I continue to rise and shine at five each morning. While it’s dark at that hour, I like that time as it gets me on an early start with lots of opportunities to make breakfast, lunch and dinner and have the later ready for when I get home. It’s dark out early so I figure I might as well retire to bed early, well before nine and instead maximize my day in the morning.
Cook! Cook! Cook! Happy Wednesday from the Kitchen. 🧑🏻🍳
Delicious, basic wholewheat bread — flour, water, yeast and a bit of salt, were baking in the oven along with spaghetti squash. Stove top there was onions and shredded broccoli frying soon to be cooked up with eggs and mushrooms, Cajun bean soup simmering away. Good breakfast, which will be followed by a delcious dinner when I get home.
Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Snow flurries and 24 degrees in Delmar, NY for the bike ride in. ❄ Calm wind.There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at around 11 am. 🌡️
Not a terribly cold but not a wonderful day for a bike ride in. 🚲 Less snow and ice on parts of the bike trail today compared to yesterday, though neither day was the ride impaired. Stopped at Hannaford as I had to get cookies for a colleague’s birthday 🎂 in the office. Also got scrubby pads as I lost one when I was taking down camp in the snow in over the weekend, 🚰 wanted to get spices but they didn’t have a good selection or good prices. Also it seemed like even the bakery was overpriced at Hannaford. 🍪 I should have just ridden up to Market 32 at lunch time. I bet they’d have the spices I need. But I’ll make due for now and put it on my list should I go to Wally World this weekend. 🤷
Today will have a slight chance of snow showers before 8am. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 37 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 18th. Southwest wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Cool day ahead but sunny except for the flurries around. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 2005. 3.3 inches of snow fell back in 1945. ❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:45 am with sun having an altitude of 25.9° from the due south horizon (-44.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:41 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 25 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 7 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 28 seconds over today.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Southeast wind around 6 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light drizzle by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1875.
Kind of cloudy and rainy this weekend. 🌥☔ 😞 Saturday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees. It’s fine, I didn’t have any big plans for the weekend, just let it go by, do some more of the Udemy classes, fix the wiring issue in my truck.
As previously noted, next Wednesday is Saint Nicholas Day 🎅 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had rain showers, partly cloudy, mild and temperatures between 54 and 39 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 41 degrees. We hit a record high of 68 back in 2001.
I’m back and riding my bike to work 🚲
Back up at five o’clock though I missed having that blast of heat from the propane heater waking up but the coffee was a lot less fiddly then the my fairly new propane stove which was not working well most of the weekend after propane gelled or dirt got into regulator. It was working good until I ran out of propane on Monday, in the cold wet snow. But it turned out to be a pretty nice day once it warmed up. Much more story to tell.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Partly sunny and 29 degrees in Albany, NY. There is a west breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️
Rode my bike to work today, 🚲 it really wasn’t a particularly cold morning but then again I’m used to the cold and I’ve been keeping my heat low in my apartment. Why heat things really warm, when I have the heated blanket, plus a hot breakfast and shower to start out the day? 🛀 I hate wasting energy, says the boy with the big jacked up truck. ♨️ And I like the cold in the morning, it wakes you up when you hop out of bed. I think this was the first night in many weeks I’ve slept all night without getting up to run to the toilet. 🚽 It helped that yesterday I had a light breakfast, due to running out of propane in camp, ☕ which left me with just enough heat and stove output to reheat some coffee plus a five hour energy shot and some of greek yogurt. Today’s breakfast was a bit more hardy, with eggs, spinach, onions, mushrooms. 👨🍳 Didn’t make bread last night but will tonight, along with soaking beans for soup. 🍞 🍲
Today will have snow showers likely, mainly after 4pm. Otherwise, partly sunny for the balance of the day 🌦, with a high of 35 degrees at 11am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 26th. West wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 68 was set in 1990. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1985.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:44 am with sun having an altitude of 26.1° from the due south horizon (-44.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:41 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 27 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for snow 🌨 and temperatures around 33 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 22. ☃️ Breezy, 17 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Today will have 9 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 34 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear 🌧, with a low of 24 degrees at 5am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 10th. Maximum wind chill around 18 at 4am; Northwest wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. 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 29 degrees. The record low of 3 occurred back in 1875.
Things were going so well on my trip until they weren’t. Friday was completely on schedule, having woken at 5 am and hitting the road by 7:30. 🛻 Got gas in Glenmont, traffic was super light on 787 and ultimately the Northway. ⛽ I got groceries and needed supplies at Walmart in Queensbury, which I was shocked how empty it was for Black Friday. 🛒 Hit the trail to Prospect Mountain from Smith Street in Lake George, by ten o’clock, at that hour wasn’t crowded.
