Pretty though in the valley
Schuyler County
Weather Update – July 28, 2021
It looks like today is going to be a pretty decent day after the sun comes out which is already starting to happen. ☀ I am debating whether I should go to Trumansburg or Watkins Glen today. I would like to hike and explore the trails at Texas Hollow sometime before vacation is done, along with maybe part of Connecticut Hill.
Tomorrow looks like a good day to stay close to camp, ⛺ read and just hang out. Not that I’ve been super active or ambitious during all of vacation. I just like my hammock a bit too much. Friday and Saturday look pretty good but cold ❄. Like late September weather up here on the Backbone.
| Weather Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today. Feels like … September 24th. |
Slight Chance of Showers then Sunny | 71 degrees | 8:31 sunset | |
| Tonight. Feels like … August 26th. |
Increasing Clouds | 59 degrees | 5:56 sunrise | |
| Thursday. Feels like … September 14th. |
Chance of T-storms | 75 degrees | 57 max dew point | 8:30 sunset |
| Thursday Night. Feels like … August 20th. |
Showers is likely | 60 degrees | 5:57 sunrise | |
| Friday. Feels like … October 5th. |
Slight Chance of Showers | 66 degrees | 62 max dew point | 8:29 sunset |
| Friday Night. Feels like … September 24th. |
Mostly Clear | 49 degrees | 5:58 sunrise | |
| Saturday. Feels like … September 28th. |
Mostly Sunny | 69 degrees | 51 max dew point | 8:28 sunset |
| Saturday Night. Feels like … September 6th. |
Mostly Cloudy then Chance of Showers | 56 degrees | 5:59 sunrise | |
| Sunday. Feels like … September 24th. |
Chance of Showers | 71 degrees | 54 max dew point | 8:27 sunset |
| Sunday Night. Feels like … September 14th. |
Partly Cloudy | 53 degrees | 6:00 sunrise | |
| Monday. Feels like … September 28th. |
Mostly Sunny | 69 degrees | 56 max dew point | 8:25 sunset |
| Monday Night. Feels like … September 14th. |
Partly Cloudy | 53 degrees | 6:01 sunrise | |
| Tuesday. Feels like … September 26th. |
Mostly Sunny | 70 degrees | 53 max dew point | 8:24 sunset |
Good Morning – July 28, 2021
Good morning! What day is it? Halfway through vacation with a broken phone screen, of course. 📱
Clouds, drizzle, fog and 62 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. ☁️ There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 61 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 am.
So I broke my phone yesterday. 📱 Still works somewhat but the screen is a mess. Simply fell out of my hand when I was locking my truck. Sucks but I’ll order a new one next week. I see if I order the same phone I have as now it’s as affordable as $20.
Went to Robert Treman State Park for a while for a swim 🏊🏻♂️. The water was super cold and fairly mucky, 💦 the deep end was closed due to poor visibility of the water as there was a lot of water coming over the falls. ⛈ Than a thunderstorm came through and the gorge swimming closed. I thought about hiking around Treman Lake or the gorge, 🚶🏻 but for a while in the afternoon it was raining ☔ hard.
I am still a bit pissy about my phone 📱 but this happens from time to time. I am kind of clutsy and while the phone with the case often survives falls sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s another reason to use my phone less on vacation.
Last night after dinner I heard a lot of tires squeaking and engine roaring down the road. I went down the road to check out. 🚙 A big old diesel 12 valve got stuck on the road shoulder. I didn’t have a tow rope and neither did he, so I gave him a ride into town. He got some of his buddies out including one with a lifted suburban with 4.11 gears to give him a little yank and he was out. 🔗 He said he drives semi truck for work hauling phosphorus rich chicken 🐔 manure from farms in the Susquehanna Basin and Chesapeake Bay watershed. Nice distraction for the evening.
Rain for a while in the evening and had a small camp fire 🔥 and grilled some burgers 🍔. Laid back in the hammock and listened to the radio 📻 for a few hours. Had a lot of trouble getting the charcoal going for the burgers but slowly they cooked.
Broke the screen on my phone 📱
Broke the screen on my phone 📱
It slipped out of my hands when I was locking up my truck at Robert Treman State Park. Got a year out of the phone, the screen protector case saved me many times but not this time. Shit happens, it’s a $70 or maybe less phone. Not going to bitch about it or get upset. When I get home I’ll order a new one and try not to cut my finger on the glass shards in the mean time.
I thought briefly about taking my phone somewhere to get the screen replaced but that’s not cheap. I also don’t know repairable my phone is from home, I’m not very good with very small things and I’m afraid that if I take apart the glued together case or even the clips will snap. Throw away society.
