Delmar, NY

Kind of a shitty weekend again 💩

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The poop emoji is a good way to understand this weekend. Elon Musk’s favorite emoji. Cloudy and humid, might get hot out when the sun comes out later.

Good morning! Mostly cloudy and 70 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 68 degrees. The skies will clear around 9 am.

It’s getting closer to nine 🕒 when I’m out doing my morning walk 🚶 as I decided to have breakfast 🍳 and coffee ☕ before walking. Just doing the two mile superblock around the High School now, I’ll get some steps in at the store 🏬 and later on walk down to the library 📚 or do an evening walk around dusk 🌆 when it cools down.

I was going to have banana pancakes this morning 🍌 but I had too many bananas yesterday in my office, so I decided to stay away from the sugars in favor of using up the remaining frozen spinach I had, fried up along with broccoli, peppers, onions, jalapenos and eggs run through the food processor to make a quiche like scrambled egg breakfast. It’s a good way to start the morning with a lot of fiber and protein, though eggs are really high in saturated fat and cholesterol. 🥚 Eggs though are cheap these days. Greek yogurt is slightly better on a ratio of protein to calories though.

I’m moving slowly this morning 🛏 as I woke up around 4 am and didn’t get back to sleep until 5. I don’t sleep as well as I once did, though usually a few nights in the woods helps a lot with that. ⛺ Sucks the weather is so bad this weekend but it rained heavily a lot of last night, and will be raining more come Saturday into Sunday with potentially heavy rain on Sunday. ☔ Not worth it to drive out to Schoharie.

I am sweating like a pig 🐽 out walking this morning, it’s so humid. Not going to be a nice day too do much outside, maybe poolside wouldn’t be bad as the sun comes out, but I am not sure how long we have before the thunderstorms come rolling through.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 87 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 72 at 12pm. South wind 3 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1997.

Working on my grocery list 📜 🏪 for the weekly shop once I get home and shower. 🚲 But first I will stop by the bicycle shop and see what is going on with my Marlin 6 bike. I hope it’s ready and somehow they didn’t call me or I lost the message somehow on my phone. Or at least find out when I will be able to take delivery, and if needed test ride the Marlin 5 bike in my size and figure out where else I can order the Marlin 6. I have a fairly long grocery list, as I only got a few things at Price Chopper last week. This week I want to shop at Walmart as there is certain things Walmart only has or at least has at a price I’m willing to spend. 🍏

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 68.9° from the due south horizon (-1.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:51 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (294°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (301°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:32 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 9:05 pm, which is 37 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:49 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 81 degrees. The dew point will be 72 degrees. The heat index around sunset will be 71. ⛱ There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 27 seconds over yesterday.

This afternoon I’m keeping open. 📚 The library is a good place to cool off but I’ve also thought about taking a drive up to Guilderland to check out some thrift stores to see if I can get some clothes that now fit me at a reasonable price. 👖 I don’t want to spend too much as I don’t know what my final weight will end up being, though I’m quite committed at this point to healthy eating, 🥦 and I think I have a plan that will let me continue being the healthy weight I now am. 💪 Yet, I am constantly reminded of the temptations and how hard it is to be healthy with peer pressure. 🍰 But at least I live single and don’t have a TV so I don’t have quite as much pressure as some folks do. Camping without junk food is hard but I’m learning how to make that quite delicious minus the junk, which I no longer buy. Then maybe go to the Pine Bush 🌲 or visit John Wolcott. 👴 It would be a surprise visit as I hadn’t planned it. Alternatively, if I get the bicycle today, 🚲 ride out to Voorheesville.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3am. Mostly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 72 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 72 at 6pm. South wind around 7 mph. Not good sleeping. Very much lay by the fan all night long, sweating kind of night. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 60 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1946.

