Not as cold as those warning of the Cold Warning, aka Windchill Advisory warned us of with no wind and temperatures a few degrees above zero, but I’m not saying it’s a warm winter day at 6 degrees and sun soon to ride but it could be worse.
Happy Weekend on this last day of January. 🗓️ I can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve retired Red, spending most of it trying to legitimatize in my mind buying a Godzilla engine as blown engines are so bad. 🛻 And hearing from so many people that I am a poor desperate individual not owning a car. I mean how can you go for a drive to the Shopping Maul, located next to City Garbage Dump to buy more plastic? It’s so cold out there in January, how can you ever consider riding your bike to the store, you sad desperate individual? At least the past few days the Homeless Bums weren’t harassing me 👣 as I walked my laps in the Plaza. Beats walking outside. Yesterday, they had bomb sniffing dogs 🐕 walking the Plaza, sniffing the trash can. Must be because I tossed a plastic milk jug in one of those bins for recycling on my way over shuttle earlier in the week. Getting good at finding random public trash and recycling bins ♻️ for little bags of trash, though maybe at this point I should just save the crap for spring time when I can haul to the transfer station or save the paper, as I have been, for fire starting. 🔥
I am thinking I’ll probably head out fairly early to Walmart this morning. 🛒 Might do Hannaford tomorrow morning for anything I didnt’ get a Walmart as I don’t want to overload my bicycle. It’s cold but not as cold out as I expected this morning. I think I’ll try wearing nitrile gloves 🧤 under my winter gloves to see if it will help with the frozen fingers. I’ve heard nitrile gloves while locking the sweat in also really keep your fingers from loosing heat through the gloves. It’s been basically a week since I since last got out to ride, though I’m hoping to ride a lot more this upcoming week to work as the weather moderates, though by Corning Hill. Once the snow is done I can do both ways, and no more busing, which will be nice. I’ll want to grease the chain up well before I head out to Walmart. Probably do Bender Road over to Walmart, that is quite way of going, though I’m undecided if I will take the bypass or the suburbanite subdivisions back to it. 💭 Not sure, I kind of like the quiet way of going there. I thought it was supposed to be sunny out today, but it seems fairly cloudy as the sun rises. 📚 When I get back home, I’ll probably spend the afternoon reading and studying probably more about trucks, I got to get out my Hoopla Borrows for January by end of the day, so I can read them through the first three weeks of February. Always seems to happen like that. I should spread out my borrows through the month.
While for some time I’ve been looking at the Ford Inventory locator, a few of local dealerships and some of the third party sites at SuperDuty trucks, 🛻 I’ve now started to study dealership websites from within about a 150 mile radius to see what inventory is avaliable and which dealerships have the trucks I’m most interested in – the FX4 Off-Road Package, Extended Cab, Godzilla engine, base XL trim with a MSRP below $60k. I picked that number because I think I can make that deal work, and it’s expensive but reasonable with my income and savings, especially if I keep it for a 10-15 years and use it primarily recreationally. It’s werid how some dealerships seem to have a ton of trucks in that configuration, while others don’t have any Extended Cab models, only crew cabs, Lariats and stripper regular-cab work trucks, especially in the more suburban areas. 🤷♂️ There are a few I want to test drive at end of February at local dealerships on bus line, 🚌 but come March I see myself working the phones, getting quotes and ultimate a buyer’s agreement and getting a ride somewhere to take a delivery, Healey’s in Kingston and Don’s in Utica have a lot of trucks but also some of the rural dealerships have a few in the configuration I’m most interested in. I mean I could still buy a Toyota, as I do cringe on how much fuel a SuperDuty will use ⛽, but high fuel costs are good excuse to leave it parked with engine off. If I eventually need a commuter car, I’ll buy one of those 25-year old Honda Civics everybody say is amazing, and if it dies, I’ll get a ride home and drive the SuperDuty until I get it repaired or replaced with another clunker.
