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.
New York has an in-migration problem, not an out-migration problem
New York State is home Ellis Island the first stop to coming to New York State historically. People come to New York State first after immigrating from overseas. Our state is a state of immigrants, not a state of long-time residents. Refugees come to our state seeking safety. New York has long been the place where people come to get a foothold in America, make some money, and then leave.
It is foolish to think the state can stop out-migration. The weather sucks in New York. It’s cold and snowy. The taxes are high, the government policies draconian and backwards. But it is a state that is famous for being welcoming to immigrants and downtrodden. The state benefits with immigrant that moves in, as not only do they contribute to the economy, they come attached with billions in federal funding.
The state should push for as many refugees and immigrants as possible to make our state their first choice. And not just downstate — immigrants could do much to revitalize our Upstate cities, which often have significant amounts of vacant housing and buildings that could be their next stop on their journey to build a better life.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Cloudy with snow flurries and 34 degrees in Delmar, NY. ❄ There is a west-northwest breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 5 pm. ☃️
It is State of the State Day in Albany, 👩🏽💼 the day of the year I always take the local to work to avoid the traffic and get off the bus five feet from the door of my office and head straight upstairs to avoid the protestor half of which probably have the COVID, which the politicians don’t talk about anymore.
Today will have patchy rain and snow showers before 9am. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 36 degrees at 1pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 14th. Northwest wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2016. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1984.❄
The Rhinne Trap caught one mouse 🐭 though somehow I was hoping to catch more in one night. Somehow I find it hard to believe there is only one mouse. I know how this shit goes. But I didn’t hear any this morning. Easy enough I dumped it out with the water 💦 outside. Seems wasteful with the water, I might try next time to fish out the mouse rather than dump the full bucket. Or may put less water in the bucket. I know some people use anti-freeze and similar substance so the water doesn’t get nasty if you don’t get rid of the mouse right away, but I’m not really into dumping anti-freeze in the woods, even if I’m no greeny. 💚
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.4° from the due south horizon (-45.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:41 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 20 seconds with dusk around 5:12 pm, which is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:48 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 36 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 22 seconds over today.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 17 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 11th. North wind 3 to 5 mph. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 3 degrees. The record low of -25 occurred back in 1968.
Been working on FreeCodeCamp again. 🤖 I was a bit tired of some of the classes for a while, but I am deep into the D3 module again. I probably should try to make more time to do it and go back and finish the data libraries class projects but I don’t really like it much.
Seems likethe holiday weekend is improving. 🌨️😃 I am more worried about snow and ice on Saturday heading out then anything else during the weekend. Saturday, a decreasing chance of rain before 1pm, then a chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 35. For the King’s Day, sunny heading up to forty. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.
As it stands it would be a good weekend to head out of town. ⛺ Where exactly to go is up in the air, the lack of snow opens up some various options. Might be muddy or icy in the higher elevations though. I still like the idear of Madison County, and hiking around the various roads of the Horse Camp on the weekend with binoculars and probably microspikes, but I am still worried about the roads being icy driving out there. I could do NY 8 again, or maybe Rensselearville State Forest, but I’m kind of bored with camping there, and I might be back out there for Presidents Weekend. I want some good snow, to ski and winter camp again. Another option, is that campsite at Burnt-Rossman that isn’t far off the road, but my only concern with that is I prefer to have cell service, as it makes the long nights go by faster, especially as my portable radio is broken as I usually just stream radio programs.
One month 📅 from now will be Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. By then, things will be warming up a bit with average high temperature is 34 degrees, with a record high of 61 in 1895. Although that’s still cooler then it’s been lately. I still think the hot weather will break down before too long.
Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 31 degrees in Delmar for my evening walk. ☁ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around noontime. 🌡️
Monday’s almost Done. Not a bad evening walk, not real cold no ice but the moon hasn’t risen enough to be visible on the horizon. Windy late but a fairly mild night by January standards.
Tonight will be cloudy ☁, with a low of 29 degrees at 8pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 24th. Maximum wind chill around 28 at 8pm; Light west wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1968. Back when it used to be a lot colder in winter.
I finally got that mouse trap I ordered a week and a half ago. 🐁 I am as excited as a pig in shit about that. Finally got one of those Rinne bucket traps you snap on a five gallon bucket full of water 💦 and they fall in, the peanut butter 🥜 flap drops and they drown. Their popular with farmers and snake owners as they can catch several mice in a night and they don’t involve toxic chemicals and can be used indefinitely. I figure just dump the buckets in the woods out back and it’s clean food for predators. Been waiting for a long time for the trap and I’ve not had a lot of luck lately with the spring traps or sticky traps. Both worked for a while till they stopped. I’m just annoyed the mouse chewed through the hole I patched a few years back.
Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 91% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the east-northeast (72°) at an altitude of 7° from the horizon, some 251,000 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by July 19th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Wednesday, January 25. The darkest hour is at 12:03 am, followed by dawn at 6:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (120°) and last for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Sunrise is 13 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:10 am with sun in the southeast (128°).Tonight will have 14 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 18 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 37 degrees at 1pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 18th. West wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. A year ago, we had light freezing rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2016. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1984.❄
Tomorrow is the State of the State Address. 🎤 If there was ever a dayI avoid the Capitol or Empire State Plaza that would be it. I’m not sure how many protestors there will be this year but I’m quite comfortable watching them from the window of my office 🏢. When I take the local in the bus 🚍 drops me two feet from the Alfred E Smith building where I work and I can slip in and upstairs without the craziness.
I sent the state a $250 estimated tax payment for Q4 of last year. 💸 With work and everything else I missed my Q3 payment though I should be good as I usually only average about $1,200 a year in taxable dividends. It always angered me a lot to have to take money 💵 out of my pocket to cover dividends I’m reinvesting and not taking but I was doing the numbers the other day how important reinvesting dividends is to a secure future. 🌎 That said, I probably should have paid estimated taxes to the fed as I’ll probably owe but those limits aren’t as tight. I think my taxable income will still be low enough this year to free file 📂 which is nice.
In four weeks on February 6 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (250°) at 5:16 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 42 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 36 and 12 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 34 and 16 degrees. The record high of 55 degrees was set back in 1991.
Looking ahead, Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is Next Monday, National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 is Next Monday, Save the Pine Bush Turns 43 🦋 is in 4 weeks, Average High is 35 ☀️ ️️| 3 is a month away, Presidents Day 👴 is in 6 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 3 months, 8 PM Dusk 🌆 is in 13 weeks, May 🕊 is in 16 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is in 21 weeks, Average High is 80 🏖 is in 23 weeks, World Mosquito Day 🐞 is in 32 weeks, Labor Day 👨🏭 is in 34 weeks, September 11th 🇺🇸 is in 35 weeks, 7 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 36 weeks, Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 is in 44 weeks, Cyber Monday 🛍️ is in 46 weeks, First Sunday of Advent ✝️ is in 47 weeks, Average High is 40 🌨 is in 11 months, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 11 months, Bake Cookies Day 🍪 is in 49 weeks and Christmas 🎅 is in 50 weeks.
I was reading about how much many homeowners spend on utilities … ⚡🔌💰
Apparently $200 or $300 a month isn’t that much money to spend on heat and electricity, even in lower cost states compared to New York. Some hobby farms with shops and farm equipment spend $500 or even more a month on electricity and natural gas. That sure seems like a lot of money to be burning up each month in non-renewable resources that are both impoverishing you and the planet.
It’s probably not that much money in the grand scheme of things – I would have more spare cash if wasn’t saving or investing so much right now – but I sure know I don’t have that kind of pocket change hanging around these days. I groan when my electric and gas bill pushes $100 come the frigid cold winter, when I have to turn up the heat to keep warm and the pipes from freezing.
When I own land, I can’t imagine having a big fancy home that requires so much energy to support it. A single room, small cabin takes a lot less energy to heat and light. Wood can be used as a primary heat source, small-scale solar can provide lighting and small-scale charging. While I doubt there is any practical way to avoid purchasing and consuming bulk propane for cooking and making hot water, those instant-on hot water heaters can be quite thrifty for bathing and wasting dishes.
Good morning! Mostly cloudy and 27 degrees in Delmar. ☁ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️
By recent standards I would call this a fairly cold morning but we are in the coldest part of the year historically. Running a minute or two late for my morning walk 🚶 as I’m taking the local bus 🚍 in as it’s a session day. 👨🏻💼
Decided to be a cereal 🥣 killer this morning and had cereal that I bought yesterday. it’s a quick breakfast when time is tight. I don’t buy the kind loaded with sugar but I do add frozen blueberries and honey 🍯. What can I say I’m not perfect. And I’m sure by mid morning I’ll feel sick 🤮 as the sugar high wears off.
Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 37 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 18th. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had light freezing rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2008. 9.9 inches of snow fell back in 1953.❄
I was thinking what an awful experience going to Colonie really was yesterday. 🚦 Seemed like one traffic light after another between the garbage heaps towering over the suburban homes and those polished brass turds, I meaning brass frying 🍳 pans soon to be compacted in the back of a garbage truck and hauled to the growing mounds on the outskirts of town.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.3° from the due south horizon (-45.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:56 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 5:11 pm, which is one minute and 3 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:47 pm. At sunset, look for partly sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 8 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 20 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 19 seconds over today.
This evening is probably the best to go to the laundromat. 👖Mainly because it will be quiet tonight and I have plans for Tuesday to attend a public hearing on a proposed development in the Pine Bush. 🌲 Doesn’t take me long to get sucked into things like that. But I try to be less political these. I try to be more selective on things I get involved in these days. Although if I can find enough clothes maybe I can wait until Wednesday. I’m often really tired on Mondays after work. 😴
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 28 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. Maximum wind chill around 24 at 6pm; West wind 10 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1968.
