Delmar, New York

Delmar is a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany. The community is bisected by NY Route 443 (Delaware Avenue), a major thoroughfare, main street, and route to Albany.

A census-designated place (CDP) has been established since 1980 by the U.S. Census Bureau for tabulating the population of what the census has defined as the boundaries of the urbanized area in and around Delmar. The population was 8,292 at the 2000 census, but it was not included as a CDP in the 2010 census.

In 2005, CNN/Money Magazine named the Delmar ZIP Code (an area larger than the Delmar hamlet or CDP) as one of the “Best Places to Live” in America, rating it the 22nd best place to live among what it called “Great American Towns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delmar,_New_York

February 13, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Thursday. The direct drive of the week. Next Thursday is 5:30 PM Sunset 🌆. As the sign on the bridge says, “When there is no hope, there is spring!” And black flies. They’re waiting. 🐜 Snow, slop and 33 degrees in Delmar, NY. ❄ Calm wind. The sidewalks have the consistency of a pasture after a wet spring today with all the snow, rain and slop on them. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 7 pm. ☃️

Today will rain, snow and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain before noon, then a chance of snow showers between noon and 1pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers after 1pm. 🌧 High of 38 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 1st. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of less than one inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1900. 9 inches of snow fell back in 1893.❄

I mean it could be worse in Trump’s 🎺 America, this could all be ice or deep snow. The later would be less sloppy but it would delay traffic with the cidiots abandoning their cars 🚘 in the middle of the street, calling it parallel parking. 🅿 I’ve been wearing my black leather work boots 👢 to work lately and keeping my dress shoes under the desk at work. Seems to work well.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.9° from the due south horizon (-36.9° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:44 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) starting at 5:21 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 5:52 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:27 pm. At sunset, look for possibly more rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 15 degrees at 6am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 5th. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 2016.

Today I have to renew the two library books I have out. 📚 I finished up the Almost President book I was reading over the past week, and I can return it tonight when I go down to the library, but I figured I’d renew it to be safe. I am starting reading a book about electrical wiring, as I want to further my knowledge of electricity and code issues — I am hoping to understand the electrical code, so eventually when I own land I can make appropriate upgrades on my off-grid property. Even if I live in a place without code enforcement, it’s good to have a safe system that doesn’t burn your house to the ground or shock you to head.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.

Somehow I have this vague thought about heading out of town this weekend, ⛺ even though I know that there is no chance in hell of that happening. But come April the snow will be replaced by rain, mud and black flies I tell myself. 🎣 Trout season too. I bet there is still a ton of snow out in Madison County — actually there is a checked. So that’s probably not a realistic option but Presidents Day might still be a good opportunity to go skiing ⛷ maybe out at Partridge Run or Rensselearville State Forest. I haven’t been in the later in some time.🌲🌲🌲

🌹🌻🌼Only 35 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

As previously noted, next Thursday is 5:30 PM Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 5:32 pm with dusk at 6:01 pm. On that day in 2019, we had cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 28 and 9 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1930.

On a Tree

February 12, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Next Wednesday is February Save the Pine Dinner 🦋. I better post that event on the Save the Pine Bush page. Partly sunny and 30 degrees passing by the Bethlehem Public Library on the bus downtown. ☀ There is a west-northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. There is a inch of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌡️ Listening to Bread Guitar 🎸 Man heading downtown on this relatively sunny morning.

Yesterday I went over to John Wolcott house 🏡 and we are mostly finished up on a lot of his unsorted files 📂. It’s been over a year but the project is mostly done. I had no idea that I would be working on it for another year. It’s nice having more time after work to do this these days.

I got home and read for a little more. Almost done with Almost President, my forth or fifth book 📚 of the year. I’ve made spending least a half hour each night reading a priority. I look forward to bring a book down to the park to read 📖 come the summer although I might not sit in the grass due to the ticks. 🐜

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 39 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 1st. West wind 6 to 8 mph becoming south in the afternoon. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became light sleet by afternoon. The high last year was 21 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 1932. 13.5 inches of snow fell back in 1988.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.6° from the due south horizon (-37.3° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:43 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (245°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (252°) starting at 5:20 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 5:51 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:25 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 38 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 26 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 38 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will snow, mainly after 11pm. 🌨 Low of 32 degrees at 3am. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 29th. South wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. In 2019, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1875.

Not much has changed for the President Weekend forecast. ⛅Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 24. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.

I heard Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary. That surprises no one with Pete Buttigieg in second. ❎ I think that’s fine. I don’t have a strong preference between the candidates. Voted for Sanders in 2016. I don’t like Howie Hawkins at all for the Green Party so I’ll probably vote for the libertarian in the General although I’m sure any rotting carcass could defeat Trump in New York so my vote doesn’t matter. 💩 As long as the federal government leaves me alone and keeps my taxes low I don’t have any complaints. I don’t own a television so I don’t have to listen to the mad man pontificating all day long and the pundits analyzing it. 📺

🌹🌻🌼Only 36 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼 Tomorrow is 35.

As previously noted, next Wednesday is February Save the Pine Dinner 🦋 when the sun will be setting at 5:31 pm with dusk at 6:00 pm. On that day in 2019, we had cold, mostly sunny and temperatures between 24 and 4 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1981.

