I don’t own one of those colored televisions but I am pretty sure that’s how they advertise it. I could make the appointment for Monday to make sure the SuperDuties I’m interested but that first week of March is probably better with my schedule, and then I’ll know March Madness incentives after the Pickup Truck Monthincentives, or whatever bullshit of the month is that doesn’t actually matter as what does is the size of check you cut, the two not necessarily related despite what they commercials claim.
Happy Friday, it’s going to snow today or more likely slop as it will be too warm for snow to stick but they’ll put 10 tons of salt on every lane mile today to ensure your car trusts away and the roads are safe after drinking five beers at the bar tonight. ❄️ I think it will be wet for riding in, so I’ll be taking the yokel local bus to work, which of course stops every five feet and goes all of 0.0003 miles per hour on road. Get yelled at by the homeless bums and apparently DMV-worker rapists at the Plaza 👣 after I get my steps in at the Plaza. But just think if you had a 20-year old Honda Civic how different it could be? I am just glad it’s warming up so I can use less heat, though since I’ve been plugging my electric blanket into the kilowatt meter, I’m realizing how much power that truly draws – something like 1 kWH every three nights – which is real money these days with electric bills. 🔌 Okay, maybe not SuperDuty money, 💰 but yeah. But just think of all the money you could be spend on heating, if you owned your very own house with weekly garbage pickup and cable television and high-speed internet in every room. That makes my mind hurt, while I look at the price tags 🏷️ for those ginormous trucks. Did I mention the garbage pickup comes with a “free” included plastic recycling bin and you can feel green 💚 with grid-tied solar panels on your roof.
Truth is I am putting off test driving a truck, 🛻 because I don’t want to fall under the stealer’s spell after climbing up in the ginormous truck, and I want to make it through the process while avoiding the sales man’s questioning 🙋, noting that everything you say to the dealer will be used against you. You do have the right to remain silent, 😶 of course, the cops and their steealerships would rather you don’t. But I think it’s important I at least look up closely at the truck, and take a test drive before laying down an insane amount of cash for up to 15 years of problems and insanity due to my extreme mental illness. 💣 I still want to make the deal go down by the end of March, as by then the salt should be mostly off the roads, and I want time to order a camper shell for the rig. I also need to figure out what I’m going to insure it with, right now it’s a bit hard to calculate insurance rates online without actually having a make and model and VIN number to provide, though I guess I could use one from the dealer website and pad it with zeros and ones, to put it through, or call insurance companies.
Other then that, it’s just looks like another cold and sloppy weekend. 🌧️Probably just mostly stay home, but I may need to run to the store for a few things, though right now I think my pantry is fairly good shape, 🐮 though I will need milk for coffee tomorrow. Other then that, whatever, it’s winter and it’s creeping away week by week. I still want that bike trail free of snow but I don’t think the melt down will progress quickly with the current forecast, but it’s only going to get warmer. The weekend after this weekend is March 1st, so I’ll want to study the Ford Manufacturer’s Incentives on Sunday, so I know about them when I go to test drive on March 2nd, assuming the weather is okay though March 3rd also isn’t a session day, so that could be a good day too. 🏢 And maybe by then my mental illness will be more in control, and I’ll just be fine with a 20-year old Honda, or maybe I don’t need a automobile living in city. That said, I know the test drive is mostly pro-forma, not necessarily a requirement as I am pretty sure I know what I want and it has 34-gallon fuel tank. ⛽ Now if they could send gas price prices spiraling by bombing Iran, so I could use that negotiation point. 😂
So yeah, one more weekend and then it’s crunch time on the truck. ⌛ I mean I don’t have to buy the truck in March but I kind of want to as I think I’ll get a better deal while inventories are good before the spring rush. Good ol’ month when the shit spreaders are back out in the field, when Madison County and Schoharie smells well like money in the springtime. Cows poop and make hay which makes more poop. 🐮 And some delicious milk and beef 🥩 on the side. I doubt I’ll do any camping before I have camper shell 🏕️ but who knows if there is a nice weekend I can load shit in the bed and try out the new truck. I should get in the shower, 🚿 and I’ll probably catch the earlier bus and shuttle 🚀 to the Enterprise. Have a good day, and remember it won’t be long before it’s time to hit up your favorite trout holes. 🎣
In coda…
Goddamn, well, I declare Have you seen the like Their walls are built of cannonballs Their motto is “Don’t Tread on Me”
One of the areas I’m interested in exploring in Michigan this summer once I get the SuperDuty truck and camper shell set up. I asked Google AI for some highlights on the area which I am sharing on my blog this evening.
The Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is a 3,450-acre federally protected wilderness on the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan, located between Ludington and Manistee. It is the only designated wilderness area in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and is famous for its 4,000-year-old sand dunes that rise up to 140 feet.
Hiking Trails
The wilderness features approximately 15 miles of trails that are minimally marked and can be challenging to navigate without a GPS or map.
Nordhouse Dunes Loop (5.7 miles): A moderate trail that is highly rated for its mix of forest and lakeshore views. It typically takes 2–2.5 hours to complete.
Nordhouse Dunes Extended Backpacking Loop (14.2 miles): The longest trail in the area, popular for overnight trips. Large sections are unmarked and require route-finding skills.
Algoma Ridge, Middle, and Nipissing Trail Loop (4.5 miles): A moderate route through wooded areas leading to a wide sandy beach.