The Kings Weekend looks good especially once we get past Saturday morning. It could still change. Not a lot of snow though for skiing 🎿. Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 34. For Martin Luther’s birthday 🎂, sunny with a high around 40. Kind of like my upcoming birthday which also is a holiday in the sense it’s a Saturday. 😊 At least it’s not my birthday like that one year when the legislature worked late into the night to deprive my gun rights. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.
I think I do want to get out of town this weekend ⛺ but how far I go really depends on the weather. I’m kind of glad there is no snow around thought maybe they’ll have a couple of inches in the higher elevations by the end of the week. 🌨
As previously noted, next Monday is Martin Luther King Day 🖤 when the sun will be setting at 4:49 pm with dusk at 5:19 pm. On that day in 2022, we had freezing rain and temperatures between 37 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 62 back in 1995.
Good evening! Mostly clear and 26 degrees during my moon lit evening walk here in Delmar. 🌖 Calm wind.Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 10 am. 🌡️
I was going to stay home this evening after walking about ten miles today 🚶 but with the weeks schedule ahead and the moonlit night I decided to go out and walk this evening. Making good progress on breaking in the boots, they’re pretty comfortable now 👢 but I figured give them a rest and then do my evening walk with the old ones. I’m really trying to maximize them as much as possible with inflation.
Walked out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center 🐸 in the morning, then visited John Wolcott up in Colonie for a few hours and then stopped at Colonie Center Maul to look for reasonably priced dress shirts. First time I’ve been into a shopping maul since the pandemic. I looked at Boscov’s first but ended up at Macy’s. 👨🏻💼 They didn’t have a lot reasonably priced. I did find one I liked ultimately. That said, I think I’m going to take a risk order online next time from like Amazon or Ebay take the risk and if I find something I like order more.
I felt so out of place at the Maul. 👨💼 Especially those fancy department stores like Macy’s and Boscovs. I liked the old Sears better, but truth be told, I’d rather be in the woods 🌲 or a barnyard 🐮 then any maul. The whole maul environment seems so oppressive, with so much future garbage on shelves. 🗑 I guess people need stuff and want fancy things for their suburbanite homes, but I can’t imagine spending money on half the things they sell at mauls. 🚜 Of course, that’s why on Facebook I look at farm tractors and implements so much lately. But at least they’re not all shiny and fancy. 🏚 The more time I spend in suburbia the more I want to have my off-grid homestead, as simple as possible. Maybe even no electricity. 📺 Don’t get me started on the television.
Later on I did an evening hike in the Pine Bush 🌲as it got darker out. The crowds thinned out before dusk, I did the loop from the Discovery Center past the landfills. I really don’t get up to the Pine Bush as much as I should but I don’t like driving 🚘 and try to avoid the city as much as possible. I would and probably should visit John more too but like the Pine Bush I really avoid the city as much as possible. Northway traffic is so heavy. Then I picked up a few more groceries I forgot at the store 🏬 on Friday. Should be good for the week now.
Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 21 degrees at 1am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 26th. Calm wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light freezing rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1968.
Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 95% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the east-northeast (76°) at an altitude of 18° from the horizon, some 251,964 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by July 18th. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Tuesday, January 24. The darkest hour is at 12:03 am, followed by dawn at 6:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (120°) and last for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Sunrise is 11 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:11 am with sun in the southeast (128°).Tonight will have 14 hours and 42 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 15 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 40 degrees at 3pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 28th. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2008. 9.9 inches of snow fell back in 1953.
Backto the grind tomorrow. 👨🏻💼Got to make that money 💵 for a better tomorrow. Like walking 🚶 it’s one step at a time, learning, thinking and becoming a better person. it’s one way closer to fifty. Money is a key part of Mission Fifty, but there is so much I can do learn and become better also over the upcoming decade. Soft skills can make it easier to succeed beyond age 50, provide income and so many other benefits — and they are as key to Mission Fifty as saving and earning in the mean-time. 👨🏫 When that day comes in 2023, the adventure is really just starting, but the next ten years, on the mission gives me a change to develop who I want to me as I undertake whatever my goals are to be implemented with Mission Fifty. Skills, life experience, are equally as important as money as I look to the next ten years. 📈
In four weeks on February 5 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (249°) at 5:15 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 26 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 38 and 17 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 34 and 16 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1890.
Looking ahead, Coldest Week of the Year on Average 🌬 starts Next Sunday, 38th Birthday 🎉 is in 3 weeks, Daylight Savings Time 🌆 is in 9 weeks, Last Day of Winter 🏂 is in 10 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 13 weeks, Average High is 60 🌷 is in 14 weeks, 8 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 17 weeks, Mothers Day 👩 is in 18 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 5 months, Fathers Day 👨 is in 22 weeks, Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 is in 27 weeks, 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 is in 35 weeks, Constitution Day 📜 is in 36 weeks, October 🎃 is in 38 weeks, Average High is 65 🍂 is in 9 months, Day After Election Day 🛀 is in 10 months, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 48 weeks and Christmas Eve 🎅 is in 50 weeks.
