Personal

Already getting hot 😰

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Still I’m planning on to ride up to Fultonham on my mountain bike. They’ll have ice cream there. Do wish I had my tube – big mistake – but swimming at Mine Kill will be fun.

That road back to the Cole Hollow Campsite was rougher then I recalled 🪨

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I mean I shouldn’t be surprised but I haven’t driven back here since 2010 before Irene when a big portion washed out and had to be rebuilt. Especially with my big ol truck – last time I drove it was with the much smaller Ford Ranger.

Camped down at Cole Hollow last night. 🏕 I had been thinking for some time of camping here as in theory it’s relatively close to the Schoharie Valley though in truth it’s pretty far west from Bear Ladder Road and the mile of dirt and stone track to get back to Cole Stream is pretty bone jarring and tough on suspension components so I doubt I’ll be back to this site any time soon. 🛻Plus it’s a narrow and tight driveway with mud wallows to navigate and it was buggy last night. 🪰 Probably tonight I’ll try to do off that paved road to Jefferson or Betty Brook or hammock camp.

Yesterday was crazy 🤪 at the office 🏢. Interviews actually just one as the first person canceled. 👥 The robo call 📞system we were testing failed and we had to move it to the legacy system. And the postal rate ✉ update broke that side of the operation. I was so happy to be up to camp no matter how bone 🩻  jarring the road was. Cole Hollow is very serene with that trout stream which runs through it little more than a gentle trickle in the background with birds chirping. 🐦 Fried zucchini 🍆 for dinner, had a nice fire 🔥 though a bit smokey as both the wood 🪵 and burnables were wet, I really should keep separating out the compost as those banana 🍌 peels are wet and don’t burn well. Fell asleep in the hammock listening to a podcast after a quick toke and a beer. 📻. Glad the week was over. No rain ☔ last night.

Eggs 🥚 for breakfast this morning, took down camp 🏕 and headed for the Old Blenheim Bridge. Riding up to Fultonham on my mountain bike 🚲 through the Schoharie Valley. Pretty flat with good road shoulders most of the way. 🌽 I want to stop at Shauls and get produce and maybe ice cream up that way. I was looking at the swimming hole by the Towpath Mountain parking area, 🛟 thinking that would have been perfect for floating at current river levels but I didn’t bring the tube. Swimming 🏊 at Mine Kill Pool this afternoon. Tomorrow swimming and riding but not sure where then out to the parents house. 👪

Driving 🚘 out here I was chewing over the fact I’ll be heading out to the Finger Lakes in two weeks 🏞 God willing! To leave at on Thursday night for Long Pond or just leave very early on Friday morning for the Finger Lakes is the question on my mind. 💭 Long Pond is two hours on the way to the Finger Lakes, but if I’m not camping on Friday morning I could probably get an earlier start plus it’s so much work to move around nine days of camping gear just to do overnight. I guess I could sleep in a hammock ghat one night. I just want to get to the Finger Lakes National Forest as early as possible to maximize my chances of getting the campsite 🏕 I truly want for the next nine nights.

Going to be a fun weekend.

How dare he! 🚩

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Andy, Andy with his Gadsden flag!

What an ungrateful son of a bitch people say behind my back and to my face, it’s fine to have whatever views you have as unfortunate as they may be.

I just fundamentally believe in the right to be left alone to get government off our backs. I’m not endorsing the agenda of any politician or ideology per se but instead the right to be left alone.

Gray start to the morning ☁️

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Just very overcast. The carrot pancakes and coffee helped a bit, got up around 5:30 as I was to bed at a reasonable hour.

Feels good sitting by the fan ⚛ but when you get away from it you are reminded you are still in the swamp with the humidity. 😰 Five Rivers 🐦 was nice last night but I had to cringe more than a little bit listening to the President’s press conference. The guy has studdering problem and sometimes gets names mixed up. Still seems pretty sharp but it has to be tough to be president at such an advanced age. I like Biden – he’s better on climate and consumer protections then Trump, though I think Trump would be better on the second amendment and limited government.

Finishing up packing but truly how much gear ⚙ do I need for two nights in the woods 🌲🌳 and bicycling 🚲 along with lots of swimming 🏊 and eating fresh sweet corn. Not a lot of gear for sure but now that I think I really should bring the griddle for the corn 🌽. I’ll probably stop tonight on the way out if they’re still open and it’s not pouring rain. 🌧️ I concede this evening could be wet though I’ll be pretty far north and west of the worse of the rain.

I have a bunch of interviews today, 🤝 we will see how they go. Then live stress testing of the new robo call system. 📞 Hopefully this time it won’t break. Then off to Schoharie. But first I need to shower 🚿, get a few supplies 🏪 and gas up. ⛽ But even if tonight is wet tomorrow looks great. ☺

Still trying to dry out my old phone, 📱 with hopes of retrieving some of the photos 🖼 and pictures from the last camping trip. Still too wet to get booted. I guess it doesnt’ matter, most of the photos I cared about were taken on the camera or were on the SD card.

Rain possible tomorrow night ☔

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I still got the water container filled and packed clothes. I’m heading out to Schoharie tomorrow night to camp in one of the hollows then I’ll probably ride from Blenheim Bridge and hit up the farm stands followed by the Mine Kill Pool.

I am continuing on my goal of spending as many weekends as possible away from home. 🏕 If I’m not going to be buying a house I really should be spending more time traveling and nights in the woods. I never did call that real estate agent back but at this point I don’t care. I don’t have to talk to a salesman if I don’t want. Got to pack on sunscreen 🧴 and bug spray. 🪰 It’s going to be another hot weekend. Probably be frigid come summer vacation.

I’ve just been so busy, 📃 with the stacks of paper growing. Part of it is the travel but also the campaign committee, my state job interviewing and trying to figure out who to hire, and the future 🔮 of my agency based on my ultimate choice. Its been hot and I’ve been staying up late, sitting out back 🪑 watching the fire flies and just being worn out by the heat. Rode to and from work every day so far this week though tomorrow I’ll drive in if I’m planning to head out to Schoharie right after work.

Yesterday was particularly crazy 🤪 as we had a brown out in the office and the air conditioning shutdown and it got very hot. The voltage was too low to run the desktop 🖥 computers and people’s fans struggled to run. With the servers 💾 running downstairs  on the UPS 🔌🪫 things got hot very fast before I closed down the office 🏢.  Ultimately the severs were shut down due to a lack of cooling. ❄

Maybe it was the biggest mistake in my life not to buy that rundown house 🏚️, it’s really the homesteaders dream with $150k cash. Not a lot of money these days but most homesteaders are broke. I could have had pigs 🐽 and raised pot there, both quite legal these days. 🍁 And lots of fresh vegetables and bonfires – certainly a lot of people in my old neighborhood have been having big bonfires lately, lol 😂. But I’m enjoying traveling. Summer vacation is two weeks from Friday – starts July 26th. 🏕 Back to the Finger Lakes.