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.
ο»ΏOne of the problems I think there is with climate change, is it’s discussion has become fraught with self-evident truth. The assumption is that if you believe in the science of climate change, that itβs self-evident that you must believe in radical action to address it. You canβt be numb to human suffering after all, can you? Maybe so.
I am a believer in science, but at the same time, Iβm a practical person. Infrastructure take decades to evolve, and while we should do more to reduce the carbon intensity of our society, and ultimately work towards the goal of reducing emissions, I donβt think the necessary reductions to fully limit the worse impacts of climate change is even realistic. Instead of planning to do what we can do to limit the worse impacts of climate change, we should look more broadly at what we can do to reduce the harm more broadly both by reductions in emissions and adapting our infrastructure.
Many of the impacts of climate change are well studied. When we are upgrading or repairing damaged infrastructure we most certainly should look at the science and work to minimize future harm. We obviously should not be building new large coal plants, and building new renewable generation were ecologically appropriate. We should continue to improve the efficiency on new automobiles and appliances, and work to expand the electric automobile and transit fleet where practical.
Society needs a measured approach β not ignorance but also realistic goals and plans that can be adopted as we upgrade and continue to modernize our infrastructure.
I’ve been watching as Elon Musk is canceling all the subscriptions that various federal government agencies have to newspapers and industry publications, in theory to stop what he is calling payola to “liberal” press. I am a bit horrified, as having been a Communications Coordinator for years, and knowing how important it is to read the papers to know what is happening on the ground and react.
Yes, the press does benefit from government subscriptions and it is an important part of their bottom line, but so is sales of gravel and cement to government. Nobody says though that it’s a pay-off to gravel and cement companies when the public works department buys such materials to build a government office building or highway. Good decision making is based on having information, and depriving government of what the press is writing about it doesn’t help it make good decisions.
I do remember that song from a quarter century, well actually 30 years ago now, and how those old cars with their then new-fangled computer controlled transmissions would “fail” into second year so you could drive them to junkyard and the auto dumping grounds yourself. I know that music is newer then what I usually listen to but it’s songs for my childhood, some three decades ago.
The sun is rising on this very cold February morning. π Clear but very cold. I doubt I’ll catch the earlier express in this morning, as I am kind of in a haze from that sleeping pill last night but I’m well rested and coffee and caffeine pills are kind of making me snappy even if my head is still in a haze. I know I should quit my pill popping habit, but I would never get any sleep in winter between those long periods not spent up in wilderness next to a fire. π₯ I am sure that cold waiting for the bus this morning will really wake me up. I didn’t turn the heat up above 50 degrees last night but it was fine, as while it was windy for a while and cold, it wasn’t that extreme cold and I kept the cabinets open under the sink as the old landlord always reminded me, not that I’ve had problems with drain pipe freezing in 2009 when I lost power for three days in an ice storm. βοΈ That was a long time ago now though.
Icy this morning outside for sure. Need to be extra careful walking down to the express bus into the city. Big hunks of ice all around, and the black top except for the very well salted roads is a mess. I do wish I could wash the salt off my truck but it wasn’t worth it trying to get home from the car wash last night as it would already be encrusted with salt. Going to walk laps in the Plaza this evening. Big Red is parked for the week, though potentially Thursday or Friday after work I might go Tractor Supply to get propane and any extra food I might want if I decide to get out and spend a night in wilderness. I need to burn things and sing along with the Dire Wolf to restore my sleep.
Wearing that werid magent shirt that I got at the thrift store a few weeks ago. I like the colors and look of it on my and it was only $6 bucks but rather then having buttons it has magnets, which means sometimes the sleeves and shirt can pop open unexpectly. I am sure it was previously owned by an old dude or an autistic kid who couldn’t handle buttons but I liked the look and I figured it’s not that bad. Of course, I guess the advertisers have decided I’m looking for dress clothes, so now I get so many ads for the Men’s Warehouse and other dress shirt manufacturers, even though in my current position I just have to look professional but don’t need a suit and tie, and thrift stores are good for that. Plus it’s not buying more garbage for $40, saving of money that can some day used for hog feed or million other uses when I eventually own my own land. Money saved now will grow to be more money when invested. It’s kind of hay, cattle and manure.
