George V Vanderbilt Town Park
Down to the Pond
April 8, 2019 Morning
Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. The problem is all inside your head she said to me. The answer is simple if you take it logically. Next Monday is Tax Day ๐ฐ. Happy poverty day next week. Cloudy, damp, but no rain right now around 52 degrees in the land of the Delmaritian. โ There is a light south-southeast breeze. ๐. The dew point is 46 degrees. I’m thinking ๐ญ the rain should start greening up the grass in city. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Thursday around 1 am. โ๏ธ
Hop on the bus Gus, don’t need to discuss much. With the dark skies โ it was had to get going this morning and I sprinted down to the bus stop ๐as the bus approached. It’s a Monday but I’m hoping this won’t be too ungodly of a week at work. ๐ฆTaking a regular 40 foot bus downtown, Gillig 4175. I had a bit of a headache this morning, which made it tough to get out of bed early.
Today will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11am. Mostly cloudy ๐ฆ, with a high of 67 degrees at 5pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around May 6th. Maximum dew point of 51 at 2pm. South wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 88 was set in 1929. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1907.โ
Back to work today. Not a pay day today but one next week. I’m fine with that as next Monday is tax day when I pay the state and then the following Tuesday the state pays me a paycheck. ๐ It’s called recycling. It’s what you do Earth Day that is for the cans and others things that don’t burn well. Granted I always try to do good work for my paycheck, I can’t say the opposite is true. I think I’m signed up for defensive driving that day, I’ll have to check my schedule and take the appropriate day off from work.
I can’t complain that much about the rain โ as things were getting kind of dried out yesterday and there was a brush fire ๐ฅ yesterday up by Tommells Feedlot ๐ฎ or maybe the Clarksville dump and transfer station. While one can say Pete Grannis’ open burning regulations are retarded, you can see the sensibility of the regulations in Virginia that ban burning before six PM when the humidity increases. You can always compost brush or buy a trash can to store trash until it gets wetter out. And keep a hose handy and an eye on whatever you are burning.
At least it was warm enough to leave the windows open all night which made for good sleeping. ๐ฒ 68 degrees in the bedroom when I fell asleep, 61 degrees by morning when I got out of bed. It got up to 74 degrees in my bedroom by afternoon yesterday. Sure beats struggling to keep the heat in the mid 50s in the winter. โ I really enjoy the fresh air in them morning. ๐ It’s even better when it’s summer and I’m camping up in the wilderness.
The sun will set at 7:29 pm with dusk around 7:58 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ๐ and temperatures around 63 degrees. The dew point will be 48 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 5 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy ๐ฅ, with a low of 45 degrees at 5am. 10 degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around May 8th. West wind 5 to 9 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of 16 occurred back in 1977.
Tomorrow will have a chance of showers, mainly after noon. Partly sunny ๐ฆ, with a high of 59 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around April 16th. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 1991. 13.3 inches of snow fell back in 2000.โ
Yesterday was kind of a gray day, kind of hazy with thicker clouds in the afternoon. I wouldn’t say it was a bad day, although I hate hazy spring days with the light so defuse it kind of gives me a headache and makes it a bit hard to see as everything is kind of gray. โ I didn’t feel all that great either. Not sick but not well either.
Needless to say, I didnโt go to the Catskills to hike although I did go for a short walk on the rail trail up to Font Grove before turning around and heading home because I was tired of nearly tripping over the dog walkers ๐ถ and getting run over by the cyclist ๐ด. I don’t go for a walk or out in nature be surrounded by a million people. If I wanted to be in crowds I’d just go downtown like I do for work.
My parents cooked steak and the fixings on the grill for Sunday dinner. ๐ It was a nice dinner and they made brownies for desert. Made it home before dark tonight. ๐ That’s good because last night was so dark driving home and there was a shit ton of deer along the road looking to hand out $250 collision deductibles. Fortunately I made it home safely, then hung my clothes in the closet in preparation for the work week.
Did some cleaning on the bathroom ๐ฝ after buying a new plastic brush and some toilet cleaner. I’ve tried laundry soap but I have better luck with the toilet cleaner. Also cleaned out the shower ๐ฟ, it was kind of a mess with soap scum. The soap dissolving acid works well. I could probably do a lot more scrubbing throughout my apartment but cleaning really ain’t my fortay. I kind of like my rundown apartment, that’s why I’ve lived here nearly 12 years.
