Good morning! What day is it?Final Hump Day of March, of course. Five weeks to May 🕊. At least there is a few weeks in early May when there is no black flies. Sunny and 25 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind.Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️

Another cold but at least sunny morning. ❄ At least I think we are most likely done with snow for the year in the Albany area. I heard the heat click on for a while then shut off. I think tomorrow I’ll turn it off hopefully until late October or early November. It’s good that it’s going to warm up to the fifties by afternoon. 🌷Big Red accessory battery should be floating in a few hours. 🔋

Was a bit stiff and sore this morning but that’s part of growing old. 👴 I did get a fairly early start despite being relatively cold in my bedroom because the heat is turned down. Listening again to John Denver🎶 as the bus gently rocks on its journey downtown. 🚍Should be a nice days with lots of sun streaming into the office, good for taking a break and studying the mountains.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 50 degrees at 4pm. One degree above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 28th. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had cloudy in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 48 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1998. 6.7 inches of snow fell back in 1959.❄

The sun will set at 7:16 pm with dusk around 7:44 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 30 degrees at 4am. Typical for tonight. South wind around 7 mph. In 2018, we had partly cloudy in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 36 degrees. The record low of 3 occurred back in 1923.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 60 degrees at 3pm. 10 degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around April 18th. That’s going to be super nice. South wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 49 degrees. The record high of 85 was set in 1945. 14.2 inches of snow fell back in 1932.❄

Tuesday came and went. It was a good day, maybe fairly busy at work but it made the time go by quickly.💼 Took the 6:45 bus home, a virtually brand new bus, and then rode the exercise bike 🚲 for a half hour or so then went out for my evening walk. Hot dogs and baked beans for dinner with some frozen pineapple 🍍 and banana 🍌 slices for dessert. I’m not that much into health food but I’m on a budget and frozen fruit is often more tasty and affordable than junk food. It’s less packaging too.

Evening walk 🚶 was pleasant with lots of stars. 🌃 Chilly though. Looking forward to nicer weather when I can sit out back again. I think after tomorrow night the heat will be done for the year although I don’t see any balmy nights in the near future on tap but the hard freezing weather is nearly done for the year. I’d love 😍 nights when I can leave the windows open but not so hot I run the fan all night. The big box fan I have is remarkably energy hungry, using upwards of 60 watts each hour it’s run on high. I know fossil energy ⚡ is cheap but that seems awful wasteful. Sitting out back on a summers night listening to the spring peepers is really nice I must say. 🐸 Still too cold for that yet. For a while we had a Great Horned Owl in the neighborhood 🐭 who really gave a hoot.

Yesterday in the evening I went up to the old observation deck on the 31st floor of the Alfred E Smith Building 🏢 which is primarily used as a state conference room nowadays with the doors to the deck are closed off most of the year. Interesting to see up there, it’s too bad it’s closed to the general public nowadays. Neat to see it.📷 The anti jumping fence around the deck does kind of block the view though.

Finally set up my account with the state tax department to pay taxes quarterly to ensure I don’t risk an underpayment fine in 2020.😢 I keep cutting it closer each year and I really don’t want to pay a fine next year. Unfortunately there is no way to make automatic payments on and ongoing basis with the state tax department, although you can schedule four quarters of tax payments or out a full year on the website.💸 I’m going to just do enough so I have a margin of safety but hopefully only owe a small amount to the state next year. I mean I wouldn’t want the governor or the gestapo that he operates to profit on my interest.

Bought more milk at Stewart’s. 🐮Missplaced my milk card 💳 then found it later on. I have so many milk cards to redeem at some point in the future. I’m drinking less milk now though after discovering the wonders of cider vinegar and water though. 🍏 Saves money.

Each day I briefly log onto Facebook to see what my clients and some of my friends are up to but I find it’s hard to leave it on for more than a few minutes. 💻 I try to be very strategic with my use of social media – especially Facebook – updating the Save the Pine Bush page and my personal page, checking a few other things before shutting it down. It just brings much more joy to my life not getting swamped down by all of it. I think I would like Facebook better if it just was pictures of cattle, turkeys and deer.

Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. 😞 Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 50 at 1pm. Sunday, showers likely, mainly before 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees.

