July 20, 2018 Morning

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! It’s the overdrive of the week, and a beautiful day. I’m ready to head up to the Adirondacks after work. πŸŒ„Five weeks to Average High Falls To 79 Degrees β›±. Sunny and 73 degrees in Delmar. 🌞 Calm wind. The dew point is 58 degrees. Going to be a really nice day.

Today will be sunny 🌞 , with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 58 at 10am. South wind 3 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1991.

The sun will set at 8:27 pm with dusk around 9:00 pm, which is 49 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At sunset, look for clear skies and 77 degrees. The dew point will be 57 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 44 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌞 , with a low of 61 degrees at 5am. Four degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 57 at 8pm. South wind around 6 mph. In 2017, we had partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 63 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1974.

I am ready for the weekend, 🏞 spending time up in the Adirondacks doing some camping and paddling from Stewart Landing to West Canada Lake on Lily Lake. 🚣  It may not be a wilderness lake but it still offers some nice paddling, and isn’t that far from Piseco-Powley Road. Between driving there and the time that kayak is off the truck when I’m out paddling, I should have the battery fully-recharged so I have plenty of power come Saturday night. Before I had the panel, I would often have less charge in the battery on the second night then the first. Based on my schedule and plans, this will probably be the last time I get up there this year for Piseco-Powley, although I guess I could go up there in September if we have some nice weather and time allows it. Burgers, hot dogs, and the potholers on Saturday evening or Sunday. Might also hike back to House Pond for some fishing.

Gased up the truck this morning, β›½checked the tire pressure, oil and windshield fluid.Β Still need to pick upΒ  hamburger buns, beer, cookies, and eggs for breakfast.Β I’ll probably stop somewhere on my way out to Johnstown.Β πŸ›Β Everything seems to be going well. Should be a nice weekend.

After I parked today,Β πŸ…ΏΒ I noticed some glass on the road where I parked.Β I swept it up with the hand broom I normally use for keeping my truck cap neat. I hope I don’t get a flat tire — the tires are fairly durable on my truck. I do have a full-size spare with TPMS (!), but it will be a bitch to put on and I may not leave tonight if that happens. Still would need to get the TPMS sensor reset, to avoid the tire warning, but the full-size spare is completely matching the other ones — I sometimes run it like the other ones. Didn’t hear any leaks and I don’t see any glass on the tires. Bottle broke when they were picking up the garbage I guess. 🍷

I really hate glass.😑 It’s heavy, it breaks, you can’t burn it when you in the back country. Supposedly glass is infinitely recyclable, but for the most part the markets don’t exist and the way most glass is recycled locally is fill for building landfill roads. Plastics haven’t caught up with all the benefits of glass when it comes to sealing certain air-sensitive goods, but its’ pretty good stuff. That said, we should be looking more to reusable and returnable containers — I don’t think it’s a big deal to bring back a milk jug or soda jug for recycling as back in the day.

At least it’s a nice shady spot and my truck should remain cool. 😎 While I pack the propane tank with a some extra ice, I always worry a bit about things getting too hot and the tank over-pressured — even though the windows are tinted in the truck cap, and I always cover the tank to further shade it. Plus I don’t want the ice to go too quickly in the coolersΒ πŸ†’ — I want it to last all weekend,Β especially as I have a fresh gallon of milk I bought today.πŸ„

On this day in 1969, Apollo 11’s crew successfully makes the first landing on the Moon 🌝 in the Sea of Tranquility. Today, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, well at least in England.Β  Us Americans would get to watch it the next day due to the time zone difference.Β πŸ€”

Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until Average High Falls To 79 Degrees β›± when the sun will be setting at 7:42 pm with dusk at 8:11 pm. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 75 and 56 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. Well, shocking. 😜We hit a record high of 95 back in 1947.

Meet The Invasive Insect That Is Changing An Entire Forest Bird Community

Meet The Invasive Insect That Is Changing An Entire Forest Bird Community

"In an unusual role reversal, one tiny invasive insect is controlling the species composition and architecture of a large community of forest birds along the East Coast of the United States."

"Throughout the eastern United States, forests of eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, are under attack by a tiny invasive insect with an insatiable appetite for these giant trees. This attack is causing the decline of eastern hemlock and as a consequence, it is driving the disappearance of a variety of birds that are specialized to them, according to a recent study. This study also found that birds that live in habitats not dominated by eastern hemlock are expanding into these dying hemlock forests, and this is diminishing avian biodiversity. Remarkably, in an unusual role reversal, this less diverse bird community is apparently due solely to just one invasive species of insect."