Happy Valentines Day ♥️

Not loving the cloudy skies today, but it’s going to be mild, heading up to 40 degrees which hopefully will help with the snow melt and the sad, desprate indivdiaul without a car can start riding his mountain bike back to work both ways using the bike trail rather then be on high alert, guarded, fighting traffic be it on Corning’s Hill or was the case last night, Second Avenue in Albany.

Do I ever consider settling down, 😻 maybe some day, but I like my freedom, my fires, 🔥 nights up in wilderness wit my big trucks and guns, burning shit and listening to music. A girl 🧒🏻 just a lot of baggage 🛄 to drag along. Plus I’m banned from Facebook Dating and most of other promotion of Facebook things, after making a stupid comment over 90 days ago on an advertisement for Criminal Defense Lawyers, noting that “I eat judges for breakfast and shoot cops with heroin.” Obviously I’m promoting narcotics on Facebook so I’m a danger to Facebook Community just like Donald Trump is. A serious violator of Facebook policy, because I hate those obnoxious ads. But then again obviously I’m a danger like Trump, as I’m a liberal Democrat who burns his trash and rarely recycles plastic (see before) , soon to drive a big-assed SuperDuty with a Godzilla engine, owns not enough guns, and voted for Trump in 2024, so he could take away my express bus downtown. And the snow depth data web server, because he cut funding to National Center on Snowpack or whatever that website. ☃️ I just want that fucking snow to be gone so I can ride my bike to work on Rail Trail without all that traffic crap, enjoy some serenity.

When those days come, I’ll certainly be riding both ways every day, 🚴 no more evening buses home, we’ll except for rainy days. Truth is without the express bus anymore, the shuttle and local bus is so much less convenient and I hate having to walk through the Capitol on session days, lest I get caught not being fully dressed up for work in the Data Services department overlooking the city garbage dump. Yesterday, riding in that sewage plant really stunk, 👃 but at least they plowed the one section of the Quay Street – Erie Boulevard connector that wasn’t cleared until yesterday. And then yesterday, with the additional evening daylight, I rode back home  🌇 via Second Avenue and Delaware. It was fine, though Elizabeth Street that connects Fourth Avenue and Second Avenue is steep and I had to push my bike up it, and Second Avenue is surprisingly narrow and I had to keep one eye 👁️ behind me to watch for cars sneaking up on the back, and one eye watching out for opening car doors. Doesn’t help the snow banks leave cars parked out halfway to the middle of street, really only leaving one lane for two directions of traffic. I guess it was better then taking the bus, but between that hill on Elizabeth Avenue, Second Avenue and Delaware Avenue crossing the Norman’s Kill and just the general fighting of traffic left me dog 🐶 tired by the time I got home. I actually snuck over behind Delaware Plaza and took the suburban streets home, just to get away from the craziness of traffic – I was home before 6 PM.  💥 I got a 5-lb bag of cornmeal at Wally World yesterday in the morning, when I got Valentines Day candy at work, so I made up a big pan of cornmeal pancakes with spinach, no onions this time.

Between heading over to Wally World before work yesterday, 🛒 to riding back home over Second Avenue, I rode quite a few miles yesterday, but whatever, it was healthy and saved on bus fare. 🚍 I really don’t love riding the bus, but yeah, I don’t have that big-assed truck yet, 🛻  and I hate driving too, much rather either ride or bus it work. Was so much more convenient with the buses when they had the express buses, and I worked downtown, but whatever, most days now I just ride my bike especially once that snow is done. I still need to think about getting new tires n the bike, I’ve been slip sliding a lot especially as it was 8 months ago when I last seriously thought about getting some more rubber. But they’ve been holding air fine, and for suburban communiting, ti’s not like I need really good traction, and if I slip slide a bit on the snow and ice, whatever. 🌨️ Finally now the trails in city that are plowed are in good shape, except on area where they pushed snow on bike trail by the Exit 2 787 Collector-Distributor.

