John Boyd Thacher State Park, is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Even as it safeguards six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, the park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The park has volleyball courts, playgrounds, ball fields and numerous picnic areas with nine reservable shelters. Interpretive programs are offered year-round, including guided tours of the famous Indian Ladder Trail. There are over 25 additional miles of trails for summer hiking and mountain biking, and winter cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and snowmobiling.
Probably would have not been the best weekend to spend out in the wilderness. That said, I’m thinking seriously about taking Friday off and heading north to Piseco-Powley for one last weekend of the summer, with the following weekend working remote on Friday from the Spectulator Library after setting up camp somewhere in the Mason Lake, Speculator Tree Farm or Old Route 8B area for the Labor Day Weekend.
It seems werid to think summer is coming to it’s logical conclusion so quickly. 🍂 Soon it will be camping season for long weekends at Rensselaerville State Forest 🌲 as I can work remote from there, yet not be too far home especially with the shorter days. Seems sad that I’m losing out on this weekend, but yesterday was quiet, as I read, worked on some blog code (breaking some things), 💻 worked on some work stuff including improving my label generation and suppressions code for work, 🤖 and road out to Voorheesville and walked through the tick-infested fields 🌱 of the Black Creek Marsh. 🐸
I was up around 5:30 AM as I am most days, 🌆 made up some ground oatmeal with blueberries and bananas 🍌 and had lots of coffee. ☕ Off to Walmart before the crowds, then I may come home and read for a few hours 📚 as many of my library e-books will automatically be returned this week after three weeks since July 31 comes and goes. Then it’s off to the parents house for Sunday dinner, probably the last time until Labor Day Weekend as I probably won’t come back particularly early from the Adirondacks next weekend. 🍉 Hopefully not hamburgers, because that seems like the only thing they cook any more, but maybe because it’s easy and they’re getting older. I’m increasingly horrified about what I see in their pantry, but then I grew up on that crap. And both of them have diabetes now. It will be the first meat I’ve eaten since I’ve been there last week. 🥩 Hopefully not steak, as I have that dinner at 677 Prime next week. Got look all swanky for that. Taking the bus so I don’t have to worry about having a beer or two before heading home on ol’ 18. Sometimes you need a break from all that healthy shit.
Baked some bread for the first time since spring. 🍞 It’s been a long time since I’ve had bread. Came out a bit salty, I must have dropped too much salt on it. It seems like with the brining salt I use that often grab too much salt, and I know salt is unhealthy, but it’s not like I’m getting out of processed foods, as I don’t eat those. I’ve been looking for new things to eat, as I’m getting bored with having fried zucchini and onions six or seven nights a week, even if it’s relatively healthy and easy to cook. The egg plant was a change, but it’s still not all that unlike egg plant and summer squash. I was thinking soon it will be winter squash and pumpkin season, both which are excellent backed in the oven, the later with lots of cinnamon and ginger.
Yesterday was humid and smokey from the wildfire smoke. ☁️ Really nothing positive to say about the weather yesterday. The library was crowded and I worked outside until my laptop battery 🔋 was done after about an hour and a half. There was some things I’m trying to perfect with the blog’s revised style sheet, but I wanted to go a simpler style. I also think I will move away from SVGZ graphics, as I’m having trouble with the export with the latest version of R’s graphics device and SVGs that have been compressed, and most people prefer JPGs even if they are kind of silly in principle for vector-based on graphics. 🖼 The space and bandwidth savings isn’t that much, and the thing is I’m now automatically cleaning up short-term photos, graphics and graphs with an expiration tag after about two weeks by defaults. 💾
I was riding back through some random subdivisions off Brockley Avenue coming back from my ride from Voorheesville. I spend a lot of time studying and observing homes these days, and my phone is constantly suggesting new houses up for sale across the region. Truth is I’m just dissatisfied with all of the options. Don’t get me wrong, there are options out there. Some more expensive then others, but I have investments and cash I could tap, and I could certainly get a mortgage if that’s what I wanted.
But I just find it hard to want to own a home, with all the burdensome nature and commitment of owning a home. I don’t want to give up travel or my future of some day getting out of New York and moving to a deep rural area in an off-grid cabin. I concede I work hard, make good money, and produce good results for my agency — that’s what I was named Director of Data Services — and why I’m so busy sourcing, linking, adding data to system and delivering results. I’m really proud of my job, and it’s fun finding new ways to query and link data, even if it’s in an suburban office building overlooking the old city garbage heap and at times smells like a port-a-john being down the street from the North Albany Sewage Plant and Sludge Incinerator.
I look at so many houses, and they’re all alike. The walls, the vinyl siding and carpeting. Often many are quite dumpy like my apartment. Others are nicer looking but are the same basic materials. And some a really fancy, in the urbane sense of it. Certainly I’ve been over to the houses of politicos, I’ve stayed at some really nice — in that urbane sense — places down in Westchester and Long Island. But they’re all kind of same, and don’t really speak to me. The idea of the fancy mowed lawn, the kitchens full of knicknacks and appliances, the big screen TV, the home internet and gadgets I sometimes see at people’s houses have little appeal to me. And they’re all so large with multiple bedrooms, basements, and places to collect clutter and dust.
