Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Three weeks to Buy Nothing Day 🛍️. Mostly sunny and 25 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. There is a northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️

Walked down to the Park and Ride 🚏, it’s a nice day but it certainly feels more like a winter day then early November. The high in Delmar is going to only be in the mid 30s which is more common in December or January than November. The mountains and hills aren’t expected to break the freezing mark although the sun and the breeze should melt away most of the snow. ❄ Bus driver gave me a ride part of the way down to the Park and Ride which is nice on this cold morning although I still enjoy my walk. 🚶 Windy though downtown. 🌬

So the heat is on in my apartment ♨ which definitely felt good this morning. Warm enough that the gas heat kept up easily and it was comfortable getting up in the morning – doesn’t take much heat to keep me warm. I was kind of hoping I could wait until November 13th after the meter was read to  turn on the heat, but no luck there. 💸 Cash flow isn’t great right now, after vacation and my truck repair in October but so be it. The shower 🚿 isn’t leaking which is good too after today’s bath 🛀. Feel clean and ready for a good day at work, that bright 🔆 sun is nice although once I’m in my basement office I won’t have much natural light to enjoy.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 36 degrees at 1pm. 15 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 14th. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 49 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1975. 1.7 inches of snow fell back in 1894.❄

The sun will set at 4:40 pm with dusk around 5:10 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 11 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 2 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 24 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 20 degrees at 4am. 13 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 18th. Maximum wind chill around 22 at 3am; Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm after midnight. In 2018, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of 11 occurred back in 1971.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 39 degrees at 2pm. 12 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 6th. South wind 3 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 42 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1975. Ten inches of snow fell back in 1900.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, a slight chance of snow before 10am, then a slight chance of rain between 10am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, ☁ with a high near 45. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees.

Giving it some thought I think I’ll probably head out to Brookfield this weekend ⛺, and then Sunday drive out to Cazenovia. I was going to camp at Stoney Pond – and I might still if the weather is decent but I’m a bit concerned about the possibility of Lake Effect snow ❄ leaving a few inches of snow unexpectedly and it’s an uphill drive out of there and I don’t want to risk it. It looks fairly white out there from the Hamilton and Cazenovia Webcams I’ve checked, although the snow fall reports are quite modest — and it’s expected to be in the mid-30s by afternoon.

Upper I Brown Road is plowed daily for fire department purposes in Brookfield and while it’s modestly steep its down hill and it should be warm enough that it won’t be icy. I really would prefer to camp at Stoney Pond – maybe I’ll play it by ear, camp there Saturday and Sunday do Brookfield which is sort of on the way back home 🏡. I have fond memories of my time in Nelson and I want to hunt out that way, visit Nelson Swamp and Chittenango State Park. I’ll see how much snow is around heading along the Cherry Valley 🍒 bypass.

Not sure if I’m going to John Wolcott house tonight. 🔍 I am kind of tired and I want to get packed for my weekend adventure. 📂 Honestly, this project is kind of getting rapped up, and I want to put a close on it sooner then later. He says he has more boxes, but I think there are others who could help him out. We’ve done six boxes over the year. 🗃

Next week is my first paycheck at my new job. It will be a little larger then the my previous one, because I’m only doing 15% for retirement versus 20% due to the 401k limit being lower then deferred comp. But I’ll put the remaining money away into more mid-term investments like when I want to buy land and a home. 💰 I was reading that 15% should be enough to save for retirement, but I’d rather save more,  just because I hate paying so much in New York State taxes. I literally pay more each month in taxes then I do on rent. Granted, I don’t have the nicest apartment in all of New York.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Buy Nothing Day 🛍️ when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:55 pm. On that day in 2018, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 56 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 42 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 2005.