up at Foster Pond. The water levels are really high at that pond, as I found myself wading through water with my knock-off crocks last night.
Yesterday was okay, a quiet day, the balance of the day spent at the Watkins Glen Pool. πββοΈ I was disappointed with the ice cream sundae I got yesterday at Glen Dairy Bar, π¨ wasn’t as tasty as I remembered, they kind of overfilled the cup and it was dripping and the service was slow. I keep telling myself I could be in Michigan. And I was annoyed about the work that kept coming in, and then that they are now charging $8 (plus a ‘small conviencence fee’) to park at the Seneca Lake kayak launch. I normally park on Cass Road and haul my kayak across NY 79, πΆ as I hate how small that lot is but I am starting to wonder about the legality of parking on Cass Road pull off, despite doing it for years, though there is no parking signs so it’s probably fine. I guess I could pull even further down the road after unloading the kayak in the future to ensure I am legitimate. I don’t know, I am kind of tired of the Finger Lakes. Need coffee and a few other supplies at Wally World in Watkins Glen, and left $42 poorer. Shit just adds up these days, I can’t complain though I make good money and camping in the National Forest is free and mom pays for my parks past.
Today, I am heading down to Trumansburg for the day, first stopping at the Trumansburg library to run counts and make some maps up for work. π§βπ» I will bring the bike and the kayak, though I worry Cayuga Lake may be choppy with the breeze. I might launch from the Alfred Treman Park, and stay on the Cayuga Inlet or just barely get out on Cayuga Lake past the breakwater to paddle up Stewart Creek. Definately want to stay away from Stewart Park today with the Ithaca farmers market π½Β on going, that is always so nuts with traffic. Maybe hike around Taughannock Gorge, supposedly the falls are very impressive with all the rain they got on Wednesday, though it didn’t seem like Aunt Sarah or Shequanock Falls, or Glen Creek were particular torrents yesterday. I think the much west of Cayuga Lake the total rainfall dropped off significantly. Need ice, π§ I am sure at this point, and Alfred Treman always has cheap ice on the honor system for fisherman, it’s like $1.50 a bag, you can’t beat that. π£ Tomorrow I’ll probably go fishing in Foster Pond, that seems like a good activity for a rainy day, besides hanging out at camp, smoking weed and reading π. I got my ten July borrows out of Hoopla yesterday, so I should have plenty of good reads for the balance of vacation.
Monday I will probably go to Ithaca for propane and maybe some more weed. πΆβπ«οΈ Figure Sunday have a good toke or two while sitting under the tarp next to the propane heater. Been wanting to find a good Ithaca dispensery and try something new, though I like to research in advance. Been thinking of checking out Fall Creek Preserve, πΆββοΈand some other Ithaca Preserves I’ve never visited before. I like the Cornell Arboretum but I feel like I’ve done that too many times before, want to do new things. Need to find a library π to work the end of Monday, then get back to camp relatively early, as I want to be in bed by 9 AM so I can get up at 5 AM on Tuesday, have a quick breakfast, and be on the road to Pennsylvania a little after daybreak – say around 6 AM, as I have a lot of adventures planned for Pennsylvania day π dawn to dusk. Maybe hit up the Glen Dairy Bar π¦ on the way back to camp, they are open until 10 PM. Won’t be real dark until 9 PM, so as long as I’m in the Glen by then, I don’t mind the drive back to camp after dark, I’ll go slow and watch for deer π¦ – the SuperDuty has excellent headlights. π»
Terribly lazy π¦₯
On what is likely to be the nicest day of vacation weather wise I spent the balance of the day at the Watkins Glen Pool, listening to Rust audio book about life working in a steel mill. I could have done so much more but after riding down to Montour Falls, I was hot, tired and bothered especially as the work emails came piling in an I just ignored them.
Week forecast just looks cloudier and rainier all week. Monday I got to work remote 4-5 pm but I’m sure there is things legitimately needing to get done. Tuesday still looks best for Pennsylvania but that’s marginal too. And I’m feeling a bit sunburnt at this point from all that sitting in the sun.
Listening to Rust I am reminded of how privileged I am and how easy my life is compared to many but at times it doesn’t feel like that. After setting up camp in National Forest as the rain came to a conclusion, everything is kind of muddy. My SuperDuty work truck with a camper shell is so basic compared to some fancy trucks and RVs you see around, and I could own such things if I wanted to spend the money. I’m camping in the bush though I could afford a fancy motel or campground if I wanted. But mostly I do wish I had gone to Michigan, seen new pastures.
But I’m just very tired. I’m not sleeping enough I guess but what I crave is hammock time. Like yesterday except I spent most of yesterday setting up camp and then riding seeking out a Finger Lakes sunset. The temptation is to retire back to camp early tonight but I crave a sunset on Seneca Lake, maybe a bike ride or walk along Rock Cabin Road above Catherine Creek Marsh. And ice cream from the Glen Dairy bar. Still I’m tired and the hammock and some good ebooks is calling me. But that’s an activity for another day. One less pleasant.
I had issues with the XY-CD60 terminals getting disconnected and the relay not connecting properly and the loose washer on the low voltage disconnect which was keeping things from charging the today. Need to definately get a lock washer. But I found myself fixing that in the heat of the parking lot next to the stinky Suite – Kote Asphalt plant and that just made me want to puke. Hope it’s tight now but that’s going to continue to be a problem. And it’s something that grinds my gears just like the motorcycles and noise when I was down in Montour Falls. It really just started to feel so oppressively hot and noisy down in Montour Falls. And the bike was making all it’s usually noises – a brake dragging a bit and it was just plain annoying me. But at least the big powerful SuperDuty is a joy to drive on the hills both up and down.
I tell you that I could have been in Michigan. But I’m still working out the technical glitches on the new camper shell with the electrical, demands of work that keep coming in, and I’m just tired. Very tired. That’s why I chose the boring old Finger Lakes – the easy choice I know well. Terribly lazy. And to think people plan their really expensive vacation and travel half the world to visit Watkins Glen and I’m like this is so boring and mundane, sitting back at the pool and in the pastures watching the cows rip grass with their tongues.
Empty Container Before Recycling β»οΈ Plastic Bottle
So the label said when I tossed it into the white trash bag. Soon enough to melt and burn, just like so much of my trash, anonymously disappearing into the flames and a little black smoke.
Plastics recycling is mostly a scam. Some of the No 2 plastic are turned into plastic lumber for decks and railings at DEC projects, but most of it is trash, a byproduct of all that natural gas we use to heat our homes and to a lesser extent the oil that fuels my SuperDuty truck and a billion other cars. But for me, it’s just trash and ultimately fire.
Sometimes I watch as the plastics melts and burns, but mostly I don’t. Mostly it’s just there to get the fire burning hot, the goal to incinerate and destroy it as fast as possible without stink lest leery eyes report it to law. Maybe not lawful in New York but who cares in wilderness. The nasty stuff is mostly gone, fracking producing oodles of cheap polyethelene and environmental regulation means PVC is mostly a memory except maybe for fire-resistant electrical cords.
I won’t argue there isn’t too much gross plastic crap everywhere to send up in smoke. I tell myself eating healthy, I’ve cut way back. But I could do better if I got milk delivered. Or was a bit more careful of a consumer. But what do I care? It smashes down and then almost completely disappears in the flames.