Again I have no idea what the weekend will look like for me 🌲but I have no real plans. My best guess is that I will be working Sunday. Maybe Saturday I can do the Save the Pine Bush Hike but I’m not holding my breath on that. The weekend will certainly be fairly mild. I guess March is leaving like a mud crusted lamb that smells like manure and wet wool.

The following week I’ll probably stay in town, take my bottles and cans to the recycling center ♻. Like usually happens this time of year, I’m running out of room in the outside trash cans so I’m starting to stack the bottles and cans in my truck. Then maybe start packing my truck for camping. ⛺Still thinking 💭 about heading out a few days before Good Friday. ➕ Probably still head out to the East Branch of the Sacandaga River and then maybe drive up through the Adirondacks to the North Country.

I do like my neighbors big jacked up truck. It makes mine look so small. 🚛 I just hate how all the kids in the neighborhood have nicer toys than me. So be it. Big Red is quite sweet on his own behalf and he’s paid for and seems to run better than my neighbors big diesel. But ultimately I think I primarily care more about eventually owning land and having fires to burn things whenever I want. 🔥

In four weeks on April 24 the sun will be setting at 7:47 pm,🌄 which is 31 minutes and 53 seconds later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had partly sunny skies with rain showers and temperatures between 70 and 45 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 62 and 40 degrees. The record high of 81 degrees was set back in 2001.

I do look forward to the weekends up in the wilderness, getting away from all of it for a few days. 🌿🌲🌳Then spending time down in the swimming 🏊 holes, kayaking and hiking in woods. The fires 🔥, the cold beer 🍻, the music 🎶 and the lights. 🎄

99 days until Independence Day this year. I know because it was hundred days when I wrote this blog post last night. 📝 It’s a Thursday this year and I assume they’ll give us off that Friday. 🎇I’m thinking about a long weekend that weekend at the Moose River Plains although I might change my mind. Maybe drive up to Speculator Tree Farm on Wednesday night then to the Plains first thing on Independence Day. 🎈I could change my mind, and certainly Memorial Day Weekend is long before then.

Looking ahead, Arbor Day 🌳 is a month away, May 🕊 is in 5 weeks, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 2 months, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is in 10 weeks, Primary Day 🗳️ is in 13 weeks, Altamont Fair Opens 🎡 is in 20 weeks, State Fair Opens 🎡 is in 21 weeks, September 11th 🇸 is in 24 weeks, More Night then Day 🌌 is in 26 weeks and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 95 weeks.

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Next Monday is April Fools Day 🤡. Partly sunny around the bus stop 🚏by Valero. As I marked on Waze there is a cop 👮 hiding out at the church ⛪ parking 🅿 lot across the way. There is a north breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Overall a pleasant morning with the snow melting away.

I expect a long somewhat busy week this upcoming week, leading up to April Fools Day.🃏 Fortunately I have lots of dress clothes 👔so I should be set for the week after buying those pants two weeks ago and the dress shirts this week. This week the big car insurance 🚙 bill is due as is rent on Friday. Maybe I’ll get my federal tax refund back this week though. 💸I should have enough money to pay for it all though. I did end up spend $100 between groceries and the shirts but my pantry was getting pretty bare and I needed personal supplies like deodorant.

Hopefully this won’t lead into the weekend but at least trout season starts next Monday. 🎣Might rain this weekend which could lead to some very high water levels. 💦I need to renew my fishing license this week. It expires like April 14th but I want to order online and have it shipped to me to avoid the line. 💻 Same price online as walking down to the DEC or any other retailer. I will need it for my Easter weekend camping trip. 🐇

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 42 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 11th. At least it will be sunny. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 74 was set in 1910. 1.9 inches of snow fell back in 1960.❄

Took a sleeping pill 💊 before bed but all it did was make me fuzzy come the morning. Lately I’ve been having sleeping problems again. Maybe because it’s been chilly in my bedroom with the heat turned down now that the weather has moderated or maybe because I’m dreaming of nice nights in the wilderness. 🌲🌳⛺🐻 That it I’m a fire 🔥 bug and all I’m dreaming about is burning things. 😂 💭

I was on the fence about turning the heat on last evening as it was not expected to drop below freezing last night but I decided the morning might be cold as the heat 🔥 slowly leaked through the building as the night progressed. It was 63 degrees in my bedroom by the time I retired to bed, 😴 it got up to 66 degrees mid afternoon with the sun hitting the building. It was quite hot in the crawl space when I was in there putting my camping gear away and organizing it in preparation for the new year of camping. I opened up a window for a while but then quickly closed it.

