September 17, 2020 Night

Good evening! Rain showers and 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. β˜” There is a north-northwest breeze at 6 mph. πŸƒ. The dew point is 54 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 7 am.

Sitting out back for a while watching the rain come in πŸ’¦ just enjoying a mild late September evening. πŸŒƒ It was a fun day heading downtown on the bus 🚍 for a long but kind of fun socially distant meeting in a big conference room with masks on. πŸ’Ό Then I went to John Wolcott house for a couple hours and looked through a bunch of Fort Orange history and old records about Mayor Yates House, now the DASNY building. πŸ“œ

It was a long day with the banada over my face, kind of hot but so he it. 😷 I am actually thinking of buying a real mask, because the bandana on the face gets tiresome when you’re downtown a good portion of the day. I wonder what Tractor Supply has for fashionable reusable masks. I bet a Carhartt mask would be fun. Then I can get a boring black mask for fancy meetings so I can look like Biden This Time. πŸ‘΄πŸ»

It was fun to take the bus downtown. 🚏You know I miss the time on the bus, 🚌 the quiet time to myself listening to a podcast or my earphones 🎧, looking out the window. Everybody wore their Coronavirus muzzle, as my IIIer hog farming friends like to say. 😷 I think the dangers of transit are exaggerated πŸ‘Ύ although I did wash my hands good when I got to the office 🏒 and when I got home πŸ‘πŸ». Then again . I had to giggle 🀭 at the signs defaced with BLM painted on them and the graffiti removal crew nowhere to be scene. ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿 Cities are wonderful for the disorder and grime they represent. πŸ˜€ The world isn’t perfect πŸ‘ŒπŸ».

I went for my evening walk 🚢🏻 and it was pleasant maybe because I was so charged up about being able to ride the bus and work downtown again. πŸ™ I legitimately do miss the old days when things were normal and you got on the bus every day and worked in that big office building in the city. It was just so nice for at least a while having a semblance of the old life peering out from under the Coronavirus muzzle. 😷

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers. Okay, later, raining now a bit. πŸ’§ Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 49 degrees at 5am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 22nd. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2019, we had clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 48 degrees. The record low of 35 occurred back in 1986.

Tonight will have a New 🌚 Moon with 0% illuminated. The Hunter 🏹 Moon is on Thursday, October 1. The darkest hour is at 12:51 am, followed by dawn at 6:10 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:39 am in the east (87Β°) and last for 2 minutes and 54 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 7:16 am with sun in the east (93Β°). Tonight will have 11 hours and 37 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny ☁, with a high of 62 degrees at 2pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 10th. Maximum dew point of 48 at 6am. North wind 9 to 13 mph. A year ago, we had sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 1891.

I was told today that my hair is rapidly getting gray. πŸ§“πŸ»I guess I’m getting old but I think some of it has to do with my hair cut short βœ‚ and the fact I’m growing sideburns. I’ve been noticing that a lot more in the mirror too. But already the sideburns are filling in nicely and it’s a bunch less shaving before I shower 🚿 although I do that less now as I’m not working downtown and nobody knows if you’ve put on deodorant on over Zoom Meetings.

In four weeks on October 15 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (259Β°) at 6:12 pm,πŸŒ„ which is 48 minutes and 28 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 62 and 39 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 60 and 40 degrees. The record high of 86 degrees was set back in 1897.

Looking ahead, October πŸŽƒ and Harvest Moon πŸŒ• is in 2 weeks, Average High is 60 πŸ‚ is in 4 weeks, Northern Zone Regular Season 🦌 is a month away, Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 is in 2 months, Thanksgiving πŸ¦ƒ is in 10 weeks, 7:15 AM Sunrise βŒ›οΈ is in 12 weeks, Christmas Eve πŸŽ… is in 14 weeks, New Years Eve πŸŽ† is in 15 weeks, Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 is in 17 weeks, Wolf Moon πŸŒ• is in 19 weeks, Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day πŸ₯› is in 21 weeks, Presidents Day πŸ‘΄ is in 5 months and National Drink Wine Day 🍷 is in 22 weeks.

Edge

NPR

Workers With Disabilities Can Earn $3.34 An Hour. Agency Says Law Needs Change : NPR

D'Agostino was making so little because, since 1938, U.S. labor law has carved out a rule for some people with disabilities, saying they can be paid less than minimum wage. The New Deal-era law was intended to encourage employment of more people. But a new report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says the exemption should be phased out, because it's been trapping workers in "exploitative and discriminatory" job programs.

Trump Says He Will Start New Commission : NPR

‘Patriotic Education’: Trump Says He Will Start New Commission : NPR

In austere, starkly divisive remarks, President Trump on Thursday said he would create a commission to promote "patriotic education" and announced the creation of a grant to develop a "pro-American curriculum." The move is largely political — a reaction to a growing push by some academics for schools to teach an American history that better acknowledges slavery and systemic racism.

I think schools should be teaching more about the legacy of folks like Jane Jacobs, Mario Savio and Abbie Hoffman. Or for matter folk singer Phil Ochs and Malvina Reynolds and studying the writings of Robert Caro and Vance Packard. History that uplifts ordinary Americans and give headaches to the power brokers. 

Loss of housing

Destruction of housing due to highway construction is alarming due to the serious housing shortage in the U.S. In the 3 year period between 1967 and 1970 total displacements were as follows: 146,950 families or individuals, 16,679 businesses and non-profit organizations, and 4,890 farms. (Helen Leavitt, Superhighway-Superhoax)