We got a brief respite from the muggers after the rain and it cleared out. But the mosquitoes are celebrating their new found pools of water and the ticks have been so bad, I found one crawling up my leg in the office downtown yesterday.

Good morning! Clouds and 62 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁️ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees. Not quite as muggy as before the rain though it will be muggier come midday 🕛.

Out walking 🚶 this morning, did 10.8 miles and 40 flights of stairs up and down yesterday, as the rain stopped early yesterday and it was nice for both for a lunch time walk and especially in the evening. So buggy down at the park but since they’ve improved the trails they’ve been pretty dry. I liked that cream of wheat with the frozen blueberries and Greek yogurt yesterday that I’m thinking that will be breakfast again with a fresh pot of coffee ☕. Quick breakfast too.

Black beans are cooking on the stove 🍲 which I will use for a cold lunch with red onions 🧅 and sliced peppers 🫑. Last night was kale – spinach blend as I ran out of the prior with some pasta and mackerel. 🐠 I was looking at the label 🔎 trying to figure if mackerel or tuna fish is a healthier option but I guess it matters if you prioritize vitamins and minerals, along with total omega 3 over slightly more calories and saturated fat. Most of the calories comes from the pasta at any rate, which I used the last half box of white pasta I had left in my kitchen with 1 1/4 lb of frozen spinach and a half lb of frozen kale. Tuna fish salad thet won’t kill you! All that fiber with the delious omega 3 fat fills you up quickly so it’s not so bad but I’m only buying whole wheat or chickpea pasta going forward.

Yesterday the 40″ waist seam jeans and XXL shirt 👖 I wore to work looked cartoonishly big on me, as I’ve lost so much weight. I’ve recently bought 38″ shorts thinking they’ll be good as I like my shorts loose and they also are running kind of big one. Even some of the XL shirts, especially undershirts now seem to big for me. I guess I never thought I would loose so much weight so quickly, though I’m still very hesitant to buy more clothes as I don’t know what size will fit well. Maybe come August I’ll have to shop the thrift stores to see what I can get, although it’s still tough as I’m so tall. I just worry about weight gain though I think I’ve really changed what I eat.

Speaking of which I was really happy to hear that Stanton now has both sweet corn 🌽 and tomatoes 🍅. I am not really sure which I’m most excited about, probably my favorite nightshade as tomatoes are so good in many foods and fresh tomatoes are the best! If I go to Schoharie this weekend I’m hoping to get somewhere I can stock up. I’ll eat them quickly so they don’t ret a chance to go bad, lol 😂.

Today will start out cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny ☁️🤜🌞, with a high of 88 degrees at 5pm. Kind of a game of weather punch buggy, as the sun and hot weather push out the cooler rainer weather of yesterday. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 11am. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 91 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1936.

At this point I’m getting a bit impatient about getting Blackie 🚵 as last night I figured out what heavy gauge u-bolt lock to get to secure my bicycle, a USB rechargeable long lasting rear light for the rear and a waterproof carrying mount for my phone. 📱 I tested out my phone to see if it would work okay as a GPS bicycle speedometer / trip odometer, turned out that 45 minutes on and off the bus with the GPS location and screen on only used 3% of the battery life, so should be good. 🔋

Mostly want it to keep track of distance out on the trip so I know how long the return will be though watching my speed on the down hills would be fun and I want to track my distance. It’s good that I can avoid adding any more expenses to this ever growing bicycle project. 💸But I figure now is the time to equip the bicycle as I want it, so it will be ready for adventures as close to day one as possible and I can work out kinks before vacation. 🏖

One issue I might run into is I don’t know if the Trek MIK rack will fit on the XXL model of the Marlin 6. 🚲 I’m going to ask and buy at the shop when I pick up the bicycle for just that reason. If not there are many after market bike rack systems you can get and either use a MIK adapter or maybe a different rack system. I just want something I can bolt 🔩 to a milk crate storage containers and do the quick release for packing inside or at camp, and load the bike in the truck or on the bus 🚍. I really want to have the storage before vacation especially for longer rides so I can bring lunch and supplies without having them in a backpack 🎒 on my back in the heat. I might even do some hammock camping on vacation depending on where I’m riding.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.5° from the due south horizon (-1.3° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:52 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (295°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (302°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:35 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 9:07 pm, which is 29 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:53 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 82 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 9 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 14 seconds over yesterday.

The Verizon salesman 📴 stalked me out at home last evening, seeing if I would be interested in signing up for internet today. 🖥 I was like not really bro, I don’t have a TV or internet at home and I’m not really interested in all that technology stuff. He wasn’t that persistent when he learned I didn’t own a television or had a computer at home (I store my laptop at work). Truth is during the pandemic that was the closest I ever got to getting home internet as it was cold especially in the winter working out of my truck 🛻 down at the library but now with unlimited phone data and 5 GB Hotspot, I’d much rather just use my phone 📱. Phones are so powerful these days, yet they are so portable, can he used virtually anywhere and use very little electricity to charge. 🔋 Heck, I’ll probably leave my laptop locked in my office 🏢 rather than bring it on vacation this year.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 64 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 65 at 8pm. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It was humid. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1978.

After reading 📖 more of the Boggleheads Guide to Investing, I just ordered up my yearly free credit report 📜 and no surprises there, it was super boring 💤 and accurate. I did find one issue – my Experian report wasn’t properly locked 🔒 so I did that to protect against identity theft. The other two were good. Updated my assets spreadsheet, 🧮 that’s looking far better now than six months ago. I was pleasantly surprised that my ratio of bonds to stocks has increased but then again I’ve been buying more bonds lately as I’m getting older 🧓. The higher fed rate is helping with the cash side of things too. Far better than wasted year in the market in 2022. The out year projections look good, based on the past decade but I’m sure we are going to have a recession but I figure that’s just a loss on paper and in the long run, it’s a potential for gain.

On this day in 1962, live television was transmitted for the first time across the Atlantic Ocean. On Telstar! 📺 Seems odd nowadays, when so much commerence is global and we can access a server next door as quickly as in France. 🇫🇷 Of course ultimately Telstar 📡 would be destroyed by above ground nuclear ⚛ testing. 💣Which was pure foolishness of a deadly kind of way that was making the sweet corn 🌽 radio and putting strontium 90 in children’s ice cream cones. 🍦Now we just have PFAS and dioxin in our ice cream and everything else.

A nice summer weekend ahead. 🏊‍♂️ ⛺ Saturday, scattered showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Maximum dew point of 70 at 11am. Sunday, scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Maximum dew point of 71 at 11am. Monday, scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees.

Still thinking this is the weekend to go out to Schoharie though a lot depends on timing of getting Blackie, my new bike. I keep waiting for that call from the shop, though I realize it’s only been two days, or maybe three. Maybe I’ll get the call this afternoon, though I’m not sure if I can leave work early today, but maybe tomorrow. I guess I don’t need to have the rack on my bicycle, I can use a backpack for this weekend for supplies along the rail trail but I do want to get things tested out. I haven’t decided about Monday yet, but it looks like a much better day to take off then Friday.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until August 🌻 when the sun will be setting at 8:17 pm with dusk at 8:48 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, partly sunny and temperatures between 89 and 69 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 101 back in 1933.