Rattlesnake Hill WMA

The Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area is a 5,100 acre upland tract, situated approximately eight miles west of Dansville, New York. Roughly two-thirds of the area lies in southern Livingston County, while the remaining third lies in northern Allegany County. The tract was purchased in the 1930’s under the Federal Resettlement Administration and is one of several such areas turned over to DEC for development as a wildlife management area.

The area is appropriately named after the Timber Rattlesnake, which may be occasionally found in the more remote sections of the “Hill”.

The area offers an interesting blend of upland habitats such as mature woodland, overgrown fields, conifer plantations, old growth apple orchards and open meadows.

The area is inhabited by a variety of game species and is open to public hunting. The white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, grey squirrel, cottontail rabbit and woodcock are found on the area. An occasional snowshoe hare may be observed adjacent to thick creek bottom brush or conifer plantation habitats.

A number of small marsh units have been developed and provide limited hunting for waterfowl. Some of the area’s furbearing species such as mink, beaver and raccoon may be occasionally viewed at these marsh units.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/24443.html

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The winter camping trip begins โ„ โ›บ

Just reviewing my packing list and finishing getting ready, doing some cleaning and double checking things.

Good morning! Partly cloudy and 31 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ›… There is a north-northeast breeze at 13 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Things will start to thaw out at Saturday around 10 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ

Kind of a cool day to start out my trip with the breeze ๐ŸŒฌ๏ธ but it will be sunnier later and then a cold night ๐ŸŒƒ is ahead. But my propane tank is full ๐Ÿฎ, I’ll have a good fire ๐Ÿ”ฅ and enjoy the cold. Winter starts at 10:27 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ Going to be a cold night, I’m not sure if I’ll stay up that late. Maybe.

Today will be partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 32 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around January 15th. North wind 9 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2018. 6.6 inches of snow fell back in 2008.โ„

Today’s plans are to head out to Stoney Pond State Forest ๐Ÿž and camp there. I’m thinking about stopping at For the Love of Bacon ๐Ÿฅ“ to get some of the name sake, and maybe to ride the Chenango Canal Trailway and explore Hamilton NY on my bicycle ๐Ÿšฒ as time allows. That said, the sun sets early this time of year. Looks like it will be a nice day but maybe somewhat cold. But it’s to be expected in December a few days before Christmas.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:54 am with sun having an altitude of 23.9ยฐ from the due south horizon (-46.9ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:40 pm with the sun in the southwest (230ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (238ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 28 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon in the east-southeast (120ยฐ) at an altitude of 43ยฐ from the horizon, 229,997 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:33 pm. At sunset, look for sunny skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 30 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 9 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, an increase of one second over today. Days are getting longer.

Working from home ๐Ÿก or in my case the library ๐Ÿ’ป was good yesterday, it gave me an opportunity to get packed and get supplies before camping ๐Ÿ•. I ended up working late as it took longer than I expected at the store midday ๐Ÿ›’ but all was good. Came home made bread and had it ready to bring camping.

Tonight will be clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 12 degrees at 5am. Nine degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 9 at 12am; North wind 6 to 8 mph. That’s going to be a cold night for sure. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1955. At least not that cold.

Clouds for the weekend but warmer. โ˜๏ธSaturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. South wind around 7 mph. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Thursday is 4:30 PM Sunset ๐ŸŒ† when the sun will be setting at 4:30 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. A sign of longer days ahead. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 41 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 1982.

 Snow Has Stopped

Put up or shut up

That is probably the golden rule of politics.

I am not worried about Donald Trump being re-elected with his anti-Democratic tendencies. He’s a politician and he either will deliver results to his constituencies or quickly become irrelevant.

Part of the reason why Donald Trump is doing so well politically currently is his first term was quite successful in the eyes of conservatives. Behind all the noise, he succeeded in delivering tax relief, and a Supreme Court that is reworking America in a more conservative image especially on social issues like guns and abortion. The conservative rights revolution seems to be well underway.