Then I want to soak the red kidney beans 🍽 and if I can find space the chickpeas for cooking tomorrow. I want to get lemons 🍋 and try again at making hummus, this time putting the ingredients together correctly and pulverizing the chickpeas better. That said, I like chickpeas in with my lunch roasted, or roasted mixed with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and walnuts. I’ve gotten into cooking, though not in the 10,000 ingredient perfectly portioned fatty-sugar-salty cooking recipe ways popularly promoted on the color television and internet forums. 📺 If it needs a recipe, in my book, it’s not worth cooking. I am also going to get stevia to make lemonade, minus the sugar and calories, and maybe plain Gelatin to make lemon or other fruit jellos using frozen fruit 🍓, the food processor, and some stevia. I have an orange juice squeezer I can use on the lemons and run through the food processor to recover not only the lemon juice but the all important fiber for health. Can’t under estimate the importance of lots of fiber in one’s diet. Americans don’t eat enough fiber, period. Just looking for something cold and sweet without tons of calories, besides my now favorite plain, no-fat Greek yougurt with frozen fruit (or fresh fruit up at camp).

On this day in 1959, the Steel Strike of 1959 gets underway, forcing contractors to either import steel or delay construction projects. 🏗️👷 Many chose to import lower-cost steel, with the result being the US Steel industry never recovering. Demand was strong with the interstate highway program but with inflation and the winding down of the peak road construction in the 1970s, a lot of the outdated American mills would be shut down for good.

Looking ahead, there are 3 weeks until Work Like a Dog Day 🐩 when the sun will be setting at 8:12 pm with dusk at 8:42 pm. Plunge into darkness time of the year as September approached. Always happens that way. On that day in 2022, we had hot and humid weather, it was partly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 93 and 71 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 99 back in 1955.

Corn in Jefferson County

Totally agree that walking in that thunderstorm last night wasn’t a great idea ⛈

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I didn’t think it would be nice enough to go out walking last night but then I stepped outside it seemed okay, the wind blowing the opposite direction of the clouds to the west. It risk of thunder seemed pretty low, and I wanted to get at least 8 miles in for the day. But the time I was farthest from home the lightening was too close for comfort and five minutes from home the sky opened up. Ultimately I did get in 8 miles for the day, not the ten I normally walk and didn’t make it to the park, but that’s fine.

Good morning! With a few loud cracks of rain and thunder it’s morning. The sun is is rising, the skies are clearing somewhat and let’s call it 66 ⅔ degrees at the 6:30 for the morning walk in the land of the Delmartian. ⛅ Calm wind. The dew point is 64 degrees.

Last night I got home 🏡 from work glad that I didn’t get soaked and figured that the evening walk 🚶 was off the agenda. Then at 6:30 I stepped outside and looked at the radar and decided it would be okay. And it was for a while until the wind shifted and thunder ⚡ pushed closer. In the end it was fine, though I got a bit wet and went to bed early. 🛏 Walked 8 miles for the day plus 39 flights of stairs up and down. I was asleep by around 8 pm and up around 5 am.

As it was still raining out when I awoke 🍳 I decided to have breakfast before walking which was cold black coffee ☕ with cold eggs and spinach from the other day. I also had a half of banana 🍌 from last night. At lunch time yesterday I walked up to Market 32 in Albany and got a bunch of bananas to hold my pantry over until Saturday when I can do a bigger shop 🏪. Cold lunch today with black beans, mushrooms, chopped farmers market tomatoes, peppers. Avoids the line for the microwave at work, though I’ve figured out the technique is to cook lunch at 12:50 PM before the 1 PM rush.

Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 83 degrees at 2pm. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around July 4th. Independence Day! Maximum dew point of 71 at 2pm. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 85 degrees. The record high of 99 was set in 1995.

I’ll have to keep that Market 32 in Albany in mind 🛒 for when I need stocking up of a few ingredients downtown. Much better than the old Ghetto Chopper and really only a few blocks away from work if I take South Swan to Elm Street. They don’t have much in household supplies – I was hoping to get super glue to fix my boots 👢 – but the fresh fruits and vegetables looked good. It’s small so a fast shop. Probably can’t get frozen things there and I decided to skip getting plain non fat Greek yogurt just because of the hot day walking back to the office and the bus ride home but in the winter I think that’s an option.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.1° from the due south horizon (-1.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:51 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (294°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (301°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:33 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 9:06 pm, which is 36 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:50 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 74 degrees. The dew point will be 70 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 5 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 25 seconds over yesterday.

