August 26, 2015 evening

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It looks like the clouds are dominating the night sky tonight as the temperature falls to 65. There is some moonlight filtering through the clouds but where I’m sitting out back I can’t see the moon through the trees. At 80% full, there is plenty of moonlight. Full moon Sunday. Crickets sing back and forth between trees in stereo and a train whistles in the distance.

Looking at 60 degrees for a low tonight and maybe some clearing if the persistent clouds finally give up. 5:44 AM is the civil twilight and sunrise is 6:13. Looks like 63 degrees and partly sunny for the morning commute. But if the current pattern continues, call it for more clouds then sun. Probably only going to get to 75 degrees tommorow.

Drove down to the park this evening. Finally getting around fairly well with my ankle. Probably won’t be hiking up any mountains for a few weeks or for that matter walking around the neighborhood but I’m at the point I’m not really depending on a hiking stick to walk. The sprain boot is uncomfortable to walk in but at one and half weeks from spraining my ankle I’m finally feeling like I may recover. I don’t have much pain at all anymore. I so look forward to walking around town again.

Not sure about the weekend now but I am really thinking of heading camping for one night, buying firewood in advance and keeping as much weight as possible off the one foot. With my truck camper, there really isn’t that much to set up, especially if I keep the lights simple. As I mentioned earlier Speculator Tree Farm and Mine Kill are on the short list. That said, I want my ankle to fully heal and don’t want to do any damage that could risk Labor Day Weekend or attending the Trappers Expo at Herkimer Fairgrounds, which I know at this point should not be on my agenda but I’m crazy and really want to go.

Friday morning I’m looking at that Remington 597 and making my mind up on the index fund buy. Opinions are mixed on that gun but I want to look at it more. 22 ammo is easier to get now. Probably kick in $250 in index funds, because I feel like now is a good time to get I’m – assuming the market doesn’t rally before Friday. If it does, I’ll wait for the October crash to score a better deal. I don’t care if it goes down after I buy – sure I’d like a better deal – but I’m in for the long haul. My investment account is primarily for retirement, but it’s beyond the regular tax exempt IRA that I try to max out yearly. I could do deferred comp but I don’t want to lock up too much money in a way that it’s impossible to access before I retire. I plan to move to a state without state capital gains taxes before I take any of the money out.

Don’t Be Debbie Downer

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Despite recent news reports and claims by activist groups, here are the facts:

1) Crime of all types is at lowest rate in a half century.
2) Violent crimes including murder are at their lowest rate in a half century.
3) Air and water pollution at the lowest levels in America in more then a half century.
4) More land has been permanently conserved in America then ever before.
5) Fatal automobile crashes are still at the lowest rates in American history.
6) Today’s cars accelerate, brake, and handle better in all ways compared to previous cars.

Now news reports and activist reports claim our country is falling apart. That things are getting worst. But that really isn’t the truth. Things have never been better in our country, or for that matter in our world.

August 26, 2015 morning

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Beautiful late summer morning with the mercury at 69 degrees and sunny. A little haze in the distance but for the most part clear. 77 degrees will be the high with some clouds creeping in later.  My call is for partly cloudy and 73 degrees around 7 PM. Sunset at 7:40 and darkness around 8:09. The moon will be 80% illuminated and will set at 2:37 AM as we approach Sunday’s full moon.

Last night my phone was acting up again but hopefully it will work better today. I don’t know why phone is always so unreliable but I’m starting to think that the phone flexes and some of the connections don’t work right.

Still haven’t gotten down to the park, because with the questionable weather of recent I’ve  been hesitant to drive down there with my sprained ankle. But at least I’ve gotten lots of rest and done a lot of reading at home.

Friday afternoon is the work picnic at Thacher Park. I took the full day off because I didn’t want to drive into the city for a couple of hours. I haven’t made any plans for the weekend but thought about doing a day trip to locate some of the designated campsites at Speculator Tree Farm.

I found a list on the DEC website and while they don’t provide a map I figured I could make one after I located them on a map. I might stay overnight — if I bought some firewood, I wouldn’t have to be running to gather around, and could just hang out at camp in the afternoon, without putting much weight or stress on my ankle. Another possibility might be to go out to Burnt Rossman State Forest, and visit Mine Kill State Park pool, as I think Labor Day is the last day it will be open until next year.