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.
That said, I didn’t really make it into the turkey farming part of West Virginia but that’s a popular activity down in parts of the Sweedlin Valley along the Potomac River with its fertile grounds for growing corn and other grains that turkeys like to eat.
Good morning! Happy November! 🦃 Best month of the year unless your a turkey aka incumbent politician about to get voted out of office, lol. Probably not a great time to be a deer or turkey either. 🦌 Cloudy and 40 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁️ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 11 pm. ☃️
It’s been tough getting back into the routine all week after vacation. 🏢 Worse my stomach has been rumbling all week, I’ve tried to be careful what I eat 🍽 and limiting that pea soup with balsamic vinegar and homemade wholewheat bread but it’s so good. It’s been gray and wet out ☁️ which hasn’t improved my mood 😖, the politicians whining excessively on the radio 📻 about everything, my fingers cold 🧤 riding to and from work, dark mornings etc. I wish I was still in West Virginia though my stomach wasn’t much better there either. But forward. 🤮
Riding to work again this morning. 🚲 Another cold start to the day, but this time I’m planning on wearing gloves 🧤 which should help with the fingers. I might get bananas later on in the day at the supermarket on the ride home. 🌆 Still enough daylight at the end of day to ride home, but this is the last week with the time change. ⏲
Eggs 🥚 for breakfast again with all the usual things 🧅 starting with fried onions, spices, mushrooms 🍄 and broccoli 🥦 and lots of turmeric and Chipotle and some MSG. Then topped with a bunch of parmesan and nutritional yeast, the later which adds so much flavor and flakiness plus gives you all the water soluble vitamins you could need for the day. Skipped the cottage cheese today as I didn’t want to open another package of it. I was thinking pancakes, 🥞 but I am bit tired of them for now — maybe tomorrow. I do like all the all-day protein that eggs have in them.
That said, I’m more excited about tomorrow when I bake up more homemade bread 🍞 this time with oats and lots of shredded carrots 🥕 along with 15 bean soup. 🥣 If I decide to head out of town for the weekend, I’ll make two loafs 🍞 🍞 so I have plenty to eat. I might also do more rice and lentils too on the stove, and I have that butternut squash that I might want to cook, though I have still honey dew and an acorn squashed cooked and ready to eat home. 🍠
Today will have a chance of rain showers before 9am, then a chance of rain and snow showers between 9am and 10am, then a chance of rain showers after 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny 🌦, with a high of 43 degrees at 2pm. 12 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 30th. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1950. 3.9 inches of snow fell back in 1951.❄
Lately I’ve been having a lot of issues with an upset stomach and excessive gas. 😫 I think it might be from all the fiber and spices I’ve had in my diet lately. 🫚 I am trying to eat healthy but at times it can be hard to find that right balance. Pea soup with lots of balsamic vinger and whole wheat bread is particularly tough on my stomach, 🍲 but I do like it a lot. I am trying to drink more water with it to see if it helps, along with taking Gas-X. But it can be rough at times. And if I drink too much water, then I have to piss all the time. The good news though is that I’m continuing to loose weight and be healthier. 🍭 So far I’ve resisted all of the Halloween “free candy” that’s been popping up around the office.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 33° from the due south horizon (-37.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:10 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (244°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (251°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:50 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 6:18 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:53 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 20 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 33 seconds over today.
Tomorrow evening I get my flu and COVID-19 vaccine. 💉 After I made my appointment I found out that pharmacists ⚕ at CVS are on strike 🤜 but at this point I’m not going to cancel my appointment tomorrow because I want the vaccines to be full strength 💪 by the Thanksgiving holiday when all the sick people start coming back in the office after traveling to visit family, 👪 spreading the COVID-19 and flu around. I don’t wear my mask 😷 all the time yet but anytime I go into a crowded place I do. And I’m still taking the stairs 🧗♂️ avoiding crowded elevators and burning extra calories.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 28 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 26th. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light west after midnight. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 41 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 2002.
I haven’t done an evening walk 🚶 I a while but I should try to get back in the habit especially with the time change next week and only being able to ride to work but not home due to the darkness. 🚲 It’s fine it will also make mornings brighter 🔆 at least for a while. I’ll still be up before sunlight baking 🍞 and cooking 🍳 but it won’t be quite as dark.
Cloudy ⛅but fairly mild this weekend for the first weekend of November. Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. Typical average high for the weekend is 54 degrees. 🐮 The weekend doesn’t look that wet but I’m still watching the forecast to decide if I should take off Monday and do a long weekend in Madison County including Election Day. ⛺ Camping seems like a good thing to do that day.
Looking ahead, next Wednesday is Day After Election Day 🛀 when the sun will be setting at 4:41 pm with dusk at 5:10 pm (Standard Time). Then you won’t have to look at all those silly lawn signs from the giant penis measuring contest. On that day in 2022, we had sunny and temperatures between 53 and 34 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 1975.
I think it’s good to have different views on local government.
