Still raining out today. Then it’s going to be hot tomorrow, cooler on Friday and then hot for the weekend through Tuesday. Still undecided if I head north after work on Friday or leave early Saturday, I am leaning towards the later as I don’t like rush hour traffic, I can get more bacon and I know the ice will survive a 3-day weekend no matter how hot it gets and I can stay in the same campsite all weekend if I want. That said the bacon place doesn’t open until 9 AM on Saturday. Maybe I do drive up on Friday, but what to do about the ice? Drive in to work then come home and get it?
Muggers are starting to creep back in, 🗡️ and you can feel the humidity as the rain pull off. Session is done, so I don’t have to dress up much for work not that I did most of the season. Seemed like it was just January but I’ll take summer’s heat because it will be over before you know it, 😰 replaced with the grays and cold of winter. Tomorrow is going to be hot and not wet as expected but the forecast keeps changing. But next week still looks Iike it will be mad hot back here in Delmar while I’m north up. I am going to be bitter if I don’t drive north on Friday, maybe I can come home, pack the coolers after work and drive north I don’t know by taking the back roads to avoid the Thruway at rush hour especially if I can’t get more bacon early on Saturday. 🥓 I get commodity bacon from the Grocery Store, even WOKE brand organic bacon made by the black transvestites on the sustainably branded farm, but honestly I still have some left from Memorial Day Weekend. Honestly, my favorite is the recycling and green claims on the Styrofoam plates 🍽️ I used to use up at camp not that any of them ever went to the landfill. 🔥
Yesterday I was going to ride in but then it started to rain, ☔ and rain it did all day. I thought for a while that the weather would be okay on Tuesday but it really did not work out that way. It rained most of yesterday. 🚴 Today it looks like the rain is pulling off to the east so I can ride in but I’ll still need my rain coat to be safe. With session done I figure I can wear t-shirts and even shorts most days to work – since I don’t work with members I don’t normally wear a suit and tie those days but I do at least try to wear a nice long-sleeved shirt that I got from Salvation Army or Good Will. Really the quality at thrift stores is often better then what you get a swanky place like J. C. Penny. Going to listen to more of The Sand County Almanac on the way on in. 📚
Juneteenth there is a possibility I go out kayaking 🛶 on the Hudson River from that new boat launch, but I am a bit concerned that it might be stormy plus all the drunks on the power boats 🛥️ roaring along on the river. I could Thompson Lake or somewhere else. Doesn’t look like it’s going to be as wet as first predicted, but still hot. And cooler on Friday. Really the real baking heat comes next week while I’m at the Potholers. 🏊
I really shouldn’t be watching news on days like this, but riding the city bus home this evening I noticed how much gas prices up. But I’ve gotten into the habit of refreshing the NY Times and Twitter throughout the day. The whole thing with Iran and the arrest of Brad Lander is quite alarming, even if a lot of it is just political postering. But I’m glad I’m far away from it in my quiet suburban office in Menands.
Saturday I am pretty sure I’ll be heading north for four days – camp three nights and spend most of it floating in the tube and hanging out and relaxing. Away from it all, no news, no radio. So if we go to war with Iran or something terrible happens, I won’t know until Tuesday evening when I’m finally back on the grid. Honestly, I’m fine with that, I’ve been doing too much news watching lately.
It does seem like the weather pattern is going to turn hotter and drier with summer getting underway. That’s fine, but I’m hoping that it’s not too hot especially if gas prices spike and it becomes more difficult to get away. Or I have problems with my truck. Honestly, I know neither is that big of a deal, I’ll just save a bit more for gas and I’ll get Red serviced as needed. No need to freak out about the news or whatever happens. Can’t change everything bad in this world.
That is the one thing I struggle with more each and every day. Wokeness has become so persuasive in society today, with people always trying to hawk their wares with cuteness and virtue. Endless streams of photos of cute farm animals, products packaged in plain brown cardboard with rechargeable lithium ion batteries that are supposed to be sustainable. While in my younger years I would be quick to dismiss a book on permaculture as new age quackery and pushing of wokeness, there is nothing with trying to learn as much about land and alternative philosophies and what actually makes sense in reality and isn’t about being cute and woke – or selling a book or similar product. It’s actually really confusing – you want to do the right thing but the marketeers only care about selling you plastic shit.
Why the fuck not? It’s going to be ungodly hot back here in Delmar and I’d rather be up in the Potholers cooling off and smoking grass singing along with the Dire Wolf.
That said I didn’t appreciate my neighbor’s marijuana smoke 🚬 drifting into my apartment last night but it wasn’t bad. Shit stinks, it’s one thing if you are up in the wilderness. 👃 I probably will head up to the Adirondacks early Saturday morning, that way I can have the same site for three nights and not deal with Friday traffic and I can get more bacon 🥓 if I want. That said, I probably won’ t be able to get the House Pond Campsite at least not until Sunday if I drive up on Saturday. 🏕️ Maybe I’m not that set on that one plan but I have my doubts that my ice would survive four nights in the heat, especially come Tuesday.