Six months into healthy eating 🍎I am finally starting to notice how much thinner I am. I have a feeling that my BMI is now below 25 though I don’t have a scale so I don’t know but I know I have lost weight since the last time I visited the doctor at the end of May when I was 209 lb and needed to get to 194 lb to be a healthy weight at 6′ 2.5″ though most others say I’m 6′ 4″ or 6′ 5″ with the boots on. My love handles have virtually disappeared and my stomach is much smaller, and I’m pretty sure that size 36 pants 👖 are now the proper size, the smallest since probably I’ve been since elementary school. The problem is finding clothes in my closet that don’t make me look like a clown. 🤡 Still have a little more belly fat I’d look to loose, not just because of the look but because outer fat is associated with inner muscle fat, especially in the heart 💖 which is rather bad. But I feel like I am starting to get in great shape, mostly from eating a nutritious diet but also because I’ve kept up with the walking and stairs. And hopefully cycling too. Steiner, you are biting me with this bicycle thing. 😠

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 66 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 6pm. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 57 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1950.

I need to think about getting new boots before vacation. 👟 Or at least rugged sneakers, something I can use for mountain biking and maybe jogging which I tell myself that I’m thinking 💭 about taking up 🏃 maybe half seriously since becoming thinner. Around camp and certainly st the swimming pools and holes the knock off crocks are fun but they’re not appropriate for much else. They have no ankle support, get my feet muddy, and worse of all let in any stones and sticks into my foot 👣 where I can step on them.

On this day in 1969, the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation. 💵 After this date, if you wanted to buy a large purchase in cash, you needed a lot of hundred dollars in bills. 💰They had last been printed in 1945, and were finally dropped from circulation in 1969, in part as an effort to reduce corruption and money scams. Nowadays a hundred 💯 dollars seems almost a paltry amount with inflation not that I ever carry anything bigger than $5 bills because it’s just easier to use the credit card 💳 for anything bigger.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 87 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 72 at 11am. Muggy, swamp weather. South wind 3 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 partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1997.

Tomorrow I will walk 🚶 early to best the heat. 😰 Then it’s those oatmeal banana pancakes 🍌 🥞 love with blueberries and maybe some sugar free maple syrup and cold black coffee. So good! Then it’s off to Steiners to check on the status of the bicycle 🚲 they promise to be assembling for me. They don’t have it, I’ll test ride the XXL of the Marlin 5 and order and pay for the Marlin 6 as long as they can give me a set date for delivery. 🚚 Otherwise I will order online with another shop. This purchase needs to be closed down this weekend.

Then the next thing to do is get grocery shopping 🛒. I want to get more red kidney beans for maple syrup 🍘 next week and get them soaking to be cooked come Sunday morning. Plus all the usual, more Greek yogurt, 🐮 frozen fruit 🍓, peppers 🫑🌶️, mushrooms 🍄 and the usuals. I also need shampoo and extra deodorant the later this keep in the office 🏢 after climbing the stairs. Then I’m not totally sure. 🏊 If it’s hot and looks like thunderstorms will stay away, maybe go to the town pool. I would have to register though to get a pool fob, maybe I should do that and it’s $5.25 to enter. 😕 And you have to do that in advance. Seems like a pain. If I get the bike, 🚵 ride out to Voorheesville and probably the Black Creek Marsh. If it’s hot and I don’t want to spend money, go to the library for a while 💻 with my computer, then come home, sit by the fan and get through some more of the stack of library books I have at home. 📚

Looking ahead to Sunday, showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. High near 83. ⛈️ South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Not just a few passing showers. Maximum dew point of 74 at 12pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

And so is the weekend forecast. 😖 But if I can get this damn bicycle 🚲 thing closed down, I’ll be happy. I am thinking about taking off at least one day next week, where and what to do is to be decided but I need to get a few things ready for my vacation, I’ve taken fewer days off this summer than expected. Maybe it will be to get the rack on the bicycle, break it in or pick it up. 🛠 Maybe the Potholers or Schoharie the second half of the week. 🏊

Two weeks from now, God willing, 🏖 I will be well on my way to the Finger Lakes. I really want to leave by eight AM on that Friday to get the campsite I want in the National Forest ⛺ and then have the afternoon to set up and relax. 🎣 Do some fishing, a nice bicycle 🚲 ride and maybe watch a Finger Lakes sunset 🌇 across a cow pasture in the National Forest.

