The online Ouija board 🎱 said that I should go north this weekend to become a victim of the black flies. 🐜
May 1, 2023 Morning
Happy May Day! 🌷
I guess it’s May so they stopped the rain showers for like two minutes. It’s only a few minutes before they crank the outdoors thermostat to 95. My neighbor already has his air conditioner installed. Me, I’ll open my windows and get the fan out as needed and make plans to head to the Potholers.
Good morning! Clouds 🌥 the rain has pulled off and 48 degrees in Delmar for the morning walk. There is a west breeze at 11 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 22 mph 💨💨💨
Kind of a chilly morning 🍃 to start off the month with the breeze and dampness making it feel a bit cool. I’m out walking 🚶 like usual, last months total worked out to be 320 miles walked. Probably that contributed to some of my weight loss plus my general reduction in calorie intake.
Today will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 60 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 17th. Southwest wind 11 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 2001. There was a dusting of snow in 1978.❄ It’s funny, I turned off the internal snow depth monitoring system on the blog on May 1st and there was that one year I awoke to a ton of snow at Moose River Plains. Okay maybe just a dusting but that’s a ton by May standards.
Last night got a good night’s sleep 🛏 by getting to bed by 8. If I’m going to get going early each morning I should at least plan to get to bed early. Rained and rained last night but it was good for my sleep. 😴
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 62.4° from the due south horizon (-8.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:16 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (285°). 📸
Need to get milk 🥛 this morning for the coffee ☕ as over the weekend the milk in the fridge got kind of rancid. I might just get a half gallon of skim just because I’m not drinking as much milk these days. 🐮 Mostly just for coffee. It will probably last longer than the gallons of milk I used to get and take less room in the cooler this weekend. Plus the paper carton is probably greener when it gets burnt and makes an excellent fire starter. 🔥
Thought about pancakes 🥞 or eggs 🥚 this morning but decided for the lighter fare of oatmeal 🥣 as last night at the folks house I had quiche. Mom insisted it was healthy, but I took a small slice of it which was good because the healthy portion with spinach was small the greasy sausage in it part was large. 🥧 I’ve gotten so sensetive about unhealthy food after reading how much damage it does to your body. 🤮 Maybe tomorrow I’ll do “oatmeal – banana – egg” pancakes or cut my remaining unhealthy sqpancake mix with old fashioned whole oats and banana.
The sunset is in the west-northwest (292°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:55 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 7 seconds with dusk around 8:25 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the southeast (142°) at an altitude of 45° from the horizon, 247,882 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:04 pm.
I am not sure how late I’ll get home today 🏢, it could a late night or maybe not. I could use some comp time, especially as I don’t currently have much and I’d kind of like to use a get out of jail free card 🎫 to leave early on Friday.
At sunset, look out for rain showers 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 52 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 8 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 30 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have scattered showers and thunderstorms. ⛈ Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. South wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tomorrow we will have showers 🌧️ before 11am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 11am and 5pm, then showers likely after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Almost picture perfect spring weekend on tap. 😎 Finally. I mean really the past two weeks have been real bummers. Things should be real green but the black flies 🐜 will be out in mass, at least up north. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Maximum dew point of 44 at 8pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Maximum dew point of 46 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 68 degrees.
I was thinking about either Old Route 8B or East Branch Sacandaga River for the weekend ⛺ but now I’m leaning towards Schoharie and maybe hiking from Grand Gorge to Stamford on Sunday. 🚶 Might be a nice hike with everything greening up that way. Spring turkey 🦃 starts today, well regular spring turkey, youth season started a few days ago so I will want to stay out of the woods before noon but I could fish or do road hikes on Saturday before then.
One month 📅 from now will be 9 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:27 pm with dusk at 9:00 pm. The average high temperature is 34 degrees, with a record high of 61 in 1895.
April 30, 2023 6 AM Update
The rain let up and I’m up for my morning walk at 6:20. 🌧️
It was raining pretty hard at 5:30 so I delayed getting out of bed for a while but I’m moving forward. 13.9 miles walked on the rainy Saturday though I doubt I’ll make it that far today.
Good morning! Where did April go? I don’t know, I think I was too busy searching 🔎 for Jesus on my own ⛪, playing that dirty old John Prine record, walking 🚶 and eating kale. 🥦 And watching as the wrinkles grew 👴🏻 as I lost the chubbiness.
Clouds, a few sprinkles and 49 degrees in Delmar for the morning walk. ☔ There is a southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear tomorrow around 7 am. Just in time for the work week. 🏢
I’m out walking 🚶 at the park 🏞 trying to get as many steps in as possible early. I don’t know how much it is going to rain so it’s best to get in as many steps in as possible before it gets wetter out.
