Good morning! Happy Thursday. Four weeks to Thanksgiving. Turkey Day! It was rather interesting to drive past those turkey barns in West Virginia and see all those turkeys looking at you. A very earthy smell of turkey agriculture.  Cloudy and 52 degrees in Delmar. There is a north-northwest breeze at 7 mph. The dew point is 43 degrees. Another fairly dark morning although it is rapidly getting brighter out now that the sun is breaking out a bit and the day is getting more mature. The time change will be nice, especially with the mornings. 

It was dark enough that once again I struggled to get up early enough to catch the express bus downtown, but I did catch one of the earlier locals downtown so I will be into work by nine. I guess that all that matters but I do prefer to take the express, especially with the nice walk down to it. Hopefully tomorrow which is Friday. 

Today will have a chance of rain, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high of 56 degrees at 1pm. Typical for today. It’s the end of October, you can’t expect too much. Northwest wind 7 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies with more clouds in the afternoon. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1963. There was a dusting of snow in 1997.

The sun will set at 5:55 pm with dusk around 6:24 pm, which is one minute and 25 seconds earlier than yesterday. Even if I leave work at 5 PM it will be almost dark by the time I get home. I’m glad I got that darkness activated light switch. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 56 degrees. Breezy, 17 mph breeze from the northwest. Today will have 10 hours and 32 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of rain, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 40 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Northwest wind 8 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2016, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1950.

Back in 1970, Muhammad Ali faces off against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, Georgia for the first time after Ali’s three-year hiatus from evading to be drafted in the Vietnam War. Unlike the TRUMP he didn’t pay off a wealthy doctor to claim he had bone spurs and was ineligible for the draft. 

Some traffic delays heading downtown, although the bus was on time or maybe a few minutes early. I wish they had a map you could pull up to see the extract location of the bus in the morning. The real time bus info is still quite helpful but not always accurate. 

There is a lot of paving being done on Delaware Avenue. I don’t know if this means they are finishing up for good or if the black top is just a surface for the winter snow plows, and will be torn up again come summer 2018. All types of construction seems to take forever. But I guess that’s what happens when you spend millions. The road will hopefully be much smooth come the completion of the project. 

I am struggling to accept that next week is November. I struggle to accept that it is going to cold, snowy and icy. I don’t want to deal with winter already. But the holidays are just around the corner followed by the bleak on cold weather of January and February. Winters aren’t as harsh as they once were but we’ve still had some pretty bad periods at time. Spring will come once again. 

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Thanksgiving when the sun will be setting at 4:26 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm (Standard Time). Turkey Day will be here before you know it. Yum. On that day in 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 37 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 1931.

Good evening! Partly cloudy and 63 degrees in Delmar. There is a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. The dew point is 46 degrees. The sun just recently set on this somewhat chilly October day although compared to normal, it’s actually quite mild. Kind of a pretty sunset. The sun set at 5:56 pm with dusk around 6:25 pm, which is one minute and 27 seconds earlier than yesterday. 

I had to take the local home as  I left my truck at the Delmar park and ride, but it didn’t matter as I got stuck after five at work. Hasn’t been a lot of late nights lately but something came up at the end of the day. I think I want to pick up some additional groceries on the way home. Things like cookies, pasta sauce, orange juice and cheese. Not essential but they make life more delicious and I don’t plan on driving until Saturday or Sunday. 

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 46 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees above normal. Light and variable wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1952.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon with 34% illuminated with the moon setting at 10:13 pm. The moon will rise tomorrow at 1:16 pm. The First Quarter Moon is on Friday night. The Beaver Moon is on Friday, November 3rd. 

The sun will rise at 7:21 am with the first light at 6:52 am, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. Mornings sure are dark this time of year. Gets a little better after the time change. Tonight will have 13 hours and 26 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 41 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high of 56 degrees at 3pm. Typical for tomorrow. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. The high last year was 46 degrees. It was cold how we ended out October last year. The record high of 78 was set in 1963. There was a dusting of snow in 1997.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. Saturday, sunny, with a high near 66. Maximum dew point of 49 at 7pm. Sunday, rain, mainly after 8am. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 63. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Maximum dew point of 55 at 1pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 55 degrees.

In four weeks on November 22 the sun will be setting at 4:26 pm (Standard Time), which is one hour, 29 minutes and 56 seconds earlier then today. In 2016 on that day, we had snow, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 37 and 30 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 45 and 30 degrees. The record high of 70 degrees was set back in 1931.

Once I get my truck serviced, I will plan my next trip. Probably do some hunting. I’m thinking about a North Country trip for mid to late November, assuming that they don’t get snow before then. Or maybe somewhere else. Heated tent should make the cooler weather bearable. Next week I will make the appointment. I just want a November inspection sticker and the next paycheck to come in. 

I also need to think about retiring the debt from my road trip. It’s just a little thing to do and I know I have auto pay on my credit card but it always feels good to do. I also need to return my unspent cash to the bank. It’s not a lot but leftover but I’d rather have the bank safe keeping it rather than on paper bills that could get lost or stolen. 

Tomorrow marks four weeks to Thanksgiving. I really don’t know where time goes so quickly. I’m not ready for winter. While after careful consideration of the numbers I’ve decided not to take my truck off the road, I’m not planning on driving much come winter. Thinking about learning more about the Andruno and more electronic wiring projects this winter. 

I am glad I got a flu shot. The flu is a nasty sickness and the fifthteen minute it took me could avoid the risk of two weeks of extreme illness. It’d really quite painless. I hope Trump doesn’t take away the free flu shots. 

Looking ahead, Christmas is in two months, Coldest Day of Year (Avg. 14-30 degrees) is in 11 weeks and Inaugeration Day 2021 is in 169 weeks. Hopefully we are getting closer to having a new direction for our country in the third decade in the 21st century. We can’t go on living the way we do, pumping more and more carbon into the air.