Delmar, NY

Good morning! Happy Rainy Thursday. 🌧️

I have to admit today is kind of a crazy day to go for the morning walk but I tell myself it’s not raining that hard and I like my walk. Wakes me up.

Rain and 36 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a south-southeast breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Sunday around 7 pm. ☃️.

Kind of a rainy ☔ wet morning for the walk 🚶 but ultimately I decided to go for it as I was up and going and I like to get my steps in. A rainy morning kind of breaks things up and it’s not icy although kind of a cold morning. If I get soaked walking it’s fine, I have a hot shower 🚿 and suit and tie waiting for me when I get home. 🕴️

It might be cold and rainy but at least the sun ☀ isn’t in my eyes 👀. Truth be told, today reminds me a lot of those cold wet days I’ve spent in the wilderness. ❄ Rain is good reduces the fire risk. The next few days are expected to be quite wet.

That said, when I got home I don’t think I was soaked. 🧥 While I wore a rain jacket and are a bit damp, I wouldn’t call today a real soaker although early hours were definitely wetter. Bringing though my umbrella to work. Things are a bit wet, but I am sure they’ll be dry when I get home. On session days when I dress up for work, I wear the same clothes at home and while walking. I don’t care if I’m a bit grubby at home. I’m dirty hick after all with a big shots job.

Such a long day yesterday. 📹 Morning in person meeting followed by four zoom meetings. While the Zooms were relatively short, they dragged on to after 5 pm. I’m anti social, I prefer projects I can just work on and not endless meetings especially those when you have to pay attention and ask thoughtful questions. 💭

Made it home at six 6⃣ and cooked up pasta for dinner. Not my favorite but it’s cheap and easy. Rain ☔ held off long enough for my evening walk 🚶 – I might have been able to walk down to the park for a bit but I saw the radar and didn’t want to get caught in the rain. I still haven’t turned my heat on yet but it’s only a matter of time. 🐸 I’m my book, if I can hear the spring peepers and it’s above freezing, too warm for the heat.

I was in bed 🛏 before eight 8⃣ not because I was tired 😴 but instead that heated blanket was warm with my heat being off. I like getting to bed early and getting up early around 5 am having breakfast at six o’clock and my walk 🚶 around seven.

One of the things I’ve been working on is trying to build up my confidence and self esteem. ☺ Signing my tax form with Deputy Director and reading an article about how you can’t be happier when you make more than $75k some how just felt good, even while I watch as inflation eats away everything and gas prices are at record high. ⛽ I’m learning a lot in my new job, sometimes if anything the way not to do things and how endlessly long management meetings are. 🤝 I know the skills I’m learning every day will translate into a better future, along with my constant saving and investing.

After some down days in the stock market, things are back up 📈 and if I truly wanted I could get parking 🅿 and drive to work and have a nicer home or apartment. 🏠 But I want to save money so I can eventually buy my own land with cash if possible, and enough acreage to buffer against neighbors. I still live in the same place as I did a decade and a half ago, take the same bus, 🚍 making nearly three times less than I do now. But inflation eats away at everything.

I continue to look at various properties on Zillow, 🏘 again not because I’m buying but I am just curious what is out there and for what prices. Of course the internet thinks I must be out in the real estate market, with all the advertising, but I’m just genuinely curious to learn about prices, taxes, and land.  In some ways, it’s just a confidence building exercise for me, a way to remind me that my future is not that far out of reach. 

I was reading about this homestead south of Albany that raises pigs, cattle and other livestock 🐮 that a few years back got into a bit of tizzy with the neighbors for homesteading in an industrial-zoned, rural neighborhood. Seems kind of silly. That’s why it’s so important to check things out before getting land. And having lots of land to buffer from your neighbors. 🚜 🌲 🌱 🌽  I don’t really want to smell my neighbors pigs or burnt plastic in the burn barrel, but I want the freedom to raise my own meat that is delicious and not have to haul every piece of burnable trash to the landfill. That’s why it’s important to have land and buffer. Not to mention, if you have privacy, your neighbors can’t spy on how your managing your land, and your less likely to get into conflicts with neighbors or the government workers.

Good morning! Kind of a cold start this Hump Day. 🌅

Partly sunny 🌞 and 26 degrees in Delmar. There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️Already rain clouds are pushing in from the west.

