End of the Year

Well folks, another year has come to a close. 2021 is one for the books, one that will be at some point in the future looked back at with nostalgia, as we look back those silly cars we used to drive back in the day. The times come and go, in a few short weeks we enter the next era of our country’s history.

Change is good, and indeed the flipping of the calendar will mean change. But then it’s just a continue, history doesn’t start or end on a calendar day. Sure there will be new laws that will go in effect and we’ll have to write 2022 on all our paperwork, but really is December 31st that much different then January 1st?

Enjoy the egg nog and fondue one more night. Soon the Christmas lights will be shut off and we will be in the cold of January. But fear not, another spring isn’t that far away.

NYISO VP Zach Smith on Reliability Risks from Extreme Weather, Transmission Constraints, & Electricity Economics

Episode 18: NYISO VP Zach Smith on Reliability Risks from Extreme Weather, Transmission Constraints, & Electricity Economics

12/27/21 by New York ISO

Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1402870/9756667-episode-18-nyiso-vp-zach-smith-on-reliability-risks-from-extreme-weather-transmission-constraints-electricity-economics.mp3

Weโ€™ve just released a new report, the Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP), which looks at the New York energy grid over the next 10 years and determines if there are any factors that could impact our ability to keep the lights on for all. While the report declared there are no immediate risks, Vice President of System & Resource Planning Zach Smith says the future of the grid is not so simple. To safely and responsibly tackle climate change impacts to the power grid, one must consider multiple factors together in thinking about decarbonization and planning. โ€œWe have a shifting resource mix of generation. We need to be mindful of how this big machine called the electric grid continues to operate,โ€ Smith told Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, during an interview for our Power Trends Podcast. One issue, Smith said, is that as new resources come onto the grid, such as wind or solar power, older, less efficient power plants will retire. The โ€œspinning massโ€ of fossil fuel-fired plants provides a reliable source of electricity that can offset the intermittent nature of solar and wind resources, which are limited due to weather and time of day. Losing oil and gas plants will require replacement by other energy resources that can offset these intermittent resources. โ€œWeโ€™re already seeing changes on the grid. Thatโ€™s going to have a real impact: some of them positive, some of them negative,โ€ Smith said. โ€œWeโ€™re very concerned that if we experience a heat wave, a polar vortex, our projections show we could come up short.โ€ For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.

Building the Homestead I Can, Not the One I Want ๐Ÿšœ ๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿฎ

Building the Homestead I Can, Not the One I Want ๐Ÿšœ ๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿฎ

Often when I go out and visit my parents place, I spend some time walking around the yard. My parents are in their mid-70s, and I am realistic and realizing that they may not be able to live independently forever and will pass at some point. I’ll miss them terribly, but I also see a lot of potential in their five acres should I end up taking over their homestead.

Both me and my sister will have a 50 percent claim on the land, most likely. I doubt my sister, who is raising her family in suburban Saratoga County will have much interest in moving back out in country. But I certainly do. I think I am in the position that I could buy out her share of the homestead, paid for in cash, and then only have to pay taxes and utilities going forward.

I look around and think about what I could do with the land. It’s only 5 acres, there is a lot of junk on it, and a lot of it is has been reverting back to woods in recent years. There are neighbors within 500 feet of the most of the land, so probably the opportunities to do a lot of shooting on it are limited, and I have to be careful what I do with fires out back, not burning anything too noxious that produces a lot of smoke, especially with the state’s burning ban. But also, because it’s not neighborly to fumigate your neighbors with smoldering plastic garbage. But there is still a lot of possibility on this land.

Meat goats could do a lot to help clean up the land. Not only are goats relatively small, easy to transport, slaughter and turn into meat, they are browsers and would be perfect for cleaning up the land of brambles and turning land covered with trash species into meat. Portable electric fence means I could move them around to various portions of the land, but they also have a barnyard with stalls for keeping them in the winter. They have a barn and chicken coop, that could be restored for raising chickens and rabbits – a source of meat and eggs.

Eventually, it would be great to run some feeder pigs – piglets bought and raised to weight. This is a move involved adventure, not sure if I could process them on site, so that might involve having to borrow a cattle trailer to get them processed. There are big feed bills involved with having pigs — were talking a few tons of feed for having a couple of hogs — but pigs turn feed into manure which becomes incredibly rich soil for growing other crops.

And maybe cows! But not my own, I am not sure I have skills or even enough land to get started with cattle right away. But a few years back, my neighbors approached my parents about using some of their land to graze cattle. My parents declined, as they had concerns about the noise and smell of having cows so close to their bedroom. But I think it would be an excellent way to help restore that field, fertilize it with manure, eat up the grass and maybe get some home-grown beef out of the process.

I would also like to restore their little pond behind the old well. Certainly chopping down the big junk trees, getting goats back there to clean up the brush and trash species would help. But I’m sure it’s also mucked and probably would need some help from a backhoe after all these years. Maybe it could be enlarged too. There is a good water supply there — it’s fed by a spring that runs out of the shallow well — although the ground around it remains kind of mucky. But it could be cleaned up for sure with a backhoe, maybe a small rental backhoe like on the a tractor.

For having fires, there is all of cinder blocks around the backyard from a demolition and construction project when they replaced their attached garage. I bet these cinder blocks — with the addition possibility of some firebrick would make for an awesome fire pit / incinerator for recreational fires, burning brush and other burnable debris like paper and light-weight plastics that doesn’t make a not of lot of noxious smoke. With a high chimney, it could have a good draw, helping to burn things with minimal smoke that could smell bad and annoy neighbors.