I want to ride to Hannaford today, 🛒 and pick up some groceries in the afternoon, 📚 read some books I on my phone and probably watch more videos. Black beans cooking up on stove this morning after having apple pancakes. 🍏 No big plans, I could go out to Five Rivers but I think the snow will be too deep to do much walking unless of course it’s well packed down, but even then with the warm temperatures expected today it will be quite sloppy. ☀️ Sunday or Monday Dad is going to pick me up to visit the family. Other then that, no real plans for the weekend, I left my laptop in office, 🖥️ I rarely use it at home, and with electricity prices, I don’t even want to think about plugging it in at this point. I was kind of pissed about the $140 electric bill for February, highest ever, but electric rates are soaring, 🔌 I’ve used the electric blanket a lot and space heater more than in years past as I’m home more on weekends without a vehicle, and I think my apartment is only getting more drafty. I can’t complain that much though, as many are paying far more, 💰 especially homeowners with big houses, I don’t have a fuel or insurance bill, and even my credit card bill has dropped 💳 as it’s not like I can buy as many groceries on a bike – and I don’t want to have a bunch of trash to get rid of without having a fire 🔥 or a vehicle to haul to the transfer station.

So yeah, I had this dream in middle of night that I got the Godzilla truck, 🐲 and despite it being the best researched truck ever, when I actually started to drive it, I hated how ugly it was with the base trim and all the plastic, and that on way home the engine started to knock and it had all these mechanical issues – because I while it seemed perfect on paper – I didn’t listen to dealer’s advice or maybe I fell in love 😍 with the Big Ford when I saw it next week test driving it and didn’t have time to critically think it through. But I was then stuck with this jalopy that was too expensive and unreliable to actually drive anywhere. It was of course because I watched that video on lifter failures on Godzilla engine, especially the older ones used for fleet use and idled all day. But what engine can you get today that doesn’t have mechanical issues? The blown engines in full-size pickups and compacts are all even more unreliable. 🧑‍🔧 You can dive deep into the forums and videos, and even the most reliable car out there has “issues” when you look at the fleet as a whole. I think if anything, the Godzilla is more reliable then anything GM or Dodge or even Toyota puts out today. Remember, I had a Chevy 5.3L famous for lifter issues, and despite oil consumption for a few years at times, it was flawless until the frame rotted out. I just want to look at the SuperDuty trucks I’m interested in, get an out-the-door price breakdown, and figure out where things stand before taking the next step. 🔎 But I know visiting a dealer in person is like stepping into a rats nest. 🐀 I don’t even know I will be able to get there this week with rain coming in, ☔ but Tuesday or Wednesday, based on the forecast I’ll decide if I should call and see if I can make an appointment to look at the trucks I’m most interested in. It’s funny, I got marketing mail from some Extended quote-un-quote “Warranty” insurance product broker scam in mail today for my Ford, warning ⚠️ that my warranty is about to run out. But fuck, I haven’t even bought the damn Ford. And I’d rather self-insure, if the engine blows 💣 after the warranty, decide if it’s better to pay for a new engine out of pocket or scrap the vehicle. Chances are good neither would be likely, and when you look at most insurance products, over time, it’s better to bet on yourself rather then insure over a loss which might suck, but isn’ t going to be catestrophic. ⚰️ I’m paying for more liability insurance instead of lower-deductible collision or glass coverage, as I’d rather protect my money in case a paralyze a four year old kid with my truck more then paying more for some body work on the truck or a broken glass. At times, money seems fake when you have days when your paper net worth falls by $25k due to market declines. Keep the SuperDuty truck purchase in context, though I don’t want to blow all my money on the truck, as I want to retire young to that off-grid hunting cabin that smells like hog shit, burnt plastic wrapper and wood smoke, with the howl of coyotes and guinea fowl in background. 🐓 Real country shit.