Lately, the Midwestern states have noticed I’ve become interested in potentially moving out west. I now regularly get advertising about the benefits of moving to and having a career in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. They’re probably is a demand for skilled labor there, and I’m certainly interested in the desire to get away from the high cost of living in New York, along with the gun laws and burn ban. Though some of that has changed now that cannabis is legal in New York but not in as much of Midwest. Things though are changing on that front. I really am interested in more of the shed-to-home or small cabin route, indeed even that 700 square foot house next to my parent’s house seemed a bit too big for me. Plus I would really like to do the simple off-grid set up — I don’t mind an outhouse or a simple shower set up, chopping wood or dealing with limited electric power — I do it a lot at camp. Yet basically none of the houses I’ve looked at are like that. That said, the properties I even marginally liked, aren’t getting much interest by the others who want the big and fancy houses.
Truth is I want simple, not fancy. Old fashioned and reliable. Sustainable and not needing to be tossed every 5 to 10 years. Maybe I should look more into old houses out in the country. Maybe I need to back off my high horse about owning a lot of land as buffer from the neighbors, lest them smell me burning something I shouldn’t be or shooting guns and playing music. Hell, I live in the city now, I’m pretty civilized when I’m home and not in the wilderness. People out in the country have bonfires, they have livestock. And maybe I’m ready to settle down — traveling is fun — but it gets tiresome, especially as there aren’t all that many new places nearby to explore. But what do I know.
I’m just rather worried about my housing situation come the winter, and the continuation of my month-to-month lease. Bar the annoyance of the construction next door and the peering eyes of the new landlord, it’s been fine with the higher rent. But my apartment is so drafty and so beat up at this point, even if I plug leaks and keep the heat down, it’s going to be a tough another winter here, especially if the predictions of extreme cold this winter come true. I do have options, I’m not starved for cash, but I still want to be able to invest in my future and not deplete my assets, and I know any place I’m forced to move to will likely be much more expensive, and may very well require me to drive to work. And it’s still not home, until I buy my own land and either build a house on it or live in the structure it comes with. Hopefully not with carpet and asbestos or vinyl siding, though that’s basically what my rental currently has, so I guess it’s not the end of the world.
Fedora be like, you haven’t run “sudo dnf update” in three days, so here is a half a gigabyte of updates to your system. When I came back from vacation, with my laptop off for 10 days, there was 1.2 gigabytes of updates to download and install in background.
At least Fedora doesn’t require you to reboot your system or wait for staring at a blue screen while updating like that certain popular commercial operating system does. But it requires you to restart firefox.
Cities aren’t the same nowadays when cars don’t regularly backfire on streets, and buses and trucks don’t bletch out black smoke.
It’s only been 10 years since they switched over low-sulfur diesel on buses and trucks to dramatically reduce the black smoke, and era of streets filled with old cars running carburetor engines out of tune is only 15 years or so ago.
Then again, I’m too young to remember when most city buildings were covered with thick black soot from the smoking engines.
I had forgotten how nice the bike ride is into the office, bar the glass spilled all over the road. If I had only picked my bike up on Tuesday, I could have ridden in yesterday but today was beautiful but smokey with the wildlfire smoke. Not as bad as a few years, but there was a brown haze around riding into the valley and the sun looked hazy, almost like during a partial solar eclipse. Almost a bit eerie.
Busy day today and I have meetings downtown so I am in early. I try to be in each day by 8 AM, for one it makes for a better bike ride as there is less traffic on the highway and bike trail at this hour. I am just so glad that my bike is back on the road. A good morning with onion and cornmeal pancakes, topped off with greek yogurt. It’s been a while since I’ve done that. Been doing too much eggs lately, which are a good source of protein but also have a lot of saturated fat, despite all the vegetables and onions I like to put in them.
The new hire for Data Services accepted the position, and I’m hoping it will finally work out. The other operators seemed to like my choice, and I have feeling this person won’t back out. Maybe I was trying to change the agency too quickly, advancing new ideas and new people, trying to ram a round peg in a square hole. It happens. I’ve continue to develop new IOI Codes for the system, and for the most point after announcing the new codes, have gotten primarily just radio silence. I know people are busy, and they’re not as interested in my project and my hard work as I am in. Maybe I’ve just tried to keep myself artificially busy at work, so to make the time go past quicker and not think about all the other problems in my life. It was fustrating those days that my bike was down and out with that broken spoke. I wish I had driven to work on Tuesday and picked up my repaired bike wheel then.
