Personal
The Most Common Names in New York
At least among registered voters in New York State …
- Jose Rodriguez – 1,252
- Maria Rodriguez – 1,072
- Michael Smith – 1,032
- Robert Smith – 843
- James Smith – 795
- David Smith – 755
- Jose Rivera – 728
- MD Islam – 678
- William Smith – 671
- Michael Williams – 632
current-temp
Why so negative, 2024 edition? 🥶
According to my phone it’s negative 5 or 6 outside. Which I guess is cold, though not as cold as 2023 when in February there was a morning that was negative 13 or 14, and I can remember mornings as cold as negative 20. Of course, with my drafty apartment, it actually feels warmer because the heat runs more due to the cold and drafts which I’ve plugged around the door the best I can.
Made a big pot of black beans and whole wheat bread this morning. 
Both good ways to warm things up along with some eggs, onions and peas for breakfast. The black beans are for later, probably mixed with canned tomatoes and spices, though I’m also partial for for maple syrup on them to.
I am leaning towards not heading out of town until December 26th, 
and not going all the way of the Finger Lakes as it’s a long trip and the second half of the week between Christmas Day and New Years Day now looks increasingly rainy. I need to decide soon though, as I have to let my parents know so they can plan, and because I need to get propane and supplies to leave on Christmas Day as shops will be closed. 
But if I go out on Boxing Day, then I can get propane and if I go to Long Pond, probably Anutto’s will be open in Oneonta, and I can get lots of good produce and maybe some apple cider doughnuts too. 
Still seven days camping would be awesome, though the nights are cold and long this time of year.
daysin2024
How to sum columns row-wise in R quickly
Imagine I want to calculate the percentage of the vote that Kamela Harris got in Albany County using this data frame. I want to add up all the Kamela Harris columns and divide by the total votes in the Presidential race. There is a quick trick to do this with R using the tidyverse and purr library.
mutate(
harris_percent =
reduce(select(., contains('kamala_d_harris')), `+`)/
reduce(select(., contains('electors_for_president_and_vice_president')), `+`)
)
The above code uses the reduce command against a subset of the dataframe containing the Kamala Harris columns which reduces them to one column in a vectorized format using the addition operator. You can use any vectorized operation or function rather then `+` there.
Here are column names for reference:
[1] "town" "ward"
[3] "ed" "ballots_cast_total_ballots_cast"
[5] "ballots_cast_blank_ballots_cast2" "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_dem_kamala_d_harris"
[7] "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_rep_donald_j_trump" "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_con_donald_j_trump"
[9] "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_wfp_kamala_d_harris" "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_write_in"
[11] "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_over_votes" "electors_for_president_and_vice_president_under_votes"
[13] "united_states_senator_dem_kirsten_e_gillibrand" "united_states_senator_rep_michael_d_sapraicone"
[15] "united_states_senator_con_michael_d_sapraicone" "united_states_senator_wfp_kirsten_e_gillibrand"
[17] "united_states_senator_lar_diane_sare" "united_states_senator_write_in3"
[19] "united_states_senator_over_votes4" "united_states_senator_under_votes5"
[21] "representative_in_congress_20th_district_dem_paul_d_tonko" "representative_in_congress_20th_district_rep_kevin_m_waltz"
[23] "representative_in_congress_20th_district_con_kevin_m_waltz" "representative_in_congress_20th_district_wfp_paul_d_tonko"
[25] "representative_in_congress_20th_district_write_in6" "representative_in_congress_20th_district_over_votes7"
[27] "representative_in_congress_20th_district_under_votes8" "state_senator_43rd_district_dem_alvin_gamble"
[29] "state_senator_43rd_district_rep_jake_ashby" "state_senator_43rd_district_con_jake_ashby"
[31] "state_senator_43rd_district_write_in9" "state_senator_43rd_district_over_votes10"
[33] "state_senator_43rd_district_under_votes11" "state_senator_46th_district_dem_patricia_a_fahy"
[35] "state_senator_46th_district_rep_ted_danz_jr" "state_senator_46th_district_con_ted_danz_jr"
[37] "state_senator_46th_district_wfp_patricia_a_fahy" "state_senator_46th_district_write_in12"
[39] "state_senator_46th_district_over_votes13" "state_senator_46th_district_under_votes14"
[41] "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_dem_janet_s_tweed" "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_rep_christopher_tague"
[43] "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_con_christopher_tague" "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_wfp_janet_s_tweed"
[45] "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_write_in15" "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_over_votes16"
[47] "member_of_assembly_102nd_district_under_votes17" "member_of_assembly_107th_district_dem_chloe_e_pierce"
[49] "member_of_assembly_107th_district_rep_scott_h_bendett" "member_of_assembly_107th_district_con_scott_h_bendett"
[51] "member_of_assembly_107th_district_write_in18" "member_of_assembly_107th_district_over_votes19"
[53] "member_of_assembly_107th_district_under_votes20" "member_of_assembly_108th_district_john_t_mc_donald_iii"
[55] "member_of_assembly_108th_district_write_in21" "member_of_assembly_108th_district_over_votes22"
[57] "member_of_assembly_108th_district_under_votes23" "member_of_assembly_109th_district_dem_gabriella_a_romero"
[59] "member_of_assembly_109th_district_rep_alicia_m_purdy" "member_of_assembly_109th_district_con_alicia_m_purdy"
[61] "member_of_assembly_109th_district_wfp_gabriella_a_romero" "member_of_assembly_109th_district_write_in24"
[63] "member_of_assembly_109th_district_over_votes25" "member_of_assembly_109th_district_under_votes26"
