Delmar, NY

Well that pizza crust reminded me of inexpensive Walmart whole wheat sandwich bread that was a bit soggy 🍕

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Well it was an experiment but probably rushing it, making it undercooked with the wetness from the thawed 3/4 lb of frozen spinach and pulverized tomatoes left it soggy. I’m not saying it was bad as I eat all up but needs refinement. On that note…

Good morning! Clouds after the rain storm and 68 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁️ There is a south breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Some good bolts of lightening as I cooked breakfast with rain but then it stopped.  ⛈ The dew point is 66 degrees. The skies will clear around 11 am. Probably within a few hours I’ll need to drop the shades in my office so I can see my monitor. I don’t mind the sunlight, especially on a cooler day today.

I ended up deciding to ride to work after realizing I was too late to catch the early express downtown 🚵, as it wasn’t too wet this morning, after the storm pulled away and the radar showed all clear. But if we get rain this evening or it’s too hot, I can always throw Blackie back on bus and take it home — but it’s rather ride, burn the 500 calories and save my buck thirty. 🚌 I figure in most cases when it’s nicer out, it’s best to take Blackie at least one way, as before you know it there will be snow on the ground, I’ll have to dress up for work, or actually have a good excuse for not riding in. That said, I’m kind of looking forward to moving over to the new office in North Albany, as Erie Boulevard is a much easier, flatter ride then the Madison Street hill, past Hill Cafe. Plus none of the serious traffic like on Madison Avenue. Won’t get rid of the Normans Kill Gorge climb in the evening commute, but that’s part of the calorie burning exercise.

Got my 36 inch jeans on 👖 and they fit pretty darn nicely. I almost could have gotten 34s, but these will do for now, as who knows where things will be in a few months. With some of those nicely-fitting shirts I got from the Salvation Army, I look pretty sharp compared to the baggie jeans and oversized t-shirts I often wear, though I’m getting more fitting clothes, but most of that currently is just shorts and hand-me-down t-shirts from dad. 👕 I think now that I have better fitting clothes, it won’t look like I’ve lost an excessive amount of weight, and that will hush up the critics. Now the key is just keeping off the pounds, though I think I’ve learned enough about food and nutrition in recent months that I’m unlikely to go back to my old ways. Yet, it will be harder to ride to work when the snow flies ❄️ as eventually the rail trail will be impassible due to snow. Plus when I move to the Erie Boulevard office, I won’t have the 18 flights of stairs to climb or that hard climb up the Madison Street, not that I’ll necessarily miss the later especially with the traffic.

Today will have showers and thunderstorms before 11am, then a slight chance of showers between 11am and 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. 🌦 High of 77 degrees at 2pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 5th. Maximum dew point of 68 at 9am. 🏖️ South wind 5 to 13 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. It was very sticky. The high last year was 90 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1953.

I think yesterday’s pizza would have been better, 🍕 had I baked the crust even further — more then 8 or 10 minutes before adding the spinach and sauce, and maybe boiled down the pulverized tomatoes 🍅 before applying them as sauce. I didn’t think the crust was a garlicly as I had hoped, and maybe I could have added more olive oil to the mix, though I didn’t want lard it up with too much saturated fat or calories. The loads of spinach were good, and the cottage cheese added flavor, and it was good to use up many of the tomatoes I had where starting to get soft and in some cases moldy in part of them. I think next time I’ll try preparing in advance with the addition of yeast, 🍞 maybe a little of Stevia for sweetness and maybe less oil. And make sure the crust is fully baked before adding toppings, and as then boil down the sauce in advance to make it thicker. Definitely felt full after this meal though, and I went for a five mile bike ride 🚴‍♀️ after eating, around the Nature Trail in the park, 🐸 then down Glenmont Road to the other part of Elm Avenue and back home before it was completely dark out at eight. 🌃

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:57 pm with sun having an altitude of 56.4° from the due south horizon (-14.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:58 pm with the sun in the west (277°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (283°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:36 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 8:03 pm, which is one minute and 41 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (110°) at an altitude of 3° from the horizon, 226,455 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:40 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 70 degrees. The dew point will be 60 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 13 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 45 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🎑 , with a low of 57 degrees at 5am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 3rd. Maximum dew point of 61 at 6pm. Going to sweat this evening on the bike ride home, especially with long-sleeved shirt and jeans but I’ll take my time. 🚲 Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 66 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1965.

