But of course I stepped outside, the sun felt good as did not paying the buck thirty for the bus or the wasted time sitting on the bus when I could be riding and enjoying nature around me as I peddled to work. I rode in early, so I took my time, rode up to the Menands Exit on the Mohawk Hudson Bikeway, then into the office early.

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Generally sunny with a few snow flurries around and 30 degrees in Delmar, NY ❄ Breezy, ️25 mph breeze from the west-northwest 🌬 with gusts up to 45 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 16. At times the wind was really roaring, though as the sun has risen, it has slows significantly. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️

I got a fairly early start 😵 figuring that I would walk laps on the Concourse 🏃 before catching the shuttle bus over to the suburban office. But then I stepped outside, and decided the wasn’t that cold, and I’d rather save the bus fare and get the greater health advantage to riding the bike, plus then I could listen to the audio book I just started on the ride in. 🇸🇦

Today will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 10am. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 34 degrees at 12pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 8th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 17 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 57 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 2006. 17.3 inches of snow fell back in 1958.❄

Rode home last night 🚲 with the last part being quite dark. 🌃 It was just kind of a cloudy evening, ☁️ and I didn’t get out of the office until a little after five. I didn’t really need the light on my bike until I was out to Elsmere Avenue and back on public streets, though I did use it while I was on that section of South Pearl with a lot of cross streets, and riding down Erie Boulevard in Albany as it was already kind of dusky.

When I got home I ran into my new landlord 👷 or at least the handyman overseeing my building now that my fomer landlord has closed out the sale and has moved to the Adirondacks. He says he’ll be sending the paperwork over the next few days and an updated address to send the rent checks. 📬 Seemed like a nice guy, though being a corporate partnership owning the building, probably rent will go up. But I was evaluating the rent for similar apartments, and my rent really isn’t that much of a deal currently despite having lived there for so long at this point. At least if things break now, it won’t be quite like I’m calling somebody whose taking repairs it out of their individual family business account. 🔨 Maybe then I can get some things better fixed in my apartment like the leaky door. 

I’ll read the paperwork carefully when I get it over the weekend, and decide if I should stay or look at moving. 🔍 Just a casual glance at apartment listings and there are some options there within my price range, though I kind of would rather avoid moving at this point, as things are crazy enough 🤪 with my new job. That said, if I do end up signing a new lease 📄 I think I should evaluate over the next year more seriously if I should buy a house. 🏘 The problem is it’s tough to find a small house that won’t cost a fortunate to heat and light, and I’d kind of like to move back out to country and have land and livestock. 🐮 Maybe a single-wide modullar house on significant acreage would be nice or a cabin, though I don’t love the idea of a crazy long automobile commute, especially as cars can break down.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 34.9° from the due south horizon (-35.9° vs. 6/21). Definitely can feel the strengthening sunlight as I rode in this morning. A six foot person will cast a 8.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:49 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (247°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (254°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:28 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 5:56 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the south (176°) at an altitude of 71° from the horizon, 234,761 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:30 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 32 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 15 mph with gusts up to 25mph. Today will have 10 hours and 39 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of light snow after 4am. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a low of 24 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 8th. Maximum wind chill around 21 at 6pm; West wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2023, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1973.

Tomorrow will have a chance of light snow, mainly between 7am and noon, then a chance of snow showers after noon. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a high of 34 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 8th. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west 11 to 16 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 55 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1981. 11.9 inches of snow fell back in 2003.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, a slight chance of snow showers before 1pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers between 1pm and 4pm, then a slight chance of snow showers after 4pm. 🌦 Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. Southwest wind 8 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until March 🌨 when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:13 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 39 and 20 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 40 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 2017.