Social Associations Per 10,000 residents
This is the total number of membership associations in a county divided by the population of the county. The associations include membership organizations such as civic organizations, bowling centers, golf clubs, fitness centers, sports organizations, religious organizations, political organizations, labor organizations, business organizations, and professional organizations. These associations are identified by NAICS codes 813410, 713950, 713910, 713940, 711211, 813110, 813940, 813930, 813910, and 813920.
Cold start to our Sunday morning 🥶
Rode down to the hardware store bright and early this morning, to get some hardware to mount the bike lock on. It was refreshing but cold. It was a good excuse to get some exercise and feel the cold on my face, even if they didn’t have size bolt that I need.
Good morning! Partly cloudy and 17 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 8 am. 🌡️ No weather above freezing though for this weekend. And maybe snow later on. I’m still hoping that it stops early enough that I can ride in tomorrow, as yesterday the snow was gone off the bike trail, though I do need to top off the brake fluid on my bike as my front brake sin’t working.
Today will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 32 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around January 15th. Cold but not that cold. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 2015. 8.2 inches of snow fell back in 1968.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:52 am with sun having an altitude of 24.1° from the due south horizon (-46.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 16 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon in the northeast (54°) at an altitude of 4° from the horizon, 234,367 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 31 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 26 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will snow likely, mainly after 1am. Cloudy 🌨, with a low of 27 degrees at 8pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 2nd. Southeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -11 occurred back in 1917.
I am thinking about taking off the second half of the week to go camping, 🏕 or at least spend less time in the office, as the year comes to a close. So far the second half of the week looks nice, though maybe snowy. ⛄ Winter camping is fun, as long as I’m somewhere I don’t have to worry about getting stuck. And it’s not too cold with the wind. Regardless, I have to use the time up before the end of the year, so if it’s really cold and wet, I can stay home and read. 📕
On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. 🌉 Two of the victims were never found. The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure of a single eyebar in a suspension chain, due to a small defect 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) deep. Analysis showed that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it had originally been designed for and had been poorly maintained. The collapsed bridge was replaced by the Silver Memorial Bridge, which was completed in 1969.
Also, today in 2000, was an the end of an era at the infamous Chernobyl Power Plant generating power. ☢ Reactor No. 4 was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the power plant is now within a large restricted area known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Both the zone and the former power plant are administered by the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management. The three remaining reactors remained operational after the accident; all three were eventually shut down by 2000, and the plant remains in the process of decommissioning as of 2019. Nuclear clean-up is scheduled for completion in 2065. The toxic legacy remains, long after the nuclear power plant stops generating.
As previously noted, next Sunday is Days are Getting Longer ☀️ when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 34 and 19 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 60 back in 1990.
Vaccines are like voting
One thing I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the anti-vax movement, which came to be as an reaction to the overly communitarian promotion of the COVID vaccine in the months after the pandemic. Getting vaccinated became a patriotic thing, it was something you did not because you didn’t want to get sick but because it would save the lives of the elderly and disabled.
It may very well be good to save the lives of the elderly and disabled. Many are inevitably very nice, good decent people. But at what cost? Getting vaccinated isn’t free in sense of your own time and motor fuel, it certainly hurts, and there is some risk — though probably the risk of dying in a car crash on way to the pharmacy far exceeds the risk of sickness after getting the jab.
I’ve never thought vaccines should be required or thought of as a way to build herd immunity or keep your community safe. But I do think they are worthwhile, because who wants to get to sick, stay home from work bed-ridden or spend costly time in the hospital? While I’m sure protecting the elderly and disabled is a noteworthy goal, keeping oneself healthy is a most worthy goal. There is no need to have a parade for those who get vaccinated, but you should consider getting your flu and COVID shots, and any other recommended vaccines like TDAP because who wants to get the whooping cough?
Vaccines are a lot like voting. Truth is the risk for most people getting the whooping cough, COVID or flu in any particular year is low, but vaccines are considered free, preventative maintenance for one’s health under most plans. Voting in most cases won’t change election outcomes, but sometimes it does. But it’s cheap, in most cases about the same cost as getting vaccinated, or these days with Early Mail Voting even slightly cheaper as you can do it from home.
I don’t like patriotism or community spirit as a motivator to take individual action. But I do think enlightened self-interest is important, and you should do things that are right for yourself and your family. Both voting and vaccination should be very inexpensive in time and cost, as their benefit for most in cases will be fairly minimal, but they do offset a large risk and can do often make a difference around the edges.
Found my bike lock 🔒
I was quite happy about that. I missed riding into work this week and wasn’t looking forward to having to get another one.
Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Sunny and 22 degrees at the Black Creek Marsh WMA. 🌞 Calm wind. Frosty for sure with the mercury not expected to reach above freezing, at least here in Voorheeesville. 🥶 Things will start to thaw out at Monday around 8 am. Brr.
As I had mentioned previously, I decided I would go out early today to search 🔎 for my bike 🚲 lock 🔒. I was very happy that I found it. Truth is though I wasn’t completely disappointed about not riding in this week – the trail would be rough with all the ice ⛸️ on it plus it’s super dark in the evening for riding back to the bus stop 🚏 downtown. And cold. 🥶
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 31 degrees at 1pm. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was also 31 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1901. 12.5 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄
I kind of miss having the almanac data 🧭 so I decided to bring it back at least for today. It’s kind of fun to look at life, considering the weather. I’m not sure if I’ll always do it, sometimes the National Weather feed breaks and I can’t use it. 🤷♂️
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:52 am with sun having an altitude of 24.1° from the due south horizon (-46.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. Sun is low this time of year. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full Cold 🌝 Moon in the east-northeast (64°) at an altitude of 13° from the horizon, 231,775 miles away. 🚀 Maybe you’ll see a drone. The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 30 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 31 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 12 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees below normal. Calm wind. Another cold night ahead. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1874.
Today in 1994, started construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river. 🏞️ The Three Gorges Dam has been the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW) since 2012. In 2014, the dam generated 98.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) and had the world record, but was surpassed by the Itaipú Dam, which set the new world record in 2016, producing 103.1 TWh. Also, today was a notable date in civil rights history, with the release of the Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964), ♥️ a landmark United States Supreme Court case holding that the Commerce Clause gave the U.S. Congress power to force private businesses to abide by Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations. ⚖️
While today is cold, next Saturday is officially First Day of Winter ☃️ when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. We’ve already gained some time in evening. On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 34 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 37 degrees. We hit a record high of 62 back in 2018.