After vacation, August 11th I have a dentist appointment at 10:15 AM 🦷 which I will follow up probably with a long weekend. Maybe Schoharie or the Adirondacks. Have to be strategic at this point as there are only three weeks left in August at that point before Labor Day Weekend, and I want to have at least a few more long weekends before summer is done. 🏊 🛶 That said, except for the Mine Kill Pool there is no reason I can’t take lots of long weekends come September and October. 🍁 I am not doing a West Virginia trip — or even a week-long trip at this point this autumn, so that leaves other days to allocate. I would like to do some kayaking, fishing, hunting, and bike riding this autumn. Charles Baker State Forest roads probably would be wonderful for autumn bike riding, as would the Chenango Canal Trail and others.

Looking ahead, there are 7 weeks until September 1st 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 7:31 pm with dusk at 7:59 pm. That’s the start of Labor Day Weekend. On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny skies with rain showers and temperatures between 73 and 55 degrees. Cool day. The average high is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1953. I might do Spectulator that weekend, especially if they have fire tower lighting that I could observe from I don’t know, Watch Hill (?). 🏕 Some of those truck trails through the Conservation Easement might be nice on the mountain bike, as would be camping up on Hardwood Hill, looking at the stars, lighting off ground fireworks and sparklers. 🎆

Back Out on Open Lake

Stay home, save money 🏡

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That’s one way to look at the weekend. I can’t believe we are going to have yet another cloudy, rainy weekend. I’m not spending the money to drive out to Schoharie in crap weather, especially as I don’t have Blackie, my bicycle yet.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Foggy 🌁 and 67 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 66 degrees. The skies will clear around 11 am. Or so I hope. Might rain or thunder some more, but hopefully not during my lunch-time walk, evening commute or evening walk. I’m noticing a theme here.

Out walking this morning. ☔ What a surprise, between the fog and the weather pattern were stuck in, it’s raining out. And it going to be cloudy and hot Saturday with rain come Sunday. Hey at least not camping saves money! Or so I tell myself. 10 ¾ miles walked yesterday, 42 flights of stairs up and down. I had time, I could have walked 🚶 more last night but I was achy and tired, 🛏 so I got to bed on time but woke up much too early, around 5 AM. But I got in close to 8 hours of sleep last night.

This morning is an oatmeal day. 🍌 🥣 I almost would like oatmeal-banana pancakes, but I want to save the last two bananas I have to bring into my office at work to make it through Friday. Oatmeal with blueberries 💙 is a quick breakfast, I might throw in some walnuts, as I’ve had them for a few weeks now and don’t want to risk them going bad. I like walnuts, their healthy but a little high in fat My pantry at home is a bit picked over, but I think I still have healthy options left, 🌽 especially after getting sweet corn and tomatoes yesterday at the farmers market. I was hoping I would have had an excuse to go to the store when I picked up Blackie, but not so far this week. 🛒 I have more rice and lentils I can cook up tomorrow, and I took the black beans out of the freezer. I’ll probably have that with sweet corn and tomatoes tonight. And red onions 🧅 of course.

Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌤️ 🤜 🌧, with a high of 89 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 71 at 11am. Light southeast wind becoming south 12 to 17 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 cloudy skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1894.

I’m still waiting for the call about Blackie from the bike shop. 🚲 I might not have been clear what I was asking when I called yesterday but it’s kind of weird to explain – they’re building the bike for me but I haven’t paid for it or even taken the proper size bike for a test ride. So I probably wasn’t clear what I meant about test riding the XXL bike on the phone, that it’s the one they are putting together for me to purchase. 📞 It was a different salesperson I got yesterday then who I talked to on Friday but I thought when they said it said it would be ready in a few days I would have it by Wednesday. I’m not going to take off time until I know it’s ready, though I will stop by Saturday to follow up. I really want to ask about the rack too fitting the bike. I am pretty sure that’s the bike I want, but I would want to make sure it fits before I lay down the big bucks. Plus Saturday, then is a good time to get groceries, even if it’s a bit crowded. 🍏 🥦

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.2° from the due south horizon (-1.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:52 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (294°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (301°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:34 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 9:06 pm, which is 33 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:51 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 77 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 21 seconds over yesterday.