Weather Update – July 27, 2021
It looks like today is going to be another fairly nice day, but I’m not moving fast 🦉as I was a night owl and stayed up late hoping see more shooting stars. ✨
I did not buy enough ice yesterday and it was a warm evening 🌃 so I need to go to Dandy’s or another gas station ⛽ for more ice.
I’m thinking about going to Robert Treman for a swim 🏊🏻♂️ if gorge swimming is available even though I’m not really that big fan of it. I might in the afternoon hike at Lake Treman above Buttermilk Falls although truth be told I’m hardly ambitious. 😔 It’s vacation, why hurry? I know, I should get out and do stuff before it’s done.
Wednesday if it’s not too wet ⛈, I am thinking of hiking part of the Finger Lakes Trail 🚶🏻 through Texas Hollow and maybe over the hill to Cayuta Lake and Connecticut Hill. Never done that before. One of these days I want to get out with the kayak 🛶 maybe Seneca Lake if it’s calm.
| Weather Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today. Feels like … August 28th. |
Sunny then Chance of T-storms | 80 degrees | 8:32 sunset | |
| Tonight. Feels like … August 20th. |
Chance of T-storms then Chance of Showers | 60 degrees | 5:55 sunrise | |
| Wednesday. Feels like … September 21st. |
Chance of Showers then Mostly Sunny | 72 degrees | 63 max dew point | 8:31 sunset |
| Wednesday Night. Feels like … August 30th. |
Partly Cloudy then Slight Chance of Showers | 58 degrees | 5:56 sunrise | |
| Thursday. Feels like … September 14th. |
Chance of Showers | 75 degrees | 58 max dew point | 8:30 sunset |
| Thursday Night. Feels like … August 20th. |
Chance of Showers | 60 degrees | 5:57 sunrise | |
| Friday. Feels like … September 30th. |
Chance of Showers | 68 degrees | 62 max dew point | 8:29 sunset |
| Friday Night. Feels like … September 19th. |
Mostly Clear | 51 degrees | 5:58 sunrise | |
| Saturday. Feels like … September 26th. |
Mostly Sunny | 70 degrees | 50 max dew point | 8:28 sunset |
| Saturday Night. Feels like … September 3rd. |
Partly Cloudy then Chance of Showers | 57 degrees | 5:59 sunrise | |
| Sunday. Feels like … September 21st. |
Chance of Showers then Chance of T-storms | 72 degrees | 56 max dew point | 8:27 sunset |
| Sunday Night. Feels like … September 9th. |
Chance of T-storms then Partly Cloudy | 55 degrees | 6:00 sunrise | |
| Monday. Feels like … September 28th. |
Mostly Sunny | 69 degrees | 56 max dew point | 8:25 sunset |
Good Morning – July 27, 2021
Good morning! Happy Tuesday from vacationland. 🏖
Just another soon to be hot and possibly stormy ⛈ summer day. Very calm and quiet this morning in the woods, I was in no hurry to get up this morning as I stayed up way past midnight looking for shooting stars 🌠. Only saw one.
Sunny and 68 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. 🌞 Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees. I don’t have cell service here at camp, but I walked down the road where I knew that I could get a signal 📶.
I decided to pitch the tent 🎪 so I have a place to store my dirty clothing 👚 and things like pots and pans 🍳. This makes it easier to move things from the front to the back of the truck.
Python and Data Science 🎲
Python and Data Science 🎲
The two big ways I process data for the blog is using QGIS for mapping and spatial analysis and LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for pivot tables, formulas and statistical analysis. Sometimes I also will use PHP to process data like for creating graphs with the help of ChartsJS.
It works but it’s somewhat clunky and slow, requiring the opening of large programs that use a lot of memory and a lot of pointing and clicking. For very large datasets, this can really push the software to its limits. That’s why I ended up looking into GeoPandas and python more generally. It’s kind of a gateway drug.
The GeoPandas library is great as you can do quickly with a few lines of code spatial joins of coordinates and shapefiles in a few lines of code. I’ve done a little with the Pandas library in the past but suddenly now I’m really interested in what I can do with data processing in Python. Seems like a much better option than those afformentioned libraries. So I got a book out of the library called Python data science essentials : become an efficient data science practitioner by thoroughly understanding the key concepts of Python / Alberto Boschetti, Luca Massaron, and suddenly I’m so fascinated by the topic of data science and what I can do with it, especially mixed with Geospatial data.
To be sure, I’m an open source and open data guy, I’m only interested in building things out of information that is freely available. But I’m interested in learning new tools and finding new ways to process data both for my blog and other purposes. And despite what the internet advertising suggests, I’m not interested in data science to get a job, I just want to be able to do quick and dirty things in python to build new ways for analysis of data and maps.