Notes
Finally turned the heat on ♨️
I resisted for the longest time but it was only about 19 degrees this morning so it was neccessary to keep things a reasonable temperature and avoid the risk of pipes freezing. I don’t like much heat, especially with that heated blanket, and even some day when I own my own land with a woodstove, I doubt I would keep it particularly warm.
I was seriously chewing over whether or not to ride in today. 
At first I was going to take the earlier bus in and walk laps in concourse 
but I realized there would not be enough time. I did not get a real early start this morning unfortunately. 
Mornings are so dark these days, and I wanted to have a nice breakfast of cranberry pancakes 
before showering. Aired my tires on my bike up to 58 PSI and it made for a rough ride with the pavement buckled form the cold in a few places on the bike trail.
I don’t love riding down to the express bus stop in the dark or loading the bike on the bus. 
It makes busing it both ways a pleasant seeming option. Maybe on Friday I will do the busing thing, as I want to bring my laptop home this weekend 
as there are projects to work on. Friday looks windy again. 
I don’t mind the cold but that wind can sure be biting at time, especially if it’s a north wind, riding up Erie Boulevard in Albany.
Saturday is the first day of regular deer season in the Southern Zone 
but I don’t have any plans for trips until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Instead, I want to get drop off the jeans 
that are too big for me but still are in good condition at Salvation Army and look at getting some more dress shirts to wear. Then maybe riding trail at Albany Pine Bush 
, assuming it’s not too soft due to the lack of rain. And maybe hitting up Aldi’s for food in Colonie, though that store is always packed, a mess and not well stocked. Maybe it’s better just to plan on visiting Wallie World early on Sunday. 
My pantry currently is quite bare as I didn’t go shopping after camping.
Wood, Field and Stream; Drought Conditions to Close Woods in All Adirondack Counties Today
From the NY Times on November 5, 1964:
/vsimem, /vsizip, /vsitar, /vsicurl, … — GDAL documentation
Be Green! Smoke in Albany Pine Bush
Remember kids, this is the year you should be tossing your lit cigarette butts out of your car windows in an effort to support nature in the Albany Pine Bush, a fire dependent eco system. Do your part! Be green!
I was going to take the earlier express in 🚌
I literally walked out to the early express bus and was thinking it’s too nice to be cooped up on a bus this morning or walking laps in the plaza. So I ended up riding in. I was hesitant at first ride in as I don’t love riding back to the train station after dark or putting my bike on the bus rack, but I do like the fresh air and the sunshine before it’s cold and dark in the evening.
Yesterday, it was getting back into the groove, just getting catched up on everything. 🏢 There were so many different things to get done and caught up on. The five days I spent in Madison County was a lot of mountain biking, 🚴♀️ sitting around the campfire 🔥 drinking beer 🍺 and smoking pot. 🚬 Fun times, but I also ignored everything else in the world, especially as I’ve been so busy and doing remote work, so it was nice for a change of doing nothing at all. 🤷♂️
Yesterday I rode to work, 🚲 and it was fine but it was so dark riding back to the express bus stop at Train Station in Albany from Menanads. Took the express bus home, but it was cold waiting for the bus ❄️ and I spent the ride watching the bike bump up and down, with an unfamiliar driver not slowing down for the bumps. 🚌 I ended up having to help the driver navigate the route 🗺 as he was a Troy driver who didn’t have a good idea how to get to Voorheesville. Based on my experience, I was thining it would be just easier and a lot warmer to just take the bus in both ways, and walk laps on the Plaza but then my mind was changed.
Thinking tonight I will need to turn the heat on ♨️ at least downstairs to keep it from getting too cold, though my plan after dinner is to retire to bed under the electric blanket, much like last night. It’s dark and cold out at night, so I like to get to bed early and sleep a lot, plus read or watch a video under the covers on my phone. 📱 While turning out the lights at 7 PM might not save a lot, it does mean I get more sleep, and it’s so cozy with the heated blanket.
Fluoride
I’ve never lived anywhere fluoride was added to water — be in rural living at my parents house or nowadays in the Town of Bethlehem where they don’t fluoridate the water. But it seems like teeth decay is a really bad thing as you can’t grow new ones, dentures are expensive and costly to get, and dental insurance even when you work for government is quite limited.
It doesn’t seem like fluoridation of water is particularly costly or harmful. Most fluoride in wastewater is pulled out by sewage treatment plants through ordinary treatment. It’s only about 5 lb of fluoride added to the water for a million gallons of water produced. Yet, bad teeth can have a real negative impact on people’s lives, especially with the poor coverage of dental care in current American health system. If we aren’t going to fix dentistry, then we should at least ensure the water most people drinks helps keep their teeth healthy.