Ever wonder how New York names places? Well there is an actual state agency that all they do is name places and things in consolation with the USGS.
Many people don't realize in the Northern Adirondacks there is an unincorporated hamlet of Swastika, NY in Black Brook, Clinton County. It's actually a pretty scenic community, pretty rural and remote 20 miles south west of Plattsburgh. I found this back story:
"I grew up a few miles to the south of Swastika in Black Brook village. Apparently, the settlement was originally called Goodrich Mills, but when the hamlet applied for its own post office (it was previously served by the then Black Brook post office) in 1913, the name "Goodrich Mills" was already in use. The US Postmaster General's office offered some possible new names, and residents chose Swastika (apparently for no particular reason other than preferring it to the other options). Interestingly, in 1914 the N.Y. State Assembly's "Board of Geographic Names" refused the new name precisely because it was entirely arbitrary, and bore no relation to the hamlet's history or geography. So, the Board ordered the residents to pick from yet another list of more "geographically correct" names, and this time they chose Balsamdale. The Postmaster General's office, however, refused to acknowledge the legislature's authority in the matter and the name of Swastika stuck. Goodrich Mills and Balsamdale are long forgotten. the post office closed in 1958".
Parked my big jacked up truck on the grass at my apartment in preparation for heavy snow to make easier for landlord to plow.❄ I’ve parked there for 5 years now in severe winter weather.🅿
All the sudden as I started to park, I felt the ground collapsing. 😧😧😧I through the truck was starting to sink in the mud, so I threw it in drive, just in time. By the time I was parked on the black top a 3 feet round by 5 foot deep hole opened in the ground! If you fell in the you need a ladder to get out.
Landlord thinks long abandoned septic tank collapsed under the weight of the truck and the lack of frost in the ground. Doesn’t smell like sewage and is mostly a big empty hole as it’s been inactive for decades. 🚽He’s going to investigate in the morning and if it’s that after the snow storm backfill the hole.
Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 50 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁There is a north-northeast breeze at 8 mph. Mild but rather cloudy before the big storm tomorrow which I feel will be a big bust. The skies will clear Sunday around 3 am.
The sun will set at 5:45 pm with dusk around 6:13 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 49 degrees.☁ There will be a north-northeast breeze at 8 mph.
Today was just one of those days when you have to shrug😑 and say well they are paying me good money to do these things. Nothing bad happened today but it just was a challenging day in many ways. As I often tell myself if I didn’t have this job somebody else would be doing it. It’s ultimately paying the bills and allowing me to put away money towards a better future. Each day I learn a little more, save a bit more. Albany, NY is not my future, I’ll be happy when that day comes when it’s all in the rear view mirror never to be looked back again. 🚗
Rush hour traffic is pretty bad this evening. Just a whole lot of stop and go. 🚗🚘🚚🚛🚛🚌 Once I get home I’ll probably have dinner and head to the grocery store. I saw Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace has a film on water rights in California but I don’t know if I will go to see it. I got to move my truck🚗 before the snow comes down. ❄
Tonight will rain, mainly after 7pm. Low of 37 degrees at 5am. 15 degrees above normal. North wind 8 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. ☔In 2017, we had partly cloudy skies with more clouds in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -4 occurred back in 1940.
Tonight is the Worm Moon. 🌕The Last Quarter Moon is next Thursday with a chance of snow. The Worm Moon is on Friday, March 30th. The sun will rise at 6:29 am with the first light at 6:01 am, which is one minute and 38 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 12 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will rain and snow. Patchy fog before 4pm. High of 39 degrees at 1pm. Typical for Tomorrow. Windy, with a north wind 16 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. ☔A year ago, we had cloudy skies with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 56 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1991. 6.2 inches of snow fell back in 1948.❄
Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a slight chance of showers after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. North wind 15 to 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 39 degrees.
I have family things to do on Saturday but I’m hopeful on Sunday to get out cross country skiing, 🏂maybe at Thatcher Park. I don’t think I want to go too far this weekend. I guess my mind could change but I’m saving up for traveling season once again.
In four weeks on March 29 the sun will be setting at 7:18 pm (Daylight Savings Time),🌄 which is one hour, 32 minutes and 52 seconds later then today. In 2017 on that day, we had rain, drizzle, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 50 and 33 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 50 and 31 degrees. The record high of 85 degrees was set back in 1946.
Looking ahead, April Fools Day and Easter 🐰 is a month away, Thanksgiving 🦃 is in 38 weeks and New Years Day 2019 🎉 is in 10 months.
🇺🇸🦅Only 84 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🦅🇺🇸
Then the next big jump is after we set the clocks ahead one hour.
"There’s a national storyline about West Virginia and parts of Pennsylvania, and it goes something like this: As the steel and coal industries fade, small towns are dying out. But for the past twenty years, some entrepreneurs have quietly been working on a different narrative, one that harnesses the natural beauty in these areas to build the economy. About 10 years ago, after being downsized from a job in computer sales, Rod Darby wanted control of his career. He drew up a business plan for a pub and restaurant in West Newton, a small Pennsylvania town along the still-developing Great Allegheny Passage. The GAP bike trail, as its known, stretches 150 miles, from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland. Darby shopped his pub idea around."
"The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution. It was approved, after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777), by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states. A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament."