I am glad I didn’t decide to drive to work, my windshield wipers are literally falling apart. I last replaced them in 2016. I should at some point think about replacing them, lest I decide to go driving on a rainy day or a muddy road. Maybe I’ll put on my shopping list this week.
I am weighting the pros and cons of Fedora vs. Mint — with the lxqt desktop environment
As lately I’m changing everything, I thinking of switching to a new Linux distro and desktop environment come April. After 20 years of using Ubuntu and XFCE, I am thinking it’s time for a change, as I don’t like SNAPs or this Ubuntu Pro crap. My hard drive needs a good cleaning, as Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish is getting really long in the tooth.
I’m old enough to remember when neither of them existed. 25 years ago, back in the day when he choices were RedHat, Debian, and Ubuntu was the new kid on the block. Debian’s (and Ubuntu’s) apt-get package manager was nifty a quarter century ago, at least before yum and DNF. Ubuntu LTS only updates every two years, so I end up getting stuck with out of date GIS libraries, which I have to update, which sometimes causes symbolic error and other weird problems.
It’s all ducking plastic 🐥
Some mornings I wake to the smell of pollution from the plastics plant in Fuera Bush. This morning I woke up early thinking about the Green Building book which seemed to be more concerned about building McMansion’s with green features, and things like closets and how many outlets you need for your smart television. I don’t want a television, I don’t care about schools or how many bedrooms. I just want a cozy little cabin with a lot of land.
Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Cloudy and 43 degrees in Delmar. ☁ Calm wind. Totally inappropriate but I have my windows wide open in my apartment. But I like the fresh air, and I’ve become increasingly feral after all these years wearing the suit and playing director for eight hours a day, with a dour but easy going nature it so I tell myself. As long as shit gets done and I don’t get a call from Capitol Hill, I’m good. will drop below freezing at Friday around 4 am. ☃️ I guess at that point I’ll have to close my windows for a few days.
Woke up at 4:30 AM or so this morning and couldn’t get back to bed, 🛌 so I started cooking down the 15-bean soup on the stove and a little after 5 AM got making some bananas and oatmeal, 🍌 then some pancakes with mango and honey. 🥞🍍🍯 Good stuff, the egg in the homemade pancake mix added some protein, and with the oats and wholewheat flour plus mango lots of fiber. Maybe not as much as Johnnycakes with spinach but still pretty good. 🥦
I get a chuckle when they send a 115 person articulated bus with seats for 59 out to Voorheesville, 🚍 but this morning it was remarkably full at 7 am. Probably standees wouldn’t be appropriate on a rural / suburban route and they needed to get the bus downtown at any rate for the next run. 🤷♂️ I do wish I could have ridden my bike to work 🚲 as the time on the bus seems like such a time suck. Better use of my time though then driving. 🚘 Those days will be here before you know it, but hopefully by then I’ll have a fuel-efficient easy to drive vehicle.
As it’s going to be raining by evening 🌧️ I’m walking the Plaza. 🚶 I don’t do as much walking as I used to do being that most days I ride to work. 🚲 I mean I thought about doing the Meads Lane loop on my bike this morning but it’s kind of misting and foggy out. So I’m busing it and taking the shuttle 🚀 out to the suburban office. I heard the normal shuttle got in a wreck so it’s been a state pool car lately. I don’t mind, as long as we can all squeeze in and I can get to work. Worse comes to worse, I can hop on the CDTA Route 22, though that’s another bus fare. It seems so petty when I’m planning to buy land and build a house, but every little bit helps. That’s how I got as far as I got.