The sun will set at 7:13 pm with dusk around 7:41 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 25 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday. Maybe a bit too chilly for tailgate drinking tonight, although nowadays I only drink apple cider vinger water, not beer, because I’m cheap and I don’t like getting drunk, as I’m getting old.

Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 19 degrees at 6am. 10 degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical night around February 24th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Going to need a little heat tonight. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1960. The negativity is done until November at this point I believe but I’d have to check the weather records.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 40 degrees at 4pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 6th. North wind 6 to 9 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 74 was set in 1986. 6.1 inches of snow fell back in 1899.❄

It was a nice enough of an evening last night that I sat out back for a while, looking at the stars ✨ with my feet propped up on the snow bank. Slowly but surely melting away. They still have a fair amount of snow left in the hill-towns when I went out to the folks house for Sunday dinner. I could have gone skiing 🎿 today if I had the time out there but my priority was cleaning the truck for camping and my early morning walk to Five Rivers.

Now that my truck is cleaned and unpacked and my camping gear is organized I’m ready for my first adventure of the year. ⛺ Well first I want to haul the bottles, cans and accumulated recyclable ♻ plastics to the transfer station. I’m also thinking about a run to the scrap yard to recycle broken Christmas lights, old power cables and wire that are cracked, some broken chairs and other metal things that I might even get a buck or two to scrap. 💵 Or that could wait – I just noticed how many broken and junk cables and aluminum tubing from broken chairs I had in my crawl space.🔌 Every buck counts and plus it’s recycling, and no I won’t burn wire even when I do eventually own land and can have fires whenever I want 🔥. Toxic stinky. I don’t expect to make much.

I’m continuing to work on various improvements to the blog. 👀I fix one bug 🐛, I find another. The same is true with my VMS sign. Debugging is a constant struggle. I try to write good code 📝 but I have only a few classes in formal computer programming. 💻 The rest I’ve learned hands on so my technique is not the best but I have learned a wide variety of languages over the years.

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking and writing 💭 about many topics lately. I kind of like the freedom of having my personal blog and not having to address the nasty comments on Facebook. I might use Facebook a little going forward 👤 but I’m staying away from reading it more than five minutes, once a day now. My focus is the blog. I have some great photo blog posts and interesting fact type posts scheduled for next week.

I am very happy with the Oxford shirts I got at JC Penny.😀 They are comfortable and fit well. 👕 I hope going forward I can find them online, hopefully at a slightly better price then $44 for two shirts — or $22. When Sears was open they had them for usually $16-18 a shirt, depending on the sales. That said, the Sears shirts didn’t hold up well during the end, as I think the material kept getting thinner and thinner as they cut costs, leading to sleeves wearing out prematurely.

I looked last week at my investment accounts last week when finishing my taxes and was very happy. 😊 But now I guess we are heading into a recession. Nice to dream while I still can.  I expect now that the yeild curve ⤵ is negative that the economy is slowing and markets will drop. As I’m continuing to invest both for the midterm and long term aka retirement, I think it’s good for me as I’ll get more shares for my money. It’s kind of like a sale at the grocery store. Unrealized losses are just that – they only exist as an imaginary number. Eventually I’ll have the money to buy land out in the country, 🏡🐮 it’s just a matter of continuing to save and invest.

Cloudy but fairly mild this weekend. 😞 Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 45 at 1pm. Sunday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees.

Still thinking about an extended Easter weekend of April to camp. ⛺ I think that would work best for me on many levels, assuming most of the snow is gone from the East Branch by then. Or maybe Central New York if I go that route. I look forward to more nights in the wilderness.🌳🌲

In four weeks on Earth Day, April 22 🌎 the sun will be setting at 7:45 pm,🌄 which is 31 minutes and 55 seconds later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had sunny and temperatures between 65 and 29 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 61 and 40 degrees. The record high of 86 degrees was set back in 1985. That’s a session day, so no camping out in the wilderness with my big jacked up truck, burning things I shouldn’t to celebrate Earth Day. Haha. Happy Monday, I’m quite the joker today.