I put some red lentils to soak in the refrigerator today, 🍛 this evening I will drain, and try running them through the food processor again with some sea salt, for a second attempt at making red lentil wraps. I have generally avoided wraps as I think they’re extra calories and carbs for no reason, but I could see different things I could make up with them too. Somehow I don’t have turmeric in my pantry despite shopping at Farmer’s India Market on Saturday, but I should get some so I can make dhal up as it’s an healthy option. I need eggs, 🥚 I could get them with the Turmeric this afternoon commute, though I’m a bit hesitant to buy eggs and then ride home with the bumps, 🐣 as often it’s a bit rougher riding in the basket then in an an automobile. Plus if I wait until Friday I can get farm-fresh eggs at Samdil Farm, which I was surprised are only selling for $3 a dozen, probably because they mill their own chicken feed from farm-grown grain that is primarily for their dairy operation. 🐓 But then again, I don’t really need any more food, my refrigerator is full and I don’t want things to start going bad. Maybe next week when I back from camp I can try dhal.

Tonight I’m going to start packing for the Labor Day Weekend. 🏕 There is only so much I can do this soon but the more I have ready, the less to do tomorrow, and then I can get to bed early 🛌 and be up and on the road before seven come Friday. Then to Samdil Farm early, which is a bit out of the way but worth it, Johnstown Walmart for any other miscellaneous supplies and hopefully to that campsite I want by nine. 🎪

Then when I get up to camp, by mine, the plan is clear: 🎪 Set up the tent, then chill, as I have day off and I’m not remote working. 🚲 Spend the afternoon riding dirt and gravel, see how many bears 🐻 and wildlife I can see along the way. Cook up some shrimp, squash and other goodies, eat sweet corn. 🦐 🌽 Hammock time, and kayak and swim time, especially come Labor Day. No need to rush home on Labor Day, as I’m not visiting my parents this weekend though I want to be home by 8 PM so I’m not driving home in the dark. But that leaves a lot of day to poke around and have fun in the greater Speculator-area.

A picture perfect Labor Day Weekend on tap. 😎 Friday, sunny, with a high near 77. Light north wind. Max dew point of 53. Very nice. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Maximum dew point of 60 at 4pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Maximum dew point of 66 at 4pm. Monday, sunny and 89 degrees with a maximum dew point of 69 at 4 pm. A bit sticky for sure. Typical average high for the weekend is 79 degrees. 🍂 That said, it won’t be long before we start seeing a lot of color up north. Not sure, I could be back up there in three or four weeks to take in autumn’s colors.

On this day in 1967, Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ⚖ Had to have been quite the step forward in the country at the time, but now seems so long ago, with Justice Clarence Thomas long ago now replacing him. And in 1974, a powerful bomb explodes at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi, Tokyo, Japan. 💣 Eight are killed, 378 are injured. Eight left-wing activists are arrested on May 19, 1975 by Japanese authorities. Usually it’s right wingers these days blowing up shit. But who knows if Trump is reelected not that I think it’s likely to happen at this point.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until More Night then Day 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 6:46 pm with dusk at 7:12 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 68 and 50 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 70 degrees. We hit a record high of 89 back in 2017.

Pond

A cloudy and dark Tuesday for rounding out August ☁️

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Listening to Rich Men North of Richmond as I’m out for the morning walk, living in the new world with and old soul. A big pot of brown rice, red and green lentils are cooking down for the week – already had my first cup of coffee and looking forward to cream of wheat with chia seeds, yogurt and frozen fruit.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Dark and gray and 64 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ But when there is no hope, there is help – see today’s forecast in the third paragraph. It’s already clearing to the east. There is a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 64 degrees.

I was hoping to ride home last night 🚲 but when I started down Madison it started raining ☔ and I ran over to Broadway in front of the old Union Train Station and put my bicycle on the bus 🚍 and rode home. I should remember that is always an option and riding even one way still burns calories and saves money 💵. Bike rides secure but bounces a lot on some of the bumps. Heck of it is was just a light drizzle I’d probably had been fine to ride home but whatever – my left eye 👁️ was kind of irritated at any rate.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 81 degrees at 4pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 27th. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. Going to be sweating a bit on the ride out of Norman’s Kill. Maybe not a good day for making those spinach pizza things I’ve been thinking about cooking this afternoon. It will depend how hot and sweaty I am when I get home and if I want to ride out to Voorheesville in twilight of the day. Maybe tomorrow with the rain. South wind 5 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was sticky. The high last year was 91 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 2018.