Today will rain likely, mainly after 5pm. Patchy fog between 9am and 10am. Otherwise, cloudy 🌧, with a high of 55 degrees at 3pm. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 6th. Maximum dew point of 49 at 2pm. South wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. 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 44 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1974. 10.5 inches of snow fell back in 1887.❄
At times I get so fustrated looking at land, 🚜 though I shoudn’t be as there are definitely options out there. The one I looked at yesterday, after studying the LIDAR and running the stats is really too sloped to build on. Another one has a nice price, but I’m not convinced it’s an all-season road, despite what the seller says, and there is other parcels proposed to be sold nearby. 🔍 None of them is perfect, but I am developing a plan on what is important, learning what is out there, piece by piece. And I can’t fall too much in love with any one parcel, as it could disappear from the market before I’m ready to buy. ❤️ I do worry a bit about winter driving, but if it’s bad, I can always call in or work from home. ❄️ People may be pushing me towards things I don’t care about, like plastic houses and good school districts, or marble counter tops and closet size, but I know what I want — that basic cabin that complies with town codes — but is simple to maintain and uses wood and solar energy produced on site, and provides land for homesteading and having fires. 🐐 🔥 I get many people care about marble countertops and looking pretty, but that’s not on my list.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:08 pm with sun having an altitude of 41.9° from the due south horizon (-28.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:14 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (257°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (264°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:52 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 6:19 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:53 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 53 degrees. The dew point will be 49 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 33 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will rain. 🌧 Low of 39 degrees at 5am. 16 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 20th. North wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and one inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of -6 occurred back in 1950.
Today in 1857, Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case. 👩⚖️ Often said to be one of the worse decisions ever, conservatives cling to the idea that so-called bad liberal rulings like Row v Wade can be overturned by future courts. Honestly, I think the court should be getting the government off people’s backs, if anything overruling cases that limit liberty rather then expanding the police state by making it easier for the government to pass new laws. I don’t celebrate baby murder like some people do, but I also don’t think we should be in the business of ban everything.
Not going camping this weekend either. 😞 The sun ain’t going to shine anymore. At least on the weekends. Saturday, a chance of rain after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, rain likely before 1pm, then showers likely after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees. Still at least it’s mild and not much of a fire risk.
Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until 8 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 7:33 pm with dusk at 8:01 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had sunny and temperatures between 67 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 57 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 1922.
Illegal invaders
I bet the Emerald Ash Borer was created for the benefit of Multiflora Rose, which exists for benefit of the deer tick and Lyme diease. Just a thought. #conspiracy
Waiting on the rain 🌧️
No rain yet but it’s coming. The air feels damp but I’m hoping it will hold off until after I catch the bus downtown so I can bring my posters in without them getting wet or having to drive.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Clouds and 45 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁️ There is a south-southeast breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Friday around 5 am. ☃️
I decided I definitely need some kind of air freshener or candle warmer 👃🕯 for my office as yesterday they got a fresh delivery of cardstock to the print shop 🖨 below my office and the HVAC sucked in the hydrogen sulfide rich air from the fresh paper delivered 📄 🚚 and I wanted to gag half the morning. I know enough about human noses and sulfur that over time people get used to the smell and can’t smell it, and may even grow fond of it but at least right now it stinks!
I may run to Walmart later in the week, I also need razors and eggs 🪒 🥚. I eat a lot more eggs these days as they’re cheap and fairly healthy protein 💪🏻and make an excellent binder in cornmeal and oatmeal pancakes 🥞. I actually had Johnny Cakes this morning with lots of onion, broccoli, chilli and cherry tomato. 🍅 🧅🌶 🥦 It was good but that like so many meals requires eggs, and I won’t have enough come Friday or Saturday.
Today will rain. 🌧 High of 46 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 18th. Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 90%. My windows are open but maybe I should shut them. 🔲 Not going to be super warm. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. But wet! 💧A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 42 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1964. 8.6 inches of snow fell back in 1917.❄ If this was colder that would be a ton of snow. ☃ But truth be told we need rain to reduce fire risk. 🧑🚒
Bussing it in this morning. 🚌 I could drive but it’s much easier to catch the bus. It’s time I can work on my phone or catch up with folks. It’s relaxing to not have to deal with traffic. 🚘 I am sure I’ll have plenty of alone time in an automobile once I build my off-grid cabin, as that naturally has to be a ways from the city so I can have freedom. 🔥 🐷 🐐 Saves over the gas and no miles on my truck. People in my suburban office think it’s weird I ride my bike or bus it here, but it saves money and stress. Some ways I like the urban life, but I am also ready to get away.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:08 pm with sun having an altitude of 41.6° from the due south horizon (-29.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.8 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 (257°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (263°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:51 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:18 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:52 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a north-northeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.
I found some a nice property on Zillow that I’m investigating further. 🔍 Not quite ready to buy at this point, and probably somebody else will get it first, but I’m not going to spend $100,000 on land that I don’t have a solid plan to make use of in coming years. But it’s worth it to develop my code and methodology to study the property 🗺 as even if I don’t end up living there, it gives me an idea of what I should look for and avoid. I also started reading How to plan, contract, and build your own home by Richard M. Scutella to try to understand more of the owner-builder process. Once I get further along, I might reach out to friends with questions, but I want to take my time and do it right.
