Price Chopper

Urban supermarket located in Downtown Albany.

September Long Weekend Trip Options

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I am considering my options for a mid to late September trip. Probably do only one. Some possibilities:

1) Moose River Plains in fall foliage season – always real nice, the Wakely Firetower is open again!

Payne Mountain is in the Way of My View

2) Tug Hill Plateau and Black River Valley – maybe meet old friend from Boy Scouts, see Confusion Flats, Whitestone Gulf, Lowville

Exploring the back roads of Lewis County

3) North Lake Reservoir – Kayak, explore now that the crowds and motor boats are mostly gone

South Lake Road

4) Early Autumn hike in the Catskills, camp at Burnt Rossman?

Valley

5) Jones Pond and the St Regis Canoe area

Four O'Clock But Sun Already Setting

Those super thin egg shells I got from Price Chopper 🥚

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Those super thin egg shells I got from Price Chopper 🥚

Thursday heading up to camp I got eggs. Throughout the time camping I kept accidentally breaking the eggs accidentally as the shells were so thin. I joked it must be DDT. Maybe it was my fault for not being careful but they certainly seemed particularly thin. Maybe I need to get one of those plastic camp egg holders they sell at Wally World but I’ve never had eggs so fragile. That said, from an efficiency standpoint, thin shells are probably cost effective for the producer and the consumer as most people throw away egg shells as soon as they are opened.

Getting fat

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Getting fat. 😮

When I went to the doctor the other day when I was weighted in I think the scale read something like 293 lbs. Honestly going to the doctors office during the pandemic was such a freaky activity I didn’t look too closely but I do think I’ve put on weight lately. I am sure I’m no longer the 265 lb I once was or the 245 lb I was during college for a while when I was walking ten miles nearly every day.

Now I don’t normally have snacks at home but I do sometimes snack on frozen fruit. In recent years I’ve been keeping the beer locked up when I’m home but I’ve been known to drink too much milk and apple juice. I should go back to water with lime or apple cider vinger. An even bigger problem is that I often make up too much pasta and despite adding lots of veggies I end up eating much too much mixed with unhealthy mayonnaise and cheese. I like dairy products much too much.

It’s been difficult lately to get enough steps in working from home. It used to be I would do a lot of walking, starting with the walk to the express bus, followed by a lunch time walk then a walk down to the library or park and then my evening walk. I still do my evening walk and many days I’ve been at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center waking but it’s not enough.

Truth be told, I need to get the battery replaced on my bathroom scale and start weighing in daily. I got to cut my calories and pasta mixes, drink more water and less apple juice and milk. Lay off the cheese, walk more. Both parents are heavy and I’ve always been a bit stout but I can do better.

PAUSE vs Save the Pine Bush and City Funding 💰

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PAUSE vs Save the Pine Bush and City Funding 💰

A few years back, People of Albany United for Safe Energy (PAUSE) was created to fight oil trains in Downtown Albany. The concern was the large number of highly volatile oil tanker trains that were parked in Downtown Albany for transfer to ships and pipelines heading down to refineries in New Jersey and New Brunswick.

In more recent years they’ve gotten into the zero waste advocacy – actually as a contactor for the city of Albany to comply with their state mandated landfill permit that calls for the city to have a recycling coordinator position that promotes recycling education throughout the member communities.

While this city grant may help with their advocacy efforts it does make their group tied to the city for funding. Criticize the city’s recycling efforts and their group may be without a city grant.

Save the Pine Bush has never taken city funding. They are fully not for profit and independent, free to criticize and fight any development in the Pine Bush.

In contrast, the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, a state operated and largely state funded corporation, is able to focus on education and managing the land while being subject to all the political concerns such a corporation faces.

State bankruptcy is a stupid idea 💰

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State bankruptcy is a stupid idea 💰

Imagine that you own a business where it’s always possible to get more revenue. Your products are so essential that people will pay any price you charge them, if they fail to pay the price you have the right and police power to seize their property or incarcerate non payers. That’s the role of government.

The US Constitution prohibits the courts and legislatures from impeding government contracts made with business – so implementing payment plans or writing off loans isn’t an option with the state bankruptcy. A state bankruptcy would allow courts mandate that states raise taxes or cut services without democratic input but they can’t get rid of historical debts.

Ultimately, what government taxes and spends should be a political question, decided by elected officials. If you want to offer a service, the government should raise revenue to cover the costs of the service. It shouldn’t be set down by an unelected court. Coronavirus has mostly impacted wealthy states – they can afford to tax more (if that’s their choice) to make ends meet.

Rain at 10 pm

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Been a nice day except for the drizzle that started around 10 pm at camp. Had a nice fire but it was time for bed once it started raining. But I fully expect sun by morning.

Not Eagle Pond

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I thought the swamp I hiked back to was Eagle Pond but studying the map I realized it was a drained Beaver Pond below the the pond. Hiked to a ridge above the pond hoping for views – got nice views of the mountains along the East Branch Sacandaga River but not the wetlands. Still an interesting walk in the woods.