Stewart’s

Now is the time to check how many fingers you have 🎇

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For the first time in generations, there has not been a time when so many Americans have lawful access to consumer fireworks and sparklers and the ability to legally drive on highways a 70 mph or faster. More states are legalizing cannabis products and the Supreme Court seems to finally protect and enforce the second.

Good morning, America 🇺🇸 ! 247 years going strong, only three more before a quarter millennium has come and gone. Have fun with your fireworks and remember as the sign says, you are responsible for your own safety, not some government worker.

Cloudy and 68 degrees for the morning walk. ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 67 degrees. The muggers and the sultry weather will be sticking around for a while. The skies will clear around 1 pm. Air quality is moderate around 55.

Already a rather muggy day and it will be hot by evening 😰 but it should be be a nice one for fireworks 🎇 and barbecues. 🍔 I’m out for my morning walk 🚶 a little later than normal but earlier than over the long weekend. I had my hard boiled egg 🥚 and black coffee ☕, I am thinking about having a those 🍌 banana oatmeal pancakes 🥞 I make in the food processor topped with strawberries. 🍓

Independence Day will have a slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌦, with a high of 84 degrees at 5pm. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 71 at 11am. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 84 degrees. The record high of 104 was set in 1911.

Yesterday after spending too much time working on my old jalopy of a bicycle 🛠 🚲 I ended up going for a delightful walk 🚶 out to Bender Mellon Preserve. 🐦 🦋 Lots of birds and butterflies and flowers 🌼, I made sure to stay out of the poison ivy. Kind of a hot and humid day but the rail trail is quite shaded and I was back home before the thunderstorms ⛈ came rolling through. 8.8 miles walked 🚶 for the day.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 70.3° from the due south horizon (-0.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:55 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (303°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:37 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 26 seconds with dusk around 9:11 pm, which is 14 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:57 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 79 degrees. The dew point will be 71 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 15 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 50 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Partly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 65 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 71 at 8pm. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1982.

On this day in 1776, The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress. 51 years later, slavery would be banned in New York State in 1821. Starting the day after Independence Day 1967, you would be able to FOIL the Federal Government, after U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into law on July 4, 1966. Then citizens could request information on how much the federal government spent on fireworks the night before.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers between 8am and 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Maximum dew point of 67 at 10am. Sunday, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Maximum dew point of 67 at 11am. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

Wouldn’t be a bad weekend as it stands for heading out of town 🌲 but I have a feeling I won’t be as I’m kind of busy and really want to take delivery of a bicycle 🚲 next weekend. Saves money 💵 to stay home plus the following week is my dentist appointment 🦷 so it would make sense to head out after that.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is World Population Day 👩‍👩‍👧‍👧 when the sun will be setting at 8:35 pm with dusk at 9:07 pm. The thunderstorms at least will be booming. On that day in 2022, we had hot weather, partly sunny and temperatures between 91 and 55 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 98 back in 1936.

Natural Rock Dam

I decided against getting a bicycle 🚲

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I may thinker with my broken bicycle some more, maybe even see if I can get a replacement wheel for it rather than more spokes. But I decided bicycling is kind of overrated when I can walk, take a bus or drive most places I want to go.

I just feel like a bicycle is another expense, another thing to break down and be a hassle. Gas prices are quite affordable these days – if I want to go to a park and it’s too far to walk in the allotted time then I should just fire up Big Red and drive there. Literally, that’s the most cost effective and logical option. Literally, $600-800 of a cost of a new bicycle could pay for 2,500 miles or even more of fuel for my truck and that milage is likely a marginal additional maintenence cost as the truck needs replacement over the next few years.

Truth is that I prefer the slower pace of walking places. I am not convinced that bicycling is much healthier then walking – you have to go 1.7 times further on a bicycle to burn the same number of calories as walking. Walking you see more things. In my experience most bicycle trails are incredibly boring compared to the more remote parts of the woods you can explore on foot. Feet don’t get flat tires, broken spokes or slipped off chains. You don’t have to choose between bicycle models or take your feet to a repair shop when they inevitably need repairs and fork over more money.

Physical exercise is over emphasized when it comes to loosing weight and being healthy. I not going to quit walking 6-10 miles a day but diet is vastly more important then any effort to burn off calories. At 85 calories per mile walked and 50 calories per mile bicycled, you might as well focus on eating healthy and forget about burning them off. Places that make sense to walk to, walk to. For the rest, drive or take a bus.

For a while, I was enthralled by the greater distances I could get around by having a bicycle, essentially for free ignoring the costs of purchasing and operating a bicycle. That 20 plus mile hike out to Blodgett Hill really got me thinking that way. But then the costs and stress of dealing with another mechanical device made me reconsider. Why spend my days comparing what will be the best bicycle and calculating repair costs and trips to the cycle shop for inevitable parts and repairs when I can just walk or drive?

It was fun to dream for a while. But sometimes the best dreams are forgotten when you wake up and move on with your day. Maybe instead I’ll buy myself am additional $500 in stocks and bonds this week, knowing it’s an actual investment in my future rather than more garbage and clutter in my life. Plus I won’t have to worry about getting struck on the road riding a bicycle or having my shinny new bicycle stole.

Another drizzly weekend Sunday funday 🌦️

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Almost bought a bike yesterday. So close but I wanted to think about it more before laying down my six hundred bucks. I’ve been milling it over all evening and day but I won’t be able to get it until at least Wednesday and only if I leave work early. Other than that it’s been a slow day as I stayed up much too late last night, sleeped in and was playing with data as it poured all morning. Getting my steps in now in case it pours this evening or is so humid like last night.

Good afternoon! Rain showers are a falling in Delmar and I’m finally out walking. 🌧️ There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 68 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 7 pm.

It’s rained and poured for a while this morning. 💦 Super wet, despite being a summer four day weekend away from work it would not have not been a good one for camping. But it fine, I think I’m getting closer to getting a bicycle 🚲 and I’m enjoying the quiet, spending some time reading and learning new ways to wrangle data. When it’s not raining the heat and humidity is oppressive but it’s fine we need the rain.

This afternoon will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 75 degrees at 5pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 31st. Maximum dew point of 70 at 2pm. Northwest wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1966.

I guess it’s good that I decided to stay in town this weekend. 🏡 Today was so wet this morning and more rain is expected this evening. I figure get my steps in now 👣 and then I will read 📖 some of the books 📚 I got out of the library this evening. Tomorrow isn’t expected to be quite so wet, might be a good day to walk 🚶 out to Five Rivers. I think the library is open tomorrow so I could go down to the library and use my laptop down there. That said, these days I can do virtually everything with my phone 📱.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 70.4° from the due south horizon (-0.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:55 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (303°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 27 seconds with dusk around 9:11 pm, which is 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the southeast (137°) at an altitude of 5° from the horizon, 229,475 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:57 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 72 degrees. The dew point will be 70 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 15 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 42 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 67 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 6pm. Light northeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1978.

That’s a lot of rain their expecting tonight. 💧 I am glad I didn’t decide to be out camping 🏕. Maybe next week. Even yesterday with the heat, humidity and wildfire smoke wasn’t that great, though at least I got groceries 🛒 and sparklers 🎇 to use for a future trip up north. Yesterday I walked 5 1/4 miles mostly because it was so damn humid come the evening and decided against my evening walk 🚶.

On this day in 1962, The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas. 🏪 How would we all survive without that? I guess more K Mart and going to the grocery store and paying a bunch more. Two years later, President Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on the same day. 🤝🏾

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:32 pm with dusk at 9:04 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, mostly sunny and temperatures between 88 and 60 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1900.

Paddling Along