Photo of Andy Arthur

Andy Arthur

October and already the leaves are fading away in the Adirondacks. πŸ‚ Most shocking to me is that we are less then a month away from November, which in many ways should be a sigh of relief with the craziness of work and with the deep blue skies and crisp days of that month.

Windham Area Peaks

Terrain  Windham Area Peaks

I have put together a series of maps of the peaks in the Catskill that show elevation and contours of peaks, mostly as an experiment to develop and learn about new types of mapping.

Own a bicycle it will be great 🚲

I wasn’t wrong when I hesitated to buy a bicycle, knowing the inevitable range of parts it would need, the ongoing costs and visits to the repair shop. The necessary downtime for repairs. I try to be easy on my toys but I concede I do ride a lot of miles, especially commuting, and it’s a mountain bike so it does see some rougher terrain like trails and dirt roads but I try to keep it to reasonable terrain and speed. And I’m trying to keep up with the maintenance program.

But it’s a lot of work to keep stuff up and operating smoothly. I probably need to learn to wrench more of my stuff properly but its tough to know what tools I need, the right amount of torque to apply and into what is proper direction. Now I get there are places to learn these skills – be it the bike rescue or YouTube or books. But that takes time and frustration with so much conflicting advice out there.

Material things are really just a recipe for heart break. They may look fun, provide good experiences in the short run but rarely do they last very long before needing hauling to the local dumping grounds. Experiences is what matters but you need things for experiences. Many people do good with second hand things and keep them running for a long time smoothly but I find that very hard to do.

Blue sky, Sunshine, what a day to take a walk in the park. β˜€

I was so troubled by so much yesterday on Friday the 13th but the sun is shining and I’m in the wilds of Rural Albany County enjoying this early autumn day that promises to be an amazing day. But Spanky and Our Gang sounds so amazing on this beautiful morning.

What a day to be alive! β˜€ I could harp on all that is wrong in the world today 🌎 but I seem to have big smile on my face. Watching the colorful leaves flutter on the trees and the bee 🐝 fly by. Maybe it’s the tricomes remaining on my mind last night but after a stormy yesterday, my mind gripped by fear 😱 it’s all so beautiful today. I’m just out for a little walk 🚢, listening to some upbeat music 🎢 from the sixties with a smile on my face. It was a good night last night and I had a nice fire πŸ”₯. And I got a nice night of sleep 😴.

As my bike 🚲 is in the shop getting the chain πŸ”— serviced, I’ll be walking 🚢 but I’m fine with that as I’m in no rush. Didn’t pack my 22 but I’m keeping my eyes πŸ‘€ open for tree rats. 🐿️ I still need to get my hunting license but I can do that online, probably right for my phone. πŸ“± But I am so busy these days, hardly enough time for that. A few minutes to day dream before reality sets back in.

I’m really quite happy to be out in Rennselaerville away from the city even as more and more data jobs come in. ☺ Later on I’ll address them as I’m stone cold sober just enjoying the beauty. 🏞 I do still sort of wish I had gone to Vermont but maybe next weekend. It probably it would have been too cool in Vermont to swim 🏊 at any rate and in a few weeks there will be excellent colors in that state. 🍁

One track mind πŸ“€

When I get interested in one thing, I often find myself fully engaged in the topic, reading and trying to learn as much as possible. Most recently it in cannabis – wanting to maximize my experience getting high in the wilderness but it’s certainly not limited to that. I like to focus on one thing and become an expert on the thing.

Previously it was the Robert Caro’s Power Broker. Then looking at building aΒ  house – or really my off grid homestead. Or restoring a house. Just trying soak up everything I can. I had an interest in becoming really prolific with the C programming language and the Unix text utilities I use at work. Then for a while I was very interested in eating healthy and getting away from the processed crap that is so common. Then I had this intense interest in the R programming language then Python programming, then electronics and power, and before that dairy and hog farming, off grid living and the wilderness.

I think it’s good to get immersed in one topic and learn everything you can about it. Then put it on the shelf, pulling back what you’ve learned when you need it. It’s not bad to be self identified with a cause for a while and then break from it. Not that you’re moving fully beyond it but because your ready in your mind to explore something new.