Day: July 28, 2026๐Ÿ’พ

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Bar exam ๐Ÿง‘โ€โš–๏ธ

There was a great mass of people coming onto the Concourse as I walked laps on the Plaza. Such young people. I read the sign, bar exam.

I guess most people taking the bar exam would be in their twenties. ๐Ÿง’๐Ÿป Not gray and getting old like me. Still it seemed overwhelming to see all those young people come pouring out of the Empire Plaza Meeting Rooms.

Like many things, I had second thoughts, ๐Ÿ’ญ the times I thought about going to law school after college. But I got an internship and then a job with State Assembly, and have been there going on over 19 years now if you include my internship. Hard to believe after all that time, now the Director of Data Services. Love coming up with great ways to target things and overseeing a big data unit, still much like the SuperDuty, I always have questions about my life choices.

I could have caught the earlier local home, but it looked like it was actually running on time, too little time to catch it ๐ŸšŒ but a few refreshes of the real-time bus info showed I actually had plenty of time. So I ended up catching the later home, walking laps ๐Ÿ‘ฃ through the crowd but also getting some steps in.

Got home, fried up summer squash ๐Ÿณ lunched around a bit, and decided with the volt meter not being delivered to wire up a USB/12 volt outlet to the starting battery and use my portable plug in battery gauge at least as a temporary solution. To hopefully keep that from getting fried, โšก I also inserted a RC Snubber Board into the circuit. Also moved the old dash cam into my truck, using electrical tape around the cable and jamming it under the headliner as a temporary solution. I want to get a good, lens fog free camera for the truck, but not until prices come down again and expenses are a bit lower.

Then just a little packing and not enough cleaning. ๐Ÿงฝ I am such a dirty hick, my apartment run down and I don’t really care that much anymore. Hell, I’m going to the wilderness to camp in the mud for 10 nights, or at least in a forest next to a cow pasture. ๐Ÿฎ Shit will smell like cows and farm, and I kind of like that. Someday I’ll have my own land, off-the-grid, simple, with livestock but the week plus in the National Forest also works for now. I had wanted to go to Michigan but it just wasn’t going to happen this year. Rain for driving out but it should clear relatively early in the Finger Lakes, and then the next chance for good rain is Sunday.

What the heck, I’m packing my propane heater for summer vacation. ๐Ÿชญ Essential? No, but I think I can fit it, and on Sunday when it’s raining out, I might rather sit next to it on a low compared to a smokey campfire. Really, I don’t bring that much more stuff on summer vacation then what I brought for my autumn trip to the Adirondacks, and I think I’ll have room, and it’s not like the SuperDuty is going to notice one way or another if I bring it or not. Once I’m at camp, I’ll just chain it up and won’t bring it everywhere. I have the propane for camp stove, regardless. Still it strikes me as just wrong to be packing it for late July.

I am just trying to pack the essentials – things I can’t live without all the week. ๐Ÿฉณ The thing is I will have access to stores, so I’m not worried about grocery stores, ๐Ÿ›’ and while I don’t want to buy an extra bottle of sunscreen, ๐Ÿงด something like that if it gets forgotten or used up can be purchased. I am not going to get groceries before I leave, though I might stop at Oneonta Walmart both for a pee break and a few supplies. Friday I’ll be down in Watkins Glen most likely to swim and maybe kayak. Looks like a nice day. Saturday is good too but rain Sunday. Cool and rainy on Sunday. Then thunderstorms likely as often is case most of the week. But not a wash out most likely. Got the clothes packed, water containers filled and loaded, tent in the truck, propane and heater in the truck. Packing tools like a the cassette puller, extra spokes, spoke key, allen wrenches, electrical tape and crimp, rubber cement so I can fix as many things as possible as I go along.

Debating if I should bus it in or drive tomorrow. ๐Ÿš Continued rain tomorrow, and I have a meeting downtown, but I thought about driving, as it would be convienent. The thing is parking downtown, even in the DACC lot is a pain, as I don’t have a spot and the SuperDuty is one big mother in the city that really guzzles gas. ๐Ÿ›ป I probably won’t, no need to burn more then I need. The bus is fine, hopefully I’ll catch the earlier local tomorrow. Or maybe if its’ really bad out, I’ll just spend my afternoon downtown and not had back to Enterprise, though I have likely a few more loose ends to patch up before leaving for vacation.

Map: Basswood Pond State Forest
Map: Whaupaunaucau State Forest
SVGZ Graphic: Central NY Population Density

Wildfire smoke kills tens of thousands of people a year. Here’s how it attacks the body – OPB

Wildfire smoke kills tens of thousands of people a year. Here’s how it attacks the body – OPB

Smoke causes inflammation by triggering the body’s immune system to go into overtime to fight the irritant. Scientists have found it can harm the brain, the skin and men’s sperm, with almost no system of the body spared, Johnson said. People over 60 become more prone to stroke in wildfire smoke, she said.

“Wildfire smoke is the toxic product of combustion of whatever burned,” which could include houses and cars, said Dr. Courtney Howard, an emergency room physician, chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance and president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association.

“So really it’s a big giant toxic soup of particles and gases.”

Scientists have counted at least 1,000 toxins in wildfire smoke, according to Colorado State University environmental toxicologist Luke Montrose.

“If I gave you a list, you would recognize some of these as being very bad, oftentimes associated with the burning of diesel fuel or cigarette smoke, things like formaldehyde or volatile organic compounds,” Montrose said. “So just the smoke itself can be bad.”