A few years back, one of the former directors where I work made kind of an off handed comment about how valuable Python programming is to have as a skill set in our increasingly technology driven jobs of today and tomorrow.
While I wasn’t a newbie at Python, I was no means an expert. Most of my Python experience was with writing short little QGIS plugins, to help automate topographic map making for the blog. I actually taught myself a seven or eight years ago Python for specifically that purpose. That said, I’m far more familiar with Perl and PHP so they were much more my go to then Python.
But I was ready to learn more Python as I wanted a fast and reliable way to processing geospatial data for map making. Geopandas offered a way I could create such scripts and with Jupyter Notebook’s interpretive boxes, gave me a lot of freedom to experiment and develop code. Learning Geopandas turned me on to Pandas, which is an amazing tool for manipulating large datasets, in a reliable and reproducible fashion.
As time went on I became more interested in Python, reading several books over the summer. It became a big portion of my summer reading program in 2021 — many a day in the hammock reading about Python. Then I got interested in R with its great graphics and mapping capabilities along with excellent access to Census data and I was hooked, trying to learn whatever I can about the language. This summer I’ve moved on to reading up on statistical analysis so I can get more out of data.
While maybe the short term benefits are obvious – being able to make graphs and maps for the blog and social media – the long term benefits are even greater. Being able to understand statistics can lead me to make better decisions independently of commentators and others who may have a bias or not fully understand my unique situation. It makes it possible to do my job better, and makes me more marketable in the future.
Computers are only getting more powerful, data more accessible with the internet. It would be a mistake not to continously learning and expanding one’s knowledge to better prepare oneself for tomorrow. Learning need not be dry, especially when you can already envision many uses for the data.
The transit of the sun is the mid point of the day, when the sun is due south. This varies based on the time of year, but is halfway point between sunrise and sunset.
Next Thursday is National Nude Day 👱 – Jul 14
Eight Thursdays until Average High 70 🎑 – Sep 1
Eight Thursdays until September 🍎 – Sep 1
11 Thursdays until Autumn 🍂 – Sep 22
20 Thursdays until Thanksgiving 🦃 – Nov 24
21 Thursdays until December 🎄 – Dec 1
23 Thursdays until Bill of Rights Day 📜 – Dec 15
24 Thursdays until Days are Getting Longer ☀️ – Dec 22
Partly sunny and 61 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☀ Calm wind. The dew point is 57 degrees.
Managed to catch the earlier express bus 🚍 downtown so I’ll have time to walk 🚶 the Empire State Plaza. I got my steps 👣 in yesterday but I prefer to get them in earlier.
Seemsmore humid this morning than I expected 😰 but maybe it’s just I’m sweating on my walk due to the strong sun light this morning under the deep blue skies. It’s been such an unusually cool summer.
The past few days work has been super busy 💼, I ended taking some home and down to the library and worked until closing time. I could have used the Hotspot on my but I don’t like having to watch the meter. 🖥 Plus it’s extra steps. I work hard but I make good money 💵 and I’m saving money and investing towards a better tomorrow.
I am thinking about heading north is weekend, as it looks quite sunny if not particularly warm by July standards. Might actually be real nice for hiking, especially the low humidity. The question is where to go, though I always enjoy the potholers and floating around at the House Pond Campsite. Though maybe too cool for that with the low humidity and breeze? Plus the forecast could change, I’m not taking off next Monday at this point.
Today. Feels like … May 31st.
Showers likely, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy.
South wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
and
75 degrees
,64 max dew point,
8:37 sunset.
Tonight. Feels like … July 15th.
Showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a chance of showers.
South wind 7 to 14 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
and
63 degrees
,67 max dew point,
5:22 sunrise.
Wednesday. Feels like … June 19th.
Mostly sunny.
Northwest wind 9 to 13 mph.
and
80 degrees
,65 max dew point,
8:37 sunset.
Wednesday Night. Feels like … June 15th.
Partly cloudy.
North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
and
57 degrees
,
5:23 sunrise.
Thursday. Feels like … June 15th.
A slight chance of showers after 2pm. Partly sunny.
Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
and
79 degrees
,60 max dew point,
8:37 sunset.
Thursday Night. Feels like … July 15th.
A chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy.
Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Good morning! Back to work on this somewhat dreary Tuesday morning. 👨💼
Not a lot of sunshine to help one getting going, and I slept in a bit late, but still caught the express bus downtown.
A few drops of rain around and 66 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☔ There is a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 58 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 3 am.
I feared a repeat of last week 💦 when I was walking down to the Park and Ride this morning and sky just opened up. But it was just a few drops of rain then it let up. More rain later though. I think if I want to get my 10,000 steps in today, I should plan on maximizing my walking at lunch time. Getting to the Plaza this morning, the stairs I normally take to work where closed, so I had to walk through the LOB, though it’s a lot easier now that they aren’t checking IDs to get through the LOB after swiping your card.
Went out to my parents house for Independence Day Dinner 🍗 played with the dog while I was out there, and then did my evening hike. 🐶 Did several laps up top of the mountain, so I got my steps in for the day. 👣 Seemed like forever until it got dark out, and even at 9:15 PM wasn’t super dark for watching the fireworks, with the moonlight and some haze. It was pretty neat watching the Plaza fireworks from the distance, as was watching all the other people lighting off fireworks.
Last night I watched the fireworks on the Empire State Plaza and most of the mid-Hudson Valley from an undisclosed place. 🎆 I was kind of surprised I was the only one watching fireworks from there, although technically the place closed at dusk but I figured nobody would care if I got back to my truck an hour or so after dusk. I did walk back through most of the woods not using a flashlight 🔦 just to keep my cover and it was very dark at times.
Truck was good all weekend. 🛻 The ABS light remains off and I haven’t heard any unusual noises after noticing that occasional squeak on Saturday. Sometimes I worry about this a little too much. I’m sure at some point I’ll need more work done on it but I’m putting it off until things are more worrysome. I think I should be good for getting out of town this weekend, assuming the weather is decent I don’t have to work. 😎 I do just wish the forecast would be a bit warmer.
