Good morning! Happy Average High is 40 ☀️! As we head into the spring 🌷things do warm up at an increasing rate, reaching an average high of 50 in only three and a half weeks. Four weeks to April Fools Day 🤡. That’s also the first of April and opening day for trout season 🎣in case your not aware. My fishing license expires on April 13th, I might try buying it online this year. It would be easier that way. State budget is also due then, jokes on y’all.

Mostly cloudy and 29 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a north-northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. After last night’s mini snow storm there are 4 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️ Not far above freezing but with the sun ☀and road salt things are already starting to melt a bit.

It snowed last night 🌃 but didn’t start until relatively late. ❄ I don’t care that much as it’s largely melted off the roads at this point. I skipped my evening walk because I figured I got an hour in on my exercise bike 🚲 and didn’t think it was necessary at this point. Plus I was tired 😴. Dimmed the lights retired to bed before ten.

When I first woke up, I turned the heat 🔥 up for a bit. No need for it heat by time the sun ☀ came up, as things warmed quickly. Expecting a mild day today although not super warm. The south facing windows in my office 🏢 will be nice though with the sun radiating in. Kind of pretty with the fresh snow everywhere, although I’m hoping it’s one of the last. Probably not a realistic hope.

Not happy 😊 I moved my truck to the grass 🌾, as I don’t think we will get much more snow this week but at least my parking spot will be cleared of snow. 🅿 I may want to move it this week so I don’t sink in the soft ground with the warmer March weather (HAH!) 😜although I did leave it locked 🔒 in 4×4 mode. I do need to get ketchup and dish soap, so maybe I will go out to the store this week and move the truck. Not sure though. Landlord did plow this morning, I was actually a bit surprised, as there isn’t that much snow. Maybe with the new tenants in the house up front, he’s trying to make a good impression.🕴

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 33 degrees at 11am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 10th. At some point the weather will change and it will feel more like May or June rather than February. Northwest wind 9 to 15 mph. A year ago, we had light snow. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1919. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

In 1985, Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States. 💉In 1917, Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.🙅 And in 1957, S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.📈

The sun will set at 5:49 pm with dusk around 6:17 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 26 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 14. ☃️ There will be a west-northwest breeze at 15 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.

Packed up a lunch and dinner 🍲 as I figured it’s going to be a long day at work, especially with conference after session. I expect to be at work probably until after sunset 🌇 but I’m fine with that, I think the bus will still be running 🏃 as I doubt I’ll be at work after 11:30, and quite possibly get home much earlier. ⌚

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 9 degrees at 6am. 13 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -2 at 6am; West wind 7 to 13 mph. In 2018, we had light snow in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1948.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of snow showers after 3pm. Increasing clouds 🌞, with a high of 25 degrees at 2pm. 15 degrees below normal. West wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had light snow. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1964. 8.6 inches of snow fell back in 1917.❄

Yesterday, I hike the rail trail then went over John Wolcott’s house. 📜 Spent several hours sorting through files, trying to figure out what the old dutch and other documents were all about. I prefer to go over on the weekends, at least while I’m still in town, as it’s more productive to spend a few hours rather then just an hour or two, after work. I’ll have to see though once the nicer weather comes, maybe I can go after work with more sun in the afternoon. The rail trail was nice 🚂 although a bit icy in parts, certainly not snow free. Sat down by the Normans Kill Falls for a while, watching the river. Got a lot of steps in yesterday, for sure.

I put a set of ((parentheses)) around the end of the weekend by watching a video 📹 about the history of LISP. What an odd but useful old computer 💻 language for sure. Made the half hour on the exercise bike pass by quickly. ⏳I also watched more of the How Farms Work channel update video I downloaded. I figured I am burning calories, plus learning about a lot of things I don’t know that much.🚜The best part about pre-downloading the videos, is I don’t have to watch the commercials for all the commercial products, although I do try to go back to the channels that I like and click the like button, and sometimes run the ads in the background when I’m online so they get their credits and views.🚲

Reinforced the button ⭕ on my pants 👖. While that’s a good thing, as they were starting to get loose, it wasn’t the pair I intended to wear today. I wanted to fix it that pair, so it was reinforced. After spending so much time with the needle and thread, 🧵 it almost made me late to the bus.🚏 But I ended up making it time, so that’s what’s important. I also ordered some more dress pants and another blazer, so I should look sharp, despite the many session days.🕴I hate having to ration dress pants or wear the ones that don’t fit well. I like being as comfortable as possible at work. I probably should at some point get my jacket dry cleaned, maybe once I get my new one.

Finally took the trash out. 🗑 It realized it had been inside for a couple of weeks, and I was starting to realize it started to smelled a bit. As I don’t have trash pick up, have a container for the compost, buy in bulk, aggressively recycle and in the summer burn the burnables while camping, 🔥 I sometimes forget about taking out the trash while cleaning. It’s actually amazing how little trash I have — three or four weeks of trash easily fit in a single shopping bag. Recycling, especially with those milk bottles takes up a fair bit more space. I wish they had returnables still at Stewarts. At some point, I’ll want to go to the transfer station with the recycling but I usually like to put that off until the end of winter. Much easier in the summer months, when I’m camping and have a fire every day.♻ I do find myself always acquiring so many disposable shopping bags, I really should buy some reusable bags. But then again, that might be the law soon. it’s not such a big deal in the summer when I’m camping, as they get used up then, but it’s a annoying how fast they multiply around home in the winter and have to be taken back to the store.

Got the 5 volt ⚡ linear regulators I ordered from China in the mail ✉. I am planning to use these for powering the small electronic projects powered my truck, namely the smart-relay I am building and the GPS logger I built last year.🌐 I used the built-in regulator for an Arduino to power the first version of the GPS logger, but I ended up burning-out the voltage regulator due to the relatively high voltage the truck’s alternator puts out, and the current draw by the GPS and the SD card reader. A linear regulator isn’t ideal for minimizing current draw, but when the truck is running, it doesn’t really matter, as we are only talking a few dozen milliamps. I am still now waiting on the relays I bought from China to do the switching for the smart relay, but I will continue to test and build things on my breadboard.

Pay week this week, which is good, because money is always tight. 💰 My budget is always pretty small, although I try to save money wherever I can — but traveling and camping season is coming soon. Plus I owe the government a shit ton of money come tax day, and my ever escalating truck insurance bill is due the end of the month. It’s my fault, I decided to increase my insurance coverage to protect myself in case I were to get into serious crash, and burned some little child or hit the side of a house. I didn’t think that extra coverage was that much, but it’s kind of added up. I always try to be safe driver, but you never know what shit could happen on the road.🏞

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 36. Sunday, a chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. At least Saturday sounds nice but continued cold next weekend. ❄ Maybe the following week we will get seasonable temperatures? 🌸 I’m still hoping to get out for a late winter camping trip soon, but a lot depends on how busy I’m with work and everything else going on in my life. 🏕 Getting rid of the snow would help too. I don’t drink beer (much) anymore, but I certainly wouldn’t mind a cold one in the wilderness.🍺

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until April Fools Day 🤡 and the start of Trout Fishing 🎣when the sun will be setting at 7:21 pm with dusk at 7:50 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2018, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 47 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1986.

Looking ahead, April Fools Day 🤡 is in 4 weeks, Tax Day 💰 is in 6 weeks, Earth Day 🌎 is in 7 weeks, 8 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 2 months, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 12 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 17 weeks, Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 4 months and Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 23 weeks.