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.
Last night I started to feel the humidity push in. Now I am really feeling it as things warmed up, and for a while was really sunny and hot — early on — before the thunderstorm came rolling through. Dew point is 73 degrees, which you barely have to move to start sweating this morning. It was hot last night too. I should get out a fan. Or better yet hop in my air coniditoned truck and start driving out to Rensselear County to ride and go to Walmart.
I was hoping to head out to Rensselear before the rain and thunderstorms came rolling through 🌩 but I’m not sure that’s going to happen as it looks like it’s already getting pretty stormy out. ⛈ I was thinking I would hop on the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail from US 4 Parking Lot 🅿️ in North Greenbush 🚲 to Nassau and go for a ride before shopping at Wally World on Third Street 🛒 both for groceries, but also I want to get some more sparklers 🎇 and maybe another set of shorts. 🩳 When I ride out to Nassau, there is an ice cream parlor right on the rail trail, 🍨 and I think by mid-morning they will likely be open. Didn’t go to Jim’s Tastefreeze on Friday as I was responsible so you know what’s on my mind. 💭
Yesterday morning I went out to Thacher Park for a while on the Nature Bus. 🚌 Didn’t stay a long time, caught the 1 PM back home because it was starting to rain out and didn’t want to get stuck at the park in the pouring rain, especially as it was kind of cool and breezy out and I only had a t-shirt on under the rain coat. Also didn’t ride home, though I certainly could have as the rain didn’t pick up until later on in the day.
As it was either raining or had a constant threat, 📚 I spent most of the afternoon at home. 🍵 Made a big container of rice with lentils and chickpeas for lunch and dinner. I was doing a deep dive into a book about modern javascript — I am trying to master promises, async and React. I’ve known Javascript for decades now 👨💻 but I struggle with the modern concepts. A lot has changed in recent years, mostly for the better, but some of the new concepts are non-obvious for me. 🤷♂️
My guide to using R Studio with the State Voter File kind of fell like a dead balloon 🎈 🗳 when I showed it off to the other directors. I am sure they didn’t love the fact I wrote it without asking permission first, or pitching the idea, but I didn’t know how to pitch it without putting it on paper first. 🖨 As one pointed out — what hell is this — it makes my head hurt. 🤯 Truth is programming is complicated, though R doesn’t seem that complicated but then again I use it every day, and what seems simple and logical to me, especially compared to C programming, isn’t really that simple for those unfamiliar. Even if I learned R in a hammock over Labor Day a few years back and it wasn’t hard — I’ve had decades of programming experience. 📃
It’s still good to have it documented, if only for my own use, as I’m sure I’ll be asked to do the common tasks like coalescing columns and householding addressesfor work and elsewheres. Some of it I had to learn or refine my skills while writing documentation. And if ultimately it gets no use at work, I’ll uses bits and pieces for blog posts, removing any specific references to work computers. 🍬 I bet people would like to know how to to household address lists using R or more examples of using coalescing with the Board of Elections files. They’re lost your gain. 🤣 At least I got an invite to the War Room in two weeks out of it so I can pitch it again in person. 💻 Maybe I got to sit people down in front of computers and show them why it’s superior to doing everything in Excel.
Been studying cannabis 🚬, trying to determine what I should buy. There is a dispensary up the road from where I work and while I haven’t smoked pot in years, I was thinking it would be fun over the forth of July holiday to get a bit stoned, preferably while floating in the tube ⭕ down the East Canada Creek or wherever I decide to go. I could go to Vermont, but I don’t think your supposed to bring pot across the state lines or even smoke it on federal lands. State lands in New York. Whatever. 🤣 I don’t want to make it habit but if could be a lot of fun for the long weekend, especially if I don’t have to drive anywhere and are just floating down the river looking at the clouds in the sky. 😎
Thinking Wednesday at 2 PM I’ll be heading up to Piseco-Powley. 🏊♀️ 🏕 I don’t have a camping permit for all four days, but maybe if I run into or can flag down a passing Forest Ranger I can ask for a permit, 🎫 or I could end my weekend up in Spectulator or maybe down at Stewart Landing – Lily Lake. Hammock kayak camping would be fun. 🛶 Another issue with Piseco-Powley is I’m going to have to leave mid-weekend at any rate, as the ice in that heat 🧊 certainly isn’t going to hold through Sunday if I leave on Wednesday, and pack that morning. I can probably get ice at the Stratford General Store but there is always a possibility I’ll have to go to Stewarts in Dolgeville, but then again that’s a not a bad thing as I can go to Green Acres 🍦 for Ice Cream.