Maybe I can ride in on Wednesday, but it has to be a bit warmer. Not sure how the bike trail will be, probably icy but the bigger issue is how pock marked it will be from the hikers. π² That said, it was so slick on Saturday but I tend to think it will be better now as we got some snow on top of ice over the weekend. Today though I’m bussing it as I need to bring my laptop into the office π₯οΈ and don’t want to beat shit out of it, it’s already on it’s last legs. Plus I have a Save the Pine Bush zoom at 5:30 PM and I figure I can participate while getting my steps walking laps πΆ in the Concourse after hours, as I avoid the homeless and schizophrenic individuals. π€ͺ Then I’ll take the later local bus home and do some reading π.
Eggs, spinach, onions, broccoli and beans for breakfast. π« π₯¦ π§ π₯ While I didn’t buy eggs this week I did see those “inexpensive” white 18 pack eggs in the Styrofoam trays that burn so black and are pungent are now up to $8.65 at Walmart. If I’m going to buy eggs at the store, I might as well get commodity eggs in my book as they’re all about the same. I don’t believe any of those “greenie” labels — i.e. organic free range and hugged by the farmer — at the supermarket. π·οΈ In my mind, they’re all the same thing as the label gets charred in the fire π₯. That said, I was seeing one of my neighbors growing up is selling her own eggs for $5 a dozen and with spring coming she has a bunch to sell. It’s tempting as it would be good to establish a business relationship with her as she also sells hay and if some day I do end up with land out that way, I’ll probably need a hay supplier. πΎ π
That electric toothbrush πͺ₯ seems to do a good job, especially polishing up the back of the teeth. though I do just think it’s another thing to wear out and break. It’s not like it was expensive but it still just more plastic crap that will eventually get tossed into the fire. And I’ll have to pick out the windings and metal parts out of the ash. Still having good teeth is so important π¦·as I’ve learned from my now fairly elderly parents. It’s kind of horrifying what can happen if you don’t take care of yourself and eat the crap π they are selling on the television πΊ. My dad is dying from diabetes and he’s got holes rotting into his feet. π¦ΆBut their house is always full of candy π¬ and, every meal π΄ has meat cooked in fat πwith dozens of processed foods. These days I only really eat meat when I’m there or out somewhere but all that saturated fats not only plug your sink but also your arteries. π«
The thing about meat is it’s good but I’m not convinced it should be an everyday thing. I do like some of that $13 bacon from For the Love of Bacon, but it’s a treat, something I enjoy when I’m up at camp over several days usually fried up with a load of vegetables. Asparagus in spring time, fried in bacon fat and bacon is so good. Lots of saturated fat, nitrates and salt but also delicious. Meat is something you can also enjoy in the winter when there isn’t as many fresh fruit and vegetables that you can grow or purchase locally. Livestock such as pigs and chickens are such good organics recyclers, turning things like apple cores and banana peels into high quality fertilizer in the form of manure. Plus all that grain you run through them not only becomes meat, eggs and milk, it also become manure. It’s a great way to rebuild soil. As that Youtuber, For the Love of the Land points out, you run hay through cattle which produces manure, which produces more hay, which produces more cattle. It’s a bit more complex then that but it’s how it works in general. My sister has long been a vegetarian, and into all the weird PETA crap, but I don’t have any problem about putting a bullet through the head of a cute animal but I do think a lot about those saturated fats that are literally killing yourself.
