Good morning! January is coming to an end! It is currently overcast and 40 degrees in Delmar. The sun is occasionally peaking out of the clouds but no blue sky is to be seen Today will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. South wind around 7 mph. Maybe a chance of seeing a little blue sky before the sun sets tonight?

Sunset will be at 5:07 pm with twilight at 5:37 pm which is one minute and 19 seconds later then yesterday. Tonight is the Last Quarter Moon with 46% illuminated. It will rise at 12:38 am. Past my bedtime, so it will be pretty dark night. The New Moon is on February 8. I believe the full moon is Monday, February 22, but don’t quote me on that as I don’t have the moon calendar in front of me.

There are 2 months, 1 day until April Fools Day. Trout Season starts on that day too. I hear a rumor that the state budget is due that day too but it probably won’t happen on-time because they had to schedule an easter holiday right before April Fools day. Usually April Fools Day demarcates hardcore winter with nicer weather for camping. I ain’t no fool, but I like April Fools Day.

This day in 1990, the first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow. The important part of this historical tidbit: “Did they offer buck coffee?” It really annoys me when local McDonald’s don’t offer coffee for a buck. It keeps you alive on the road. Most other McDonald’s food is pretty overpriced and gross. I’ll just buy a bag of chips at the local grocery store to hold me over while I drive where I need to go. I’m really not a fan of restaurant food. I’d prefer to cook it over a fire or in the woods.

Today I’m going to play with maps a little more then run to Walmart to pick up a few things I couldn’t find at Shoprite, then possibly to the car wash to wash off more salt off the truck. Then I’m thinking of heading down to Hannacroix Preserve before heading to my parents house for Sunday dinner.

Last night I put together a lot of pretty interesting maps for the next week or two, now that I’m done with QGIS scripting for a while. It can be tough to come up with new data and find interesting things to map, but I think have some interesting new maps. They include a bunch of state land maps, Albany City School Bond vote (including a Cartogram), Solid Waste Facilities, and an Updated Wilderness and State Forest Overview Maps.

Fun stuff.