I seriously thought about attending one of those No Kings Day protests with my Earth and Gadsen Flags. But I was more interested in smoking pot and riding my mountain bike in the wilderness, and not wasting my time on silly things like politics. I didn’t want to be on the camera and reported by newspapers as the freak at the No Kings Day with a Don’t Tread on Me Flag, even if opposition to tyrancy is what No Kings Day is supposed to be all about and not just electing another Hubert Humphrey or Kamela Harris. Humphrey was a nice guy, but his politics of beige walls and suits were just awful. We don’t need more of the same, when things are so broken in this world. We need politicians who are willing to blow shit up and try new ideas, even dangerous ones. Kind of like Trump has done, even if many of them are certain to fail due to overwhelming evidence that they are bad policy choices.
Honestly, I get it that the Democratic Party needs to show that it’s still it’s relevant and that they need something to organize around, namely the aggressive actions of the Trump administration. It’s not all that different from the Tea Party Protests of 15 years ago, when activists and other conservative-minded (and arguably liberty-minded) indiivduals were protesting the aggressive actions of the Obama administration during the Great Recession. No Kings Protests are grass root in nature, but organized and funded professionally by corporate interest, not unlike the Tea Party with their organization and promotion rooted in corporate interests represented by Freedom Works! But hopefully there is more to their ideas then going back to status quo, and opposing power except when they are in power.
The truth is the government should be viewed cynically, power opposed. Resistance is an important part of politics, which ultimately is about give and take and making the best choices for the largest number of people. There are many good ideas that can be taken too far. Resistance and criticism is necessary to keep power in check. I wish partisans would be more critical of their own party when they were in power. Trump might be a shit head, but that doesn’t make Harris that greatest person ever.
Trump 2.0 is the crudest example of Presidential power in recent memory. There used to be regal nature to the presidency, at least a pretense of respect and non-partisanship but that has gone out of the window. But maybe that’s a good thing, as for too long we’ve pretended that politicians were good and not in for themselves and their supporters. That there was something beyond a man, that government was about service not just extracting wealth out of primarily the poor.
Democrats are learning a lot from Trump. They are learning to be more ruthless for when they come back into power. Politicians watch each other for the new norms. Maybe it’s a good thing that we are knocking government and public service down a few notches – we should be more contemptful towards society institutions that do not serve the public well. We should be instead advocating for their change.
Chances are the No Kings Protests will rumble on for next few years, and Democrats will pick up some seats in the mid-terms, and with control of the house neuter some of the worse aspects of the Trump 2.0 Presidency. There will be investigations, and revelations that help to keep the Trump administration more honest. And that’s a good thing. With government controlled by one party, it seems like there isn’t enough oversight or representation of all Americans. That said, with the contemptible actions of the President, already we are seeing the resistance in both the public and state and local governments.
Truth is I don’ t really care one way or another. Time will march on, politics will balance out when the excesses of Trump administration lead to failures and disgust with the incumbents that get them thrown out and Democrats pick up seats across government. Power is fragile in a democracy, and in modern times it’s uncommon for one party to have complete control of government for any length of time. If anything, by the late 2020s, we will have divided government if not government controlled entirely by Democrats to run wild, break things, and get booted out of office in 2030s. Like they say in Texas, don’t like the weather, drive a bit further, and it will be different. Don’t like the politics, and wait a few years and it’s certain to be different.
Since the pandemic, I have always voted by mail. With the state’s Early Voting by Mail law it’s super easy to sign up once a year and get all primary and general election ballots mailed to your home address in a pre-paid envelope that you can fill out from the privacy of your home, stick it back in the envelope, and send it back to the board. No driving to a polling place. The ballot just appears in your mail box.
President Trump wants to do away with mail ballots. But they are such a convenience, not just for the elderly and disabled but the rest of us who live busy lives. Usually I know who I am going to vote for well before election day, so why not get it done in advance? The mail is quite secure, and you can track and confirm that your ballot was received by the Board of Elections on their Voter Lookup Website.