Today will rain, with thunderstorms also possible after 5pm. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 60 degrees at 1pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 17th. Maximum dew point of 53 at 1pm. Southeast wind 6 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 64 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1903. There was a dusting of snow in 2008.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 62.1° from the due south horizon (-8.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:15 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (285°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (291°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:54 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 6 seconds with dusk around 8:24 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southeast (152°) at an altitude of 54° from the horizon, 249,862 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:02 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 57 degrees. The dew point will be 53 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze ⛅ from the east with gusts up to 29mph. Today will have 14 hours and 5 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 32 seconds over yesterday.
This evening will rain ☔ and possibly have a thunderstorm, before 5am, then a chance of rain and thunderstorms after 5am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Low around 47. East wind 9 to 16 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Monday with have a chance of showers before 8am, then a chance of showers after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 62. 🌥 👉 ☀ South wind 9 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
As previously noted, next Sunday is 8 PM Sunset 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 8:03 pm with dusk at 8:33 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 59 and 45 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 69 degrees. We hit a record high of 92 back in 1930.
Silly students
Earlier in the week I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing a student at an anti-second amendment rally in front of the NRA convention. 🔫 She was saying she was afraid to go to school as she might never see her parents or friends again because she’s afraid she will be a victim of gun violence. I thought what ludicrousy.🙉
Schools have never been safer from non-state actor criminal violence today then in their history. 👩👨They’ve been hardened in numerous ways with security cameras and remote controlled doors, have police on staff👀 and especially the large districts have extensive intelligence operations surveilling and monitoring student communications.📹
Violence of all types is decreasing in our country. There are fewer than half as many murders today as 25 years ago. 👮Tough on crime laws, mass incarceration, better social services and mental health care and even changing demographics mean people of all ages including our youth are less likely than anytime in the past half century to be murdered.🚨
But there is a bigger threat to students then ever before – the state.👮 Not a random criminal shooting students but a lawful shooting of students by armed police officers, protected by sovereign immunity and ex-parte young. Government employees face no consequences when they act on behalf of the state no matter how much of a lack of judgment they show. The next school shooting may very well be a police officer legally killing multiple students in school during a minor disturbance like a spit ball or food fight in the cafeteria. 🏫
Even when police do not kill students, they can wrongly deprive students of their rights.🚔 They can arrest protesters of all ideologies, and charge students with felonies based on rumors and remarks taken out of context.🏤 People talk about the danger of gun violence but ignore the serious danger that the state and its government enforcers poses to all of us.
Students should not be afraid of violence caused by criminals, but instead be afraid of violence caused in the lawful actions of the state. 🏢Government is not your friend, government is the all powerful bully with nearly unlimited power,🐂 going after the weak and unable to defend themselves against the powerful special interests represented by the billionaire class that gets rich off of government contracts and policies that force people to buy their business services.👺
The government and those who work for it are primarily self serving,🤑💰 they don’t care about the youth or students. It’s a fact.
Students should be protesting the ever growing government that infringes on our rights not gun violence.
April Showers and CSOs
April Showers bring…
Combined Sewer Overflows.
April 29, 2023 Morning
If you don’t get up and walk in the rain at 6 am on a Saturday morning you’ll feel like crap next week 🌧
That’s what I told myself as I felt like the Monday morning walk was too difficult after taking the morning slower last weekend in part because I had work to do. Maybe sometimes it best to be early to rise.
Happy Saturday on this rainy Weekend! Rain and 46 degrees for my morning walk in Delmar. ☔ There is a south breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. That cow 🐮 chow smells good on the air. Almost like a county fair. The skies will clear Monday around 7 am. Just in time to get back to work.
Out walking this morning. 🚶 Besides my usual morning walk going to do a little down at the Town Park for a while so I can get in as many steps as possible 👣 before the rain picks up. My goal is to have close to 10,000 step in before breakfast, then come home have breakfast, sit back for a while then go down to the library for a while to work on the internet. Then maybe if the rain holds off go to Five Rivers or maybe spend the balance of the day at home. I don’t know I don’t really like dreary days ☔ when I’m stuck at home.
