The summer of my fortieth year slowly fades away with too many peaches and sweet corn where that Jason Aldean song is played over and over again until the groove on MP3 is worn out, though the era of clicks and pops are long gone. I was noticing how old and chubby Mr. Aldean has gotten but let’s be honest after all the good eating and mostly the beer of the past weekend I’ve put on some pounds. The wrinkles in my face, well I’m forty.
Good morning! Happy Monday. Only one more remaining until the Labor Day Weekend 🇺🇸 as time fades away so quickly. Very cloudy and 64 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees. At least it’s not currently raining ☔. Maybe because I’m back home. Sucks that the best day of the long weekend that was after you took down camp, though I had a lot of fun riding Blackie 🚵 on the Canalway everywhere from Little Falls to Saint Johnsville to Jacksonberg.
I’m out and walking 🚶 this morning. Need to get milk 🥛 after the walk and checking on the brown rice, red lentils and green peas cooking down for this week’s food ration. Not that I ever do anything in moderation. Then a shower 🚿 – I turned the hot water back on – and I’m thinking of taking Blackie 🚵 to work as I’m not ready to face the bus 🚍 plus I want to burn some extra calories on top of the 18 floors of stairs to the office 🏢 and the walking.
Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 1pm and 5pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 81 degrees at 12pm. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 22nd. Maximum dew point of 69 at 12pm. Light and variable wind becoming north 5 to 10 mph in the morning. 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. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1916.
Got home around 8:30 pm mainly because I didn’t leave Little Falls until 7:15 🛻 as I ended up exploring more of Moss Island 🏝 and didn’t want to take Thruway so I shunpiked my way back along NY 5 then over through Rural Grove to US 20 Duanesburg. I just wanted to avoid the city 🏙 as much as possible though I ended up hitting some of the traffic on the closing day of the Altamont Fair. 🎡 Can you believe that’s already done for the year?
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 59.6° from the due south horizon (-11.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:12 pm with the sun in the west (281°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (288°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:50 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 8:18 pm, which is one minute and 33 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the southwest (234°) at an altitude of 17° from the horizon, 243,345 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:56 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 73 degrees. The dew point will be 63 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 8 mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 40 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over today.
It looks like I need a M5 0.8 bolt for my bike, probably 15mm but I think it best to pull the bolt out from the other side 🔩 and bring it to the hardware store. I was going to just stop at Hannaford on my bike ride home, but I’m worried about loading down the rack with the missing bolt and rattling over that one rough section of the trail between Hannaford and the bike path. I’m thinking a better option 🔧 would be to pull the bolt out of the opposite size, then drive to Lowes (in part because Phillips Hardware closes at 7 PM) and get groceries and supplies at Wally World this evening. Some things I can get only get at Wally World and they’re likely cheaper then Hannaford and have a better chance of having that plain greek yougurt that I like.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌒, with a low of 55 degrees at 6am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 9th. Maximum dew point of 64 at 6pm. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It became humid as the night progressed. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 39 occurred back in 1982.
On this day in 1959, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. I guess that makes Barack Obama a US Citizen. 🍍 Plus a good place to pineapples. Right now they’re so cheap, only $2 at Walmart and Hannaford has them on sale for $2.50. Lot of fruity goodness, if you use a knife and aren’t afraid to cut it yourself. Beats the moldy pee-cut pin apple in a trash container or tinned pineapple in sugar, rather compostable, natural way of eating it.
Cool this weekend with temperatures running 8 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. 😃 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 74. Maximum dew point of 63 at 10am. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Maximum dew point of 57 at 11am. Typical average high for the weekend is 81 degrees. Saturday is John Wolcott’s funeral, I am wondering I can bring a change of clothes to do some mountain biking 🚵 after getting all dressed up and swanky looking in my much too large suit 👔 for the funeral. I think I’ve gained some weight but not a lot and my goal is loose it this week.
Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Labor Day 👨🏭 when I hope to be camping in Spectulator with the sun will be setting at 7:26 pm with dusk at 7:54 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, humid, partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 87 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1929.
A stupid thing, but annoying. Lots of squeaking on the bumps, potentially reduced luggage load. No grocery shopping with the bicycle until fixed.
Lost one of the braze on attachment bolts on the rack, seems to have vibrated off along the rough roads of Piseco-Powley Road. Need to order a new bolt and a tool to reinstall the bolt. Shit happens not an expensive fix. Temporarily fixed using a zip tie but not sure how much weight I want to test that with for obvious reasons.
I’m guessing it’s probably due to the lack of balance from the lock being held on the opposite side. Maybe I need to find a way to better balance the load. Almost want to use a standard but slightly longer bolt with a lock washer.
I can bemoan the quick passing of summer, but I won’t as there isn’t much I can do about it. It’s been a rainy summer but I am hopeful come the autumn things will change. This weekend I’m getting one more weekend up at Piseco-Powley before the summer is done, and I am hopeful in two weeks to be up at the Spectulator Tree Farm to close out the summer.
Then onwards to the autumn months. The biggest change is not the cooler temperatures, but the decline in daylight. It makes it difficult to travel very far on a Friday night unless I choose to drive after dark or leave work early. But soon the woods will be full of color, especially in the Adirondacks, and with hot cups of coffee in the morning to get started and chilly nights by the fire.
Whatever you might think of Donald Trump, I am glad that he is finally going to be held responsible for his unlawful actions in front of court in the coming year. He has access to the best lawyers in world, he has a lot of money, he should not have broken the law. He more then most people has ability to know what the law is, whether it’s classified documents, threatening election workers, engaging in cover-ups or conduct unbecoming of his office during January 6th.
I am all for protests, speaking up, and people engaging in the political process. The president, both current and past, should be given quite a bit of deferral and ability to act and speak his or her mind. But I don’t think that’s a blank check to break the law. Some conduct crosses the line, and when your the President or former President, you should know better then anyone what conduct clearly goes beyond what is permitted. Maybe if it was one indictment, you could argue it was political, but when prosecutors from diverse states and levels of government are going after you, it demonstrates a pattern of abuse of office and a willful disregard for the law.
Ultimately it will be up to each individual court and a jury of the peers to decide if the President engaged in as many felonies as prosecutors accuse of him doing. Yet, he’s in serious trouble, his actions in at least some of the cases likely far exceeded what is permitted under the law. I’m all for having an engaged and thoughtful political discussion, and certainly Joe Biden needs a spirited opponent this cycle, but you have to wonder the wisdom of putting forward a four-time indicted felon as his main voice of opposition.
I don’t believe Joe Biden should get a blank check to his re-election, but I also don’t think Donald Trump will be a particularly good opponent.
Water when it freezes can’t get any colder. Ice in pure water is never colder then about 30 degrees. Add salt and you can reduce the freezing point to 20 or 25 degrees so the ice is colder. Colder ice keeps the cooler colder and therefore the cooler lasts longer.
Same principle of why they use salt in ice cream. Not just flavor but also to make ice cream extra cold.