5 acres is nice, but my parents house is not exactly my dream homestead — the house is much too big, too poorly insulated, uses too much energy, and the neighbors are much too close. I want to eventually own more acreage, farther away from neighbors, so I can shoot my guns, have big fires, burn trash and debris without causing nuance. Where I can have more large livestock, cows, make hay and timber, have a simple off-grid property. But if this is the hand I’m dealt, it’s something I can work on for a few years before I upgrade.

Weather Update – December 31, 2021

Kind of a damp, dreary way to end the year. ๐ŸŒง

There are a lot of complaints been leveled against 2021, although people aren’t calling it the worse year ever, a moniker seemingly reserved for 2020. But we still have COVID, which so many people, especially the President-elect was hopeful could go away after the first shot, but stayed around persistently for the full year. But alas a rainy, but not so cold 3-day weekend is ahead of us. โ˜” I guess it could be blowing snow and cold, but I’m sure such weather will come January, although Monday should be cold enough with wind chills expected to reach down into the single digits, but the mercury not nearly so low. I probably will need to turn up the heat a bit for then. But sunny for Monday! ๐ŸŒž

With January coming on Saturday, ๐ŸŒ† we are picking up a noticeable amount of sun each day, which will be quite nice. But maybe cold? But alas, we are only two months until March and three from April, so we might have some cold periods but it can’t last that long, especially come March. I am looking forward to spring, with the longer days and not so much snow and icy to deal with — although so far none of that has come yet.

Today.
Feels like …
November 23rd.

Chance of Showers and Areas Fog

A chance of showers, mainly before 3pm. Areas of fog before 1pm, then patchy fog after 5pm. Otherwise, cloudy.

South wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

and

46 degrees , 4:31
sunset.
Tonight.
Feels like …
October 18th.

Patchy Drizzle and Patchy Fog

Patchy drizzle before 5am, then patchy drizzle with a slight chance of showers after 5am. Patchy fog. Otherwise, mostly cloudy.

Light south wind.

and

40 degrees , 7:25
sunrise.
New Year’s Day.
Feels like …
November 11th.

Showers is likely

Showers likely, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy.

South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

and

51 degrees , 4:32
sunset.
Saturday Night.
Feels like …
October 21st.

Showers

Showers before 8pm, then rain, mainly between 8pm and 1am. Low around 39. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

and

39 degrees , 7:25
sunrise.
Sunday.
Feels like …
November 21st.

Chance of Showers then Chance of Rain/Snow

A chance of rain showers before 4pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Cloudy.

Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

and

47 degrees , 4:33
sunset.
Sunday Night.
Feels like …
January 2nd.

Chance of Snow Showers

A chance of snow showers, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

18 degrees , 7 max wind chill, 7:25
sunrise.
Monday.
Cold !

Sunny

Sunny.

 

and

27 degrees , 7 max wind chill, 4:34
sunset.
Monday Night.
Feels like …
December 25th.

Mostly Clear

Mostly clear.

 

and

20 degrees , 13 max wind chill, 7:25
sunrise.
Tuesday.
Feels like …
December 15th.

Mostly Sunny

Mostly sunny.

 

and

38 degrees , 13 max wind chill, 4:35
sunset.
Tuesday Night.
Feels like …
November 23rd.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

 

and

29 degrees , 7:25
sunrise.
Wednesday.
Feels like …
November 28th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

 

and

44 degrees , 4:36
sunset.
Wednesday Night.
Feels like …
November 17th.

Mostly Cloudy

Mostly cloudy.

 

and

31 degrees , 7:25
sunrise.
Thursday.
Feels like …
December 12th.

Mostly Cloudy then Chance of Showers

A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

Chance of precipitation is 30%.

and

39 degrees , 4:37
sunset.

Good Morning – December 31, 2021

Good morning! What a dreary New Years Eve ๐ŸŽ† !

I would say, certainly not the nicest weather ever to end out the year. All of the long weekend looks kind of crappy unfortunately though.

Cloudy with rain showers around, about 43 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜” Calm wind. Not much snow or ice but a lot of mud around. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Sunday around 6 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

I had hoped to get out of town to go camping this weekend, ๐Ÿ• you know light some fireworks off, bake some cookies on the fire, have some egg nog, stay up until midnight, and then hot tent, but with rain expected tonight, and it already drizzling, I decided to stay in town. ๐Ÿฅ› Truth be told, after the long cold four days I spent out in Madison County earlier in the week, I was hardly excited about heading back out to Central NY.

Later today, I am going out the folks house for a New Years Tradition ๐Ÿฅ˜ — Cheese Fondue. They’ve been doing for decades, and while all that cheese kind of makes my stomach a big achy, it’s still kind of a fun tradition that’s been going on for decades. Now with everybody vaccinated and boosted we can do it again.

It’s been a pretty good year. ๐Ÿ˜€ It certainly has it’s ups and downs, but in the end things worked out fairly well. I managed to max out my retirement, I got that shinny corner office with the brass lamp, making a good salary, although it still seems like the money is gone ๐Ÿ’ธ two days after it comes in with inflation and savings. After months of dealing with tires and repairs to the truck, I got it back on the road, and then took a third week to spend some time in Madison County. ๐Ÿ• Got down to Pennsylvania and West Virigina, got a tube for floating in rivers โšซ spent a lot of weekends up in the woods and even had clams and lots of beer that one summer long weekend ๐Ÿ•นwhat now seems so long ago in the summer.