One of the hardest things I’ve been thinking about is what it will be like once I leave behind the life I’ve lived over the past decade and a half since I graduated college. One of regular trips in the wilderness, spent camping under the stars, biking and swimming in the Potholers. Big Red and the many trips I’ve taken with him over the years. Trips to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, the Finger Lakes. I knew that some day those days would be coming to an end, and it really started to set in last year. I’m not only bored with travel, I’m ready for some persistence in life, not three night adventures that serve as escape from reality.
Escapism in life has its thrills. I mean that’s why people take vacations. But when you base your life around escape, is it really a life? If things are so awful in your every day situation that you’re only focus is maximizing investments and retirement funding towards a better tomorrow, is that really a way to live a life? When all you really care about is the next time you can get out of town, as you hate your dumpy apartment and being stuck in the city. I want to live a life based on reality rather than escape.
The truth is camping isn’t as much fun as it is once was since I quit the hard drinking and the unhealthy eating of junk food like hot dogs and cookies. Since I’ve run out of new places to explore and new things to do. The sameness of things has proven incredibly boring as they aren’t making much new state land. Things don’t change that much as you go to the same state forest over and over. The roads remain the same, even if they are more built up now with more solar facilities and housing built up along the shoulders.
If you think of the average high subtracted by the average high for the year in Albany as a sine wave, the phase goes positive around April 17th. β
The earth acts as a giant inductor for solar radiation as it takes time for the earth to heat or cold, which means that the average high temperature in Albany is 22 days out of sync with the position of the sun, making the high temperature departure curve is roughly 21.6 degrees out of phase from the sun although that’s not quite accurate around autumn as the sine wave that measures temperature departure is flatter than the position of the sun, because of the inductance of the earth and because not all heat from the earth is radiated back to space.
Need to be extra careful walking down to the express bus into the city. Big hunks of ice all around, and the black top except for the very well salted roads is a mess. I do wish I could wash the salt off my truck but it wasn’t worth it trying to get home from the car wash last night as it would already be encrusted with salt. Going to walk laps in the Plaza this evening. Big Red is parked for the week, though potentially Thursday or Friday after work I might go Tractor Supply to get propane and any extra food I might want if I decide to get out and spend a night in wilderness. 
I need to burn things and sing along with the Dire Wolf to restore my sleep. 
I like the colors and look of it on my and it was only $6 bucks but rather then having buttons it has magnets, which means sometimes the sleeves and shirt can pop open unexpectly. I am sure it was previously owned by an old dude or an autistic kid who couldn’t handle buttons but I liked the look and I figured it’s not that bad. Of course, I guess the advertisers have decided I’m looking for dress clothes, so now I get so many ads for the Men’s Warehouse and other dress shirt manufacturers, even though in my current position I just have to look professional but don’t need a suit and tie, and thrift stores are good for that. 
Plus it’s not buying more garbage for $40, saving of money that can some day used for hog feed or million other uses when I eventually own my own land. Money saved now will grow to be more money when invested. It’s kind of hay, cattle and manure.
I do like some of that $13 bacon from For the Love of Bacon, but it’s a treat, something I enjoy when I’m up at camp over several days usually fried up with a load of vegetables. Asparagus in spring time, fried in bacon fat and bacon is so good. Lots of saturated fat, nitrates and salt but also delicious. 
Meat is something you can also enjoy in the winter when there isn’t as many fresh fruit and vegetables that you can grow or purchase locally. 
Livestock such as pigs and chickens are such good organics recyclers, turning things like apple cores and banana peels into high quality fertilizer in the form of manure. 
Plus all that grain you run through them not only becomes meat, eggs and milk, it also become manure. 
It’s a great way to rebuild soil. As that Youtuber, For the Love of the Land points out, you run hay through cattle which produces manure, which produces more hay, which produces more cattle. It’s a bit more complex then that but it’s how it works in general. My sister has long been a vegetarian, and into all the weird PETA crap, but I don’t have any problem about putting a bullet through the head of a cute animal 
but I do think a lot about those saturated fats that are literally killing yourself. 
