Alfred E. Smith Building

The Alfred E. Smith Building, known officially as the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building and sometimes called simply the Smith Building, is a structure located in downtown Albany, New York across the street from the New York State Capitol and One Commerce Plaza.

The building’s namesake, Alfred Emmanuel Smith, was a four-term governor of New York and the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 1928 presidential election. The Art Deco skyscraper has 34 stories and at 388 feet (118 m) is Albany’s second tallest structure (after the Erastus Corning Tower).

Completed in 1928, it houses offices of the New York State government. Built originally with an observation deck on the 31st floor, the 350-foot-high (110 m) open-air deck was closed in 1976 when the 589-foot-tall (180 m) 42nd floor enclosed Corning Tower Observation Deck was opened. An extensive renovation of the building began in 2002. This modernization, which cost at least $103 million, is now finished.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Smith_Building

December 1, 2015 evening

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Good afternoon. Currently 39 degrees and cloudy. Surprisingly for the most part we have missed the rain in Albany, despite the north country getting pelleted with freezing rain and a lot more rain falling in the Hudson Valley. Scattered showers before midnight, then periods of rain, mainly after midnight. Low near constant, around 38. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Traffic is really backed up on Interstate 787 tonight. The drizzle isn’t helping. I’m sure traffic will get moving again soon and I will be home.

After a tough couple of days, I have some good news. I finally got the PostGIS server working on my laptop. I am in the process of restoring the various databases but it going well. I think I will be fully back in the map making business come the end of the week. I was super annoyed about had all my mapping software broke with the distribution update – but at least I’ll have updated mapping data.

The weekend forecast continues to look quite nice. Not totally sure where I will go but if I can get out of town all the weekend all the better.

December 1, 2015 morning

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Good morning. Happy December. Already the final month of the year. It looks like we will be missing the freezing rain this morning with temperatures already at 33 degrees and a warm air loft pushing the mercury up. A Freezing Rain Advisory remains in effect through noontime but I think it will mostly impact the higher elevations at this point.

Certainly a gray morning as is common this time of year. So be it. Another work day as the weekend gets closer. It will be summer before you know it. That said, I am planning for many adventures come the winter.

Later today look for rain. High near 40. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. More rain tonight. Steady temperatures. Low around 39. Southeast wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Sunset around 4:23 PM.

Landlord was unpleasant about my request for written documentation on his loss but so be it. A big part of being an adult is dealing with unpleasant people who need to be reminded of grim realities or at least their legal responsibility. Even if the insurance doesn’t the cover I feel it’s important to cover my ass against future claims. I don’t care, I like my cheap apartment on the bus line in the suburbs. I eventually do want to own land but it sure is convenient.

November 30, 2015 night

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Good evening. Currently 27 degrees and partly clear. Did you see that big moon rising from the east about a half hour ago? It was quite pretty. A bit chilly but not that bad. Looks like the mercury will drop a few more degrees this evening then start to warm up the approaching rain. The chances of freezing rain in the morning are decreasing but it’s all a timing thing on how fast the morning warns up.

Went down to the library for a bit then went for my evening walk after stewing over the cost of the replacement thermostat for my apartment which ultimately looks that my renters insurance will cover. But I hate dealing with stupid shit like this.

Got the thermostat fixed in my apartment today and the landlord left a $83 handwritten bill for the replacement. Legally it looks like I’m responsible for it, although the lease language assigning responsibility appears to be not written correctly and says neglect (willful negligence) rather than negligence, which can be a simple accident. The case law is contradictory on bona-fide accidents by tenants and not willful damage but ultimately it’s a moot point – I have renters insurance which covers up to $1,000 damage of property to others (e.g. landlord) with no deductible. I think it’s per year and not per claim. That said, my landlord needs to send me an actual bill and not something scribbled illegibly on a sheet of paper. I’m sure he will make me an actual bill if I ask, because he wants to get paid. I’m sure his insurance for accidental tenant damage only kicks in after the security deposit is used as an deductible. Insurance is a good thing to have. It’s a small claim, so my insurance agent can pay it out on the spot without having an adjuster involved, which is nice. Better yet, the loss occurred on November 30th, so it falls on last year’s insurance, protecting me fully for 2016. If for some unlikely reason the claim isn’t paid, it will buy me time and smooth over my cash flow. I like my apartment and I’m years into my auto-renew at a low rate, so I’d hate to have my lease end in 90 days or the rates hiked. Still a bit annoyed but accidents happen. Still a lot cheaper than a fender bender and certainly a lot less dealing with insurance adjusters and body shops.