Finally the farmers market 🌽 🍅 had tomatoes and sweet corn that made me happy. 😊 The fresh sweet corn was amazing especially with some MSG – I skipped the butter due to the saturated fats. Tomatoes were good though not as exceptionally good as I had hoped. 👨‍🌾 If I don’t get to Schoharie this weekend it’s not the end of the world. There is farm stands going out on vacation, Sandell’s Farm going up to Piseco-Powley Road, and the best farm stands really are in August and September in the Schoharie Valley, and probably is the best riding of the Catskill Scenic Trail. 🚲

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 11pm. Some storms could be severe, with damaging winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy 🌩, with a low of 65 degrees at 5am. Two degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 6pm. Another night in the swamp. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. That sounds wet. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 49 occurred back in 1940.

On this day in 1977, the Great 1977 New York City Blackout begins, 🌃 plunging New York into 24 hours of darkness, chaos, and crime. It really was a dark time in the city. This black out mostly effected the city, not upstate so much. Albany has gotten shifty after the pandemic but it’s nothing like New York City, especially in the olden days of the 1970s. 🚨

Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. 😞 Saturday, a slight chance of showers before 8am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 71 at 10am. I’ll watch the radar, maybe I’ll do the town pool in the afternoon. Sunday, a chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. High near 82. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Maximum dew point of 74 at 12pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

If it only was slightly nicer out 🌤️and I had the bicycle 🚲 I would reconsider my plans to go to Schoharie. If the shop calls today or tomorrow and I can sneak out of work early and get the bike and groceries, I’ll reconsider my plans. It might be more haze then clouds and maybe it won’t be until late when the showers and Thunderstorms come rolling through. It would be fun to swim 🏊‍♂️ and see the auto show 🚘 and it’s going to be a hot one. Otherwise, there is always next weekend – the last one before Summer Vacation. 🏖

I am still hopeful that the through we are stuck in breaks up by August 🌧️ and we can finally have some nice hot and sunny weather ☀ with calm weather. I don’t mind some heat and humidity on vacation or for that matter when I’m at the Potholers in Adirondacks. 🏊‍♂️ Often the weekend before Summer Vacation 📦 I like to stay home and pack but I’m not necessarily convinced that is necessary as I pretty much know what I need and will pack only food for the first few days and get fresh food out in the Finger Lakes. 🍇 Next weekend if it’s decent I could do Schoharie or the Potholers, maybe extending the weekend by a day on either side of the weekend.

Looking ahead, next Thursday is Ugly Truck Day 🚚 when the sun will be setting at 8:29 pm with dusk at 9:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, humid, mostly sunny, thunderstorm and temperatures between 97 and 72 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1991.

Driftwood

At times I can be so impatient 🚲

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Like waiting to pick up my mountain bike, Blackie, from the store or any time Big Red is in the shop which hopefully isn’t anytime soon though I still need to do that passenger seat air bag recall later this summer. The General keeps reminding me about the recall, but I rarely have passengers in my truck, so it’s not a top priority of mine, especially as it’s pain to take Red to dealership.

Good morning! What day is it? We’re climbing the Hump Day, of course. I’m also impatient for the weekend. Mostly sunny ☀ with some light fog and 66 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 63 degrees.

Nice morning today, lots of runners 🏃 🐶 and dog walkers out this morning including all the usual’s though both aren’t exclusive groups. It’s funny how when you do the same walk every day you see the same people and commuters driving to work every day. Now that I’ve gotten in better shape 🦵I’ve thought about maybe adding some jogging to my exercise program but I’d probably want to wear the sneakers 👟 I have in my closet, along with learning more about pacing and posture. Kind of had to run down to the bus stop 🚏for the express bus 🚍 yesterday that never came as apparently the driver pulled too far off the shoulder and got stuck in the mud letting a passenger on. I got a ride in with one of the other passengers. 🚘 Happens, it’s been wet, ⚡ and those electric buses they’ve been running on the Voorheesville Route are mad heavy compared to the normal buses.

11 3/4 miles walked and 40 flights of stairs up and down yesterday. 🚶 2 1/2 weeks of doing the stairs at work. I told one of my colleagues I’m now doing the stairs at work, and I got this look of you work on the 18th floor. Yesterday was cream of wheat, frozen blueberries and a dap of Greek yogurt for breakfast. So good but for a change eggs with spinach, mushroom, tomatoes and onions today. 🍳 It should make two breakfasts, maybe I’ll save it for Friday or Saturday might be good if I’m leaving early Saturday to head out of town. 🚲 Black beans, peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms for lunch – cold lunches are good in the heat. 🍱 Dinner was the remaining red kidney beans with sugar free maple syrup, plus a little of the mackerel – spinach/kale pasta salad, though I’m trying to limit that as it’s a bit greasy and is high in carbs from the pasta. 🍲

Today will have isolated showers, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 11am. I am pretty sure thats just template text for summer. Mostly sunny ☀, with a high of 85 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 10am. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 40%. 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 became sticky as the day progressed. The high last year was 91 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1935.