Meetings today downtown, but one of them is a lunch meeting with free food. Maybe not healthy but delicious and I’ll primarily pile the green stuff on my plate. Then it’s out to the folks house to walk the dog, and do a quick overnight there house sitting. Maybe stroll around the yard for a bit, down by the creek, and think more about my housing decisions. That property next door to there’s is still up for sale on the market, largely sitting abandoned, and continue to crumble. I cut a check for $150k it could be mine, and I’d only have to pay for the upkeep and taxes. And cost of commuting. 🛻 But regardless of what people tell me, I would have to give up so much of my freedom, especially if I got livestock. But it would be fun to grow my own grass, and not the kind you mow.
I need to read more, as all the e-books I got out at the end of July will quickly be coming to expiration. But maybe the reason I haven’t been reading more is the books don’t really excite me. But it’s also been summer, I’ve been out riding my bike, camping, hiking and exploring. Come winter, I’ll do a lot better with reading. Used to be in the summer, I’d go down to the park and read, but since getting the bike, I usually like to ride in the evening. And last night I spent adjusting the bike, and reseting the wheel, before going down to Elm Avenue Park for a bit, when I ended up just writing a blog post about what I’ve been thinking a bout lately. So many things have been on my mind lately.
A clear August eve on Bennett Hill I tread,
As visitors depart, the sun paints hues ahead.
Late summer’s angle lends colors so rare,
With evening light, a sun’s gentle flare.
Geese call from afar, cows low in the breeze,
Motorcycles hum, mingling with trees.
Autumn’s touch in the air, breeze softly plays,
Wood smoke and cattle scent, nature’s embrace.
The sun readies to set, a vibrant display,
A palette of shades before night takes its sway.
Mosquitoes abound, their bites fierce and keen,
No blueberries this year, a sight unforeseen.
Despite the challenges, beauty’s profound,
A precious twilight moment, nature’s gift unbound.
I’m increasingly horrified about what I see in their pantry, 
but then I grew up on that crap. And both of them have diabetes now. 
It will be the first meat I’ve eaten since I’ve been there last week. 🥩 Hopefully not steak, as I have that dinner at 677 Prime next week. Got look all swanky for that. 
Taking the bus so I don’t have to worry about having a beer or two before heading home on ol’ 18. Sometimes you need a break from all that healthy shit.
It seems like with the brining salt I use that often grab too much salt, and I know salt is unhealthy, but it’s not like I’m getting out of processed foods, as I don’t eat those. 
I’ve been looking for new things to eat, as I’m getting bored with having fried zucchini and onions six or seven nights a week, even if it’s relatively healthy and easy to cook. The egg plant was a change, 
but it’s still not all that unlike egg plant and summer squash. I was thinking soon it will be winter squash and pumpkin season, both which are excellent backed in the oven, the later with lots of cinnamon and ginger. 
and I have meetings downtown so I am in early. I try to be in each day by 8 AM, for one it makes for a better bike ride as there is less traffic on the highway and bike trail at this hour. I am just so glad that my bike is back on the road. A good morning with onion and cornmeal pancakes, topped off with greek yogurt. 
It’s been a while since I’ve done that. Been doing too much eggs lately, 
which are a good source of protein but also have a lot of saturated fat, despite all the vegetables and onions I like to put in them. 
and I’m hoping it will finally work out. The other operators seemed to like my choice, and I have feeling this person won’t back out. 
Maybe I was trying to change the agency too quickly, advancing new ideas and new people, trying to ram a round peg in a square hole. It happens. I’ve continue to develop new IOI Codes for the system, and for the most point after announcing the new codes, have gotten primarily just radio silence. 
I know people are busy, and they’re not as interested in my project and my hard work as I am in. Maybe I’ve just tried to keep myself artificially busy at work, so to make the time go past quicker and not think about all the other problems in my life. It was fustrating those days that my bike was down and out with that broken spoke. 
I wish I had driven to work on Tuesday and picked up my repaired bike wheel then. 
but one of them is a lunch meeting with free food. 
Maybe not healthy but delicious and I’ll primarily pile the green stuff on my plate. 
Then it’s out to the folks house to walk the dog, 
and do a quick overnight there house sitting. Maybe stroll around the yard for a bit, down by the creek, and think more about my housing decisions. 
That property next door to there’s is still up for sale on the market, largely sitting abandoned, and continue to crumble. I cut a check for $150k it could be mine, and I’d only have to pay for the upkeep and taxes. And cost of commuting. 🛻 But regardless of what people tell me, I would have to give up so much of my freedom, especially if I got livestock. 
But it would be fun to grow my own grass, and not the kind you mow.
as all the e-books I got out at the end of July will quickly be coming to expiration. But maybe the reason I haven’t been reading more is the books don’t really excite me. But it’s also been summer, I’ve been out riding my bike, camping, hiking and exploring. 
Come winter, I’ll do a lot better with reading. Used to be in the summer, I’d go down to the park and read, 
but since getting the bike, I usually like to ride in the evening. And last night I spent adjusting the bike, 
and reseting the wheel, before going down to Elm Avenue Park for a bit, when I ended up just writing a blog post about what I’ve been thinking a bout lately. 
So many things have been on my mind lately.