Wearing my glasses into work today 👓 so I can totally have the four-eyes are better then two eyes look today. I don’t l like my limited view from the glasses, but I also don’t want to do any more damage to my sore eyes. I am hopeful by mid-day and evening commute I can be back to contacts. Then assuming the weather doesn’t crap out, it will be back down the Madison Street Hill, and then to Albany County Rail Trail making the climb 😅 up through the Normans Kill George 🚲 to home.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:57 pm with sun having an altitude of 56.8° from the due south horizon (-14° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:59 pm with the sun in the west (277°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (284°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:37 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 8:04 pm, which is one minute and 40 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Blue 🌝 Moon in the southeast (124°) at an altitude of 7° from the horizon, 226,316 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:42 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 76 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 7 mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 45 seconds over today.

Went to bed 🛏 early around 7:45 and I was asleep by eight. My left eye 👁️was very irritated as I forgot my contact solution when I went out to my parents house yesterday overnight and by afternoon it was a mess. Kind of a dark and rainy evening ☔ and because I get up so early it’s hard for me to stay up late. Had a great dinner of tofu – zucchini parmesan with the sauce made from delicious paste tomatoes that I got from my parents house. 🍅 Dessert was opening up that cantaloupe that I got at the store 🍈 on Sunday. Good stuff.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 4am. 🌧 Low of 66 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. 🏖️ South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 66 degrees. The record low of 38 occurred back in 1982.

Yesterday, I got a call from a friend who was a nurse 👩‍⚕️ in her younger years, concerned about all my recent weight loss. Apparently a lot of people have been talking about how much thinner I’ve gotten, concerned that I’m not eating enough. 📩 She sent me an article about the dangers of loosing weight too quickly, with fatty liver disease and other things that can happen if your crashing with your calorie intake. But truth be told, But the thing is when you don’t eat a lot of processed foods and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, 🍏 it’s hard to eat excessively and keep pounds on. 🤰Trust me, I’m often very stuffed after eating and keep filling my mouth throughout the day with quality food. I don’t just eat 3 times a day, but non-stop from morning to night.

The heck of it is despite all my weight loss, I am eating more then ever and spending more on food. 💸  Some of it’s inflation but also I’ve been trying to expand my pantry and keeping healthy eating interesting, with new and different foods every week. At first I was very picky about what should be in my diet 🐠🔍 but now I focus more on overall, doing a lot more home cooking with quality ingredients and very little sugar, saturated fats, and a reasonable amount of carbs. And lots of fruits and vegetables, consistent with Harvard guidelines for such things. 🍽 That said, I am surprised how much I’ve lost even since May. The 36×32 jeans I bought this weekend which I was afraid would be too tight, where almost too loose, almost necessitating a drop to 34. Figuring a year ago was I was primarily wearing 40 inch jeans, and even at times some of them were a bit tight, I’ve become so much thinner and healthier. I think it’s doing the stairs at work and lately bicycling to work. It’s not the limiting the plate size for sure.

I did do that physical back in late May, 👩‍⚕️ I’ve thought about reaching out to my Health Insurance’s nurses line to see if they have any advice on my recent weight loss. I am not concerned as I think it’s just I”m burning more calories then I’m taking in ⚖ but folks still seem to be very concerned. I am hearing that from a lot of people. Maybe I should see if my insurance covers the visiting of a dietitian to help me better understand my food choices, and come up with a better balanced meals, though I think my food choices are basically the consensus of what most of the health experts are saying, 🥑 and I’m NOT under in-taking healthy fats or proteins — or have some kind of undiagnosed disease. It’s not just that one nurse friend either, it’s relatives, co-workers and others.

On this day in 1966, the Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans 🎸 at Candlestick Park in a wicked thunderstorm ⛈ San Francisco. After this, if you wanted to hear the Beatles, you had to listen to them on vinyl records or AM radio. 📻 Their next album would be Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Club Heart band, and it would have a dramatically different sound then the Love, Love Me Do records. 🎶

I have Labor Day Weekend Off 🏕 including the Friday before so I can go up to camp bright and early. I probably will do like I did two week ago — pack Thursday night — leave very early, maybe before seven, get gas in Rotterdam, ⛽ then stop at Samdil Farm for sweet corn and vegetables and maybe meat, 🌽 🥩 Walmart for supplies 🛒 and then try to make Speculator as close to 9 AM as possible to get the campsite I want and get set up. Then hang out for a bit, have lunch, then maybe mountain bike 🚵‍♀️ in the afternoon and do some fishing. 🎣 Maybe kayak Indian Lake on Saturday, if not to choppy. 🛶 Saturday evening I might do an after-dark hike up Watch Hill to spot fire towers lit for the firetower light-the-night event. 🏃 🔦 Later in the weekend, probably Sunday or Labor Day I’ll have to go back down to Spectulator for some swimming. 🏊. Should be a wonderful weekend, especially with some fresh-locally sourced steak and shrimp. And so much delicious sweet corn and other good things to eat.