[65] "member_of_assembly_110th_district_dem_phillip_g_steck" "member_of_assembly_110th_district_rep_jeff_madden"
[67] "member_of_assembly_110th_district_con_jeff_madden" "member_of_assembly_110th_district_wfp_phillip_g_steck"
[69] "member_of_assembly_110th_district_write_in27" "member_of_assembly_110th_district_over_votes28"
[71] "member_of_assembly_110th_district_under_votes29" "district_attorney_dem_lee_c_kindlon"
[73] "district_attorney_rep_ralph_f_ambrosio" "district_attorney_wfp_lee_c_kindlon"
[75] "district_attorney_write_in30" "district_attorney_over_votes31"
[77] "district_attorney_under_votes32" "surrogate_court_judge_dem_deborah_s_kearns"
[79] "surrogate_court_judge_wfp_deborah_s_kearns" "surrogate_court_judge_write_in33"
[81] "surrogate_court_judge_over_votes34" "surrogate_court_judge_under_votes35"
[83] "family_court_judge_dem_jaime_lynn_czajka" "family_court_judge_dem_jillian_e_faison"
[85] "family_court_judge_dem_ricja_d_rice_ghyll" "family_court_judge_wfp_jasper_mills_iii"
[87] "family_court_judge_wfp_jillian_e_faison" "family_court_judge_wfp_ricja_d_rice_ghyll"
[89] "family_court_judge_write_in36" "family_court_judge_over_votes37"
[91] "family_court_judge_under_votes38" "county_legislator_county_legislative_district_5_dem_susan_m_pedo"
[93] "county_legislator_county_legislative_district_5_write_in39" "county_legislator_county_legislative_district_5_over_votes40"
[95] "county_legislator_county_legislative_district_5_under_votes41" "cohoes_city_council_member_ward_6_dem_april_m_trudeau"
[97] "cohoes_city_council_member_ward_6_con_justin_m_alesio" "cohoes_city_council_member_ward_6_vfa_april_m_trudeau"
[99] "cohoes_city_council_member_ward_6_write_in42" "cohoes_city_council_member_ward_6_over_votes43"
[101] "cohoes_city_council_member_ward_6_under_votes44" "town_justice_town_of_bethlehem_dem_erin_r_lynch"
[103] "town_justice_town_of_bethlehem_write_in45" "town_justice_town_of_bethlehem_over_votes46"
[105] "town_justice_town_of_bethlehem_under_votes47" "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_dem_michele_a_heffern"
[107] "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_dem_richard_r_jones_jr" "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_dem_joseph_a_liotta_sr"
[109] "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_write_in48" "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_over_votes49"
[111] "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_under_votes50" "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_dem_barbara_belokopitsky"
[113] "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_write_in51" "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_over_votes52"
[115] "village_trustee_village_of_green_island_under_votes53" "highway_superintendent_town_of_westerlo_dem_james_e_brush"
[117] "highway_superintendent_town_of_westerlo_rep_david_pecylak" "highway_superintendent_town_of_westerlo_con_david_pecylak"
[119] "highway_superintendent_town_of_westerlo_write_in54" "highway_superintendent_town_of_westerlo_over_votes55"
[121] "highway_superintendent_town_of_westerlo_under_votes56" "proposal_one_an_amendment_yes"
[123] "proposal_one_an_amendment_no" "proposal_one_an_amendment_over_votes57"
[125] "proposal_one_an_amendment_under_votes58" "proposal_two_town_of_bethlehem_yes59"
[127] "proposal_two_town_of_bethlehem_no60" "proposal_two_town_of_bethlehem_over_votes61"
[129] "proposal_two_town_of_bethlehem_under_votes62"
Family Day at the Nutcracker 🎄
Today it’s off to see the Nutcracker that my niece is preforming at down at SUNY then having a dinner with my parents at a local Mexican restaurant. It’s nice to spend family time together, as you never know how much longer this going to last.
In some ways, it’s nice to dream that these days will last forever, 👪 that your parents aren’t getting older and gray even faster then you are yourself. I do spend a fair amount of time with the parents, and while we all agree there will be a next time, you never really know if that will be the case. That’s why I am also planning to visit with them on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day — still deciding when I want to leave for my adventure for the week off.
I am considering going out to the Finger Lakes on Christmas Day through New Years Day 🎊 but I worry about the weather, and its a long trip out there. I also am thinking about a Central NY trip, but if it’s seven days and I can only camp in one location ⛺ for three so I’d be looking at different locations every few nights. I thought about doing Long Pond and then heading up to the Horse Camp for New Years Eve, 🐴 but that’s only six nights unless maybe I camp at Beaver Creek. Also, have to consider snow depth, and the issue of staying parked too long in one location and not being able to keep the battery charge up. 🔋 And just that winter nights are often cold and long — do I want to spend 6 or 7 nights alone in wilderness? 🐺 And the whole issue that next weekend might rain. 🌧 I need to decide by Monday so I can get propane and supplies as grocery stores are closed on Christmas, and to tell my folks when I plan to visit for Christmas. 🎅
It’s good to be back home, 🥶 it was so cold on Saturday morning at Rensselaerville State Forest. It’s was a beautiful night with the snow Friday night ❄️ but it was so frigid with the wind come the morning. That’s one of things that has me reconsidering camping on for a full seven days starting Christmas Day. 🎅 I am not saying I won’t go down to Long Pond and maybe the horse camp for a few days, but a full trip out to the Finger Lakes seems a bit much for this time of year, especially if we get that heavy rain next week.
Tomorrow I’d like to ride my bike to work, 🚲 but I haven’t had a chance to service the brakes, it’s going to be quite cold, and I’m concerned there will be a lot of ice on the bike trail. I might instead bus it to work. I have black beans soaking to cook up in the morning, and I’m thinking of baking bread. 🍞 We will see, it’s a cold night. Plus I should thinking about doing my wash.