Photo of Andy Arthur

Andy Arthur

October and already the leaves are fading away in the Adirondacks. 🍂 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.

Blue sky, Sunshine, what a day to take a walk in the park. ☀

|

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! ☀ 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 🔥. And I got a nice night of sleep 😴.

As my bike 🚲 is in the shop getting the chain 🔗 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 👀 open for tree rats. 🐿️ I still need to get my hunting license but I can do that online, probably right for my phone. 📱 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 📀

|

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 a  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.

Raymond Brook Ski Trail

|

Raymond Brook Ski Trail

The Raymond Brook Ski Trail runs from the Ski Bowl Parking Area at Gore Mountain in North Creek, climbing 1,300 feet over 4 3/4 miles to Barton Mines Road in Johnsburg.

I survived Friday the 13th mostly unscaved 🗡

|

It could be worse. I could have gotten into an auto wreck, arrested, had a heart attack or been victim to some random crime or terrorist attacks as the television reminds us all. Honestly I don’t want to go to jail, end up paying a lot of money or be dead. Or fired from my job.

The bike is getting a new chain put on it after I got totally balled out at Steiner’s for not replacing the chain sooner and being unable to be replaced with a new crankset because in four or five months since the last replacement it’s too far gone and that the bike is garbage, I should buy the 2025 model. I took to Mad Dog and they say I probably should have replaced it sooner for peak performance it will be fine to put a new chain on it and keep going, I’ll have it back early in the week. I was angry as I tried to keep up on the service but a bike that needs a new chain monthly is not acceptable in my book. I guess I got to get my own chain breaker, chain slack tool and just start feeding it new chains every few months.

Then I found out I messed up a label job exports for work. I always do sanitity checks with assertions on my code but I have to get the print shop estimates of the count we need to print so 300 extra copies were printed of the mailing. The count estimates come before I get the actual list to process and check, and it’s annoying in that way. I’ve been so damn busy and I’m in the fog of war but I didn’t catch it until the code halted and I didn’t realize anything was wrong until the mail house called wondering when they would be getting the list. I had to apologize to the head directors and explain my screw up. At least the assertion saved my ass, it could have been a lot more money and waste and apology calls.

I made it up to Rennselaerville State Forest. It’s a beautiful afternoon but I’ve been so busy. I wish I was in Vermont but the bike chain needed service before I damaged the gears, apparently even worse. And I was so paranoid about getting into a wreck on the way up there or getting busted for a smoking a joint on federal land on Friday the 13th. And it’s going to be a nice weekend but already I have four data jobs to process on Saturday from camp and a campaign plan to review. Sigh, it could have been worse. But first let me make some black smoke, I mean a roaring campfire and have a smoke and enjoy this beautiful evening.