A self pardon of Donald Trump is likely to be wildly unpopular. Likewise using the government’s prosecuting powers under law to go after political enemies is likely to lead to significant drop in the president’s support. But on the other hand, bringing the justice department to heel and focusing them on conservative priorities is likely to score him points both with the Republican base and his fellow conservative legislators. Using unconventional methods may be unpopular with Democrats but in recent years executive power has been expanding as politics has become more contentious. But the moment that Trump stops delivering for the nation and particular his base, he’s likely to fall out of power.

Using the levers of power isn’t anti-democratic. It is effective. Levers of power aren’t limited to only one party or ideology. If Trump discovers a new lever of power, then the next Democratic candidate to be elected into the White House is also likely to use it too. Or it’s possible that if the public, especially those in the opposing party will find the power grab to be so morally repugnant that they remove that power from the executive by passing new laws reining in the President.

Don’t like Trump? I don’t like him much either. So don’t vote for him. And know he will be gone in four years, and you’ll have yet another candidate better to your liking in the White House. Or Congress in two years.

Leaving downtown ๐Ÿข

At the end of December I will be moving to my new position up in North Albany, in a non-descript suburban office building. After years of working in various downtown buildings — One Commence Plaza, 625 Broadway, South Swan Street Building, Legislative Office Building, Alfred E Smith Building — I will be moving back out to the suburbs for work. North Albany maybe not as remote as the Pine Bush or Clifton Park, it will be a transition to move away from working in the hub of the city. But it’s an industrial part of the city, away from bustle and dense urban life of downtown.

I have many different feelings about it. The new office is a typical suburban office complex, with acres of parking. Driving there is relatively easy, it’s not far from the expressway. But I really don’t want to be an auto commuter, after so many years of just taking the bus downtown and getting door to door service. Parking is free at that new office, unlike downtown, but I probably will continue to bus my way to work, transferring to a second bus or taking the shuttle over to the new office in North Albany. The new office is surrounded by industrial sprawl, not a whole lot near it but at least it’s only a block away from the Blue Bus Plus Express service to downtown and a free shuttle back and forth to the Empire Plaza.

Moving to the new office is good for my career. It’s a major leap forward, a big jump in pay and prestige, moving from a Deputy Director position to being a unit Director. The new position taps my unique skills, things I’ve worked over the years so hard to develop. And I can still ride my bike to work, if I so choose, and I won’t have the big State Street hill to climb. Yet, somehow riding in an industrial zone seems even less appealing then riding through the South End and the Madison Avenue Hill.

But alas, in some ways working downtown had grown old. As I get into my forties, I might look forward to the option of easy parking at the new suburban office campus. It will mean if I choose to drive to work, parking is easy and free. I can then choose to buy land and house out in the country, and know I can drive each day right from home to the parking lot right next to my office. I don’t have to deal with all the urban problems, the pan handlers, the dirt and grime of downtown. But still I will miss having the Empire Plaza Concourse to walk in during lunch, the Farmers Market and the ease of a single-bus quick ride back and forth downtown.

The day before my Christmas Week Trip ๐ŸŽ… โ›บ

Up at five o’clock, frying onions and eggs and spinach, a good breakfast before sitting down and doing more study of neural networks and machine learning. Early to rise makes a man, healthy, wealthy and wise, or so I tell myself.

Good morning! What day is it? Work from Home Day, of course. Sunny and 25 degrees in Delmar, NY. ๐ŸŒž There is a north-northwest breeze at 9 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ

Out for a morning bike ride ๐Ÿšฒ to Voorheesville to burn some calories before heading home and settling down to work. ๐Ÿ’ป Depending on the projects that come in for review I’ll work down at the library or in my truck. Lunch time I want to get to Tractor Supply to refill my propane tank ๐Ÿฎ and get a few supplies for camping ๐Ÿ• so I can get an early start come Thursday. I’ll set up camp, do some hiking and then Friday I plan to ride more of the Erie Canalway from Canastota to Rome.