Maybe because it was kind of dark 🌃 I ended up sleeping 😴 in all the way to six o’clock though I made it to bed before nine. It was cold so my windows were closed. Still heard the mourning dove 🕊 this morning.

Sun is right in my eyes 👀 for the morning walk 🚶 again. Hopefully in a few weeks this won’t be such a problem with the sun position moving but right now it’s so bright and blinding. ☀

I swear I’ll turn my heat on this evening maybe after work. ♨ With the rain coming this evening I think things will feel colder. But the truth is by the time I get home 🏡from work, have dinner 🍲 and go for my evening walk 🚶 it’s basically bed 🛏 time and the heat doesn’t matter as long as nothing freezes.

Busy work day today 👨🏻‍💼I got meetings all day to attend. Well, the first half of the week was relatively quiet. 🤫 You never really know where I work. Some days are absolutely insane, other days it’s like crickets 🦗.

Finished doing my taxes yesterday. 💵 Actually getting a fair bit of money back as I miss estimated how much I would owe as I wasn’t sure about one reimbursement I got. I tend to over estimate costs and taxes and under estimate revenues in all I do. ☺ It’s a good way to live.

Looking forward to getting out of town in a few weeks. 🏕 It looks like the next few days will be cold, but I’m not sure if it will last long into April. It’s really hard to stay.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday on this frigid March day. 🌅

Sunny, cold and 31 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a west-northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. 🌡️ Or so we tell ourselves, this convenient lye. I think the month will leave like a lion and not a lamb.

I am surprised how cold it is this morning 🌬️but a lot of it is just there is a breeze and the sun is barely up. I didn’t turn on the heat but I was glad I closed the windows when I got home. I like the fresh air but it’s still March even though I have spring on my mind.

Got home last night and promptly ran around my apartment to close the windows 🔳 I opened in the morning as it was cold. Not so cold that the spring peepers 🐸 weren’t chirping on my evening walk 🚶 – they were but still felt cold ❄ with the wind.

Worked until six 🏢, got home around quarter to seven due to the evening bus schedule. Nice thing was it wasn’t even pitch black when I went for my evening walk 🚶 around eight 8⃣. Important thing was that I got my steps in for the day, despite being a session day. Frozen fish 🐠 for dinner and broccoli 🥦. That’s about as fancy as I cook. 🌟 Starry night.

I guess that I can’t complain too much about the cold ❄, I see the long range forecast. Maybe the heat isn’t done for the year, heck we could even have snow 🌨. But come April things have to moderate a bit with the stronger schedule.

Looking at the work calendar 🗓 it looks like the best time to get out of town for a few days is either the second or third week of April. Right now it doesn’t look like there will be a lot of snow up north by then but things could change. ⛺ I miss traveling and seeing places in the wilderness. Definitely will want my rubbers for that trip. 👢

It look like my glue job for my trash can is holding up well. 🗑 At some point I’ll have to separate out the cans 🥫 and plastic bottles 🍾 for recycling ♻ and take them to the transfer station. I also want to start looking at other things that I can scrap or get rid of. Probably get plenty more years out of that trash can. Especially now that I’ve used more, newer bungee cords to make sure the lid stays on.

Been thinking about lentils, 🍲 after seeing a silly meme about it. Turns out they really are a cheap and nutritious meal, and just for vegetarians that don’t cost a lot of money. You can get a big bag of them — in lightweight plastic that isn’t a lot of trash and only cost a buck or two and make multiple meals. Yes, I guess you have to soak and wash the beans, then add some flavoring, but it seems like a cheap way to eat something different for a change, especially with the high cost of hot dogs 🌭 and everything else these days. 🍔

I’ve continued to browse Zillow a bit. 🏡 I’m not in the market for a house right now but I’m curious about what is available and what I can afford. 💵 Rural properties can be quite affordable – although many that I see are often way to large for the house and not enough land. Honestly I’d choose a small modular house or better yet a cabin on many acres of land with no nearby neighbors over anything fancy. Maybe in a few years.

Looking at the Helderbergs this morning ⛰ they are so pretty with the cold blue skies and the stark grays and browns of late winter. I’d love to live in a place like that again some day though the disadvantages to living in New York State are pretty clear. 🌆 Probably not a bad state if you are into urban living but on the farm not so much. 🐮 I was watching the video of the kid I went to High School whose pigs got loose and they were having quite an adventure rounding them up.