Gobler's Knob Stage

February 8, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Snow squall and 25 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a west breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 5. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 1 pm. 🌡️

It was sunny out earlier but now it’s sort of clouded up. ☁ Decent little snow squall but so far the roads aren’t coated. Not expecting much snow but the snow and ice is pretty frozen and icy from yesterday. I thought about going out for a walk when the sun came up as it was some deep blue skies but it was cold and I didn’t want to walk on the icy sidewalks. Ended up working on some code for the blog and sitting back with a couple cups of coffee ☕.

I better crack the ice off my mailbox 📬if I want the solder flux pen ✒ to be delivered so I can work on projects tomorrow. Everything is kind of icy and frozen outside although surprisingly the commute on Friday night wasn’t that bad.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 26 degrees at 1pm. Seven degrees below normal. West wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 52 was set in 1925. 14 inches of snow fell back in 1895.❄

Later this afternoon I’m going out to my parents house for Sunday dinner food a day earlier than normal as I’m concerned that Sunday evening will be icy. ⛄ Not sure when the next storm will hit but we might get snow and of ice Sunday evening 🌃. That said, first some of the ice has to melt off Big Red 🚘 if I want to get the doors open. That’s going to require the sun to return ☀. I brushed all the snow off I could last night but it’s still a mess.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 32.3° from the due south horizon (-38.5° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:37 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (243°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (250°) starting at 5:15 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 5 seconds with dusk around 5:46 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (74°) at an altitude of 12° from the horizon, 229,765 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:21 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 22 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 15 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 32 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 8 degrees at 1am. Eight degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 7 at 6am; Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2019, we had light snow in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 20 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1934.

🌹🌻🌼Only 40 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

One month 📅 from now will be Daylight Savings Time 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 6:54 pm with dusk at 7:22 pm (Daylight Savings Time). The average high temperature is 32 degrees, with a record high of 61 in 1895.

Towards the Valley

The History of CTRL ALT DELETE

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The History of CTRL ALT DELETE

In 2013, Bill Gates admitted ctrl alt del was a mistake and blamed IBM. Here’s the story of how the key combination became famous in the first place.

Fortunately Linux doesn't use anything as silly as control-alt-delete, although it does use control-alt-f1, etc. to change between virtual terminal command lines.

February 7, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Next Friday is Valentines Day ❤️. Rain, mist and 36 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. ☔ There is a northeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. There is a inch of snow and ice on the ground. ☃ Going to rain all day until it turns to snow and then gets real cold. Hello, February. ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 2 pm. ☃️

I decided to walk down to the express bus 🚍 but it was raining or misting fairly hard. Not a nice day to be outside and it only is going to get worse. Reminds me of that one night I camped up on the Boereas River and NY 28 several years ago in December. ⛺ Icy snow and rain. That was before I had the propane heater and only a very smokey campfire to keep warm.

I knocked the remaining snow and ice off Big Red 🚘 in hopes things won’t be too much of a frozen mess come Saturday. Still not sure if I’m going to drive anywhere tomorrow, it’s going to be pretty bitterly cold with the wind but a fair amount of sun ☀. I might just stay home and walk down to the library 📚.

Today will rain and sleet before 2pm, then rain and snow between 2pm and 3pm, then snow likely after 3pm. Temperature falling to around 27 by 5pm. ☔⛄ Windy, with a northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west 19 to 29 mph. Winds could gust as high as 49 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 48 was set in 2005. 12.4 inches of snow fell back in 1983.❄

I totally expect a miserable and slow icy commute home this evening 💦 but maybe they’ll close the office early or they’ll get a lot of salt on the roads to prevent icing. The good news is that I live in the city so not so far to go. If it’s bad and I don’t see the local coming I’ll take the local home. 🚍

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 32° from the due south horizon (-38.9° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:36 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (243°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (250°) starting at 5:13 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 5 seconds with dusk around 5:45 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌖 Moon in the east (80°) at an altitude of 24° from the horizon, 232,013 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:19 pm. At sunset, look for snow showers 🌨 and temperatures around 27 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 11. ☃️Blustery, 🌬 with a stiff breeze at 30 mph the west-northwest with gusts up to 52mph. Going to be frigid, especially downtown. I turned my heat up a few degrees before leaving home to ensure my apartment isn’t too cold by the time I get home on what will be the most blustery of evenings. Today will have 10 hours and 13 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 30 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 16 degrees at 4am. Typical for tonight. Maximum wind chill around 4 at 6am; Windy, with a west wind 24 to 29 mph decreasing to 17 to 22 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 48 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1950.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 29 degrees at 1pm. Four degrees below normal. West wind 10 to 17 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 52 was set in 1925. 14 inches of snow fell back in 1895.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 31. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. ☀ Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.

🌹🌻🌼Only 41 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

As previously noted, next Friday is Valentines Day ❤️ when the sun will be setting at 5:25 pm with dusk at 5:54 pm. On that day in 2019, we had snow showers, partly cloudy and temperatures between 37 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 34 degrees. We hit a record high of 63 back in 1946.

Frozen Swamp Above the Gulf

I just got done watching Rick Sieves The Rise of Facism in Europe at the Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace

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I just got done watching Rick Sieves The Rise of Facism in Europe at the Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace. ✌

Its a reminder that it can happen here. Or anywhere. We pretend we are better than fascism and we would never let a strong man rule our country. But is that really true or just a lie we tell ourselves? Would we behave differently than the Germans or the Italians during the Great Depression? Power can often is abused by people who think they have God on their side as power often is violent and oppressive. People should be skeptical of power both of their own political persuasion and that of others. People should welcome the dysfunction of democracy and the virtues of taking it slow. Fascism can come to America and its just as likely to be a left wing as a right wing thing.