At least in New York State, every County and State Board of Elections is staffed by bipartisan boards with both Republican and Democratic party members overseeing each step of the ballot handling. If one party is not appointing inspectors that are zealous defenders of their party’s interest in front of the law, then that’s on the party to appoint people who will do a better job. But there isn’t a lot of evidence that suggests that one party is asleep at the switch. Partisans tend to be well, very partisan, and defenders of their cause.
There also is a paper trail in most states and always the ability to bring voters in front of a judge when there is questions if the person actually voted. When there is alleged fraud, ballots in question can be laid aside and not counted until a voter is questioned under oath on whether or not they cast the ballot. Not that there is much of a chance for fraud, because you have both Democrats and Republicans in the room at all times, advocating for their party’s position. And you always have the paper record to look back on, whether or not it was cast at a polling place and put in the scan-tron voting machine, or mailed in and run through the scantron.
I will keep requesting my early ballot by mail, as it is a sensible and convenient way to vote. I don’t see any problem with moving away from polling sites in favor of allowing people to vote from the privacy of their own homes whenever is convenient for them.
One of my concerns before getting LASIK was how it would impact my night vision, especially while driving. Often my eyes before LASIK would get dried out and be irritated making for unpleasant driving on dark, rural roads as the day was coming to a close. I would avoid night driving. Things got better when I got in the habit of regularly cleaning my windshield, adjusted my headlights so they pointed at the road and didn’t blind other drivers, and used the white fog line to guide my truck while passing other vehicles in the opposing direction at night. But driving with contacts, especially in my big jacked up truck, was not exactly a pleasant experience.
Half a week after LASIK I was in Downtown Albany after an event, waiting for the bus, I noticed something I found quite surprising. The night-time was just clearer. Things were brighter, in a higher-contrast sort of way, the colors more richer – less falling back to the black and white rods in your eyes. Apparently LASIK has a side effect in some people of increasing night-time contrast. Not more glare, but just brighter, like they turned up the street lights to a brighter setting but not in a bad overly bright way. Some of it is the switch to LED lighting, but I also have been noticing it in other places with conventional street lighting and no street lighting.
The flip side might be I’ve noticed that halos are worse on lettering for reflective street signs, especially in real dark environments. Small lettering after dark can be hard to read, such as those numbers on the mile markers on the Adirondack Rail Trail, riding in the pitch black. The view is like over-exposed camera image – the reflective letters are just completely blown out, the image is too bright. That said, I am happier being able to see non-reflective signs and objects better at night, even if I can’t always make out the fine print on the road signs. And my focus is clear both on the distance, along with all the gauges, buttons and controls on my truck. I never was very good at driving at night with glasses – while I didn’t have the irritation with glasses when driving at night compared to contacts – I found it challenging to read the speedometer in focus with glasses while focused on the road ahead.
The impact of LASIK on night vision is not at all what I expected or fear. I was concerned about glare and irration of contacts, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore. It’s just the night is almost too bright, especially with small letters on reflective surfaces. But I’m happy with losing good vision on fine print road signs that as long as I can see deer, cars, people and other things on the road that I don’t want to hit. It’s rare that I’m on a road at night, where I actually need to read the fine print – like small scale street name signs. And certainly freeway style signs – and even warning signs and speed limits are no issue. I’ll take overly bright, non-irrating with some blow out on image quality of reflective signs for excellent night vision.
There will be no 34 percent THC grass with the morning coffee this morning, no eye opener drink or hoping on my mountain bike and riding down whatever truck trail hits my fancy, giggling, spooking deer, rabbits, turkeys and bears in the process. Listening to audio books by Hunter S. Thompson and Edward Abbey. No more daily or bi-daily fires to watch as theat plastic crap melts and turns into bright colorful flames with that sometimes pungent smell. Just SQL queries and R code to write, and lines of people at my office.