Tonight will rain likely, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 44 degrees at 1am. 21 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 3rd. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -21 occurred back in 1948.
Going to be a rainy night, so my plan is to do a lot more reading, 📚 and more work on my code to crank out vital information about a property that is listed. I have completed the LIDAR section that gives me total acreage by average slope and direction the slope faces, but also want to be able to calculate how much of the property is on DEC wetlands and/or 100 feet from waterway, what soils are on the land, and so forth. The more data I can obtain, the more leverage I have. While most sellers and real estate agents probably know topographic maps and have walked the property, I doubt many know how many acres are 5% slope, how many acres exactly are soil x, y, or z. Information is power. Or at least it’s interesting what I can crank out of a few lines of R code.
Today in 1970, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations. ⚛️ It was really bad when they were blowing up nuclear bombs in the air, making the milk and corn radioactive across the mid-west. 🐮 Some of it was willful ignorance by the federal government on how harmful such actions were. In 1933, during the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a “bank holiday”, 🏦 closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
Gonna rain again this weekend. ☔ No camping 🏕 for me. 😞 Saturday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Sunday, rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Daylight savings time starts Sunday. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.
Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Last Day of Winter 🏂 when the sun will be setting at 7:08 pm with dusk at 7:35 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 22 degrees.l Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 2012.
Keeping moving forward 👣
One of my fears is that I will get stuck in the process of buying land and building a cabin on it. In many ways, it’s a much more complicated and drawn out process then simply looking at a house, going through a well established path of real estate agents, title searches, house inspection, and traditional mortgage but it also turns out not to be an impossible project without many construction skills or equipment.
In some ways buying raw or minimally developed land (such as an old trailer site or badly damaged home with some infrastructure), especially with cash is a much harder road to hoe. While I haven’t totally written off getting a mortgage — there are tax benefits, namely you can reduce your total income by the amount you pay in mortgage interest — the cost of money these days makes it seem like a waste. And I worry about getting ripped off, and regulatory issues more generally as all of this world is very new and complicated to me. I’ve always preferred to pay with cash, it’s generally cheaper though it will involve cashing out stocks and paying a shit ton of Capital Gains taxes.
Where I am today
Right now I am at the stage at studying parcels that are currently on the market and giving it some thought. What is out there without a home? What are the prices? How far from work? How close to neighbors or potential neighbors who could complain about things to the town? Since drafting my first draft of the homestead and cabin on Saturday, I think I have a better idea — the priority being having the right redneck kind of neighbors, general distance from neighbors, ability to homestead with livestock and have bonfires, ride an ATV around the property, heat with wood, compost, garden and use on-site solar to avoid being tied to growing expense of the dirty power of the electrical grid. Buy and build what I actually want, even if that’s somewhat more expensive then I’d like to spend and not what other people want from the property.
I’m teaching myself LibreCAD so I can draw my vision for the home and the property that I want in a way that is presentable to potential sellers or their real estate agents, town building officials, and architects. I am not a very good hand drawer, and knowing at least some CAD and floor plan design drawing techniques will be good to illustrate my vision to the appropriate people. While I am sure not all of my ideas can be implemented due to regulatory and cost reasons, being able to have a clear idea of what I want on paper, in an easily readable form will make it much easier to obtain what I want.
Maybe the best way to judge my progress is to have a rough time table :
Going forward
- Late Winter 2024
- Apply for conventional mortgage to learn more about the process, see what credit resources are available and investigate conventional properties in rural areas sold by conventional realtors.
- Read library books on the process of buying a home
- Start the conversation with friends about what their experience is on buying rural land and homesteads, what resources they used, what contractors and banks they utilized
- Draft up on paper what I am thinking I want my “practical dream” homestead and house would like so I can present my idea to various friends, colleagues, realtors, and town officials.
- Change from buying additional stock to saving in an a high-interest savings account
- Spring 2024
- Turn my paper draft of what my “practical dream” homestead into a CAD project that I can present to others to get feedback.