Blog traffic was good this past month, 💵 it brought in $127 in revenue not including today, plus the $79.70 that I have from last month, so I should be getting a roughly $210 check from Google Ad Services about the time my summer vacation starts. I am happy about that. I still need to figure out when I will be taking my vacation 🏝, probably the second or last week of July and also get my truck serviced 👩🔧 before then. The exact week depends a bit on when I have staff coverage in my office, what lists I need to run, the weather and which weeks the Watkins Glen track will be open, as I want to avoid Watkins Glen on those weeks.
Truth is I ended up spending more time on my phone then doing all that much reading. 📗 Most of the e-books I got from the library are interesting but not that interesting in my mind. Maybe I need to get some more books, especially on Hoopla as the month is coming to a close. I think I want to get more books out about computer programming, as I often find them the most interesting and useful to read. Plus I need to start reading that book I got out from the library about fixing up old houses — as one option to research going forward — even if I’m passing up on that house down the street from my parents house.
I am sitting out back, the fire flies are out and the mosquitoes kind of biting, 🐝 but it’s been a pleasant day not too humid but warm. Sipping some nice cold lemonade that I freshly squeezed with some stevia. 🥤 Snacking on some pumpkin and ground oatmeal. 🥣 Didn’t get out at lunch time, because things were just too busy in the office and a project came in. It’s really been non-stop, but I’m always trying to step up, 📄 use my data science skills to move projects forward in the office and impress people with all the ways we can work with data. 🤖
I’ve been so busy the past few days, 👨💼although some of it is I am inviting additional work into my life right and left to keep extra busy. I think maybe it’s a coping mechanism from walking away from the fixer-up house that could of been mine, had I not mentally made a long list of all the reasons I should not buy it, or being too afraid of the risks — like the gap in fire insurance, the unknown situation with the water and electricity as both are currently turned off. 🔌 It was a nice property in many ways, but it also came up short in my mind in many ways — noisy next to the main highway, that weird inset in the property, the lack of forest land or a woodstove. 🌲 The reason I found out about the issue on getting fire insurance between the sale and moving in was actually calling the insurance agent to discuss the cost of adding a woodstove to the property. 🔥 Plus the whole issue of the eviction of one of the locals who previously lived there, and my werid relationship with the folks in the neighborhood.
And despite all my talk about moving back out to country, I really enjoy riding my bike to work, 🚴♀️traveling on the weekends and on extended vacations, not dealing with motoring except for fun. Maybe it’s fear driving my mind, or my lack of knowledge and experience in the situation, but ultimately I decided it’s not the right time or the right property. 👨🎓 I’ve studied a bit on buying property, land ownership and development and off-grid cabins, but nothing on fixer-upper properties. 🔨 I would want to have more book smart on such a topic before committing. While some people gave me advice on potential real estate lawyers, I don’t have a property surveyor or home inspector on speed dial, much less an assessor on dial. It’s a lot of money to pay all those people 💸but if you don’t want to get screwed, it’s best to pay up front and know all the facts.
Truth is if I want to live out in the country, 👨🌾 I really want to live out in the country, outside of a small town. Kind of like when I was out around Fort Plain and Canajahorie. Plus, let’s be honest, New York State sucks on many levels especially if you want to live rural. Simply living in a suburban subdivision that smells like cow shit 🐮really does nothing for me. Yet I’m also well aware that I’m only 13 1/2 short years away from age 55, and if I want to take early retirement from the state, that’s an income source plus tapping the 25% of my salary I’ve been saving now for years pre-tax in retirement. Won’t be a lot of money coming in especially with tapping my state pension at such a young age. 🏚 but if I tap my savings and investments, build a small, very rustic off-grid cabin in a low-cost state like a Missouri or South Dakota, raise a lot of my own food, maybe run a data or GIS business for a little spending cash, I could make ends meet. 🚜 And it would certainly be better then buying some house that I don’t really want with a long commute.
