Personal 📍

Good morning, Happy Tuesday. 🚍 While it’s going to be a nice day, busing it in because this afternoon I will be hoping in the Pine Bush Caravan 🛺 to Guilderland to speak in favor of a proposed law formalizing the process requiring all town committees to seek review from Pine Bush Technical Committee before moving forward on development plans. I probably will ride my bike to work the rest of the week. I don’t love busing it, and having to transfer to the shuttle, but whatever.

Still no news on the truck cap. 🚛 I thought about calling Andy Ruth yesterday, but I know his secretary doesn’t come in until late, and he’d just point me to her to look up the order status on his computer. Still hoping this week, but it’s going to rain this weekend so it’s unlikely I can move things over, and honestly next week would be better to take time off to get it installed. I found out the local SEFCU opens at 8:30 AM, so I could swing by there before heading over to Ruth’s to get the bank 💵 check to pay for the remaining balance on the cap.

Ordered the second solar panel and y connector, ☀️ expecting Saturday delivery so I plan to be home to make sure it is unbroken when it is dropped off – or otherwise refuse to take delivery. It was $108 with tax and y connector, but whatever, it will greatly improve the amount of charging ability I have with two panels. The PWM solar controller I have is only rated for 10 amps so the two panel sat full output might be pushing it but if it burns up, it’s an excuse to buy a more efficent MPPT controller which will pull even more power of the panel. Hate to spend more money, but once the rig is built, expenses will fall except maybe for gas. But with more solar output, less idling and burning expensive gas, ⛽ though what’s nice with the remote start is that if the accessory batteries go under voltage and protection relay disconnects, I can just tap the remote start button on my key fob and the truck starts up. Or if I’m camping somewhere with cell service, 📱 I can even schedule remote starts to keep the batteries topped off 🪫 even when I’m away from the truck and not have to listen to the rumble of the engine. Need to get more alumimum bar to mount the panel on, maybe I’ll drive in Friday assuming that’s not the day I’m installing the cap.

The House Sparrows and Crackles are having quite a war outside my window on the power line.  🐦‍⬛ 🐦 Kind of entertaining to watch this morning. That said, I don’t have a lot of extra time, though a bit more as I missed the earlier bus downtown, as it’s almost 8 AM. One advantage to riding the bike is I can leave later, and worse comes to worse I’m just a bit late to the office. But the bus runs on the schedule. Glad I didn’t drive in on Monday, as yesterday, the Southern Boulevard Bridge was completely stopped with traffic, as I glided along on my bike ot work. Went to Five Rivers until about 8:15 PM last night, didn’t stay until dusk as I was pretty tired and wanted to be to bed around 9 PM so I could get sufficient sleep. Also stayed in bed until around 6 AM, skipping my morning pee break and making coffee at 5 AM which seems to happen too much lately.

Been studying my options for the Michigan Trip a bit, 🛣️ still not crazy about the 8 1/2 hour drive from Chautauqua to the National Forests in the mid-state Michigan, especially as it involves going through Cleveland and Ann Arbor, almost wish I could break it up into two days but where to camp? 🏕️ Maybe I got to look on Free Camping for a low cost, preferably remote campground though I really dislike campgrounds. I still want to do this trip, I just got to figure out the best route. Still have about two month though to decide on it. And I still need to get the truck cap and get things wired. So much waiting. I keep telling myself I should call Ruth up, but I am lazy and don’t want to be, “are we there yet” kind of pest.