Erie Boulevard was closed under Interstate 90 due to a water main break or maybe bridge work. I don’t know, I was running a bit early and I figured it would be a nice day for a longer ride via the Menands Exit. Figure extra riding in the morning means less I need to do come the evening after work.

Good morning! Mostly sunny and 31 degrees in North Albany, NY. There is a south breeze at 8 mph. 🍃.

Got up early 😀 and rode in early, in part to take advantage of the nice day and because I was up early, as I didn’t sleep well. 💤 Not sure why I didn’t sleep well, maybe because it’s I’ve had so much to think about in recent weeks. 😟 At least my office has unlimited free coffee ☕ which is a big benefit over working at Alfred E Smith Building, which had a coffee club but I never joined. I bring in my own skim milk with mint extract, rather then use creamer. Sometimes if I’m feeling healthy wanting less calories, 🧊 I’ll go the route of just adding ice — we have an ice machine here — and then add vanilla, cinnamon and ginger I have in my desk.

Fresh bread 🍞 and baked butternut squash 🍆 this morning, was cooking in the oven and on the stove 🥞 was johnnycakes with lots of onion, shredded broccoli, spinach, and topped with cottage cheese for protein. A good start to the morning, after a bit of a rough night sleeping. 🛌 Because I was listening to podcasts in the wee hours of the morning, and then reading for a bit 📚️ I got all of the advertising for mattresses and BetterHelp every commercial break while I was riding into work listening to Fresh Air. I am not sure I like the idea of mental help over the internet or phone 📞 , I feel like you miss something when you can’t get people’s facial expressions and be in the same room with them. That said, that licensed mental health professional I saw a few years ago was downright creepy in the basement of a run-down office building on the outskirts of town. But then again, I guess talking about your thoughts is a bit creepy too. 👨‍⚕️ What, I just like burning shit and need to move back out to country. 🚜 🔥  Freedom, baby.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 18th. South wind 8 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 2017. 10.7 inches of snow fell back in 2005.❄

I am moved into my new private office 👨‍💼 which I’ve grown to like more and more now that I’m out of the temporary cubicle and made it more homey with a desk lamp that I found in the closet, my plants, and some other random decorations from my old office. I still have a lot of empty wall space, but I will be filling that with several photos and posters in the coming week, I am getting them delivered on Saturday and will pick up frames. I have two large pictures from West Virginia and a 24×34″ color aerial photo of the Capital Region that I plan to frame and hang in my office 🖼️ next week the next time I drive in or take the bus — probably next Wednesday when it rains. 🌧️ I am also thinking of getting a candle warmer, and one of those sent candles 🕯 to make my office smell good, 👃 especially if I have too many beans 🫘 for lunch or track in manure 👢 when I have my homestead. Also a brighter bulb 💡 for the desk lamp — Walmart has super bright 200 watt equivalent LED bulbs. I should bring in my desk fan, should be hot in here come the summer. 😅 I want my office to be a calming place when the shit starts to fly in the data world, you know when the SQL query breaks. 🔢 Still don’t know if I can technically keep the lamp, it might belong to a different department, but it was in the closet collecting dust. 🛋 If I have to buy my own lamp, then so be it.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 40° from the due south horizon (-30.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (254°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (261°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:46 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:13 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:47 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 44 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 30 degrees at 2am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. South wind around 10 mph. Stlll not bad, not warranting turning the heat back on, as things will stay warm enough over night. In 2023, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of -04 occurred back in 1940.

Tomorrow will rain, mainly after 8am. 🌧 High of 45 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 15th. South wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1991. 11.9 inches of snow fell back in 2018.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, mostly cloudy, 🌥 with a high near 58. North wind around 6 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees. Sunday looks like a nice day for a ride, or maybe driving around in countryside, trying to carefully observe various properties. 🏘 I want to learn more how people live, what are realistic options, and not be stuck with the suburbanite crap.

I was sort of hoping to get out camping this weekend, 🌧️ but not with the rain expected. It will be a good weekend to research property some more 🏘 🌲🔍  and do some reading on buying land. I am not rushing things at this point, but I also don’t want to give up the goal. 🥅 I just want to make the right decision. Plus get caught up on sleep after last night’s bad night in bed. 🛌 I actually don’t know why I was so troubled by sleeping, I have my nice new office to work from today. I am going to text my friend from Boy Scouts tonight 📱 to see if he will be available this weekend. I’d love to learn more about how he financed and rebuilt his homestead. At this point, I’m just trying to sift through all the details. 🧁

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Ides of March ✝ when the sun will be setting at 7:03 pm with dusk at 7:30 pm (Daylight Savings Time). Friendly strangers in black sedans be liking that day. 🖤 On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 37 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2019.