- Learn more about the process of building a home by reading and talking to people, specifically the process of working with an architect, getting town approval, selecting a quality, reliable contractor.
- Learn more about building materials and methods, including what is the latest in affordable off-grid solar.
- Continue to study properties on the market and tax records, write code to analyze the pros and cons of various properties.
- Grab the latest list of tax-delinquent properties from the county, match against county tax maps and records, and see if there are properties worth pursuing. Write owners listed on tax records via certified mail.
- Drive the back roads, looking for abandoned or vacant properties then pulling up their owners from the tax records, searching to the internet to see if the owner passed away or what the story is about the reasons for being abandoned. Write owners listed on tax records via certified mail.
- Summer 2024
- Develop a list of properties that meet my desired criteria and have been preliminarily vetted using publicly available GIS data like tax maps, LiDAR, orthophotography — new and old. Run my analysis code on the slope and direction of the land, along with consulting DEC wetland maps, distance to other properties, especially other homes, and other potential nuisances such as junk yards, barnyards, dumping grounds.
- Reach out to property owners and realtors to confirm the property is still available and to get tours of the land, sharing my vision for the land.
- Work with an architect to draft plans for the cabin
- Develop a short list of contractors to build the home
- Develop a short list of companies to drill the well, put in the road/improve the road, put in the septic tank and leach field
- Meet with town officials to discuss my vision for the property, including showing a draft architectural drawing, or at least my own concept
- Fall/Winter 2024
- Work to close the deal on the land after title searches, consulting with a real estate lawyer, getting the land perc tested for septic, speaking to neighbors about their experience with drilling wells and other potential nuisance concerns with the land, such as something they’ve heard about the land like dumped toxins or flooding that is non-obvious from public records and GIS data.
- Do not renew my certificate of deposit but keep those funds in a Savings Account, possibly start cashing out some of the stocks and bonds I have saved, reserving funds to cover Capital Gains taxes.
- Try to close the deal on property, paying with cash if possible. While I will have to pay a full year’s worth of taxes on the undeveloped property, having it on the bag with tentative approval for the cabin for plans would make it worth it.
- Potentially have some infrastructure work done on the property — improving the road, water well, septic, etc. Might make sense to wait until the new year due to delay Capital Gains tax hit.
- Late Winter/Spring 2025
- End my lease for the rented apartment and move out onto the land, camping or using my truck camper (assuming this is allowed — it’s possible at that point that Big Red will be replaced but can be taken off the road, used for hauling gear around the site and camping out of).
- Live on the land, getting to know it well. Maybe get chickens and rabbits for eggs and mea, a shed to store things including the well pump and gasoline generator.
- Have finished the infrastructure improvements, especially the driveway/roadway to cabin, site foundation.
- Work on getting the septic and water put in.
- Work with contractor to get town permits secured to build the cabin.
- Summer 2025
- Work with the contractor to have the cabin built to the point it’s habitable with water and septic and plumbing but not fully complete inside, work with building inspector to get certificate of occupancy based on minimal legal completion
- Get the cabin to the point where it’s waterproof and secure, start to move inside
- Fall/Winter 2025
- Get woodstove and propane heaters professionally installed and up to code
- Have cabin fully insulated and ready for winter so pipes don’t freeze and I have a comfortable place to spend the winter
- While I don’t anticipate having the solar done at this point, I can string up extension cords from the gas generator, a few small solar panels and batteries, use small portable lighting through the winter — rather live “without electricity” for a winter to really get to know the land and spread out the tax costs
- Finalize the design of the solar equipment, inverter, and batteries
- Work on completing parts of the interior such as flooring and walls, working with an electrician to do the breaker box, while doing some of electrical wiring myself with review of the electrician and town building inspector.
- 2026
- Have internal electrical wiring and fixtures finished and approved by the electrician and building inspector.
- Obtain, mount and install solar panels, inverter, batteries.
