Stewart’s

Eating healthier and more frugally 🍏 πŸ₯¦

Eating healthier and more frugally 🍏 πŸ₯¦

Turning forty this past year, inflation and my general desire in being healthier has made me think a lot more about what I have in my pantry and what I ultimately put in my mouth.

  • Try to maintain a free, essentially unlimited supply of fruits and vegetables at home and in my office
  • Have no restrictions on the amount of fruit and vegetables that I eat but avoid eating much calorie heavy foods
  • No more second helpings but instead freeze food
  • Eat more rice, lentils and oatmeal – fiber heavy foods that make you feel fuller quicker
  • Eliminate apple juice from my diet, drink less milk, eat less cheese and meat, eliminating then from as many meals as possible
  • Avoid candy and cake, even if they are offered to me for free
  • Buy food in bulk, maximize my food dollars on things like bulk frozen fruits and vegetables that come with minimal and burnable waste

My goal is multi faceted:

  • Loose some weight and be healthier as I’m heading into my forties so I can live a better life
  • Reduce expenses with inflation taking an increasing bite out of my budget
  • Reduce the amount of garbage I’m producing so I’m burning less plastic and other trash

First Day Above 70 (2000-2023)

First Day Above 70 (2000-2023)
No 70 degree days yet this year, though that’s not uncommon.
Year Date High Temperature
2000 Sat, Apr 8 76
2001 Sun, Apr 22 82
2002 Sat, Apr 13 70
2003 Tue, Apr 15 86
2004 Fri, Mar 26 73
2005 Wed, Apr 6 72
2006 Fri, Mar 31 75
2007 Sat, Jan 6 71
2008 Sat, Apr 12 72
2009 Fri, Apr 24 70
2010 Sat, Mar 20 70
2011 Mon, Apr 11 82
2012 Tue, Mar 13 70
2013 Fri, Apr 19 72
2014 Sun, Apr 13 79
2015 Mon, Apr 13 74
2016 Wed, Mar 9 81
2017 Fri, Feb 24 74
2018 Wed, Feb 21 73
2019 Fri, Mar 15 72
2020 Mon, Mar 9 75
2021 Fri, Mar 26 75
2022 Fri, Mar 18 71
Andy Arthur, 3/10/23 Data Source: National Weather Service, Albany

March 10, 2023 Morning

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! As they say, one month from now will be mid April and at least in the city it probably be starting greening up a bit. 🌿 Hello black flies.

Partly sunny and 21 degrees for the morning walk in Delmar. πŸŒ… Calm wind. A little bit cool but sunny which is nice for a change. But it’s not expected to last. ️Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌑️The sun is in my eyes πŸ‘€ for the walk today though that won’t be an issue next week with the time change.

Today will have a chance of rain, mainly after 5pm. Increasing clouds 🌞 πŸ‘‰ πŸŒ₯ , with a high of 42 degrees at 2pm. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 8th. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mist in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 72 was set in 1977. 5.7 inches of snow fell back in 1964.❄

Yesterday was a Thursday and it was a busy one with a big background on my desk so edit. πŸ“„ So time went by quickly. 🍌🍎 I eat a lot of fruit and then came home and had a small bowl of pasta with lots of green beans. And saved lots of pasta for future use. 🍝Finished up my 10,000 steps minimum over 50 days though ultimately I believe I walked closer to 800,000 steps πŸ‘£ over that time period.

Last night I was been doing some research on Kriging and election mapping though I realized it’s a bit more difficult without having the voter file geocoded and the Census household survey data not released yet from the Census for block level data. πŸ–₯ Plus I’m actually not sure how valuable the results are as election districts are pretty small to start out. It’s going to be even harder in coming years as they’ve reduced the number of election districts to 231 from 319 in 2023.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:07 pm with sun having an altitude of 43.2Β° from the due south horizon (-27.6Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 5:18 pm with the sun in the west (259Β°). πŸ“Έ

The sunset is in the west (265Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:56 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 6:23 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:57 pm. At sunset, look out for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 40 degrees. There will be a northeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 42 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain and snow likely before 8pm, then snow. 🌧 Low of 30 degrees at 3am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. North wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1939.

Today in 1969, in Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’« He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.

Tomorrow will have rain showers and snow likely before 2pm, then a slight chance of rain showers between 2pm and 3pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 40 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 2nd. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mist in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 1977. 4.1 inches of snow fell back in 1941.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, partly sunny, β˜€ with a high near 44. Light northeast wind. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Friday is St. Patrick’s Day πŸ€ when the sun will be setting at 7:05 pm with dusk at 7:31 pm (Daylight Savings Time). That’s why the Saint Patrick’s Day parade is on Saturday of this week. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, mild, rain showers and temperatures between 55 and 43 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 1990.

Decided to drive down to the Hudson River after work.

March 9, 2023 Morning

Good morning! Happy Thursday. The direct drive of the week. Tomorrow we shove it down to over drive and the weekend. Mostly cloudy and 28 degrees for the morning walk in Delmar at 6:15 am. ☁ There is a northwest breeze at 8 mph. πŸƒ. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. β˜ƒ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌑️

And so the cycle repeats. πŸ”΄ Like a red rubber ball. Cold start to the morning but it’s still March. Going to be so dark come next week but I’ve already been practicing getting to bed πŸ› earlier. Today assuming that I finish up my 10,000 steps πŸ‘£ it will mark a 50 day straight run of walking my goal πŸ₯… though most days I beat my goal. Session day but I was out walking 🚢 early and there is no reason why I can’t do an evening walk πŸŒƒ too.

Today will be mostly cloudy πŸŒ₯, with a high of 40 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 2nd. Northwest wind around 10 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 2016. 6.9 inches of snow fell back in 1961.❄

I don’t think it will reach into the eighties today, πŸ– but I remember those days well and the big ol fire πŸ”₯ I had up at Burnt Rossman that weekend. It was beautiful weekend that week, no snow and not bone dry either as it rained a few days before.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:07 pm with sun having an altitude of 42.8Β° from the due south horizon (-28Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 5:17 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (258Β°). πŸ“Έ

I was annoyed that the remaining oranges I had bought 🍊 just this week went soft and moldy by Wednesday. I checked them at the store 🏬 and they were good there. Two weeks in a row, once at Wally World and the other at Hannaford. I guess I need pigs 🐽 and chickens πŸ” to eat them. Regardless, I think they must be getting out of season. I have sufficient apples 🍏 and bananas 🍌 at work to make it through the week though and frozen fruit at home. I missed the farmers market this week to get potatoes πŸ₯” and mushrooms πŸ„ yesterday which is annoying.

The sunset is in the west (265Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:55 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 6:22 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:55 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 38 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 42 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.

I finally fixed the button on my salmon pink dress shirt πŸ‘šthat popped off in January. I didn’t have any needles I could find πŸͺ‘ and then I got busy and forgot about it as I had recently bought additional shirts but I kind of like that shirt.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy πŸŒ₯, with a low of 25 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 11th. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had light snow in the evening, which became mist by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 20 degrees. The record low of 0 occurred back in 1996.

Today in 1959, Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York. πŸ§’ Dogs have been enjoying their heads every since. 🐢

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. πŸ˜• Saturday, a chance of snow, mixing with rain after 11am, then gradually ending. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. I’ll have to plan to walk early. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 43. About average for Sunday. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.

Agency building

Henry Hudson

On Sunday evening, due to US 9W being closed down I ended up going down to the Henry Hudson River Park and sitting in my truck and watching the birds and wildlife along the river for about a half hour. It’s nice sitting down there, especially on a cold day, just looking out and thinking for a while.

Riverside