Looking ahead, April Fools Day 🤡 is in 1 weeks, Tax Day 💰 is in 3 weeks, Earth Day 🌎 is in 4 weeks, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 9 weeks, Latest Sunset 🌆 is in 13 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 14 weeks, Cow Appreciation Day 🐂 is in 16 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 20 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 23 weeks, More Night then Day 🌌 is in 6 months and Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 28 weeks.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday on this final day of calendar 📅 winter. Sunny and 29 degrees in here at CDTA Bus Stop #10595. 🌞 There is a west-northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️

“Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
Cause his world is built round punctuality,
It never fails.”

-The Kinks, A Well Respected Man

Another cold ❄ morning when I first awoke. Frost or a dusting of snow on the ground, the heat was on and it was 54 degrees in my bedroom. That said today is the last full day of winter. Already warming up quickly with the sun. ☀ Before you know it my windows will be open and I’ll be enjoying the fresh air when I awake each morning. Even on a chilly summers morning, the fresh air is delightful. 🍃 Plus I hate spending all that money on fossil fuels and warming the climate to avoid freezing the pipes.

It seems like the snow piles are continuing to melt away and all the signs point to spring. 🌷 Tomorrow is the first day of calendar spring 📅 and we now have more daylight then night every night. Still a ton of snow up north but I expect a lot of that to melt over the next month although ice will be in the mountains 🗻 until mid May.

Today will have increasing clouds ☁, with a high of 44 degrees at 4pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 16th. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny in the morning, which became sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 2012. 9.6 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

I am quite happy to say to that my shirts weren’t so wrinkled this morning, being hung in the bathroom overnight where there is more humidity. I did spend some time though still ironing, but that’s just the nature of dressing up for work.👔 I did make sure not to be wear the blazer that I need to bring to the dry cleaner to work today, and I did

The sun will set at 7:06 pm with dusk around 7:34 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 36 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Five degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical night around March 7th. Light and variable wind. In 2018, we had clear in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 15 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1967.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 53 degrees at 4pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around April 3rd. South wind 5 to 10 mph. That will be a pleasant start to first day of spring. A year ago, we had mostly sunny in the morning, which became sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 2012. 7.0 inches of snow fell back in 1944.❄

Yesterday wasn’t too bad of a day at work. Left work around 6:45 pm although I didn’t get home until a little before 7:30 pm. I was tired 😴 but I rode the exercise bike for a while, and then I went for a walk around the super block past the high school. I cooked up pasta and with some canned potatoes and sausage. 🍲 Not a half bad evening, almost the full moon. 🌕 Hoping by the next full moon it will be warm enough I can sit outside and bathe in the moonlight.

I find quiting social media I save a lot of bandwidth on my phone 📱 . I will check Facebook occasionally for work but with the new blog code I am planning to roll 🍥 out on Wednesday, the first day of spring I will no longer be updating my Facebook page and I’ve decided to no longer post on my personal profile. I also removed the Flickr code which I don’t know if it works any more but kept the Twitter posts but I’ve deleted most of old tweets. 🔣

Said and done, I’m essentially quitting social media. It’s not worth the psychological games it has become. I’m not going to disable but not delete my Facebook page, making it invisible to the world 🌍 for now, so if I want it again I can reactivate it but all the old pictures and posts on Facebook will disappear when I kill off my Facebook app. I’m content with my decision. I’ve always liked my blog better than the angry 😡 nest known as social media.

You can say my quitting of social media is like my quitting of drinking. 🍻 I might go out and have a beer or two occasionally, probably getting a buzz quickly. But it’s not the have 2-3 beers every night or a thirty rack over a long weekend. It’s about moderation. Social media may on paper 📄 be free for the user 👤 unlike beer but I think it’s just as costly to one’s health.

Tonight is another Borough Night at the Egg, this time Queens Night. 🌆 Should be fun after work, although I plan to a stay away from the shots as I don’t want to have Wednesday morning be too painful. It should be fun sampling all the foods and stuff, having some social time with my colleagues. Plus it will be one less meal 🍴 I’ll have to cook out of the remaining foods that I have at home.

