Still a cold morning, but that sun puts you in a good mood. Off to get groceries and get going on my day. Still a fair amount of snow in the hilltowns, so I’ll have to consider that if I want to go out hiking later on.

Good morning! Today 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 . Partly cloudy and 35 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a north breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 3 am. ☃️

Started the morning with pancakes 🥞, you know the usual conventional type I make with oatmeal, carrots and bananas pulverized for sweetness, some milk and egg and a bit of whole-wheat flower for binder. Good stuff in my perspective, especially once topped with lots of cherries and blueberries and real maple syrup. 🍁 Probably good for a sugar high too, but I figure the carrots and oatmeal will provide some fiber and the egg some fats to slow down the absorption and hopefully not damage my pancreas too much.  🥕 Remember while all the kids were eating candy 🍬 over the holiday weekend, I was staying away from all that crap.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 52 degrees at 5pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 1st. North wind 7 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 48 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 2010. 3.2 inches of snow fell back in 1896.❄ Should be warm enough to at least have the windows open, air things out a bit and get the humidity down. I re-installed the smoke detector as I think it will work better now that my apartment isn’t so humid and smokey from cooking.

Shopping is the top of the agenda this morning. 🐔 Truth is my pantry isn’t in terrible shape, but I want to shop today so I can avoid going later in the week. The grocery store is usually best for stock early on a Sunday morning, and then I’m done and can leave Big Red parked all morning. I should also re-fill my propane tank  🏮 lest I decide to head out of town for the weekend. Asparagus 🌵 is on my list now that we are in spring, plus I’m thinking maybe make red lentil soup for lunch today with a bunch more of those carrots, maybe mixed with some cottage cheese and topped with nutritional yeast. Sounds yummie. 😋

Then maybe I’ll head out for a bike ride for a while. 🚲️ Nothing too major, maybe just a quick ride out to Five Rivers or Voorheesville. Honestly, it’s kind of a chilly not very nice day. That wind makes it cold, and there just isn’t a lot of warmth in the sun this morning. I was thinking about going to Partridge Run and crusing the backroads, looking for land, but I don’t want to hike in the snow. Next weekend I might camp out that way though. That said despite the cold wind, 🌬️  it does make things a lot more cheery having some sun. 😀 Tomorrow looks much nicer for going back to work, on my bicycle, and then watching the eclipse in the afternoon.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:58 pm with sun having an altitude of 54.4° from the due south horizon (-16.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:51 pm with the sun in the west (274°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (281°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:29 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 57 seconds with dusk around 7:57 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:32 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 49 degrees. There will be a north-northeast breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 5 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday the bike ride didn’t happen, 📚️ but I did get through reading an e-book and a physical book, one about the contracting process of building a house and the other about Tiny Houses. I am not that interest in a tiny house, but I want to learn as much as possible about the process of building a house and working with construction materials, plus I’m still thinking small but not tiny cabin style of house 🛖 on lots of land. But will it happen this year? Maybe not. Okay, probably not. But I am learning a lot, and maybe if I do find a property that catches my eye and heart 🥰 and I find a way to make peace  ✌️ with the way things are in New York, I’ll be good.

Landlord was working on the unit next to mine,  🏘️ which I’m glad to see he’s improving before he re-rents it as it means I should be good in my current unit for another year, a bit at a somewhat higher rent. My apartment is still a dump, though I don’t blame myself that much for it at this point, but it’s not in anyone’s interest to improve my unit while I’m still here. I stay here because it’s cheap, not because it’s my only option. Been learning what it would take to improve my apartment, and while I won’t be doing it, I don’t feel guilty for things wearing out and being of need of repair over the past 15 years. I could have been more insistent on immediate repairs,  👨‍🔧 but honestly I don’t care that much about a building that ain’t mind and is mostly a bed between days at work and trips. At least I don’t think I’m in immediate risk of eviction. Worse comes to worse, I move  🚚 and end up paying more in rent. 💸

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 29th. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 2018.

I am watching the forecast for tomorrow 🌘 and it doesn’t look that bad for the eclipse. Sucks that I have to work, but I got eclipse glasses 🕶️ for the whole team to enjoy watching the eclipse from the work parking lot most likely. Or maybe I’ll ride down to the Corning Preserve, though honestly I think the best view of the eclipse will be from the second floor of my building with the south side windows overlooking the Interstate 90 where the elevator is located.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Cinco de Mayo 🤠 when the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm with dusk at 8:31 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 68 degrees. I’m looking forward to do days like that. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1944.