Starting applying for quotes to various insurers about getting a policy on a Ford SuperDuty 📄 🔍 but it’s proven a bit harder then I expected to apply online when you don’t have a vehicle currently you’re transferring the policy from and you don’t have new vehicle and are just trying to get an estimate based on general characteristics of the trucks you are looking at. Plus, a lot of default insurance policies are profitable for insurers and seem nice but are terrible rip-off. I want to do a minimum$1,000 comphrensive/collision deductable, because while I hate to piss away $1,000, it’s not that big of a loss these days and you save a fair bit by taking more of risk yourself – and it has psychological benefits knowing it will cost you if you smash things up. On the other hand, I really want to get a $250k/$500k /$500k liability policy or maybe more, to cover my ass, if it’s not too expensive. But a lot of “discount” insurers are trying to push you towards to the state minimum which I think is like $25k/$50k/$10k, which I guess is fine if you are on welfare and all they can take from you is your food stamps. No, I don’t want rental car coverage (if I have to rent a car to get home, I’ll eat the loss) , glass coverage (if more then $1,000 in glass is damaged then comphrensive covers it), lost wages or other insurance that is profitable for insurer but not for those paying for the coverage. You should only insure truly catestrophic losses. But people are like glass coverage is so nice if you get a stone through your windshield, as they replace it for free. But you’re still paying for it over time, after a few years, it’s just better to cut a check and write-off your bad luck as bad luck. Maybe I read too many personal finance books and know a thing or two about insurance works.
So yeah, I’ll probably end up buying a big assed Ford F-250 or F-350, 💰 but I want to be as responsible as I can be about the whole thing while being totally irresponsible and not buying that 20-year old Honda Civic. I want to get good insurance protection, while not insuring loses I can better pay out of pocket and keep the money if I never have a claim against my own bank account. And it’s not like I won’t get a lot of use out of SuperDuty – maybe not put a million miles on it as it will be expensive to fuel and drive – but a lot of use in sense of nights camped and traveled. I like driving to camp, safely parking it, then opening a beer and smoking some weed before riding and hiking from camp, no DUI laws or crashes to worry about. And just using my mountain bike around town. Well, I should get on my mountain bike and head to Walmart on this most frigid of mornings.
“Trials never end, of course. Unhappiness and misfortune are bound to occur as long as people live, but there is a feeling now, that was not here before, and is not just on the surface of things, but penetrates all the way through: We’ve won it. It’s going to get better now. You can sort of tell these things.” – Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig
A long time and insider I ran into the other day at the legislative building when I mentioned I’m now the Director of Data Services, she replied back, that’s pretty noteworthy, not many people make it to become a unit director. There simply aren’t that many openings. I kind of viewed it as silly little position with a big title but not much more they that. Even the hundred thousand dollars a year doesn’t seem like much with inflation, nor does overseeing two divisions of employees – word processors and data service staff totalling six people with a half million dollar budget. I get it, I’m not that governor of the state, overseeing a budget of $250 billion and a population of 20 million.
I know I’m damn good at my job, I know my way around the Unix text utilities and SQL to get things done quickly and with a knowledge of the R statistical language and other programming concepts. I know GIS and map making, I can parse and total data in ways others find amazing. But I don’t know all the answers and I’m not a developer or database administrator. I still have to often go hand in hat to the OADP unit that oversees the technical side of things. I wish I knew more but I didn’t get those advanced skillsor training in college.
I know I have earned it. If you told me I would be going on 17 years with the New York Assembly I would have found that hard to believe on what seemed like just yesterday when I was in college. The endless long nights sleeping under my desk, crunching numbers at 3 am, staying in motel rooms and people’s basements on campaign. The sometimes holding my nose and just getting the work done regardless how I personally felt about. I’ve learned much, become far more professional but it sure doesn’t feel that way at times. I’m 41 not 24 anymore, my hair is graying but I don’t feel like some of those mature adults you see and know.
