Gilboa is a town in Schoharie County, New York, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2000 census. The Town of Gilboa is in the south part of the county and is southwest of Albany.
ccording to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 59.3 square miles (154 km2), of which, 57.8 square miles (150 km2) of it is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2) of it (2.63%) is water.
The south town line forms a border with Delaware County and Greene County. The Schoharie Creek flows northward through the town. New York State Route 30 is a north-south highway in Gilboa. New York State Route 23 cuts through the southwest corner of the town. New York State Route 990V is a highway running eastward from NY-30 in the southeast part of Gilboa.
I wonder if Arlo Guthrie would have ever thought that a half century later, radio stations across the would have regularly scheduled playings of Alice’s Restaurant on Thanksgiving.
It’s a bit shocking how much gray I see every time I look in the mirror. But graying hair is not uncommon as one heads towards the fourth decade of their life – historically for that age of mankind it was considered ones later years by 40s and 50s. Nowadays, we’ve doubled the typical lifespan but many of us still gray around the same time.
There are dyes and chemicals one can use to hid the splashes of gray popping up in my beard and parts of my hair widely sold at retailers all over. But I’m not really interested in putting toxic chemicals into my hair. If I am going gray, I figure it’s part of nature, a sign that I am maturing. The gray means I’m experienced, have had a little stress in my life, learned a few lessons over the years. It’s a reminder too that every day I must work towards my savings goals, as retirement and later years, are coming sooner then I want to admit. But I think I will make it. I have a plan, and I’m working to implement it.
I’ve sat on the Canada – United States border marker at the Gulf Unique Area in the Town of Mooers, many years ago. I mean, who hasn’t sat in two countries at once?
I often read a lot about alternative living arrangements from the modern suburbanite way of living. I don’t want a 3,000 square feet home with vinyl siding, I’d be quite happy with a small floor plan structure that is easy to clean. I’ve been reading a lot about cabins, tiny homes, shed-to-home and off-grid-living to see what kind of options are available today. Lots of land, tiny house is what I would prefer. Shelter is important,
The Shed-to-Homes, which are popping up like daisies in the rural south are quite interesting. They are a little more problematic in the north due to concerns over snow-loading, insulation, and zoning codes due to size of the beams they’re built with — below the 6 inches state code requires. They can be done, and I’ve seen them done in a few places of Rural New York but they’re a bit challenging to get approved with state and local codes, especially if they are a permanent foundation. That said, I’m not really interested in setting down roots in New York State. Too expensive, too many regulations, too anti-second amendment and too opposed to self-reliance. It’s fine living in an apartment in New York, but it’s not my future.
Some of the smaller cabins I’ve seen are quite nice too. I was very impressed with the Thomas Mountain Cabin that the DEC recently burnt to the ground and hauled off to thel andfill. Cabins are typically much more robust structure, and free of some of the formaldehyde treated wood that is commonly used to build the shed-to-homes. They are somewhat more expensive, and pre-built you are a lot more limited to customizing the building. I want to go totally off-grid and minimalist. A so complicated, full-featured cabin is not something I’m really interested in. I would rather have something I could do the wiring myself on, primarily focused on 12 volt, low voltage, low amperage design primarily for LED-based lighting and a few higher amperage drawing things like an energy-efficient refrigerator/freezer, water pump, and a laptop charger.
Tiny homes more generally are interesting too. The smaller the home, the easier to heat with wood or maybe anthracite coal. Well insulated building, they will use a lot less fuel and can be heated with smaller fires. Less area to clean and maintain, less area to collect stuff that becomes clutter. I’m not into all of the fancy artsy designs, I’m more concerned with what is durable, inexpensive, and easy to clean. My truck camper is nice, but it’s not insulated, it’s unheated and it’s a bit to small to really spend much time in except for bedtime.
Whatever I end up doing, once I have the money, knowledge and technical capacity, it’s not going to be the boring conventional way of living. I want to have my freedom, not be dependent on the fossil-fuel grid or all of the modern ways that people take for granted. I want to be able to have money for nice toys like four wheelers and guns, be able to burn wood and trash, shoot guns and ride four wheelers in my backyard, and just be left alone by the government.
“Any historian of warfare knows it is in good part a comedy of errors and a museum of incompetence; but if for every error and every act of incompetence one can substitute an act of treason, many points of fascinating interpretation are open to the paranoid imagination.”
I hate the euthanasism of ride sharing – which is a limousine service that is dispatched by a phone app.
Real ride sharing is called carpooling. Already many government agencies offer hotlines and provide park and ride lots for carpooling. There should be better apps for carpooling because apps would be a great way for people to meet who are heading the same direction and could share a ride. Meet new friends, save gas, reduce traffic and pollution.
Ideally a carpool app would be linked into government databases at the DMV to ensure people are meeting up with safe drivers and that passengers and drivers aren’t violent criminals. While administering such a database and credentialing drivers and passengers wouldn’t be free, it would be in the public’s interest to make such a service free for the public to use.
A publicly run app based carpooling service, using GPS tracking and with proper credentialing of drivers and riders would be a very good step forward for every state to adapt.