Today will be sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 40 degrees at 1pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 11th. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1957. 8.4 inches of snow fell back in 1975.โ„

Should be a nice day though that breeze will make it cold. ๐ŸŒฌ But I’ll bundle up for my morning ride, this time out to Voorheesville, then when I’m working remotely from my truck at the library, I’ll have the solar gain of the windshield to stay warm or I can work from inside the library if it’s quiet enough and I don’t end up taking many calls. โ˜Ž๏ธ I’ll see. Then I’m hoping if I have some downtime at work I can run home and do some packing and getting ready for the trip. Should be a nice weekend, but maybe cold a times.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:54 am with sun having an altitude of 24° from the due south horizon (-46.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 25 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon in the southeast (139°) at an altitude of 44° from the horizon, 228,182 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:33 pm. At sunset, look for mostly sunny skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 38 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 4 seconds over today.

I am very happy with that new photo-electric smoke detector. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿš’ This morning I accidentally got a frying pan a bit hot when cooking down the onions, and no alarm. ๐Ÿง… That made me quite happy and I am sure my neighbor too not having a fire alarm at 5:30 AM. Breakfast still came out quite good, and I cleaned up my kitchen a bit. Soup I’m planning on for lunch.

Tonight will have increasing clouds โ˜, with a low of 25 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 9th. North wind 9 to 11 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 16 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1942.

Today a train moved very fast in America — that is relatively speaking. ๐Ÿš‰ In 1967, a Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 155 mph on their New York Division, now Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. It was a test mission, but the high speed rail wasn’t to be due to frequent break downs and bottlenecks along the Northeast Corridor and the soon to be bankrupt Pennsylvania Railroad not long to be kept afloat by government funds and soon to offload passenger service to the government in the form of Amtrak. ๐Ÿ›ค๏ธ I don’t think even the latest high speed rail experiments have gotten that fast in recent years in America though slowly but surely the Northeast Corridor between New York City and Washington DC has gotten faster. ๐Ÿš„

Weekend is starting to look cloudier but mild. ๐ŸŒฅ Thursday – Sunny, with a high near 34. North wind 10 to 13 mph. Friday – Sunny, with a high near 33. North wind 3 to 5 mph. Saturday – Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38.  Sunday – Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Christmas Day – Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Still not terrible weather for winter camping, and it doesn’t look like I’ll have much snow to deal with out in Madison County. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

A Second Try At The State Tree

My top five grocery store items

  1. Oatmeal ๐Ÿฅฃ – Whole wheat fiber, can be milled into many different foods for baking and cooking
  2. Bananas ๐ŸŒ – Healthy sweet snack that can be used both as a sugar and a glue
  3. Eggs ๐Ÿฅš – Great low cost source of protein, glue for a wide variety of breads, pasta
  4. Brown rice ๐Ÿš – Healthy filling grain, can be used for a variety of dishes
  5. Frozen vegetables ๐Ÿฅฆ – Many low cost, quick to cook options exist to incorporate into many different meals

Snow flurries around this Tuesday morning ๐ŸŒจ

Up bright and early again this morning. Oatmeal Pancakes at five o’clock with cranberries, shredded oranges and bananas topped with maple syrup and cherries. A good sugar rush to start my day. It’s nice that with the new smoke detector it doesn’t set it off even when I send a big cloud of smoke up overheating the olive oil on griddle. Photo-electric detectors are good if you are annoyed about the alarm going off every time you cook. That and use avocado oil, you’ll produce a lot less smoke if you a bad cook like me.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Snow flurries glitter down from the sky as I sip my coffee โ˜•, its around 30 degrees in Delmar. โ„ There is a south breeze at 9 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ Going to be decently warm come mid-day, figuring we are in the second half of December. Going to ride to work ๐Ÿšฒ, hopefully there won’t be a lot of damage to the rail trail from yesterday’s flooding.

