I always enjoy exploring the back roads, the places often mostly unexplored except by the locals.
Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties and much of that part of the state interests me because it’s so often passed by. How many people ever visit Hornell, much less the more rural countryside further out?
Yes, I’ll probably visit the tourist traps like Allegany and Letchworth State Park but I also want to visit many other places further out and often overlooked in Western NY.
Many blue states like New York are adopting California’s Advanced Clean Car II standards. Here are the facts from the California Air Resources Board:
The new regulation accelerates requirements that automakers deliver an increasing number of zero-emission light-duty vehicles each year beginning in model year 2026. Sales of new ZEVs (all electric) and PHEVs (plugin hybrid) will start with 35% that year, build to 68% in 2030, and reach 100% in 2035.
The regulation applies to automakers (not dealers) and covers only new vehicle sales. It does not impact existing vehicles on the road today, which will still be legal to own and drive.
Plug-in hybrid, full battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles count toward an automaker’s requirement. PHEVs must have an all-electric range of at least 50 miles under real-world driving conditions. In addition, automakers will be allowed to meet no more than 20% of their overall ZEV requirement with PHEVs.
Battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles will need a minimum range of 150 miles to qualify under the program, include fast-charging ability and come equipped with a charging cord to facilitate charging, and meet new warranty and durability requirements.
By model year 2030, the rules require the vehicle to maintain at least 80% of electric range for 10 years or 150,000 miles. (Phased in from 70% for 2026 through 2029 model year vehicles.) By model year 2031, individual vehicle battery packs are warranted to maintain 75% of their energy for eight years or 100,000 miles. (Phased in from 70% for 2026 through 2030 model years.) ZEV powertrain components are warranted for at least three years or 50,000 miles.
Real programmers like dark themes. I’ve never liked them, but there are good reasons for preferring dark themes. They save battery power, are easier on the eyes, especially in dark rooms and actually look quite neat. Maybe I was put off from them for so many years as they reminded me of those awful command line interfaces of my youth that I hated compared to the friendly Macintosh System Software, still I am starting to understand why are so popular these days.
The Dunham Reservior is part of Grafton Lakes State Park. One of the five lakes, it's seperated from the rest of the park by NY 2.
You know, you start to feel old when many of the clients you work for are younger in life then you are. And you have to at least compare your own life to theirs, the choices they’ve taken and paths you’ve not taken. You look at the targets of young voters, often 30 years and younger in age, and at age 41 that seems so long ago. You realize many of people you grew up with had kids who are now going off to college. You no longer are young.
Yet at the same time, I don’t feel all that old. I still live in the same run-down moldy apartment that I moved into after college. It’s not as inexpensive as it once was, but nothing is these days. I’ve had Big Red for 13 years now, and it’s been 17 years since I graduated from college and started working full-time at NY Assembly. I still spend many of weekends in the wilderness, camping, drinking beer, burning shit in the fire year round. I ride my mountain bike to work to save on the bus fare, and when I don’t ride, I take the bus. I never eat out, I try to cook economical but healthy meals, I do most of my shopping at Walmart and avoid driving around town whenever possible. I keep my heat at 55 degrees or lower most of winter, I’ve never had air conditioning.
But I’m the unit director, I tell myself. I make one-hundred “k” or about that amount. Even in these inflationary times, many live on far less. I could afford more luxuries. Though it doesn’t feel like much money as I’m putting every cent away I can towards a dream of owning my own land, having that off-grid cabin and homestead. But if I wanted to I could certainly afford a nicer home, one where rot means the door is literally falling off the building and the fight against the mice and mold is non-stop. Yet, I don’t care, I don’t spend much time here except in more coldest of winter days. But I don’t necessarily want better.
Truth is I am looking. I am trying to figure out what my options are. I hate all of the houses that are on the market, they’re all super expensive, super crappy, too long of commutes and most don’t have nearly enough land. And for as long as I stay with my good paying job that I know I do damn good work at and are proud of — I am pretty much stuck in New York. I’ve been studying building and buying houses, though at times I get so damn frustrated I just toss up my hands. I don’t want a vinyl-sided monstrosity in the suburbs with an overflowing giant garbage can (and mostly fake recycling bin!) out front, a manicured lawn, and a television and high speed internet is every room.
People say I should grow up. Or stop delaying my dreams for a future unreachable. I am probably over-invested in the market, a lot of my wealth could be wiped out if we had a prolonged depression. The thing is I just don’t like what the options are and I don’t like the idea of being any more tied to New York State for longer then I have to be. Certainly not past age 55 when I can start collecting state retirement benefits at the earliest. And it’s not like every week as I save and invest more my net worth isn’t increasing, so my options only get wider.
But at the same time, it’s inevitable that I’m getting older. And it hurts to see everybody getting on with their life, and I’m really only a few steps in my personal life removed from college, even if I am on a great career path, though maybe not with skills all universally transferable, especially to a small town type place where I would much rather live in a much cheaper and freer red state. I see people I know growing up country, with their families and their homesteads, and I’m stuck here in the suburbs.
Now I am not delusional and I see better days ahead. I open up my net worth spreadsheet, and put’s a smile on my face to see how much it’s increased over the past year with outstanding stock and bond markets, and high interest rates. While I often feel poor with inflation making everything so damn expensive these days, the high cost of land and housing more generally, I know that day when I am ready to have my own land, build that off-grid cabin I will be able to do it. It’s better to wait, and be damn sure to know what your jumping off to when you do.
Still I can’t help but seeing the time marching by much too quickly.
Foggy start to a weekend doing remote work, visiting the Indian Lake Moose Festival, riding back to Pine Lake off Gooley Club Road, hiking up Pillsbury Mountain.
One thing after getting this cold, I’ve really stepped up my hand washing game. When I go out in public, as soon as I get home or to camp, I wash my hands well with lots of soap. And maybe stock up on hand sanitizer.
I completely blame myself on getting so terrible sick over the past week on my poor hand-washing technique after going shopping on Sunday and being so excited to eat some delicious frozen fruit I got at stores with my bare hands. I know gross, I should have washed my hands, but I did not. And I remember not doing that. Now it’s burned into my brain.
I am not a germaphobe by any means, if anything the natural dirt and soil of the wilderness is healthy. You need exposure to a lot of natural bacterias to have a strong immune system. But when you expose yourself to others, you really need to be careful to wash your hands, especially before touching food.
Now I can’t guarantee that hand washing would have solved all my problems. I might have breathed in the virus, touched my nose or eyes before I got home and eat with unclean hands. But maybe it would have, and prevented a lot of agony later on. I don’t really fear mud and tangy smell manure, but I do néed to try harder to keep my hands clean so I don’t get sick again.