The fresh air is nice even if I don’t love all the road noise.

Good morning! Rain and 51 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ Breezy, ️18 mph breeze from the south-southeast 🌬 with gusts up to 28 mph 💨💨💨. The dew point is 50 degrees. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 11 pm. ☃️

Pancakes 🥞 with fruit and maple 🍁 syrup this morning. I should get some locally bottled syrup as this point I’m sure the sugar houses are firing up. Coffee ☕ too but not to much as there is plenty in the office 🏢 to drink, lol 😂.

Rainy ☔ morning today, but I’m driving to work 🛻 as we are going to lunch to celebrate 🎉 the retiring director and I need a car to get to lunch plus I need to get money 💵. I also want to bring in some of my plants 🌿 and some of my other office stuff that’s been sitting at home while I’ve been in the temporary cubicle. 👞 I have big shoes to fill but I know I’ll do excellent work that I’m proud of in coming years. In some ways it’s a dream job – I’ve always loved working with computers and data – and I get to use the Unix text utilities and SQL every day. Plus lots of R and Python. 🖥 I miss the politics and working Capitol Hill but I’m hopeful to be more involved with that side of things come the autumn. 🗳 Those posters I’m sure once framed will be beautiful in my office. 🖼️

Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 11am. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 59 degrees at 2pm. 19 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 14th. Maximum dew point of 55 at 1pm. Breezy, with a south wind 18 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1903. 9.7 inches of snow fell back in 1948.❄

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy 😊 to have my rent check clear 💵 but it seems like my new landlord didn’t delay in cashing the check. It’s good to know he got paid and he’s not going to play games with Venmo. 🎮 While I don’t view Delmar to be my home forever, and hopefully not into next winter it buys time. Even with the June rent hike, this is still my cheapest option to live here. I don’t think I’ll come out ahead owning a home compared to renting a cheap place on the bus 🚍 line and riding to work 🚲 most days.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 39.3° from the due south horizon (-31.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:05 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (253°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (260°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:43 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 57 seconds with dusk around 6:11 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:44 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 58 degrees. The dew point will be 54 degrees. Breezy, 22 mph breeze ⛅ from the south with gusts up to 37mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 15 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over today.

I’m still looking at better housing options even though my rent check cleared as saving money isn‘t the only thing in this world, I’m rapidly getting older 👴🏼 and as I settle into what is likely my career for the next twenty years, I should look for a lifestyle that I really want to live. As I noted yesterday, few things scare me more than dropping dead at age 64 and not living the life I want before then. Life isn’t guaranteed forever. Plus I’m super jealous of all my friends and colleagues who have land out in the country. 🚜 I shouldn’t be but I am.

I am basically pre-qualified for a mortgage after submitting a ton of documents but I haven’t followed up with the banks to get it in writing or get a letter ✉ of pre-approval. Part of it is I might not get a traditional mortgage should a buy a fixer up property or have a cabin built to my specifications. To be clear, I don’t want to stall now that the pressure is off but I want to make the right decision on what may define the place I call home my remaining working year. I am continuing to read a book 📖 about custom home building ⚒️ and the contracting process. Is that the right option for me? I don’t know but I don’t want to be stuck in a house too big with features I don’t want with a life I don’t want.

Tonight will rain showers, possibly mixing with snow after 10pm, then gradually ending. 🌧 Low of 24 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 1st. Windy, with a south wind 23 to 30 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 48 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -2 occurred back in 2008.

Last night 🌃 I had more fried zucchini with onions and corn with spices. A good dinner followed by some mango and chopped apple 🍏 with cinnamon. Then I went for my evening walk 🚶. Rode both ways to work plus a short ride around North Albany. Been finalizing the details of moving into the new private office and getting the phones 📞 switched over to that office. Plants 🌿 are moving into that office today even if the retiring director still will be there a bit today.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 59. I still think it would be a nice night 🌃 to camp on Saturday if not too muddy. Today’s rain should reduce the fire risk though it also will reduce the snow. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees.

One month 📅 from now the Average High is 50 🌸 when the sun will be setting at 7:18 pm with dusk at 7:45 pm (Daylight Savings Time). That sure will be nice when the heat is off and the windows open. And the evening commute much brighter 🔆.