I went for my evening walk and it was warm enough to sit out back for an hour and listen to the spring peepers. ๐ธ Not really loud tonight but they’re singing ๐ถ their song. No stars โจ as it was cloudy with the rain pushing in. I thought about buying a case of beer ๐ป for drinking out back but I really don’t like the expense or health consequences of drinking alcohol anymore. Alcohol not only gets you intoxicated and leaves you with a hang over, it’s a carcinogen. ๐ฌ Plus you get drinking and the next thing you want is a drag on a cigarette and that’s even worse.
As previously noted, next Monday is Tax Day ๐ฐ when the sun will be setting at 7:37 pm with dusk at 8:06 pm. On that day in 2018, we had freezing rain showers, cold, mostly cloudy and temperatures between 36 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 58 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 2003.
A picture perfect weekend on tap. ๐ Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 60. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Typical average high for the weekend is 57 degrees.
This next weekend the plan is to take the bottles and cans to the transfer station, โป after cleaning out the refrigerator and searching the bathroom for recyclable cans and bottles. Then I’ll repack my truck for camping โบ. I also want to get that new brake switch installed โญ and hopefully have the cruise control working again on the truck. I don’t know if I will go camping during the following Easter weekend ๐ฐ as the weather currently doesn’t look that great and there is a lot of snow up north but I could change my mind. ๐
I am glad that it appears that I can fix the cruise control and problems with getting the truck out of park ๐ ฟ by replacing the sub $20 brake switch next weekend. Probability on Saturday if I can get up to GM to buy another switch this week. I like things that are simple and easy to fix.๐ง I hate not having cruise control, as I’m so used to driving with it on all the time as it keeps my truck going at a lawful speed. ๐I’m willing to pay to get it fixed, if replacing the switch doesn’t fix it because having it working is cheaper than a ticket ๐ซ. The truck is easy to speed in with the highway gearing that makes it want to go faster than is lawful.
I saw yet another cop ๐ฎ on 32 coming home from my parents tonight. They must be working overtime to pay for the governor’s million dollar pay raise. Must be nice to have a job that you are virtually guaranteed to get million dollars ๐ต after four years. I’d take if offered, invest virtually all of it, buy land out in the country after my first four years as governor and basically retire. I save whatever I can these days and I work hard at my job but I’m not making any million dollars every four years. ๐ฐ
Earth Day is a week from Monday ๐ so I’ll working that day but maybe the previous day I’ll be up in the wilderness. At least I’ll be riding public transportation to get to work ๐and I always try to avoid waste wherever possible in my own life as money spent on things today is stolen from my future. It annoys me when people talk about how green they are, but consume 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each month for their 5,000 square foot house, and always have a full trash can each week, even though they wash out their cans and eat organic food, half of which ends up in their composter because it rots before they eat it.
Tonight is the public hearing the county legislature is holding on taxing paper bags. ๐Liberals think it’s the best thing since sliced bread ๐ as they have never seen a tax that they don’t like, even though the only benefit of the tax is it means that the county gets a few cents to buy filmsy woven plastic bags with County Executive Dan McCoy’s name to remind people of the importance of the re-election of incumbents.๐ฎ I wrote my legislature, I am not going to waste my time at a public hearing that’s going to be packed with the greenies who already know the legislature will enact this law.
Certainly PAUSE loves the tax, because apparently banning paper bags gives them a bigger boner ๐than saving the Pine Bush from yet another development. I’m just cranky that my county legislator who I didn’t vote for didn’t reply back to my email on this topic. I guess it doesn’t matter that much, I’m planning on using plastic milk crates for bringing home my groceries when the bags are finally banned.๐ฆI think the crates are a much easier way to keep organized and clean for bringing home groceries.
Definitely all and all a good weekend. ๐I can look in despair at the direction of our country both at the local and federal level, but ultimately each day I’m saving more money ๐ต and taking care of my future even as our world ๐ falls apart. I can’t change the world but I can better myself and my future. Plus I’m looking forward to camping โบ and traveling in a few weeks. Snow won’t last that much longer up north.
In four weeks on May 6 the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm,๐ which is 31 minutes and 42 seconds later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had rain showers, partly sunny and temperatures between 65 and 54 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 67 and 44 degrees. The record high of 89 degrees was set back in 1930.
Looking ahead, Tax Day ๐ฐ is in 1 weeks, Earth Day ๐ is in 2 weeks, Memorial Day ๐บ๐ธ is in 7 weeks, Latest Sunset ๐ is in 11 weeks, July ๐๐ฟ is in 12 weeks, Cow Appreciation Day ๐ is in 14 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM ๐ is in 18 weeks, Labor Day ๐จโ๐ญ is in 21 weeks and Columbus Day ๐ฅ๏ธ is in 26 weeks.