- Work to complete inside walls and flooring
- Secure a full-size, energy efficient 120 volt refrigerator and full-size gas oven and range for the kitchen
- 2027
- Add additional solar panels to the system
- Add a chest freezer for storage of meat in unheated shed or building overhang
- Build a shed or small barn, start adding goats and/or maybe hogs to the homestead
- Various site improvements
As the protests chanted, “Nobody Died When the Weatherman Lied” 🌫️ ✊☹️
Yesterday was not nearly as nice as the weatherman had argued it should have been. At times it was downright chilly outside. But it was a nice afternoon to spend out in country over at old friend’s homestead picking his brain on how he financed and put together his 10-acres of land with a beautiful farm house and barn from the 1820s. It was chilly and cloudy, as today also will be, but not so cold. I left the windows open last night, after I the smoke alarm went off again, but I’m hopeful to keep the windows open for most of the rest of the summer at this point. Only a few more weeks that there is a good chance of freezing weather.
Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. 🙀 Mostly cloudy and 41 degrees in the land of the Delmartian, as I get ready to ride to work. ☁ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Friday around 4 am. ☃️
Well maybe not a beautiful day today, ☁️ it should be good for riding to and from work. I want to bring my new artwork into the office 🖼️ but I’ll wait until a rainy day later in the week when I either take the bus or drive in. 🚘 I realized I need some more eggs 🥚 and I should get some kind of candle warmer plate. I couldn’t find it in Walmart the other day but looking online, they have them in-store for $10 but I didn’t know the aisle. 🕯 Yes, the use electricity, but they don’t charge me for that at work, lol. Working above a printing plant sometimes smells like sulfur. 👃 You know, like Ticonderoga or Plattsburgh. Same thing for the brighter 200-watt light bulb I got for my desk, 💡 though it’s an LED bulb so it only uses 27-watts and is replacing the 60-plus watts of hideous overhead florescent lighting. 🛋 So far I haven’t been asked to give back the lamp, but I was looking at Walmart, and they have many attractive desk lamps for sale, as will garage sales and paces like the Salvation Army should I have to give back the seemingly forgotten lamp I found covered with dust in the closet.
Today will have patchy dense fog before 9am. 🌫 Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 55 degrees at 1pm. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 6th. Maximum dew point of 47 at 1pm. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1919. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:08 pm with sun having an altitude of 41.2° from the due south horizon (-29.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:12 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (256°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (263°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:50 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 6:17 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:50 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 54 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 27 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.
I plan to start my deep dive into the land 🤠 today, and am going to try to write some code to analyze parcels based on steepness of slope and direction of slope. Both of those have significant impacts on the ability to build and homestead on the land, plus I want to make sure if I do build a house 👷 that it’s built in a place that is resistant to excessive rainfall, that is certain to happen with the warming climate. 🌍️ Also want to take a deep dive into CAD, and try to get to place were I can at least sketch out a house plan. Really want to go simple and low resource when I build, not so much as a cost measure but for sustainability and simplicity purposes — I want to spend the money up front and then have minimal out-year costs for maintenance and repair. That said, despite being conditionally approved for an excessively large mortgage to buy a conventional house, I am increasingly thinking about buying with cash 💵 and knowing my land and house is paid off and cheap to operate. Utility bills and repairs on my house scares me the most about it, more then the up-front cost. Plus I just hate how everything is plastic now. 🔥 Have you ever burned plastic? Shit stinks and burns so black, especially some of common materials used these days.
Tonight will have a chance of rain after 5am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 42 degrees at 5am. 19 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 27th. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1948.
I really enjoyed meeting up with that friend of twenty years ago 🏘 and learning more about how he obtained his homestead. It’s a ways out from the city, but it is a wonderful 10 acres and an beautiful old 1820s house. I really miss being out in the country, in the hilltowns. ⛰ Since I got my big jacked up truck, and well the burn ban, I don’t cruise the backroads like I once did. 🔥 He built quite the life for himself and his family. While I am still stuck, for now, in the suburbs in my dumpy apartment. Not that my dream off-grid cabin is what many people would call high-class living, but I won’t be paying rent and I’ll be able to do my thing, have fires, listen to the frogs on a warm summer night. 🐸 And see the mountains every day driving to and from work.
Today in 1985, Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States. 🩸 In 1917, Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives. 🏛️ Pretty remarkable that was only about 100 years ago. And in 1957, S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90. 📈 The market opened at a ceremonial $17.75 and at this point is well over 1,000.
Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. 😞 Saturday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 60%. The likelihood of camping this weekend seems fairly low. Maybe another good weekend to red and study about buying land, and continue my research. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until April Fools Day 🤡 when the sun will be setting at 7:23 pm with dusk at 7:50 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had rain and temperatures between 74 and 41 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1986.