With the windows closed while I was out of town, 👃 my apartment stunk from dead mouse 🐁 and mold when I got home. Opening the windows helped,and I flushed that dead mouse I found in the toilet. 🚽 I guess it’s winter, need to get the mouse traps back out again. 🪤 It’s warm enough this morning – 65 degrees – I have the windows open. I need to get some ammonia and white vinegar and some more sponges 🫧🧼 and do some cleaning when I go shopping tonight. I got home from camping, and I think my first reaction to my apartment was my gawd this place is a real dump. But then I remind myself is the rent is the same deal offered by the County Welfare office for those looking for a room in a motel they rent out for those with other options for housing and no vochures. And I so idolize those with those mobile homes way on dirt back roads that smell like kerosene and wood smoke, with a goat tied up out back next to the blacked burn barrels. 🐐 🛢️ And I’m still listening to Karen Dalton’s Are You Leaving for the Country, almost smelling that super sweet grass on my brain. It’s amazing how long that 34 percent grass lasts, I mean you really need a puff and you’re good for many hours. $12 and there is still a fair bit left after 13 days of camping. I am sure the politicians are like we must ban it now, because giggles and happiness are bad must be banned. Politicians despise human happiness more then anything else.
Back to work again in the suburban office building next to old city dump. 🏢 Raining this morning, so I’m going to drive, as I need groceries after work and it’s such a pain to get work without the express bus anymore. 🚍 Come winter, when I don’t ride, I guess busing it’s a good option as it gives me an opportunity to walk in the Plaza while I make the transfer and get exercise, 🚶 still I don’t love that option. 🛒 Regardless, I need to get to Wally World to restock most of the supplies that got eaten up, or used up and burnt up while up in wilderness. I figured no sense in bring home a wrapper I was going to burn up eventually anyways. 🔥 By the end of week, I was running a bit low on a lot of things, so I figured get creative and use up what I could and start fresh when I shop tonight. Need more whole fruits and vegatables and things packaged in plastic to make a good fire next time I’m in wilderness. And I’m humming along with Karen Dalton and Gram Parsons. Out with the truckers, the kickers, the cowboy angles, and a good saloon in every single town. 🤠
I finished up listening to Eva Shaub’s Year without Garbage audio book. 🔉 🗑️ It’s funny, there have been many years when I’ve just made one trip a year to the transfer station with my bottles and cans, 🥫 so I kind of know that life. Though lately I’ve been occasionally bringing them out to my folks house. And I used to recycle paper 📄 before they took away the free local dumpsters for that. ♻️ I still use those recycling dumpsters for worn out boots 👢 and clothing after it’s been used for rags. Once I got into healthy eating, I save all of my food scraps now for the folks compost pile though I swear once I own land, I’ll have chickens 🐔 and pigs 🐖 for such things. And hoard things like pallets and shredded paper for uses on the homestead. And well still have fires. 🔥 I get it, Eva was trying to be green, still I find things like broken appliances and even tin cans far more annoying then the plastic shit that melts and burns so well. I can’t imagine ever paying for garbage service, when I can haul the stuff I can’t compost or burn to the transfer station every few months. But maybe I’m a knuckle-dragging hillbilly. Not some eco-conscious leftist who reads a lot of Edward Abbey. 🌎 But as Eva notes, plastic recycling is mostly a scam. Though some of that stuff can be pretty stinky and burn black, especially if you don’t have a hot fire. Separating out the wet composting materials helps a lot though.
This morning was cornmeal pancakes with the last sweet onion I had, some turmeric, shredded broccoli and corn. 🥞 Coffee with peanut butter powder and skim milk. ☕ Big pot of pinto beans cooking down on the stove.🍲 I’ve gotten really hooked on pinto beans, not just because of reading Edward Abbey but they are cheapest beans you can get at Wally World, in 4 lb bags that limit the amount of plastic to burn. I wish I had something sweet like bananas 🍌 or apples 🍏 this morning, maybe I could stop at Wally World on the drive in. I didn’t empty my compost bucket when I was at my parents house, but I figure it can rot outside for another week, as it doesn’t really smell as I don’t eat much meat and cold outside. Tomorrow I’ll ride in 🚲 even though I’m going to public hearings tomorrow, and Wednesday I guess I can take the local bus in and then ride the bike home. The rest of week looks good for bike riding, especially as I think I’ll have meetings downtown later in the week.