How I came to the fuck it ideology, 🖕 was that the forecast has gotten hotter for next week and honestly who knows when the next stretch of warm sunny weather will occur. The following Friday morning I have my dentist appointment, but I can use Personal Time for that and I always have quite a bit of time left over. I can try to get into work early and bank more time too. 🕒 Really the best weather is going to be on Monday and Tuesday next week if the forecast is to be believed. Thursday, Juneteenth I will probably stay close to home and work Friday. 🏡 If I’m not going north until Saturday, then I can probably just ride into the office which is easier then working over the VPN at home. 🏢 I don’t know, maybe I will drive up on Friday night and just move campsites. I could always head down to Dolgeville on Sunday afternoon for ice 🧊 and ice cream 🍨 at Green Acres. And then move down to the House Pond Campsite. What’s the worse thing – I get asked to fill out a camping permit and my name is in another government database. 🎫 I just don’t want to be probited from any one specific campsite for the rest of the year, quite honestly.
It was nice having carrots 🥕 for the pancakes this morning, they just add a bit of crunch and flavor 🥞 and help boost the amount of fiber in them which should keep me pooping 💩 all day. Beats eating too many of the kidney beans over the weekend and being a little bound up. 😂 Lots of frozen blueberries too. I could get fresh but the frozen ones are easy and I don’t have to worry about expiration. I think the rain has stopped so I can ride in but I can bring my rain coat ☔ to be safe. It’s rare we have a purely rain free day these days. 🚲
No more listening to that ever so woke Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. 🐻 I remember that book being a phenomenon in the late 1990s but it’s so terribly woke like so much of that horrible decade. I was just cringing it made my ears want to bleed. 👂 I am going to listen to the Sand County Almamac today which I also have and is due back on Friday. Good book, I read for college 📖 but the audio book should be a good refresher especially if I’m thinking about going to Wisconsin next summer. I just get so sick and tired 🤮 of all this woke crap everywhere.
Is Donald Trump a king? No. Does he want to be a king, maybe but that’s besides the point – he’s one government worker in millions. Granted, he’s an important one with broad responsibilities and powers but ultimately he’s one of many people in the government.
It is obvious that under Donald Trump’s second term he wants to consolidate power in the Presidency, and he wants to enact substantial conservative change using all levers of power at his disposal. He has showed little tendency to shy away from avaliable tools to get his agenda done, indeed he’s in many ways testing the limitations of the laws that govern the office. He doesn’t have anything to loose as he never will be President in a few years, and frankly he’s quite old and probably doesn’t have long left in his life.
All politicians want to get things done with their power. Most don’t want to pull the fire alarm right away or push up against the limits of the institution with fear that they will loose power they need in the future for unforeen circumstances. But it’s obvious Trump doesn’t see that office that way – probably for good reason – as he knows Democrats will probably take the House of Representatives, pick up seats in the US Senate and local offices, and generally be seen on upswing after the 2026 elections. Use it or loose it when comes to power.
Is President Trump reckless with power? Yes, but what does he have to loose? If anything, his experimentation with remaking government in his conservative model will show where the guardrails are actually located, and provide a model for future presidents, assuming Congress doesn’t limit the power of the Presidency which is certain to happen, especially if there is a strong likelihood that a Democrat is likely to be heading back to the White House in 2029.
Trump is a shock to system, but a lot of old things were broken. We can be horrified at changes we are seeing enacted, and in many cases we should be horrified. But also, he’s cleaning out a lot of crap out of government, helping industries that have been too long propped up by subsidies and polices – like solar power and electric cars – which have gotten pretty good and now could use the training wheels kicked off and let industry find ways to make the technology cheaper and better without so much government support. Maybe we could use a bit higher taxes on imports, especially cheap disposable things made by slave labor overseas so that people use less of those things.
I am not saying protests are a bad thing. People should be out there and being heard. I kind of wanted to show up to the No Kings Protest with my Gadsen Flag, because what is any more resisting tyrancy then “Don’t Tread on Me”? I think people should be skeptical of government, not only when their party of choice is out of power. While all this whiplash between the policies of each party are problematic from a planning and business perspective, certainly it’s a moderating effect on government, though it seems like conservatives have the upper hand in the sense it’s easier to repeal regulations and policies then enact new ones, which tend to be preferred policy of the left.
Looking back, so much of what dominates the news today will just be seen as noise and as unimportant. Much of people’s panic about the changes enacted will just be that – hardly ripples in the time line of history. Some of Trump’s policies will quietly be accepted by the liberals, and become permanent while others will be rolled back. We will get through it all.