A picture perfect Labor Day Weekend 🇺🇸 weekend on tap. 😎 Friday, sunny high around 75 with a maximum dew point of 57 come 7 pm. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Maximum dew point of 61 at 4pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Maximum dew point of 65 at 1pm. Labor Day is going to warm, may hit 87 degrees with lots of sun. I’ll be on the kayak 🛶 on Lake Pleasant. Typical average high for the weekend is 79 degrees. Won’t be quite as warm up north.

Looking ahead, there are 9 weeks until Halloween 🎃 when the sun will be setting at 5:51 pm with dusk at 6:19 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 37 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 2019. Been interested in making some baked pumpkin dishes, come the autumn. Plus pumpkins are a lot of fun to shoot with the ol .22 rifle up in the woods.

Little Moose Lake

Closing out summer weekends on this rainy Friday ☔

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Next weekend is Labor Day Weekend, words that I find almost find hard to write. As that garage in Johnstown has on the sign, summer should get a speeding ticket.

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Clouds with a break in the rain and 65 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south-southeast breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 63 degrees. 0.52 inches of rain is expected before it ends tomorrow around 4 am.

Another day for busing it 🚍 as I’m not convinced that it won’t turn to heavy rain last night. At least this time I’m prepared with my rain coat 🧥 so that almost guarantees that it won’t rain. Next week at this time I’m hoping to be well on my way to Spectulator so I can set up camp ⛺ before nine o’clock for the long weekend. I’ll see if I can remote work otherwise I’ll take off a personal day.

Today will have showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 9am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 75 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 14th. Maximum dew point of 70 at 2pm. South wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.  It could be a swamp for bicycling home, assuming it’s not raining. And I’m not convinced that will be the case. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 99 was set in 1947.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:59 pm with sun having an altitude of 58.2° from the due south horizon (-12.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:06 pm with the sun in the west (279°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (286°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:44 pm after setting for 3 minutes with dusk around 8:11 pm, which is one minute and 38 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south (180°) at an altitude of 20° from the horizon, 232,021 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:49 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 73 degrees. The dew point will be 69 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 13 hours and 32 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over yesterday.

If it’s not raining too much today, 🍞 I am thinking of riding down to Hannaford and getting some whole-wheat flower and yeast so I can start experimenting with making bread again for the first time in years. Looking to make some simple, relatively healthy wholegrain bread as a way to mix up my diet more, especially with winter coming and wanting to have something to dip into the various vegetable soups I want to make come winter. 🍲 And maybe some more frozen fruit, though that could wait to the weekend as I sliced into the pineapple 🍍 last night and still have bananas left.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, then a slight chance of showers between midnight and 5am. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 66 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 6pm. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was humid. It got down to 62 degrees. The record low of 40 occurred back in 1942.

On this day in 1950, President Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike🏗️ So much for the boy from Missouri being a socialist. 🇨🇳 For those looking for more processed food and unhealthy levels of salt in their diet, in 1958 world’s first publicly marketed instant noodles, 🍝 Chikin Ramen, are introduced by Taiwanese-Japanese businessman Momofuku Ando. And for us Linux users, in 1991 Linus Torvalds announces the first version of what will become Linux. 🐧

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Partly sunny 🌦, with a high of 79 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 1st. Maximum dew point of 66 at 9am. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 83 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1948.

John Wolcott’s funeral is on Saturday at ten AM, ⚱ so I will be needing to get up at the normal time, go for my walk, have breakfast 🥞 and then shower 🛀 and get on the suit and black tie. 👔 After the funeral, I am thinking I will run to Albany Walmart or maybe just Aldi’s as it’s out in the Colonie, then maybe to Indian Farms and Our Families Harvest to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables, namely apples and sweet corn. 🍏 🌽 Also I’m quite interested in the Farmer’s Indian Market off Central. Might be some good spices and unusual vegetables at an affordable rate there. Plus bulk bags of rice, lentils and MSG. Got to have that MSG. 👹 Lol! Honest, it doesn’t turn you into a monster but it makes food taste so good.

Looking ahead to Sunday, partly sunny and cool, with a high near 74. ☀ North wind around 6 mph. Maximum dew point of 60 at 11am. Very autumn like. Should be a nice day for the clam bake with my parents. I’m actually tempted to get up early and do a hike or bike ride early in the morning. 🚴‍♀️ Typical average high for the weekend is 81 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Friday the Average High Falls To 79 🎑 when the sun will be setting at 7:31 pm with dusk at 7:59 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 73 and 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 during the 1953 heat wave 🌊 . Summer comes to a close.