Today will rain. 🌧 High of 54 degrees at 4pm. 11 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 7th. Not only damp, kind of chilly for late April. Maximum dew point of 42 at 3pm. 🏖️ Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 61 degrees. The record high of 88 was set in 1888. 1 inches of snow fell back in 1885.❄
I wanted to finish the wheel on my bicycle 🚲 so I could move on to the derailleur cable and getting it closer but I opened the outer packaging and noticed they sent me the wrong spoke size. 😲 So that project will get laid aside for the weekend. Next weekend if it’s nice I want to be out of town, so this might get laid aside for a few weekends, as I really don’t have time to work on the bicycle after work. Maybe by Memorial Day I’ll have my bike up and running again.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 61.8° from the due south horizon (-9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:14 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (284°). 📸
Trying some new foods this week. 🥑 Last week I bought an avocado and scooped it out, refrigerating the flesh. This week I got celery 🥗 and it’s perfect for dipping in avocado and is a great healthy snack. Okay, maybe a bit fatty but low on sugar and it’s a healthier fat combined with the fiber in celery. I also got eggs and some feta cheese, going to make something in the broiler on Sunday I’m thinking for breakfast with lot of peppers, onions, kale, tofu and topped with feta. 🍳 Today though for breakfast when I get back from walking, it’s going to be the mixture of barley and quinoa with pineapple chunks and cinnamon. I found I don’t really like quinoa alone — too earthy for my tastes and barley is kind of a lot of fluff but together they are a perfect mix. 🍵
Also on my list of things to do is roast those chickpeas 🌰 that I have soaking in my refrigerator. I’ve heard it’s a good snack and a healthier alternative to nuts, which can be kind of fatty. Maybe I’ll mix and match. I’m thinking it could be something good to have up at camp. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight and then roast them the next day. Good stuff. I’ve looked at nuts and raisins 🥥 for trail mix but both are very high on sugar and fats so I’m trying to stay away from that. Some whole nuts though like almonds are okay, if fatty but also are kind of expensive too.
The sunset is in the west-northwest (291°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:53 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 6 seconds with dusk around 8:23 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southeast (166°) at an altitude of 62° from the horizon, 251,293 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:01 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 52 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 11 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 33 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will continue to rain. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 46 degrees at 1am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 8th. Southeast wind 8 to 11 mph. Works for me. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2022, we had clear skies. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1874.
Looking ahead, there are 8 weeks until Latest Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:38 pm with dusk at 9:12 pm. Then we start the slow but continuous glide to winter. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 86 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 82 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1943.
Pay My Future First
Today is pay day. Ever since I got my first job, I always “paid my future first.” In other words, at least part of my paycheck was automatically deposited into one kind of savings account or another, only to be touched when making a long-term purchase after allowing the money to grow for a number of years. This day of age, paying your future first is pretty easy — automatic deposits and automatic investing can withdraw money from the account where your direct deposit goes in, and it’s like the money never existed — except it does and it’s being saved. This not only accumulates over time, it also takes advantage of cost averaging — your buying into the market both in low-cost and high-cost times.
As I’ve gotten older, made a little more money, gotten promotions and the alike, I’ve increased the amount I’ve been doing to “pay my future first”. Normally if I get a raise, a cost of living adjustment, or a bigger tax break, I always put the majority of increased funds towards “paying my future first”. Sure I like having a little more money to spend, but I figure I am mostly content with my life now and no need to blow the money — when I can invest it and have more later on, compounded by interest and growth in the markets.
I’ve also diversified where I “pay my future first” money to. Diversity is a good thing because it ensures if any one investment doesn’t work out, there is another one to fall back on. If one goes down, one other is likely to go up. Some are tax-advantaged, like my ordinary IRA deferred compensation for retirement, while others like my Roth IRA are not tax-advantaged, at least not until I retire and take money out of that account.
Some of my investments are very stable but have very modest returns, like my FDIC-insured savings account, or the FDIC certificate of deposits. Some are mid-term investment accounts — things that are maybe have some substantial short-term risk but are investment vehicles that will grow at the rate of the market growth. The later will help me down the road in 10 or 15 years when I go to buy land and my off-grid cabin. I stay away from anything flashy or anything that I isn’t inherently diversified and is not easy to understand.
This has been a fairly successful strategy for me in the past. I paid for both my truck and the lift kit on my truck with cash, just withdrawing money from savings. By not paying interest, I saved quite a bit of money — especially when you consider the compounding nature of interest and depreciation. Likewise, by commuting to college, living at home, taking off time and saving money by avoiding costs however possible, I was able to avoid that trap known as college debt that is negatively impacting so many young adults these days.
Based on my long-range projections of investment and interest, I am really hopeful to be in a place to buy land and be able to move out of New York by the early 2030s (which sounds like a long ways off, but that’s really only about a decade away). The year may slightly change based on the growth of economy and recessions, but I think I have a plan for success. My goals are modest — an off-grid cabin, less then 1,000 feet with maybe 100 acres of land in wilderness — but I think given time I can make it a reality. Land is a lot more affordable in other states, especially if you don’t want a big fancy house, and are content to live in a small town and make less money going forward. But if I own land debt-free, don’t have monthly utility bills or fees, I can be quite rich without a big salary each month.