Both Democrats and Republicans have good ideas, it’s better if they come together in one room and work hand in hand to develop policies that benefit all Americans rather than their narrow ideological slices.
The veto pen after all is one of the best protectors of minority rights!
I don’t partake in candy anymore but I do like using canned pumpkin in several recipes and I should cook up sugar pumpkins for recipes in the coming weeks.
Good morning! Clear and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌅 Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Thursday around midnight. ☃️ But after all of yesterday’s and Sunday’s rain, it’s
Rode to work today 🚲 and let me tell you, it was cold ❄ especially on the fingers. 🖐️ I need to get some good riding gloves 🧤. Not just for the cold but to keep from putting too much pressure on the nerves in my hand and causing numbness in my finger tips. That said, lately it’s not been so bad, but I’ve also been more careful how I ride my bike. The walk up the 18 floors of stairs to the office 🏢 is helping to warm me up. Only a few more days when there will be daylight to ride home after work, though when the mornings aren’t too cold, I’ll ride in and then put my bike on the bus for the trip home. 🚵♀️ Still cuts my bus fare in half and provides valuable exercise.
This morning with the fresh groceries I got from the store, 🍳 this morning started out with some onions fried up, broccoli, mushrooms, scrambled eggs with smoked paprika, topped with cottage cheese and nutritional yeast. It was a remarkably good breakfast, though not dissimilar to what I last had in West Virginia. Also made up some brown rice with red lentils for a nice creamy mix spiced by chipotle sauce mix. Good for a change from other types of brown rice.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 48 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 18th. Light north wind. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 64 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 2019. 0.1 inches of snow fell back in 1913.❄
I accidentally lost my headphones 🎧 last night but this morning re-tracing my steps, riding to work I was able to find them at the steps of the laundromat. Checked the polling place first, then the laundromat. I was glad to find them. While the earbuds are getting old and probably will need to be replaced in a few weeks or months, I didn’t look forward to making a special trip to Walmart to replace them. I lost my other set a few weeks back too, though I did find an nasty cheap wired pair at home if I absolutely needed tunes 🎼 while working. I should get a second pair, lest these break or get lost.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.3° from the due south horizon (-37.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:11 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (245°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (252°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:51 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 6:19 pm, which is one minute and 20 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:54 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 45 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 32 seconds over today.
Got a lot of miscellaneous things done yesterday. 💉 First and foremost I got my COVID-vaccination and flu shot scheduled for Thursday. I don’t want to get the COVID or flu if I can avoid it. 🗳 I had time so I got out and voted. That and the whole banning drones near school post by one of the local candidates made me angry 😠 so I wanted to cast my protest vote right away. 👕 👖 Went to the laundromat and got my clothes cleaned, and while they were drying, I went to Hannaford and stocked up on groceries. 🍄 🌾 🍵 Unfortunately they were out of bananas, 🍌 but being that I rode my bike to work today, I can stop on my way home.
Tonight will have a slight chance of rain showers after 3am, mixing with snow after 4am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 33 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 10th. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Unlike West Virginia, Albany hasn’t had freezing weather yet, though the leaves are quickly falling. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 54 degrees. The record low of 22 occurred back in 1964.
Already reached that part of the year, 📄 where I got the PEP, productivity enhancement program sign up form for 2024. Already got it done and signed up for next year. How fast the years come and go, I feel like I just filled it out a few weeks ago. But then again, it’s November. I also was looking and they’ve increased the retirement savings maximum for the year, 👴 which means I won’t max out even with my 25% deferred comp contribution. I was hoping for big checks at the end of the year to balance out my budget, but it doesn’t seem likely to happen. At least come December I should be getting in revenue from the blog.
Mild but more clouds for the secondhalfof the weekend 🌤️. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 57. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. I want to wait a few more days to decide if this is the weekend for Madison County. 🐮 ⛺ Typical average high for the weekend is 54 degrees.
I voted yesterday 🗳 mainly as I wanted to get it done before I might head out of town this weekend. Plus after reading a local candidates social media post, I was so angry 😡 at them I decided I had to go and right away cast a vote ❎ against them. I know voting while angry is probably not a good idea but I got it done.
Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Average High is 50 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 4:35 pm with dusk at 5:04 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 1973.
Gerrymandering is one form of election rigging – the practice of using the law by incumbents to make elections more likely to be won by their preferred candidates. It’s more controversial and covered by the press then other forms of election rigging like laws regarding petitioning ballot access, who can vote and at what time and location. But gerrymandering typical doesn’t work quite like how the press seems to think it works.
For one thing, political parties aren’t unified forces. Instead they are made up of elected officials. Politicians primarily care about one thing – their re-election. Without being in office, politicians have no power. As such, most gerrymandering isn’t actually partisan, it’s about protecting incumbents and making it easier for them to be re-elected. Gerrymandering attempts to group together groups of people who are likely to support incumbents, especially those who are in marginal districts. It also attempts to dilute down unfavorable voters either by packing them in other districts or splitting them up into multiple other districts (cracking). This is illegal to do for protected racial classes under the voting rights act but is acceptable for reasons of partisan identity or social class.