Maybe I’m bragging but it doesn’t eliminate the insecurity I feel, how I’m not sure if I earned what I have. Or if what I do is important or if my salary is enough. I realize no matter your level of success you’ll always be comparing yourself to those a few steps above you, those living a life you dream of but can’t yet live out in the country.
With the bitter cold this week, along with the snow and Ice the last time I’ve ridden anywhere is last Sunday. Probably the longest I’ve been off the road since I got my bicycle, and maybe I should have ridden in yesterday, my birthday but it still was pretty cold and icy. Tomorrow I’ll need to bundle up ride to the store to grocery shop, and maybe go to Walmart for some other supplies. I’m hoping next week I can ride at least a few more days into work, via Corning’s Hill. Once the snow melts off the rail trail, there should be enough light to ride both ways to work.
The #! sequence, commonly called the shebang, was introduced by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Laboratories in January 1980. It was added to the Unix kernel to allow scripts to be executed directly as commands, making them behave more like regular executable programs.
Origin and Purpose
Before the shebang, executing a script in early Unix required explicitly calling the interpreter (e.g., sh script.sh). The operating system’s exec() system call could only run compiled binaries, which started with specific “magic number” bytes that the kernel recognized as machine instructions.
Dennis Ritchie changed the system so that the kernel would check the first two bytes of a file. If the bytes were CPU instructions, it would execute the file as a binary program.
If the bytes were the ASCII characters #! (hexadecimal 0x23 0x21), the kernel would read the rest of the line to find the path to an interpreter program. The kernel would then run that interpreter, passing the script’s filename as an argument.
This mechanism brought several key benefits:
Uniformity: Scripts could be executed uniformly like any other command, rather than only being runnable from within a shell.
Clarity in monitoring: Tools like ps (process status) would show the script’s actual name and interpreter, rather than just sh, aiding system monitoring and accounting.
Flexibility: It allowed for the use of various interpreters (e.g., sh, csh, perl, python, bash) without ambiguity, making the system more flexible.
Portability: It specified the intended interpreter within the script itself, ensuring it ran with the correct environment regardless of the user’s default shell.
I keep reading about the downsides of owning an heavy duty-pickup truck, unless of course you are towing regularly as part of your business. The often listed reasons for not buying a HD truck are as follows:
They cost a lot of money, especially compared to small sedans and SUVs used by the car commuters
They cost a lot of money to repair and maintain, as the parts are and more expensive
They aren’t as simple as even basic HD trucks these days are packed full of sensors and technology
They use a lot of fuel, though not as bad you might think
They are big, difficult to drive and park
They have a rough ride with solid front axles
Probably the thing that bites into me about buying a Ford SuperDuty is the cost. It’s a lot of money, when there are much cheaper and smaller vehicles out there. Depending on how to look at it the truck will fall in or be slightly above the recommended amount for my income, though not by much. I should still have enough cash that I should be able to cover all reasonable emergencies without touching investments. Still it’s a lot of money for something I’m going to literally throw away in a little over a decade or a decade and a half. It not that I can’t afford a SuperDuty, but I try to be very frugal on all other parts of my life. I don’t eat out or party, I don’t take expensive vacations, I keep my heat at 50 degrees all winter and take my mountain bike or city bus to work. I don’t drive many miles. And I bitch about when it rains or extremely cold because I have to pay the bus fare but I can find money to buy a Ford F-350. I sit in the cold and darkness and stay home, just so I can have a nice truck soon enough to be trash once again, and I can’t even burn it.
Then there is the issue of fuel consumption. Based on Internet reports of real-world SuperDuty fuel economy, it’s pretty much what I get from my lifted Silverado 1500 right now on the highway at least. Not that my Silverado was at all good in city or on the trail when it came to fuel use. Truth is I don’t care that much, as I am not planning on commuting in a SuperDuty, and if it costs a few bucks when I’m traveling it’s not the end of the world. I’d rather have a truck that I am comfortable in and can spend more time in the wilderness without having to drive to town. What’s another $250 in fuel on a great summer vacation?