Prospect Mountain ⛰ was ho hum, I don’t think it would be worth it to pay to drive the auto road in the summer or for that matter to hike it again. The views of Lake George and surrounding country were rather ordinary compared to other nearby hikes like Buck Mountain, Tongue Mountain or Cat Mountain. 📸 Granted by the time I got to the summit it was fairly cloudy ⛅ and rather bitterly cold. ❄ Just gusty 🌬️ with the mercury dropping.
I was back to my truck by two, and was setting up camp by three. ⛺ I checked out both campsites five and seven, settled on the site closer to Fox Lair as better protected from the wind and a shorter down hill driveway should we had gotten more snow then expected on Sunday night. Plus better sheltered from the wind, though less solar power. Neither site had cell service 📶 which is kind of a blessing as I needed some off the grid time without the constant social media and news cycle. 🔕 It’s tough to turn off social media when home though I have pings always muted from Facebook. Too much temptation.
Gathered firewood 🪵🪓 and got the truck unpacked and heater going. All was good the campsite still had a ton of firewood from the hunters who last camped here. ♨ Then I try to start my camp stove and it won’t start. 🍳 Damn, it’s cold out and I want a hot delicious meal 🍴. Played with the regulator on the stove for an hour, trying to clean off the ends and and warm it up to try to free the dirt and condensate in the regulator, getting the stove to work a bit but not well. Started to reheat leftovers from my freezer at home plus added onions and spinach but it wasn’t working well as the stove output was limited. 🔥 Got the fire started, let it burn down to coals, finished cooking dinner over the fire, then cooked some cranberries down with some stevia for sweetness and walnuts. 🍒
Friday night was a cold night in the single digits. ❄ Even with the fire roaring 🔥and my propane heater on it was cold. The night was cold 🛏 in the truck, my toes were chilly by morning. Without the stove working properly, morning was kind of miserable until I got the fire going, the coffee ☕ brewing followed by a delicious 😋 campfire breakfast of eggs 🥚 and all the usual fixings like onions and spinach. 🍳 Mostly hung around camp on Saturday besides a brief walk 🚶 along Old Route 8. Saturday was also a pretty cold day for sure, mostly spent reading, listening to podcasts and hanging out over the heater. ♨️ That’s why despite only being my six night camping, but Monday morning in the cold wet snow, I ran out of propane. It’s fine though, it helped me get an early start on Monday so I had the balance of the day to hike at Hudson River Special Area.
Sunday was a bit nicer, but still cold. ❄️ Did more reading, 📚 hiked around Fox Lair for a while 🦊 , listening to podcasts 📻 and just hanging around camp. The days are pretty short, it was getting up early before dawn, ☕ enjoying my coffee — which was good as I had the stove working on Sunday so it cooked up quickly and then having oatmeal pancakes. More sun and warmer on Sunday, though by evening it started to cloud up and by 7 PM started to sleet, followed by some rain and snow, at which point I headed into my truck for the night. 🛌 Cooked up onions and sweet potato on the stove, then later on finished off the cranberries with bananas and stevia. Listened to many more hours of podcasts. 📻 No radio this time, as my radio is broke and normally I just use my phone for streaming. But it was good to be away from the news cycle for a few hours. 🤫
Monday was just cold and wet. 🌧 The sleet, snow, and rain mix just made everything wet and sloppy to start out the morning. ☕ To make matters worse I ran out of propane while I was heating up the coffee, though I got one cup in along with a five hour energy shot and some Greek yogurt with some blueberries I added, 🥄 and I was good. Drove down to Hadley, and decided to spend the balance of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Area, which had some nice views of the Hudson River 🏞 along with Bear Slide Falls. As the day progressed, it warmed and sun came out. 😎 Hiked back along River Road and Gay Pond Road. Got back to my truck around 2 PM, and headed home through Corinth and Saratoga. Got home and unpacked around 3:30, went to the laundromat in Glenmont, got groceries, and washed my truck. Headed to bed. 🏪 The Glenmont laundromat isn’t as bad as the reviews suggest but more pricey then Delmar laundromat. 💰 But it is nice that you can swing to Walmart or the car wash while your clothes are doing their thing. If I didn’t worry about the road salt eating the rest of my truck up, 🚿 I’d probably have just done the usual Four Corners Laundromat.