I’m thinking my next trip 🏕️ to the wilderness will likely not be until Veterans Day Weekend. Probably do Stoney Pond though that’s not set in stone. 🤷♂️Madison County is a fun place, even if that’s time of year when it smells like cow shit once all that silage is chopped. 🐮 I guess I need more cow manure on mountain bike, or horse shit more likely if I go to Charlie Baker’s Horse Camp. 🐴 Though if I’m riding the hick town roads this time of year. 🚲 Kind of a bleak landscape, but also on blue skies, the browns and grays are such rich colors. I’ll stay away from the Adirondacks until at least Southern Zone Big Game is open, namely after Thanksgiving. 🦌 That’s when I’ll likely do the East Branch Scandaga River or maybe Piseco-Powley if no snow and snow is unlikely. Wouldn’t go too far up that road though in case we did get snow. ☃️It’s tough now with the temperatures dropping, snow 🌨️ becoming more of a risk and there so little daylight. Indeed, October camping you wake up in the dark, and go to bed in the dark. 🍁 I was concerned about running out of fuel ⛽ but I had enough for the 10 days though the tank is a bit low with all the heater, lantern and stove use.
The last ten miles of the Adirondack Rail Trail are done. The worse ten miles from Saranac to Placid but whatever I wanted to check off that list despite almost smashing into a bunch of ladies in lolly gagging on the trail. So I’ve done all 34 miles both ways or 68 miles total. Closer to 70 when you figure I overlapped a bit at Lake Colby and rode into the village in Tupper Lake
It’s fine. Riding after dark was fun, and it’s smooth and scenic like the Adirondack Northway. It’s kind of like riding an Interstate highway through the mountains, some nice views in the wilderness, a lot of back sides of houses and garbage dumps especially the last ten miles from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid.
I might some day again do the section between Tupper Lake and Floodwood but honestly I much prefer riding the gated roads like around the Bog River Flow and Floodwood Reservation Road. Things with a little more character and challenge. But not too rough or big hills. Some of the old logging train grades are great riding. I should check out more of the Saint Lawrence Flatlands to ride – both the State Forests and Wild Forests with the haul and fire protection roads, especially the gated ones not all tore up by vehicles and ATVs.
Apparently he spotted my Don’t Tread on Me flag, though maybe not in the context of the Earth Flag. Or maybe he’s unfamiliar with Hayduke Lives! Or Earth First!
I had to yell back “Fuck the Garonola Eaters! I hope they put rat poison in your granola!”. Truth that is probably not a nice thing to say as I’ll probably open the New York Times newsletter and they’ll be telling me 2,946 children a dead because there was rat poison mixed into their organic garnola. You know, kind of like Hank Williams teasing Buddy Holly. Not that such things packaged in plastic wrap is exactly healthy. Woke is fake, it’s about marketing.
I’m not convinced Trump is the worse things ever – a lot of things were broken and change was needed – but he’s also problematic at so many levels. But maybe the Washington DC needs to burn in the second half of the twenties for a better 30s. There was a lot crap in government, everybody knows that, and while some steps are backwards change was necessary.
It seems hard to believe it’s been a week now in the wilderness – starting out in Perkins Clearing for three nights, then Horseshoe Lake for three nights, and now Floodwood Road in the St. Regis Canoe Area. It’s funny, while Polywog Pond has a big group of campsites around it, this campsite on East Pine Pond is pretty quiet and isolated, though there is another campsite some 1/4 mile down the road.
Hell of it is, I doubt I’ve driven 150 miles so far on this trip, and that there is a good chance that I’ll make it home on Sunday on one tank of gas. It’s been a very direct trip, first Perkins Clearing (via Mason Pond as I was hoping for campsite there), then a b-line to Horseshoe Pond, then it was pretty much straight up to Floodwood Road, with a brief stop at the the Village Park in Tupper Lake, but that was maybe 2 miles out of the way, along with the local IGA grocer. Most of my travel has been via bike, as once I’ve set up camp I’ve not driven Red at all, though a few nights due to the cold and lack of sunlight I’ve idled the truck to keep especially the starting battery fully charged.