Not a lot cooking up this morning ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿณ besides pancakes. Used up the last of the cranberries with a banana and a whole orange mixed with some whole-wheat flour, egg and some baking soda to make the pancakes, ๐Ÿฅž topped with cherries and syrup. ๐Ÿ’ Last night I enjoyed Cajun 15-bean soup, with lots of carrots and celery, and fresh rye bread, which actually is a mixture of rye and whole-wheat flour, as I don’t have white flour to use with the rye. ๐Ÿž Came out pretty good, very dark in color and rich in flavor as I used red onions. Also some vital wheat gluten was added for texture, and obviously dill weed which is neccessary for rye bread. Maybe the next result is pumpernickel, although I guess in that case it would be truly whole-grain rye, which is pumpernickel not the blend between medium rye (partially refined rye) and whole-wheat. I am happy, and if you don’t like it, don’t break into my apartment and eat my bread.

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers, mixing with rain after 9am, then gradually ending. Partly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 38 degrees at 10am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 17th. South wind 9 to 16 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 1895. 7.8 inches of snow fell back in 2008.โ„

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:53 am with sun having an altitude of 24° from the due south horizon (-46.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:56 pm, which is 24 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter ๐ŸŒ“ Moon in the south-southeast (157°) at an altitude of 43° from the horizon, 226,942 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:32 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 34 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze โ›… from the northwest. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 9 seconds over today.

Tonight will be partly cloudy ๐ŸŒค, with a low of 24 degrees at 1am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 13th. Maximum wind chill around 21 at 6am; Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -19 occurred back in 1951.

Today in 1974, Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States ๐Ÿ‘ด๐Ÿผ under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. ๐Ÿ“œ His appointment was controversial, and what should have been a swift confirmation process turned into a protracted and grueling inquiry into the extent of the Rockefeller fortune and its hidden influence. ๐Ÿ’ต Basically he handed a stack of cash to anybody who got in his way as Governor of New York over his 15-odd years in the position. Which is why he always got his way and built so many big things, including the Empire State Plaza and World Trade Center.

Looks like great weather leading up to Christmas ๐Ÿคถ. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 41. Christmas Day — Monday, Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees. And the days running up to the Christmas holiday will be as follows — Thursday, mostly sunny, with a high near 36. North wind 10 to 13 mph. Friday, sunny, with a high near 33.

After chewing it over for a while, I decided to take off Thursday and Friday to head out to Madison County, likely for four days. ๐Ÿ• While I’ll need to camp in two different locations unless I go down to Sherburne to get a permit, I could either go out to Cazenovia or Brookfield or stay part of the week at Cherry Ridge and the rest at the horse camp. Got to watch out for snow, though it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of a problem though there could be a dusting or even an inch or two after the snow showers come rumbling through today, and it’s not going to be much above freezing in coming week. ๐ŸŒจ Going to work from home tomorrow I think so I can run to the store mid-day and fill the propane tank and get any other needed supplies for camping. Plan to drive home on Christmas Day for Christmas dinner with the family. ๐ŸŽ„ ๐Ÿ‘ช ๐ŸŽ…

One option I’m seriously looking at is on Friday ๐Ÿšฒ riding more of the Canalway Trail, this time from Canastota up to the area around Rome, maybe Durhamsville depending on the time. I think the trail will be free of snow by then, though Friday might be a bit chilly though sunny and shouldn’t be so bad with gloves on. Or I could hike around Stoney Pond or if I decide to spend time at Charles Baker, then I could ride the roads there. ๐Ÿ’ญ Off-road bike riding isn’t permitted in the winter, but road-riding is okay per their website. The road up to Cherry Ridge could be icy, though it’s usually plowed but not sanded, except for the campground which isn’t plowed at all. But as of now, they don’t have any more then any dusting per the web cams and snowfall predictions.  โ›„ Thought about heading further south to Long Pond State Forest, but that’s quite a ways south and west. West Virginia is too far away for four nights, not to mention they have a ton of now.