This weekend looks like it would for the first weekend of December. 🎄 Saturday, after the rain pushes out, partly sunny, with a high near 43. It’s good, maybe that will give me a chance to fix the relay that was malfunctioning that controls the CB radio and dash cam on my truck. It’s clicking on and off. Started doing that on the way to Glenmont, ended up stopping and slicing the feed wire until I can find the lose connection, less I burn out the relay. It’s not a big expensive relay, but still I didn’t want to have to order another one and wire it all up. 📻 Sunday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Doesn’t seem like a wash out, most of the rain will be on Saturday. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.
The next trip is not until the days leading up to Christmas 🎄 where I am thinking of going out to Madison County but it depends on how much snow there is. 🐴 Probably camp at the Brookfield Horse Camp, and then hike the trails or ride some of the dirt roads. Spend sometime down in Sherburne, and maybe other places. Then come back home on Christmas Day. A lot though depends on the weather. ❄️ But that’s the next trip, which is like three and half weeks away. I need a few weekends home for now, though I have a number of family and other things to do in the meantime.
Looking ahead at bar specials, next Tuesday is Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 44 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 42 degrees. We hit a record high of 65 back in 2001.
Computer Programming
FACT: I enjoy computer #programming, I just hate #debugging.
One of the greatest threats of climate change is the power vacuum it creates …
… how it enables unscrupulous politicians enormous powers to operate the state as will benefit themselves and their in-group.
Martial law is hardly an unfamiliar concept to a country at war. During every active war, civil liberties and rights – even those delimited in the constitution are limited. Climate change destroys infrastructure with massive floods and fires, puts human life at risk. It brings out the military to restore order and rebuild destroyed infrastructure.
There is an enormous need to build climate friendly and hardened infrastructure in a short period of time. If it’s not built proactively, it will be built reactively after the existing infrastructure is destroyed by climate change induced storms. Areas that aren’t taking serious action now will be taking more action faster later on.
Rushed action by government means curtailed civil liberties, environmental protection undermined, corruption and waste. There is going to be a lot of that when we address climate change – not just the modeling but climate change effects to infrastructure and economy as a whole.
We must do more not only to slow emissions growth and reduce it but also harden our infrastructure now while it’s still cheaper to do and avoid more costly emergency damage repairs. Climate change is going to be really bad – they’re no stopping the serious damage we’ve done to the planet already – but we can take steps to limit the pain and protect our democracy and necessary infrastructure.
Avoid Driving
Despite my many road trips, I have driven only 8,000 miles over the past year.
During most of the year, I do all I can to avoid driving. There are many weeks when I will only drive one day a week – on Sunday. Where I currently live that is a realistic lifestyle choice, as I have access to public transit and a fairly walkable neighborhood. Even when I could drive somewhere, I often ask myself is there way I could get their on foot or by public transit? Is their an alternative activity I could do that doesn’t involve motoring?
Walking is much healthier then driving. It involves physical activity, not sitting in the plush seat of an automobile. Walking, especially on sidewalks and trails doesn’t pose the health and safety risk that driving around in an automobile does. I used to hike in more remote country, but now I’ve come to the conclusion that hiking in the wilderness – just as a day trip – really doesn’t make sense when you can walk near you home, get all the physical benefits of walking without the carbon emissions or cost of fuel and automobile maintenance.
There is nothing wrong with spending time in the wilderness – you have to go there hunt, fish, camp – but when you just want a carbon-free stroll, nothing beats visiting places you can walk to from your neighborhood. Maybe the woods and trails nearby aren’t as pristine or interesting as the great wilderness, but you save a lot of money, and aren’t producing much carbon by walking.
Sure, I like my big truck with the camper shell. It’s wonderful for camping and doing activities in the wilderness. But I much rather reserve it for special occasions, and use my own two feet and public transit system whenever possible.
The Sanitation Crisis In Rural America
The Sanitation Crisis In Rural America
11/23/20 by NPR
Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/115611978
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2020/11/20201123_fa_fapodmon.mp3?awCollectionId=381444908&awEpisodeId=937996807&orgId=1&d=2941&p=381444908&story=937996807&t=podcast&e=937996807&size=46961706&ft=pod&f=381444908
In a 2017 study of a rural area of Alabama, more than one in three people tested showed traces of hookworm, an intestinal parasite spread by contact with human feces, previously thought to be eradicated in the U.S. Catherine Coleman Flowers grew up in Alabama, and has spent 20 years calling attention to the problem of people living with no sanitary means of human waste disposal, so it collects in their yards, and sometimes seeps into their homes. Earlier this year, she was awarded a MacArthur fellowship to support her work. Her new book is ‘Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret.’