There are definitely housing options in the mean-time that are affordable, 🏘 even if none is as cheap as where I currently live. That said, so far I haven’t been evicted and I think my landlord is just happy with me being a paying tenant, now at a slightly higher rate. But alas inflation. Being able to bike or walk to work (and take transit in bad weather) is a big money saver. I may be able to eck a few more years out of Big Red, 🚘and certainly my next truck will last through the start of early retirement at age 55 if I continue to not use it for commuting. People say if you don’t follow your dreams now you’ll regret it but I always point out to them — you have no regrets once you are dead. The median age for taking over the family farm is people in their late 50s, probably if you look at people who build off-grid homesteads, it’s close to same age too. 🧓There is always some risk you’ll die before age 55, but if you take care of your body, eat well, the risk is relatively low. 💪
Weekend looks wet ⛈ so I’m not hopeful about getting out of town. 🚲 If it’s not too wet, I still might go to Thacher Park via the Nature Bus and ride home down the New Salem Hill — it’s so much fun. It all depends on how wet it is. I also want to get over to Rensselear County to pick up some sparklers and ground fireworks for Independence Day Weekend. Also want to get some cannabis to enjoy during the long holiday weekend — I haven’t smoked cannabis in years but it might be fun up at camp. 🚬
But then again, Thursday and Friday the following week I have off for Independence Day Weekend. 🇺🇸 🎆 I’ve thought about Piseco-Powley again, would like to do some time in the tube, but I’m also considering the Green Mountains especially Forest Road 71 Somerset Airfield now that it’s open to ride it and float in a tube in Deerfield River in that swimming hole next to the campground. ⭕ 🏕 The problem with New York State land is unless I get a camping permit I’m going to have to find a new campsite after 3 nights, plus who knows what will be taken if I leave work at 5 PM… although I’m hoping to sneak out closer to 2 PM but things sometimes get busy in the office.
I certainly did not expect that propane line to explode out due to the leak in the hose. Not a big deal, I got the propane tank off, and let the burner burn off, and it wasn’t a fire like when the base of lantern caught on fire last night due to a leaky connection.
The heat is certainly testing all my connections on my propane equipment. 😅 It’s not as warm up here as down in the city, but it’s still pretty hot and that propane tank is mostly full and was sitting in the truck all day. The next few days I am up in the Speculator-area, with plans to head down to the Potholers either tomorrow or Friday depending on the work load. Hopefully tomorrow, that is after I get ice 🧊 and take care of any work needs. 👨💻
Yesterday, got up to camp a little after 7 PM off the Old Route 8B, 🚲 and road along the river for a while past the Robbs Mill Creek and the Lower Bridge and sat down at the infamous Robert Garrow murder campsite until a while after dusk. 🚓 Came back to camp around 9:30 PM and there was still was some light. Had a big old fire, 🔥 though some of that shit burned a heck of lot blacker and stinker then I would have thought. I’ve been bad about seperating out the compost at home, and who knows what got tossed in the fire. If I do move to that homestead I’m looking at, going to have to be more careful what gets burnt, as I’m not up in the wilderness. 👨🚒 Also thinking of becoming a volunteer firefighter, because it’s good to make connections there. Stayed up until 11 PM or so listening to podcasts, but was annoyed I could not download any new issues because I lacked cell service. 📻 Morning was carrot pancakes, 🥞 the new small food processor worked fine off the inverter. Coffee was good, it got hot quickly, and I took down camp slowly as I’m thinking I’d prefer to camp somewhere tonight with service.
That homestead I was looking at ran into kind of a hitch when talking to my insurance agent. 📞 I can’t get homeowners insurance until I move in because the building is currently unoccupied and it would be a cash as is deal. Insurance companies want to see a mortage or at least that building is immediately occuped after tranfer. In theory I could move in right away after purchasing, though who knows what the home inspection would find. I am more then a little worried about jumping in too quickly, as I don’t want to get scammed. But on the other hand, I don’t exactly have a real estate lawyer on speed dial, much less a home inspector, a title searcher, and a survey crew. 👷♀️ I don’t think it needs all that much work from my initial inspection, though I’m concerned about the foundation which looks to be little more then loose field stone and rot in the building that I noticed under the vinyl siding, and the sagging floor in one spot. The buyer’s agent I toured it with kept downplaying my concerns, which I get she wants the sale, but I don’t want to get screwed. 😡 I need to talk to my friend who bought a fixer upper and how he dealt with it. I’d hate to spend all this money and then have it burn to ground without insurance five days before I move in.