Today is pay day for me which sounds good but I’m really cutting it close this month so almost all the money (after savings and retirement) will go to bills. 💸 March into April with taxes and car insurance 🚙 is always tough on my budget. But I continue to save for a better tomorrow. 🏡 Eventually I’ll have enough money to own land and live in a freer state out in the country.

I’ve been thinking about buying some inexpensive farm muck boots 👢 to wear in the woods during the mud season. My regular boots aren’t great in the deep mud that is common in spring and much too warm to boot. Not my expensive insulated hunting boots in case they get too close to the fire and melt a bit. But I want to hold off until closer to camping season in April, after a few more paychecks when money 💸 is less tight. My focus over the two pay periods just has to be remaining financially afloat.

I have a Go Pro knock off waterproof camera that I plan to use to start making videos when I’m out on the lake kayaking. 📷 Should be some fun videos to post this summer. I started looking on Ali Express at camera clamp mounts for my kayak. I ended up looking at reviews on Amazon and I’ll either order there or on ebay probably in late April when I have a little more money. They’re not that expensive – under $20 and there is little savings by ordering from China compared to the United States.

I fixed several bugs to the VMS display in my bedroom 📟 last night but I plan to continue to work on it come later in the week to rearrange the order of the messages.

A picture perfect weekend on tap. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 39. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 55. Typical average high for the weekend is 47 degrees.

Sound like a pretty nice weekend to kick off the spring season. 🌸 It looked like from my office window yesterday that there is still quite a bit of snow left in the mountains 🗻 so I could go cross country skiing 🎿 although the snow may not be great. Might still be a good day to enjoy some fresh air outside though. Three weeks until trout season 🐠 opens.

In four weeks on April 16 the sun will be setting at 7:38 pm,🌄 which is 32 minutes later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 49 and 32 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 59 and 38 degrees. The record high of 91 degrees was set back in 2012.

Looking ahead, Constitution Day 📜 is in 26 weeks, October 🛥 is in 28 weeks and Election Day 2020 🗳️ is in 85 weeks.

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Two weeks to April Fools Day 🤡. Partly sunny and 30 degrees in Elsmere. NY. There is a west breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️ Snow is mostly gone here in the city except for some piles around. ⛄

Cold start this morning but it warmed relatively quickly. Lots of sun which is helping things warm up quickly. ☀ The spring sun is much stronger than the winter sun. I heard the heat 🔥 click on this morning. But all and all, relatively seasonal and dry for most of the week. ☔ Still quite a bit of salt on the roads but at least I have the worse of it washed off my truck. 👌

Eggs again this morning. 🍳 That cleaned up frying pan is fantastic. Nothing like a good omlet in the morning for a filling meal 🍴 that lasts a long time. The low humidity meant my shirt 👚 and pants 👖 was kind of wrinkled this morning which was a bit annoying. I tried to iron it the best I could. The air is just so dry. I probably should have folded the wash as soon as I pulled it out. But usually it’s fine to wait until I get home and put it on the hanger. I guess it’s fire weather once the snow melts away. 🔥 I also need to get my jacket to the dry cleaner.👔 I will have to wear my new jacket tomorrow. I was going to do it today, but I wanted to remove all the labels and stickers before I headed into work. But for today, I’ll look like a college professor. It’s a bad case of a Mondays.

The important thing is that I managed to catch the local bus 🚍 on time. ⌚ I expected a fairly busy day at work, maybe a long day as conference may extended into the evening 🌃 as they continue to discuss the budget.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 41 degrees at 4pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 9th. I’ll take it. West wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 2012. 8.0 inches of snow fell back in 1977.❄ Not 1977 this year but fairly cold.

Today marks the second day with more daylight then night or somewhere around it depending where you are in New York State. 🌷🌱🌞 In a month the average high will be 60 degrees as the weather continues to moderate. I’m thinking a month from next Wednesday will be my road trip, camping ⛺ and exploring. More on that later.

The sun will set at 7:05 pm with dusk around 7:33 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 7th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 15 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1967.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 43 degrees at 4pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 14th. Not terribly cold, but not super warm either. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 2012. 9.6 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

Sunday was sunny but cold. It was a nice walk down to the Normans Kill gorge and then I had a nice Sunday dinner at the folks house. 🍀 Saint Patricks Day corned beef, 🐂and all the fixings. Good to enjoy it while I still can. I know my parents won’t be around forever. I’m not a big cook myself and I doubt I’d ever make something like that for myself. Definitely felt cold after the seventy degrees weather on Friday and that wind was biting. ❄

After dinner the mercury quickly dropped but the wind stopped and I went for my evening walk. 🌃 Not a terrible not, actually it felt fairly mild with the wind slack and a nearly full moon 🎑 although clouds were crowding things out at times and there is a lot of light pollution locally. Honestly, despite the cold weather it seemed warmer than it was during the day.