When there is an ability to flip a majority in a legislative body, or to a lesser extent a super majority to enact the implied threat of being able override a governor’s veto then partisan gerrymandering might be considered but it’s always several rungs below incumbency protection. Politicians like more power but they care about their own seats first and foremost. Speakers and Majority Leaders care about their own positions and the way they do it is by protecting their own members.
Often legislative majorities don’t actually want more majority members. While on paper it gives them an appearance of more strength it also means that legislative resources and budget appropriations must be cut into smaller slices so incumbents actually loose out. Assuming they have a majority or to a much lesser extent a super majority, picking up additional seats only makes them weaker.
Like a classic economics problem – the marginal utility of larger majorities declines significantly after majority status is obtained. That is the make and break it for a majority. After that it’s nice to have a few extra seats to allow marginal districts and disloyal members to vote no on controversial measures, but not really necessary and comes at a cost of smaller slices of the budget pie. The implied threat of a veto proof majority also is nice but again it comes at the cost of the smaller slices of the pie.
To be clear, gerrymandering isn’t a straight “win as many seats for the majority” as the press seems to think it is.
I decided I am going to start wearing my muzzle in the office downtown and on the buses especially when I am around a crowd of people, especially with the weather being so rainy and in the mercury in the forties.
I also scheduled my COVID and flu boosters for Thursday evening. I wanted to do them before work so I could ride my bicycle there but I can walk there after dark instead as the weather looks fine. Or use my bike lights. I don’t like shots and I’m not doing it because I’m patriotic or a Biden supporter but because I just don’t want to get sick.
I really don’t want to get sick at this point if I can at all avoid it.
The answer is probably no. As much as I like traveling on the weekends or an occasional week of vacation, I actually kind of like the ordinary routine of going to work, taking the bus back and forward, and my boring old apartment, walking down to the library and around town.
1) I’ve never been one for driving — I was hesitant to get my drivers license until I was age 18 — but sometimes it’s necessary, especially if I want to spend time in the wilderness.
2) Camping gets tiring after a number of days — it’s a lot of work to set up, take down, and the other tasks at that are part of camping.
3) I miss having hot showers — One of the things I don’t like about camping is the lack of showers. I like to be able to get clean, and outside of the summer months when there are parks and swimming holes to clean oneself off.
4) Rainy cold days are a drag in woods — While on the balance most of my road trips are enjoyable, rainy and wet days can be a drag, hiding out in the hot tent or truck cap. My apartment is small but still much larger than a tent.
5) I like having consistency, a plan for tomorrow. The truth is working a 9-5 job may be boring but it’s a consistent paycheck and as long as I work hard and don’t screw too many things up. It’s not a search for a new job or a little thing to make it through the next day.
6) Traveling is remarkably expensive. Even when you camp in the wilderness there are a lot of consumable expenses from fuel to food. Having a good 9-5 job helps save for a better tomorrow.
Now there is a lot more of America I’d like to see in the coming years – not the big tourist destinations but the backroads and the lesser venues that I can enjoy.
Going to need to turn on my beloved brass lamp when I get into the office. Definitely not riding my bike to work today but I will try to get in early so I can walk in the Plaza for a while before work. I’ve had my work email turned off on my phone, I can only imagine the size of the research production book since the week I was gone.
Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Got to go back and chase the money, lol. 😂 Rain and 45 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Wednesday around 11 pm. ☃️
I am glad fresh homemade bread 🍞 is cooking this morning as is pea soup. 🍲 Also honey butternut squash and another squash I got at Annuto’s yesterday. 🍏 Apple – banana – oatmeal 🍌 pancakes 🥞 are cooking. Going to be a good breakfast. If time wasn’t so tight I probably would have cooked many of those things in West Virginia but I did not. Such a dark morning but with good eats. 😋
Today will rain before 2pm, then a chance of showers, mainly between 2pm and 5pm. Patchy fog before 10am. 🌧 High of 48 degrees at 1pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 18th. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 64 degrees. The record high of 80 was set in 1946. 1.2 inches of snow fell back in 2020.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.7° from the due south horizon (-37.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:13 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (245°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (252°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:53 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 6:20 pm, which is one minute and 22 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:55 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 47 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 9 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 35 seconds over today.
This evening 🌃 I need to get to the laundromat 👖 and wash the dirty clothes from camp and get groceries. I could have gone yesterday but I was dog 🐶 tired 😴 and I figured the laundromat is always packed on Sunday evening. Still tired today but so be it.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 33 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 10th. Northwest wind 7 to 10 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 37 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1988.
Might be a great weekend on tap. 😎 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 58. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 59. Typical average high for the weekend is 54 degrees. That said I’m not taking off next Monday for a long weekend to Madison County until I have better confirmation of the weekends weather.
As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 4:36 pm with dusk at 5:05 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 36 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 1964.