But I do think a lot about the messaging driving such a big truck makes. Sorry about your broken penis, dude. You must have a pretty mighty payment on such a big truck. When I bring the Big Ford home, the landlord is going to see the big truck and figure he must be loaded to afford such a nice truck, so he should raise the rent on my dilapidated apartment. When I take it out Pine Bush hikes, I am going to more glares and stares from environmentalists when they see my enormous truck. The truck will cost more then what many of my staff people I oversee make in a whole year. Certainly not going to be something I show off to my more liberal friends, the Prisus and hybrid drivers. It’s really hard to show up to a climate rally in an ginormous Ford F-350 extended cab with a long bed and camper shell, even if it’s not lifted yet and I promise myself I won’t do more then a leveling kit and maybe 35s or 37s.
And it’s just those Big Fords are big. Even with backup cameras, they’re going to be a bitch to park anywhere in the city or thereabouts. It will be difficult when I have to drive in traffic, whether it’s stuck in a jam on the Thruway or those few times I have a legitimate reason to drive downtown or to work. Not that I plan to give up busing and biking it to work most days. The laundromat will be a challenge, as will parking lots, though I actually prefer to park fair away and walk, because it’s good for health and avoid risk of getting hit in the parking or hitting other cars. But on the other hand, I’ve driven a lifted truck for 10 years now, and had a full-size, though not HD truck for 14 1/2 years. Yet it’s not fun in city, narrow truck trails and campsites, even if it’s great on the open road. I can only imagine how shit the ride is going to be rough truck trails with the solid front axle and heavy-duty rear shocks, though I’m not sure how it compared to rough worn out shocks and flexing frame of the Silverado.
I’m old enough to remember when cold weather was a windchill advisory, but then the government decided being explicit was too confusing for our simple brains and we needed to be dazzled with more bullshit much like the blown engines the government is requiring on non-HD pickups.
As that Billy Preston song goes, it’s another zero degree morning but this morning with a good steady wind 🌬️ so I’ll be riding the bus to work with all the colored and poor people on the pogey but at least it will be warm when I’m looking at random videos of overly large, fuel drinking pickup trucks ⛽ with the Godzilla engine. 🚍 Hopefully next week will be warm enough I can ride into work. 🚲 It’s going to be bad enough tomorrow when I ride to Wally World or if I’m not brave enough in the cold, down to Hannaford to get my weekly staple of apples 🍏 and random plastic crap for the landfill because I can’t have a fire 🔥 because I don’t own a ginormous F-350 truck with a camper shell yet.
They fixed the bathroom 🚽 at work, so it no longer is gag worthy with sewer gas. 👃 That was good it was pretty awful by Wednesday when it finally got fixed, I think the last time was there to take a crap at eating all that fiber in my pancakes, 💩 I’d rather have been climbing in a silo full of rotten silage. It’s was so gross. But now it’s much fresher. 🥞 🍏 More homemade apple pancakes this morning with carrots. 🥕 Last night for my birthday 🎂 I had some of the kidney beans I cooked up yesterday morning, along with onions and the remaining chicken and rice soup and some cornmeal. Basic buck good.
Other then that it just was a Thursday. ❄️ Cold and I walked laps for a while in the Empire Plaza, 👣 before catching the local home. Just the usual homeless bums hanging around in the back hallways of the Plaza pushing wheelchairs and grocery carts full of random debris, and the bus was held up in traffic again both on the way in and home. Had to sprint over to the shuttle 🚀 but I made it in time. Today I might head in and catch the earlier bus just because I have a few things to get done and I assume I’ll have meetings in the afternoon downtown. Tomorrow, I need to finish figuring out what books I want on Hoopla to read in February, read up on new magazines. Maybe I’ll visit my parents this weekend, depends on the weather and their avaliablity. 👪 Other then that it’s just another winter weekend.