Continuing to work on my VMS sign in my bedroom, adding more messages and almanac data. My most recent add involved 📝 adding dusk 🌆 and dawn data, legislative session day and bus schedule countdowns. I am continuing to debug but the bus countdown feature is very helpful. 👏 I still have a few bugs 🐞to fix and I want to change the order of the messages but I can just change that in the source code and ref-lash the memory.

I think on Wednesday, the first day of spring I’ll deactivate my Facebook page. I’m remarkably sad 😔 about leaving Facebook which is stupid although I’ll keep my account open for reading other people’s posts. 💻 I’ve already deleted most of the old posts on my personal Facebook which until August 1st Facebook api restrictions was linked to the the blog. I might occasionally post things to my personal Facebook but that’s not my focus going forward.

Mom 👪 was disapproving of me quitting Facebook as she was wondering how she could continue to keep up with my blog and photos 📷. Just have to do it the old fashioned way visiting the blog a few times a week. I’m fed up with the Facebook platform on so many levels, and rather than deal with stupid comments and the fight for likes and more prominence in the feed, I’d rather focus on my personal blog and keep the pictures and maps here. I have complete editorial control 🎮 over my blog, and I can change the format to however I like. I may pull back from Twitter too but I’m going to keep that link live for now.

It’s just become too much of a game 🎰 with Facebook and too much of a hassle to maintain the code and update Facebook. I don’t want to spend my time trolling for likes and clicks. I really want to focus on my own life and priorities and enjoy the greater freedom and self expression of the blog. I hate to loose the followers and the story I’m telling but I think I can do it better here than elsewhere. 📝

I’m glad that I’m using up the food 🍲 in the refrigerator and cabinets. I’m saving a fair amount of money by not going shopping 🛄 or driving. 🚘 I haven’t gassed up Red since mid February and I have a half tank left. It’s good as it will help me make it through April financially and save for my mid-April trip. I’m looking forward to camping ⛺, hiking 🗻, and fishing. 🎣 Still not sure how far I’ll end up going – maybe the North Country TBD – but it could still be a special trip.

I have the new battery 🔋 in my phone 📱. Seems to last quite a bit longer. It’s good because I’m hoping to get at least six months to a year more out of this phone. Not bad for a phone I use constantly but only spent $50 for it. I’m quite happy not having on of those fancy phones all the kids use nowadays. 😂

Finally we might get a nice early spring weekend. 😎 Saturday, sunny, with a high near 42. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 57. Typical average high for the weekend is 47 degrees. I will take it. I want to get out and enjoy the weather, while it’s nice.

If it’s in the fifties and sixties next weekend I want to unpack my truck and inventory the camping gear. ⛺ I like to get everything ready for the first trip of the year. Plus I’m running out of room in the outside trash cans and want to start loading bottles and cans into the back of my truck to eventually take to the transfer station. ♻Seems like all the lighting 💡 is working fine in the cap, but I still want to replace the upper led tape which has multiple sections failed with a brighter and more energy efficient model.

Saturday I am going up to Saratoga for my niece’s birthday party. On Sunday, I’m thinking of going hiking somewhere, ⛰ though maybe not the Catskills as I don’t feel like hiking in the snow at this point, and the snow will be crap for skiing if it’s near 60 degrees. Maybe Cole Hill State Forest or Partridge Run.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Tax Day 💰 when the sun will be setting at 7:37 pm with dusk at 8:06 pm. On that day in 2018, we had freezing rain showers and mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 36 and 28 degrees. Pretty damn cold day last year to enjoy my government imposed poverty. 💸Typically, the high temperature is 58 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 2003.