Arrowhead Trail: Located adjacent to the Lake Michigan Recreation Area, this trail is better marked than those deeper in the wilderness.
Things to Do
Backpacking: One of the most popular activities, offering a rustic experience where you pack in all gear and camp along the bluffs.
Beach & Swimming: Visitors can swim in the clear waters of Lake Michigan or lounge on the undeveloped shoreline.
Nature Study & Wildlife: The area is a nesting site for the endangered Piping Plover and is home to deer, fox, coyote, and porcupine. It also contains the world’s largest area of freshwater interdunal ponds.
Stargazing: With minimal light pollution, the area offers exceptional views of the night sky, often compared to dark sky preserves.
Dispersed Camping Nearby
Dispersed camping is allowed throughout the wilderness area and in several nearby national forest locations.
Wilderness Dispersed Camping: You can camp anywhere in the 3,450-acre wilderness as long as you follow strict regulations:
Distance: Campsites must be at least 400 feet from Lake Michigan and 200 feet from Nordhouse Lake and marked trails.
Fires: No campfires are allowed on the beach or dunes; they must be kept back in the tree line.
Group Size: Limited to a maximum of 10 people.
Green Road Dispersed Camping: Located just outside the wilderness in the Manistee National Forest, Green Road offers numerous free pull-off sites accessible by 2WD vehicles (though 4WD is recommended for deeper spots).
Lake Michigan Recreation Area: For those preferring facilities, this adjacent campground offers 99 rustic sites with flush toilets, fire rings, and water for a fee (approx. $27-$40/night).
Shares of Blue Owl Capital, the giant private lender, plunged on Thursday after the company announced that it was changing how investors can get their money out from one of its funds, raising fresh concerns about potential problems lurking in the private credit industry.
Blue Owl said investors would not be able to ask for a set amount of money back every quarter. Going forward, the firm will decide how much it will pay out quarterly.
Debt held by the public will balloon to more than $56 trillion by 2036 as annual deficits continue to mount, according to the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office. By later this year, the federal debt held by the public is expected to surpass the size of the entire U.S. economy.
The main drivers: increased spending on entitlement programs as the nation’s population ages as well as rising costs related to paying interest on the debt itself. Republicans have taken issue with the projections, saying the CBO’s assumptions on economic growth are too low.
I was hoping this morning to ride the bike trail in but once I got on it was still very pock marked and hard ice riding from all the walkers. Needs to melt down and soften up a bit before I can ride it. I ended up taking Delaware to McAlpin which becomes Southern Boulevard to Frisbee. That left turn from Southern Boulevard to Frisbee is kind of a bitch though, so I won’t do that again.
In the evening, I took the bike trail to Fourth Avenue to Elizabeth Street, which is steep and like usual I pushed my bike up it. Second Avenue was busy but it was neat seeing the SuperDuty trucks parked along it. Soon enough, I was browsing dealer websites again today at work. I should have gone to DePaula today to look at SuperDuty up close, but I still want to think it about it some more. I know a test drive is not a commitment to buy a car, but I want to know in my mind it’s right decision before I do more then just Internet research and call a dealership. I keep thinking about the different pieces I’ll need to put together for the rig, moving over the CB Radio, getting a cap, wiring up and possibly replacing or upgrading accessory batteries, maybe getting a second or even third solar panel with the long bed, so I can have 200 or 300 watts of solar. Get a cellphone booster for use before the trip to Michigan and diesel heater before it gets cold for camping in October and November. I think the diesel heater will make winter camping so much more pleasant.
I took Second Avenue to to South Bertha which has a ton of stop signs, but other then that is very quiet. A lot of cars are parked on upper Southern Boulevard – McAlpin, but further up on McAlpin it’s quiet wide and makes for easy riding despite the traffic. Next time, I’ll probably do South Bertha then up Lees Dale to Leighton to McAlpin to do more quiet residential riding and less Southern Boulevard. For the mornings, there is probably just Delaware Bypass to Corning Hill, I don’t mind that ride though the merge between NY 32 and US 9W can be a bit tricky a times. I’ll feel so much better once the snow is gone and I have the serenity of the bike path back. Plus with the time change in a little over two weeks, evening rides home will not be at all pressed against darkness, if I get stuck at work later or the evenings are gray, it won’t be nearly as dark out as it was on the last part of the ride home tonight. But really, I just want the bike path without the traffic to fight. I took the somewhat longer route back through the suburbs, because it was such a nice evening ride, not so cold – before the snow comes once again tomorrow – that is.
At times, I do think I should be more long term thinking then just the bike commute to and from work, or my camping and traveling rig. I know my dumpy apartment isn’t sustainable forever, but I do like living in the city and traveling. I still have time for the homestead, though I do yern at the times for the earthy smells of the countryside and wood smoke. But that’s what I can travel to in my rig, spend weekends and vacations in the wilderness. Nothing in buying the big truck is going to set me back far from the homestead, if anything I can probably put it to use there eventually after my traveling days are done and I have to settle down. And it will serve me well hopefully through retirement. But as I note in my travels around here, all the good places are too far from work.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order protecting production of glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup, which some bodies and studies have linked to cancer and which are the subject of widespread US litigation.
The president’s move, which also seeks to provide “immunity” for makers of the herbicides, was strongly criticized by health and environmental advocates including some figures in the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) coalition.