I am dipping a bit into my time reserve for time next year, โฒ not rolling over the maximum into 2024, but when I thought about it some more, it doesn’t matter as I don’t expect I’ll be taking much time off until late April, which will give me several pay periods to build time back up, plus I get 35 hours of personal time (5 days) on the first of the new year. Starting my new position as Director of Data Services, I am not going to want to miss much work ๐Ÿ‘” as I have much to learn and I want to put in the long hours, to make a good impression in my new position. Not sure how much comp-time I’ll get to use next summer, ๐Ÿ˜Ž though I think there is definitely a possibility of remote work with my new position that is more about working data and running reports โŒจ then working with people, or so I think. I don’t know, I haven’t started the training yet. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿซ Things are getting wrapped up at Research it seems for the year, there is a handful of projects outstanding in the Production Book but I’m not worried as the year comes to close.

It will be four nights out camping this week leading into Christmas, ๐Ÿ• then I have off Christmas Day to visit with the families and Boxing Day is also a holiday at my company. ๐Ÿ˜€ Then it’s three days of work, but I”m thinking of potentially working from home that Friday leading into the New Years Weekend, so I can leave early and set up camp in Rensselaerville and do a three-night trip there through New Years Day. Depends on how much snow we get the second half of next week. โ„๏ธ Really hard to say. Lots of winter camping this year, but it’s been so mild. Come January though I’m not planning anything until at least mid-month with Martin Luther King Day but even that’s uncertain — and as I noted, I’m not sure if I will take any time off from work for trips until April with my new position getting underway. Might be a busy summer too, but I’m thinking at least part of the time I will be able to remote work ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ’ป so I could extend trips by working part of the time from camp and/or the Speculator and other other libraries.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Boxing Day ๐ŸฅŠ when the sun will be setting at 4:29 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm. Days are getting longer. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 30 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1895. Before my time, lol ๐Ÿ˜‚.

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And it’s a wet one a week out from Christmas ๐ŸŒง ๐Ÿ‘‰ ๐ŸŽ…

If it was only about 35 degrees colder, we would be blowing through the 1887 snow fall record. Though when it’s cold out the PWAT values usually drop. At any rate, it’s a pretty good soaker, with multiple inches of rain expected today. I heard a loud drip drop this morning, and I started to wonder if I had a roof leak. It actually was the rain falling on the pan of soup I had cooling outside. Maybe some rain got into soup, but hopefully most of it rolled off the top of the pan. And it was a lot cooler by the time I brought it into the fridge on my way off to work.

Good morning! Rain and 54 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜” There is a south-southeast breeze at 15 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Actually, maybe not umbrella weather. Bring your rain coat and plan to get wet. The dew point is 53 degrees. It’s pretty wet outside. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 4 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Definitely a wet morning. ๐ŸŒง No bike ride in for me this morning. I was hoping to get in early and walk lapse on the plaza concourse ๐Ÿšถ‍โ™€๏ธ but I ended up catching the later express in by the time I got done cooking ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿณ and fiddling around on social media. Something about the hemp plastic bottles ๐Ÿพ really triggered me. I’m all for sustainability but this new-age hipster stuff annoys me to no end.

Today will rain, mainly before 5pm. ๐ŸŒง The rain will continue to be rather heavy at times. Hope your windshield wipers are in good condition Temperature rising to near 57 by 10am, then falling to around 46 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1921. 17.0 inches of snow fell back in 1887.โ„