According to the message board on my wall there are 100 days until Primary Day. ☑ I see a lot of local candidates are posting about it as they work to collect signatures. I’ve volunteered a few times to collect petitions and I’ve scrubbed and reviewed petitions 📜more than a few times at work. It’s hard work for sure. I often think holding elected office is kind of a madness, they’re are better ways to make money for a whole lot less work. 💵 I guess somebody has to do it. 👔

Looking ahead, Tax Day 💰 is in 4 weeks, Average High is 60 🌼 is a month away, Pink Moon 🌕 is a month away, Earth Day 🌎 is in 5 weeks, Flower Moon 🌕 is in 2 months, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 10 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 15 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 24 weeks and Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 29 weeks.

Good morning! It’s a Tuesday. I am awake and alive I tell myself. I had two glasses of water 💦, waffles, blueberries, ironed my shirt 👚, showered, shaved, and I’m on my way to work. Clouds with some breaks of sun ☀, breezy around 33 degrees in Delmar. Breezy, ️18 mph breeze from the northwest 🌬 with gusts up to 28 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 17. There are 3.5 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 7 pm. ☃️

Today will be occasional flurries before 9am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny 🌞, with a high of 42 degrees at 3pm. One degree below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 11th. AKA yesterday. Finally close to seasonable weather. Northwest wind around 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 2012. 30.4 inches of snow fell back in 1888.❄ Not this year though.

The sun will set at 6:58 pm with dusk around 7:26 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 36 degrees. Breezy, 17 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest. Today will have 11 hours and 47 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 19 degrees at 6am. Five degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical night around February 24th. Northwest wind 9 to 14 mph becoming light after midnight. In 2018, we had light snow. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -06 occurred back in 1885.

Monday was a modestly busy day at work, 💼but I made it through it just fine. I was tired by the end of the day but what needed to get done happened so all is good. Only four more days until the weekend.

Brooklyn Night 🌆 was fun but I got there late and drunk too much too quickly 😖 before they were shutting things down. But I made it home safely and went for my evening walk. The evening walk🚶 was pleasant not too cold but I admit I was a bit boozy but I made it home 🏡 safe and sound and went to bed. The walk definitely helped. I’m feeling fine in the morning, I made sure to have a glass of water before bed. 💤

I am pretty happy with the new pants I bought. 👖 I haven’t checked out the blazer yet 💼 but I’m sure it’s the same as the other one I have. I spilled a little food on the cusp of my jacket but it turned out to clean up fine. Those Coney Island hot dogs 🐶 were good, and I probably should have taken off my coat but it was pretty late by the time I got there.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 44 degrees at 4pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 15th. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Going to make sure to walk outside to the park. A year ago, we had mostly sunny in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2012. 22.0 inches of snow fell back in 1993.❄

Today in 1933, was the first of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats.📻 Back when radio was a big thing. A different time for sure, back when America was still a lot more rural and industrial. But hard times for a lot of people for sure. I’m not sure if we will live in similar times in the future 🔮 it’s a bit hard to say, but with climate change and an exploding government debt breathing down our necks hard it’s going to be only a matter of time before it comes back to bite us.👹 The day the banks tell the feds and states no more or millions die from heat and flooding is going to be bad day.

Lots of sun this weekend but a bit chilly. 😎 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 44. Some models call for rain showers ☔ too. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Typical average high for the weekend is 44 degrees. An improvement though on recent weekends.

I am not sure that the weekend looks as nice this weekend but that’s fine I might just stay in town and do things locally with the soldering iron 🔬 and my two feet. 🚶 Only a few more weeks until April which by then things will be melting. I’m still quite thinking my first camping trip will be that week before Easter which is a little over a month away. 🐰

In four weeks on April 9 the sun will be setting at 7:30 pm,🌄 which is 32 minutes and 13 seconds later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had cold, partly cloudy and temperatures between 44 and 23 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 55 and 35 degrees. The record high of 77 degrees was set back in 1991.

By then it might be nice enough to get out of town for a nice weekend trip from time-to-time, depending on how much snow is left and how dry it is. I don’t want to camp if it’s too try and the fire risk is high, 🔥 as while small campfires are allowed for warmth and cooking during the brush burning ban, I don’t want to have to be in constant worry of a spark. Honestly though, I think the place I would prefer for my first big camp of the year is up along the East Branch of the Sacanadaga.

Looking ahead, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 2 months, Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 is in 18 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 5 months and Election Day 2020 🗳️ is in 86 weeks.