Some day I want to own land and be my own landlord in a simple off-grid cabin. I’d be less cheesed off about paying to repair something I owned and broke. I don’t need anything fancy, just a place where I can shoot guns whenever I want, have fires and burn junk, and generally be left alone from an over zealous government. Kind of like Fixed By Doc’s cabin in rural Pennsylvania. I guess for now it’s called camping. It’s nice living in the suburbs and walking or taking the bus everywhere for now. I like Pennsylvania a lot but I have some serious questions about the future of that state, especially recently when both parties in the legislature have been so addicted to raising taxes.

Continued researching winter coats. My zipper is broken, missing teeth, and the coat is rattier than what some homeless people wear. Going to get another Carhartt and I found a place with a decent price with no state sales tax or shipping. No sales but they have the colors I like in stock and cheaper than Carhartt direct. The old worn out coat says size 50 which I think is equivalent to 2XL and tall but I really want to try one on for size. I know Crossgates Maul has a Carhartt brand store next to Dick’s, maybe they’ll have that size to try it on. I am seriously bummed out that they aren’t union made anymore.

The Year 2050

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As I sit in traffic this evening, the radio is talking about the Paris Climate Talks and the year 2050. I look back at the lit up Empire State Plaza. Something so absurd and surreal about it all.

The year 2050, I will turn age 67. I am planning to retire that year. It won’t be that far away. It’s a bit scary. Every year I max out my Roth IRA because that year won’t be long, as I look back at the Empire Plaza one last time, going home from work.

2050 will come. It’s a certainty.

November 25, 2015 evening

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Good evening. Currently 41 degrees and clear with a full moon. Throughout the evening it should be mostly clear, with a low around 33. South wind 6 to 8 mph.

It’s the evening before Thanksgiving. Traffic seems to be moving well leaving the city but that may have more to do with the driver taking South Pearl and that I left work early.

November 24, 2015 evening

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Good evening. The Tuesday work day has come to a close as we inch towards the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and the full moon tomorrow night. Right now it’s around 39 degrees and clear with occasional clouds. The moon is already pretty bright and big, nearly a full moon. The sunset tonight was at 4:26 PM and tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:27 AM for 14 hours and 30 minutes of darkness. The first day of winter is rapidly approaching on December 22nd — less then a month away. Then the days will start getting longer

Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 22. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. In the morning, it will become a pretty pleasant day. Sunny, with a high near 46. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. For turkey day, look for some great weather — mostly sunny, with a high near 55. South wind 7 to 10 mph. Almost summer-like.

Started listening to some holiday music for my commute home. While it seems like it just was the holiday season, it’s yet that time once again. At least the snow has held off for a few more days then in recent years. The city has held off on Christmas decorations downtown so far, except for a few wreaths on city hall.

Back to my musings about the past weekend…

Heading up to Malone last Friday it started to snow pretty hard and the wind was blowing ominously. I stopped at Stewarts and got milk and more firewood. They are well priced for kiln-dried wood that is legal to bring across state lines and distances greater than 50 miles in state. I also stopped at Walmart and bought a bunch more bungee cords. I was afraid with the wind I wouldn’t have enough of an ability to tie down the three tarps I had bought to use as a wind and rain shelter with the expected high winds expected on Saturday night.

As I was heading out from Malone to North Lawrence the sun was rapidly setting in the sun. Fortunately I somehow remembered the turn, and when I got to the camping area, it was exactly as I remembered it from six years ago. The CC Dam Camping area is somewhat cramped sites but when I was there I had the place to myself bar some hunters setting up at the other end.

I set the tarps and tent up primarily in the dark but I had lights hooked to my inverter to help. I think I did a good job setting up, while I sipped a cold one or two for a while. Everything was set up by 6 PM and I got a campfire started and the Big Buddy Heater. Had some hot dogs and chips for dinner as it was easy.

Retired to bed around 9 AM as the heated tent was warm and I was tired from the long trip up there. I also knew how short the days were and wanted to go hunting at daybreak and explore the Deer River State Forest. It was a good first day on the trip even if everything didn’t go quite to plan.