Alfred E. Smith Building

The Alfred E. Smith Building, known officially as the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building and sometimes called simply the Smith Building, is a structure located in downtown Albany, New York across the street from the New York State Capitol and One Commerce Plaza.

The building’s namesake, Alfred Emmanuel Smith, was a four-term governor of New York and the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 1928 presidential election. The Art Deco skyscraper has 34 stories and at 388 feet (118 m) is Albany’s second tallest structure (after the Erastus Corning Tower).

Completed in 1928, it houses offices of the New York State government. Built originally with an observation deck on the 31st floor, the 350-foot-high (110 m) open-air deck was closed in 1976 when the 589-foot-tall (180 m) 42nd floor enclosed Corning Tower Observation Deck was opened. An extensive renovation of the building began in 2002. This modernization, which cost at least $103 million, is now finished.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Smith_Building

February 4, 2016 Evening

|

Good evening. Currently we have a beautiful sunset and 43 degrees at the Nation’s Most Ethical Capital. Tonight will have a slight chance of snow after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday will gradually become sunny, with a high near 37. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph. Not a terrible day for Upstate NY in early February.

The sunset is remarkably beautiful tonight. A pretty good ending to a good day at work. The amazing sunset reminds me a lot of some of the sunsets that are common in November, especially in the North Country. The longer days are a clear reminder that summer must be coming.

The Day the Music Died 2016 Evening

|

Good evening on this rainy Thursday . Currently overcast and 52 degrees as today’s rain pulls away from Albany. We might have a few more scattered showers, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. South wind 7 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunset in four weeks on Mar. 2 is at 5:47 pm. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 13 is 1 month, 10 days away. Sunset on that day is at 7:00 PM in Albany and bit later as you head west.

Ground Hog Day 2016 Evening

|

Good evening on this Ground Hog Day. Currently a few clouds and 36 degrees in Albany. Tonight will have a chance of rain after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. East wind 5 to 13 mph becoming south after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.Tonight we will have a Waning Crescent Moon with 36% illuminated. It will rise at 2:08 am.

Wednesday we will have rain. It will be very mild with a high near 54. Breezy, with a south wind 14 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible. Make sure to wear a rain coat and pack an umbrella, as we are going to get poured on.

The days are getting longer. In two weeks the sun will be setting at 5:28 pm, which is 18 minutes later then tonight. The sunset in four weeks on Mar. 1 is at 5:45 pm. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 13 is 1 month, 11 days away. Sunset on that day is at 7:00 pm. I’m really happy with the much longer days.

February 1, 2016 Night

|

Good evening. Currently mostly cloudy and 36 degrees in Albany. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 29. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Fairly mild start to February.

Tonight we will have a Waining Crescent Moon with 42% illuminated. It will rise at 1:11 am. Tomorrow’s sunrise will be at 7:07 am with first light at 6:37 am, which is 2 minutes earlier then today. As it will be sunny tomorrow, it should be easier to get up in the morning than recent morning. Punxsutawney should be cloudy, so it’s unlikely the ground hog will see the shadow.

Dark but mild evening for the evening walk. Fairly clear, not too bad for viewing the stars. Not complaining about the weather for the beginning of February.

I think you’ll agree it’s been a decent start to February. Getting closer to springtime. Good night. Sleep well!

February 1st 2016 Evening

|

Good evening on this February 1st. Currently mostly cloudy and 43 degrees in Albany. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low around 29. Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph.

Tonight we will have a Waining Crescent Moon with 42% illuminated. It will rise at 1:11 am.

Tuesday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.

The days are getting longer. In two weeks the sun will be setting at 5:27 pm, which is 18 minutes later then tonight. The sunset in four weeks on Feb. 29 is at 5:44 pm. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 13 is 1 month, 12 days away. Sunset on that day is at 7:00 pm.

February 1, 2016 Morning

|

Good morning! Happy February. All eyes are focused on Punxsutawney tomorrow. It is cloudy with 48 degrees in Delmar. Today will have scattered showers, mainly before noon. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 50. South wind 5 to 14 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunset will be at 5:09 pm with twilight at 5:38 pm which is one minute and 19 seconds later then yesterday. Tonight we will have a Waining Crescent Moon with 42% illuminated. It will rise at 1:11 am. The New Moon is on next Monday. Dark few nights ahead, although it will be good for viewing stars especially on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

There are 2 months until April Fools Day. This day in 1968, the New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation. At this point due to competition or highways and airplanes, the railroad all were in dire straits. The merger of these formerly massive railroads was part of the effort to save both passenger and freight service in the private realm.

Another pretty dark and gray morning. I wish the sun would shine more. It’s just so dark and depressing this winter. Most winters are colder and with more snow, but they also have blue skies.

Leaning towards staying in town next weekend if only because the budget remains tight and it’s winter. If it’s exceptionally nice I might go up to the Adirondacks after I do the oil change, but we will see. I could keep putting it off, but I really want to get some fresh oil in the engine, because I don’t like to let it drop below 20% oil life remaining.

On the bright side of things, I have lots of new maps for the blog this week.

Australia Day 2016 Evening

|

Good evening on this Australia Day. Currently overcast and 43 degrees in Albany. With the wind downtown, it feels much colder. Pretty much a gray and cloudy day.

Tonight we will have a slight chance of showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. South wind 7 to 11 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight we will have a Waining Gibbous Moon with 80% illuminated. It will rise at 7:48 pm. Not sure how much we will see of the moon tonight with the clouds but maybe for a few hours around midnight the moon will peak out.

Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 13 which is 1 month, 18 days away. Sunset on that day is at 7:00 pm in Albany. I keep counting down the days until I can spend evenings down at the park with a good book or the laptop. Granted it won’t be tomorrow..

Traffic is moving exceptionally smoothly and generally well on the old 787 despite being rush hour. We missed most of the stoplights too. A trooper pulled a motorist off on Southern Boulevard but traffic is still moving well.

One more day closer to summer. Depending on how much sun we get this weekend, I might head out winter camping. Looks plenty warm but it might be cloudy up north. Still winter camping ain’t as much fun as those long summer nights. Winter nights are longer but they’re spent in darkness.

Not sure if I’m going down to the library tonight. We will see how things go. If the wind ain’t so bad in Delmar, the walk to the library plus the evening walk will give me close to five miles of walking which is good for health. I’ve not been doing that much walking lately.