On paper it seems like the perfect homestead for me, 🐐 assuming that’s ultimately what I want to do. The barns, the pasture, outdoor sink and overhang for processing meat are great. Price is great. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty, working on shit. And I don’t give a rats ass if things aren’t pretty. Even unpainted walls don’t bother me, or the floors that could use from sealing and stain don’t phase me or the musty old smell and all the other weridness of an abandoned old structure. 🏘 The sagging floor in one spot doesn’t bother me either, if I fall through it, I’d rip it up, take crap to backyard and burn it, 🔥 and fill it in with gravel, then insulation and concrete, as it’s a slab foundation — well actually I think it’s post and beam on field stone. You know old building shit. Not like your going to fall far. But if the walls are not well secured or their rotting out, that’s a bigger problem. Didn’t see much asbestos, I used to work in that industry. And I’m not a home inspector. But the challenge of the insurance gap is a red flag 🚩 though maybe I could get construction insurance to cover that period if renovations are being done before moving in. I guess I don’t feel that guilty sort of setting aside the process now — I wouldn’t have been signing no contract at this point regardless if I was in time.
Heading out paddling in a bit on the Sacandaga River and Kunjamunk. 🛶 Maybe I’ll also get some ice cream. 🍦 Not as sunny of a day as I would have like but hot. 😅 I’ll be happy the second half of the weekend when I’m at the Potholers and floating in the tube.
It needs work, but it’s not awful, though a lot of questions remain in my mind about the water, septic, furnace, foundation, etc. It’s not pretty inside, but it’s not terrible either, I’ve seen a lot worse for fixer uppers and it’s cleaned up from most of the garbage though the walls need some work and the foundation is questionable, with part of the floor collapsing though it’s one story with no basement. Outdoor kitchen for butchering meat, horse stalls, kitchen coop, garage, hay field which the neighbors kept well manured with pig shit — and for a while rotting pig carcasses when they were pissed at former landlord. By now though rotted down, it would grow an awesome hay crop. It’s kind of a cool place, and has a great price. 🏡 It’s cash only, and it’s road noisy and needs work, as the interior was somewhat vandalized by the last tenants before they got evicted like smashing holes in the walls and one of doors, puck-marking the refigerator, The collapsing floor in one room is a bit concerning, and the fact the water and electric are turned off, so it’s hard to know what works and what doesn’t — and what damage was done to the plumbing and phyiscal plant of building. Not a lot of asbestos though, and the vinyl siding and roof look pretty new even if what’s below them looks a bit rotten. Foundation looks to be mostly fieldstone, who know what the beams are a like. But those are questions for a home inspector to determine, if I decide to go that route. $150k is a lot of money but not for even an rundown almost tiny house at 792 square feet and acerage, and it could be neat, though I do question if I really want to move out to country, and live down the road from my parents. I’m going to talk to some people and think about it more. 🚜 And then I can figure out how much I’ll end up owing in Capital Gain taxes.
Part of the calculation is whether or not I would be accepted back in my old neighborhood. 🐂 I am kind of a good ol’ boy, but not like real good ol’ boys. I grew up from college educated parents, and I went to college and I’m a professional, data scientist of sorts. 👩💻 I’m sure they’re still not happy about the old landlord and losing the house. And that property has two acres of hay acerage, and I’d need to come up with some kind of agreement to have somebody come and bale it either for their usage, maybe taking some bedding hay as rent. 🚜 And I would sure hope they kept dumping barnyard scraping out on the field for obvious reasons, though maybe not the rotting pig carcasses when they had the dispute with the former landlord. 💩 👃 Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. I don’t know if I will be out bid or even if I should go forward, the not having the septic and water running, or the electric worries me, though I was told they would have to turn such things on when I signed the contract, and had the home inspector come in during the due dilligence period. I would say write up the contract now, don’t loose out, but I don’t want to waste a ton of money on something that is a gamble.