Today I want to get to the farmers market on the Plaza 🌽 🍅 mostly in search 🔎 of tomatoes and sweet corn, basically in that order. I could almost kill for a fresh tomatoes but also sweet corn would be good. I know Stantons has both but they’re not convenient for me to get to, I’d have to drive out there. 🫐 Maybe more of the overpriced blueberries, they were good but I have frozen ones already in my freezer. I tend to prefer frozen fruits and vegetables at home while reserving good fresh ones for camping 🏕 not just as I lack freezer capacity but it gives me something to look forward to at camp, replacing the cookies 🍪 and junk food of the past. Maybe I can get fruits and vegetables in the Schoharie Valley this weekend. I should take an early lunch to ensure that I can get the best fruits and vegetables today, remembering to bring my reusable bag.

Accidentally double paid my credit card 💳 bill though it’s okay as I wanted to retire any outstanding debt before getting the bicycle 🚲 and then also before vacation 🏖 just so I had a safe margin in case of emergency on vacation. I’ll use the statement credit to cover it. Money is going to be a bit tight through next pay day on Tuesday but if I have to dip into rainy day for a few days not the end of the world. 💵

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.4° from the due south horizon (-1.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:52 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (295°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (302°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:34 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 9:07 pm, which is 31 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:52 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 76 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 18 seconds over yesterday.

Today I will phone the bike shop 📞 to see how progress is going on building my bike if they don’t call by one or so. If it’s ready, I’ll try to sneak out of work at 4 pm with permission of course, get home get my truck and hurry over to the shop. I would like to start to breaking it in 🚲 even if I don’t have all the accessories I want before the weekend. 🌇 With the earlier sunsets, I would like to be able to bicycle out to Voorheesville or Five Rivers in evening, and then spend the evening out before riding home. I thought about walking to Five Rivers last night 🐸 but it’s a lot of walking in the sprawl either on Fisher Boulevard or the narrow NY 443, and I’d rather spend more time in the woods. But the bicycle could let me speed through that boring crap.

Honestly, the question most biting into my mind is will the Borranger MIK Rack fit on the XXL version of the Trek Marlin 6, 😕 which the internet doesn’t seem to have a good answer for or the cost since the recent inflationary increases. ⚙ I guess worse comes to worse, there are other rack systems you get online like the AVS and RackSystem, but I want something with a quick release for adding and removing the milk crate / storage basket I want to mount on there for hauling gear but be able to take off when the bike is in transit or I’m on narrow trails or otherwise don’t need the weight of the carrying container on the back. Getting adapters and quick release connectors on a generic bike rack might end up costing more 💰 so I’d rather stick with MIK as it seems like if I get it built in the rack, then I can get just get the plate I need for the milk crate.

Tonight will have scattered thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 64 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 8pm. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 62 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1939.

On this day in 1967, the Newark Riots begin with over six days of rioting, looting, and destruction leaving 26 dead. We really are fortunate that despite living troubled times, there has been no rioting in our cities this year. 🌆 2020 with all it’s disorder seems like a one shot deal, though I swear downtown is a lot rougher than it used to be before the pandemic but maybe I forgot after two years of remote work.

A very summer like weekend. 🏖 Saturday, showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Maximum dew point of 72 at 4pm. Sunday, a chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Maximum dew point of 73 at 11am. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

As of now I’m still on track for going out to Schoharie ⛺ 🚲 but things could change in the mean time. I’m watching the Sunday forecast closely. I’d really like to get two days of swimming 🏊 in the pool under my belt to prepare for summer vacation but not if Sunday is going to be bad weather. The auto show at the Power Authority would be fun, as riding the Catskill Scenic Trail.

One month 📅 from now will be Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 with dusk at 8:32 pm. Come August due to earth wobble we loose a lot of evening daylight though morning daylight declines slower.

Out On Lilly Lake