I am not complaining about how mild it is outside despite the rain. ๐Ÿ’ฆ Heat’s been off all weekend as it’s been so mild, above freezing. It will probably be back on this week. ๐Ÿ”Œ That said my December power bill was high — $90.74 or about $20 higher then it ordinarily would be mostly due to all the cooking I’ve been doing. I run the oven two or three times a week for a couple of hours cooking, with the stove top full too. But I’ve also been eating a lot healthier, and I like all that fresh bread ๐Ÿž, baked sweet potatoes ๐Ÿฅ” and squash. ๐Ÿ  I guess I can afford the higher electric and grocery bills ๐Ÿ’ธ if it means better eating and better health. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍โš•๏ธ Diabetes or cardiac arrest isn’t cheap even with insurance, so that’s a disease I want to avoid to get all possible.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:53 am with sun having an altitude of 24° from the due south horizon (-46.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 21 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter ๐ŸŒ“ Moon in the south (174°) at an altitude of 38° from the horizon, 226,341 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:32 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 46 degrees. Breezy, 18 mph breeze โ›… from the west-northwest with gusts up to 29mph. Today will have 9 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 17 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday I picked up the stove burner and drip plate, โ™จ๏ธ and now the stove works excellent. Stove burner ended up costing like $35 but whatever, we live in inflationary times, and I wanted to be able to cook again with a 8 inch burner and not bother the landlord. ๐Ÿ˜ My rent is in the single digit percent of my income at this point, I don’t want to give the landlord any incentive to raise it though he usually does every 3-4 years, so it’s due for a hike next summer. ๐Ÿ”ฅ I also replaced my smoke detector which was malfunctioning even with a new battery, and got one of those photo-detector smoke detectors, which I can confirm doesn’t go off every time I cook unlike the old fashion style ones. ๐Ÿค‘ It is really great — I was doing a lot of cooking this morning but no false alarm. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿš’ Again more money, that my landlord should be picking up, but after 16 years I’ve beat enough out of my apartment so it’s not like I’m doing him that much of a favor, but I want to keep it livable and safe — and I know the landlord would probably not spring for a photo-detector, but a cheaper ionizing detector I’d be setting off each morning at 5:30 AM when I cook. If the smoke detector is disabled, it can’t worn you in a fire.

It was fun watching the Nutcracker my niece was performing in. ๐Ÿ‘ผ ๐ŸŽ„ It is the first live performance I’ve seen since I saw one at the Egg during High School classes. Suprisingly well done, though the chairs at the SUNY PAC were a bit uncomfortable and I had to pee by the end of the show. I probably should have gone for a leg stretcher during the intermission. Then we went out to new Mexican restaurant at Slingerlands Shopping Plaza. ๐ŸŒฎ ๐ŸŒฏ Maybe not the healthiest meal ever but it was good. Always great to spend time with the family. ๐Ÿ‘ช

Tonight will have a chance of rain before 7pm, then a chance of showers after 2am. Mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 34 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 9th. West wind 7 to 11 mph becoming south after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1973.

As it was wet and raining out, I took the bus to work but I want to walk this evening ๐Ÿƒ as yesterday I didn’t get in 10,000 steps but that’s my goal today. I will walk during lunch time, and then hopefully get out after dinner. ๐Ÿ‘ฃ I think it might be chilly tonight with e wind but I think if the rain pulls off I can bundle up and be warm. It’s winter, I’m adult, I’ll survive. Maybe my fingers will be cold, I’ll wear gloves. ๐Ÿงค

Project SCORE, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched today in 1958. ๐Ÿ›ฐ This first purpose-built communications satellite experiment consisted of 2 identical communications repeater terminals mounted in the guidance pods along the sides of the launch vehicle. The experiment was to test the feasibility and explore problems associated with, using satellites for communications purposes. No modulation was received on the carrier wave from experiment package no. 1. Voice and teletype messages were sent and returned in real-time, and also from experiment tape recorder no. 2. The tape recorder was loaded with new material 28 times and failure finally was due to battery depletion. The experiment receiver and transmitter operated on 150 and 132 MHz, respectively. ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Interesting technology, though seems so dated in the era of Starlink.

A picture perfect weekend on tap. ๐Ÿ˜Ž Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 41. Christmas Day — Monday, Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees. I am thinking of taking Friday off and maybe Thursday off. I might work from home on Wednesday, to make for a short work week, but I want to get further into the week to decide based on the forecast.

Looking ahead to Christmas, next Monday is Christmas ๐ŸŽ… when the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm. That’s when I plan to come home after my trip. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 27 and 11 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1889.

Utility-Scale Industrial Solar in the USA