And I wish it had a wood stove, though it has forced oil hot air which could be easily converted to a heat pump or even a split-level unit. 🪵Then I’d have both heat and air conditioning. The lot doesn’t have a lot of wood on-site, I’d have to buy wood if I had a woodstove or look at eventually buying another lot for producing my own wood. I would like to have a wood stove, especially if I’m looking at going the heat pump route as soon as I can afford it for both AC and heat. Heat pumps are great, ♨️ but in very cold weather are more expensive to operate, and are slow to recover after power outages. I’m sure I could get free pallets for bonfires out back. 🔥 The good ol’ boy eighbors had a big old bonfire last night, and some of the shit they were burning in evening and first thing in the morning when they were putting it out not ony made a great big smoke show but also was burnt-ABS plastic stinky like they burned a junk television or other appliance. Maybe it was just the mattaress or two they had in their fire. I’m not thinking of having a smoldering burn barrel full of plastic in a residential neighborhood, but it’s zoned ag, and besides having pigs and goats, I’d probably have an occassional bonfire, burn some paper trash and wrappers with nobody giving a damn. 🗑 I can always take the real garbage to transfer station and do the pretend recycling ♻️ with the plastic bottles.
At the same time, the heat wave is approaching. 😎 🌊 It’s going to be so hot. I could loose out if I don’t get a contract signed right away, 🤝 on the other hand, the place is kind of mess and it’s a small old building, and I don’t think it’s going to be that competitive, as it’s werid property in many ways — house is small and old, very country-cabin inside. One floor, no basement. Strange parcel shape. I want to get more people’s perspectives then my own. But once I’m up north, going to be hard to sign a contract until next week. ✍ I could stick around a few more days, but I want to see what some of my buddies say. I’ve talked to a few, want to talk to a few more else. But certainly I’m leaning towards this way. Also, would want a property survey, as the real estate agent didn’t know where the property boundaries are and what is included and not in the sale. I just worry about getting scammed, and dropping all this money on a property I can’t live on or fully use. I am looking forward to the Adirondacks and cold swimming holes. ⛰ But that’s a stupid reason to give up the potentia property of my dreams.
The first two or three days of my trip I will be in Spectulator-area doing part-time remote work, 💻 so I have the possibility to be talking to people and researching the property more. But I know every minute I wait, I also risk loosing out. But if it doesn’t happen, there are other options, including building that off-grid cabin I really want on acerage in a free state without the burn ban or gun laws. Yet, this also doesn’t have to be my final house. Maybe I’m too much selling myself on this property. 🤷♂️ Tuesday night I’ll be up north, having a nice fire, sipping some cold beer with my cowboy hat. 🤠 Wednesday I’ll be out paddling the Kunjamunk and swimming in Lake Pleasant, enjoying the lake breeze. I’ll need ice from Speculator by mid-week at any rate, as it won’t hold up well in the heat.
Thursday or maybe Friday, I’m heading over to the Potholers and Piseco-Powley, assuming enough of the work crap is wrapped up by then and I can safely get off the grid 🔕 for two or three days of floating down the East Branch of the Scanadaga on the intertube. ⭕ The Pothoers are going to be nice in the heat. Then Sunday after the heat breaks, I really want to paddle lily lake and explore there. 🌺 Even if I do want to settle down and homestead eventually, I do like my days and weekends in the wilderness.
You know, it’s a lot of fun to ride back to camp with a bunch of gear in the rear basket and sleep in the hammock. While not ideal in case of rain, sleeping on a hammock back in the woods, somewhere undeveloped gives you the feel of the land, let’s you experience nature up close.
Ever since last night I knew I would be kicking myself for not going out to Vermont this weekend. But it’s not like I don’t have adventures planned — this weekend I should spend a least a bit of time cleaning and packing for my six-day trip I’m planning in the Adirondacks to beat the heat.
I was sure yesterday evening would be a soaker, ⛈️ setting up camp in the rain, the woods completely wet. Plus having the second half of next week off from at least having to come into the office, so it seemed crazy to drive out to Vermont, hurry home on Sunday, run to the laundromat, get gear cleaned up and ready to go. But today is so beautiful, and yesterday evening was rain free but with a few threatening clouds as I went to the library.
