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.
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.
It’s been a long time since we had a good rainy evening. But it really poured both waiting for the bus and then all evening when I got home. Helped make time to do some reading, put away my winter clothes, heater and getout the big fan – I’ll need it next week it seems.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Clouds and 66 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a south breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 65 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 11 am.
It seems like lately getting out and walking 🚶 at 6:15 has become closer to 6:30 but I guess getting ready for work is quicker these days being it’s casual summer dress and there aren’t the smoldering cars 🚙 around the High School 🏫 now that it’s summer. It does make time tight in the morning for walking down to the express bus at the Park and Ride but so be it. I can always catch it closer to home.
Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 10am. Mostly cloudy ⛅ , with a high of 80 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 19th. Maximum dew point of 70 at 12pm. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. 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 80 degrees. Same as this year. The record high of 97 was set in 1941.
If I have time today 🕒 I think I want eggs 🥚 though I could switch to oatmeal 🥣 to speed up things with maybe a hard boiled egg for protein. I’m finding just a little extra protein can keep you feeling full all day long. 😋
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:59 pm with sun having an altitude of 70.7° from the due south horizon (-0.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.1 foot shadow today. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:55 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (304°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 27 seconds with dusk around 9:12 pm, which is one second later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southwest (198°) at an altitude of 35° from the horizon, 242,932 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:58 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 73 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 23 seconds over yesterday.
Yesterday, I almost got trapped on the elevator with the head of the Assembly Republicans 🤯 which probably wouldn’t be fun. I work on the 18th floor so it’s somewhat unavoidable to ride the elevators but I realized my ID card 💳 works with the stairs so I’m going to try to use the stairs more, especially going down though yesterday I did both down and up two times. It’s good cardio especially going up. 🦵5 ½ miles walked yesterday, I didn’t do an evening walk 🚶 due to the heavy rain.
Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy , with a low of 65 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. South wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall 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 cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 43 occurred back in 1970.
On this day in 1985, U.S. Route 66 is officially removed from the United States Highway System. 🚗 🎸 🎶 You could no longer get you’re kicks on Route 66 because everybody was taking I-40 and I-44 through the heartland of America. I’m sure had nostalgia kicked in during the 1980s it would have been saved, as like it has in parts as Historic US 66.
Stormy with showers this Independence Weekend. ⛈ Saturday, showers likely, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Maximum dew point of 65 at 11am. Sunday, showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Maximum dew point of 68 at 1pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 83 degrees.
I have decided that at least for Friday night into Saturday I am going to stay home 🏡 and then look at bicycles on Saturday. 🚲 Then I might head out camping for three nights — maybe hammock camping though I might try to get the campsite at Betty Brook if it’s available. Then spend Sunday through Tuesday at least a few of the days at Mine Kill State Park to do lots of swimming and enjoying the sun. 🏊♀️ 🏕
Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Independence Day 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 8:38 pm with dusk at 9:11 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 84 and 54 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 104 back in 1911.