Today was no different. I rode down to Tupper Lake via the new Adirondack Rail Trail, having to stop a few times, because I got a flat tire, but I was able to pump it up and then eventually the fix-a-flat did it’s magic and I rode the rest of the day. Rode down to the Tupper Village Park, it was much nicer then the previous day. Then I rode through the village, and down NY 30 to Raquette Pond and took in the view. Then I decided to ride to Arab Mountain Trailhead in Piercefield. I tell you that Faust Hill outside of Tupper Lake, especially heading west bound on NY 3 is a bitch to climb, though it was fun riding back down. St. Lawrence County Highway 67 was another pretty good hill, as was the road over to Mount Arab. Made the mile trail up to the firetower seem relatively easy. A beautiful day, and not so cold. Still some nice color up at Arab Mountain, though not so much on some of the other peaks.
Riding down from Arab Mountain back to Tupper Lake was much more fun, though still you have to climb over Faust Hill, though it’s not as steep of a grade heading east bound on NY 3. The nice thing is NY 3 has very wide shoulders, as it was likely originally a 3-lane highway with a shared passing lane, removed some time later when that seen as unsafe. Then I spent some time at Tupper Lake Park for a while, uploading photos and thinking, replying to some work emails. Then I stopped at Save-a-Lot, which I didn’t realize is much like an Aldis, and got some more olive oil, as I was out of fats to lubricate pans with as I don’t have any bacon from For the Love of Bacon, and I was out of olive oil. I don’t use vegatables oil anymore, though I thought about that as a fall back as it would be better while camping, as it won’t solidify like olive oil does in cold.
Tomorrow I am planning on hiking Floodwood Mountain. I was surprised to hear what appeared to be cows mooing up here in the wilderness – but I was studying the maps and there is an in holding on West Pine Pond, and somebody must have a cows on their off-grid homestead, as there is no electric on most of St. Regis Canoe Area. But I can’t imagine having cows up here, with the demands of hay and grain, with no farms nearby, seems like an expensive proposition but some people like fresh milk and meat. Watched the sun set on East Pine Pond and cooked up btoen rice, canned chicken meat, onions, and carrots into a delicious soup. Always a filling meal after a busy day out on the trail, as I don’t do processed foods anymore and rarely eat meat, with the exception of bacon. It’s like saying I’m not smoker, despite liking an occasional Marlboro Red in the woods with a cold beer or a toke up in wilderness. But its’ so much better then the food most people eat dripping in saturated fats from cheese and meat.
I’ve been listening to more of Eva Shaub’s The Year Without Garbage. While there have been many years when I’ve only gone to transfer station once a year with accumulated milk bottles and all of the tin cans and glass bottles from the past year, I have to admit I don’t think nearly enough about all those plastic wrappers and coatings I’ve tossed in the fire over the years. While I don’t think I would ever have a smoldering burn barrel when I have my own land, I don’t really see the harm of burning the occasional wrapper in s hot fire when you have no neighbors nearby. A big part of my garbage these days is compost, being that I eat healthy, so I have a lot of apple cores and banana and onion peels. Those flour bags, frozen fruit bags, and dried bean wrappers pretty much disappear into the flames almost instantly with very little stink or smoke. Speaking of which, I think I want to have a fire tonight. I’m sitting by the heater, but a fire is nice, especially with the nights as long as they are this time of year. Plus I don’t know how long until the low voltage shuts off the electric lights as there was not too much solar for a charge today.
After dark, the curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to find out more about the cows I was hearing. So I went for a night time ride up Floodwood Road. I was surprised beyond the state land there is several hunting cabins and off-grid homesteads including a farm with cattle and other animals that I couldn’t see well in the dark. I rode to gate at the end of road in St. Lawrence County. It was neat looking at the off-grid cabins and homesteads after dark, mostly dark except for the lanterns and lights indoors, mostly not lit up outdoors. Then I decided I had a lot of energy, so I went for a ride on the Adirondack Rail Trail in the dark, some 5 miles from Floodwood north to Hoel Pond then Little Rainbow Pond. While part of Hoel Pond has grid-tied houses, much of the rest of the trail up through the St. Regis Canoe Area is completely dark and star filled. I probably would have ridden further but after checking the battery level on my bike light, and realizing I haven’t charged it in weeks despite a fair bit of night riding, it would be best to head back to camp. I had a small fire for a while, a beer and soon I’m heading to bed.
And so that was the day that was. It was a good day.