Today a lot of the effort is going to be getting ready for the trip ahead. 🚲 First off I plan to Tractor Supply to get the propane tank topped off so I plenty for the five nights up in the Adirondacks. Then I want to get to the bike store and have them check out the front wheel and let me know what is clicking and hopefully tighten up the front fork which I loosened when I bent the handle bars when I crashed riding two weeks ago at Thacher Park. I think that free bus trip for riding trail at Thacher Park turned out to be a lot more expensive then I anticipated. 🚵 It was a lot of fun but I rode things a bit too hard. At least I didn’t break any bones. I’m hoping it’s just the wheel is out of true and the shop can fix it with a spoke key, and possibly replacing that bent spoke. I probably made it worse with my tinkering with the spokes without a tuning tool. Studying it more I’m noticing the spokes might be occasionally hitting the brake caliber, which might cause the noise. Or maybe it’s not the reflector. Then hopefully it won’t be hundreds of dollars and I’ll have it back by Tuesday. 🫰 Fingers crossed as they say. I still need to replace the handle grips, get a clamp on kick stand and probably replace the rear brakes before summer vacation, though it will be fine for the Adirondacks this week, as it’s going to be so hot I doubt I’ll be doing much riding. 👩🔧I am not a mechanic, but I know people who will take my money and make it all good again.
I’ve been reading the book on sed and awk I got from work. 🤖 A lot of the data processing scripts on the main frame server — buddha3 — at work are done in awk, and it’s a very useful tool both for data work at work and at home. While I usually prefer to use R Statistical Language for a lot of my work, I don’t have that on the server, only my various work and personal computer desktops, and for many simple things using R (or even Python) is like using a nuclear bomb when a fly swatter would work. R though is still werid and wonderful, and I prefer it for most of my data processing streams. 📜
This afternoon I have different options. 🚜 I might hammock camp out in Northern Schoharie County, and then go to Gas Up on Sunday before visiting the parents on Sunday. 👪 I should do a little more prepping for the big Adirondack trip before the heat starts to bake in a Sunday and so I’m not so rushed on Monday night with shopping and finishing packing, as I plan to leave directly from the suburban office to head to the Adirondacks on Tuesday night. I really wanted to do Stewart Lake and Lily Lake on Wednesday or Thursday, but I know I’m going to have data work to do later in the week, even if I’m off.
I keep repeating that phrase time and time again in my mind. Got to live somewhere, have a place where you get your mail and stay at least part of the time, close enough to work to commute back and forth. And I am blessed with a good job, that despite my complaints in my mind, actually pays quite well. Not that many people do make $100k a year, even if with inflation it doesn’t seem like what it once was. I know, I was studying the public pay records for the many people in my company — and looking at the region’s average wages. And I do good work, I have saved a lot money up, I can afford to buy a house with cash if I want. These are the facts.
I am going to look at that somewhat run-down, abandoned house next to my parents house out in the country Monday morning at 7:30 AM. I didn’t have to call the Realtor or make an appointment to look at it. But I did. It costs me nothing but time, and it’s a good way to learn about one option. I like the size and the price, and the idea of fixing up an old house. It’s right on the highway, which means the constant roar of truck traffic and borders my parents house. But easy commute for living relatively rural. It seems less moldy then my current apartment, and when you consider it’s paid for, much of what I am paying now in rent could go into fixing it up — adding a heat pump, solar power, etc. Big enough to have some livestock, next to my parents house so I could take care of them. But who knows if I can get it in this competitive market. Plus I don’t want to spend the next few days doing paperwork when I could be in the Adirondacks.
And I’m not sure I’m ready to settle down. I am looking forward to my next 5 days in wilderness, come Tuesday. I like being able to get away without animals to feed or property to take care off. Yet, at the same time, it feels so kiddish to be living in same run-down apartment I’ve had since being a researcher, making less then a 1/3rd what I make as a director now. I like riding my mountain bike to work, but how many adults do that? Plus I don’t really want to settle down in New York State, even if it’s where I am now with my job — one that I do damn good work at and are relatively well compensated at. Still, I neither like the options avaliable and I don’t like New York. I really want that off-grid property in a pro-second admendment state. But could I live there for a decade, building my career and skills, before moving on?
