Good evening! Rain and 40 degrees in Delmar. ☔ There is a east-southeast breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Kind of a cold and wet night tonight, I turned on the heat after coming home. Above freezing here, and it will warm as the night progresses, then cool down over as the weekend progresses. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Sunday around noontime. ☃️

Tonight will rain, mainly before 3am. 🌧 Low of 39 degrees at 3am. With the rain, fairly mild. It will be six degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around October 18th. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2017, we had light rain in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of 16 occurred back in 1965.

Kind of a lazy Friday night, laying in bed listening to some Christmas music 🎄with the lights dimmed, writing down my thoughts on the blog. I’m going to kill the lights soon and go to bed, setting my alarm⏰ so I get started at a reasonable hour tomorrow. I still lack coffee but I think I will make waffles in the morning.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 7% illuminated. The moon will rise at 9:27 am. Not going to see much through the clouds tonight, although it has already set. The First Quarter Moon is on Wednesday night with partly cloudy skies. The Beaver Moon 🌝 is on Thursday, November 22nd. Thanksgiving! The sun will rise at 6:40 am with the first light at 6:10 am, which is one minute and 16 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 3 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 19 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of rain before 7am, then a slight chance of showers between 7am and 11am. Mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 39 degrees at 6am. 11 degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around December 6th. West wind 8 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Pretty darn chilly but I still think I will bundle up and head up north and enjoy the sunshine. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies with more clouds in the afternoon. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 72 was set in 1931. 3.2 inches of snow fell back in 1987.❄

The moldy, musty smell has mostly disappeared from my apartment, since I cleaned up the mildew under the stove and behind it. Most of the rest of the kitchen has was mildew free once I got it cleaned up but it was a tough year fighting the mildew with it being such a hot and wet summer. 💦 Fortunately, full strength bleach works wonders on the walls. It’s been an ongoing battle in my apartment but it’s a cheap place and I love location near the library, parks, and express and local busses.

Continuing to design the flashing start I’m building for my niece for her night stand, but I expect I have a design that is nice. ✨ Powered by an Ardiuno board it uses RGB leds to turn marbles various colors.

I’m going to play it by ear but I fully expect to head up to the Adirondacks by mid morning tomorrow. ⛺ I am hoping to get the campsite I like that has cell service and a good clearing to flood the solar panel with sunlight during the daylight hours. Sunday I will hike back along the Stewart Creek most likely, and Monday (Veterans Day) I will head home as I have to work Tuesday. I think with the rain, most of the snow they got earlier today will be melted away but I’ll bring my sled in case I have to drag gear back to the site. At some point, maybe Monday I’ll hike back to Auger Falls, or maybe drive up to Speculator and hike the nature trail boardwalk, as it would be interesting to see in the winter.

I skipped buying groceries today, I’ll get them on the way up. 🍖I bought my hunting license today although the town clerk charged me an extra $1.95 for using my credit card, as I lacked $22 in cash. Saved money by skipping my trapping privileges this year although I could get that later. Next time I will just go to the DEC license bureau and buy it. I can’t believe they charge for that. I can understand charging for extra fees for a town license on a credit card but a hunting license where Walmart or every other place doesn’t seems silly 💳. It’s not like they aren’t getting paid by the state as a retailer like $2. Buying a license at Walmart is a pain because there never is a clerk there. But I know I won’t be buying a license again from the town clerk. I should go to the bank tomorrow and deposit the expense check I have from work and get some cash as it’s handy to have as a few places don’t take cards.

I went to the library and borrowed several books and got caught up on things on the internet. 📚 Looking forward to doing some reading up at camp and just sitting back by the fire during the long winter nights. I hope we have lots of blue skies as it will make things feel much more cheery and keep the batteries well topped off. Even a cold day, the sun can make things much better.

In four weeks on December 7 the sun will be setting at 4:21 pm,🌄 which is 16 minutes and 16 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had snow, cloudy skies and temperatures between 41 and 26 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 39 and 25 degrees. Basically tomorrow’s weather. The record high of 65 degrees was set back in 1998.

Looking ahead, Buy Nothing Day 🛍️ is in 2 weeks.

Good morning! Happy Election Day 2018 🗳️. It’s the big mid-term elections. If you haven’t, now would be a good time to vote. It’s always fun to fill in the scantron, after all the craziness of elections. Next Tuesday is Average Night Below Freezing 🌌. Pouring rain and 49 degrees in North Syracuse. ☔ There is a east breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Saturday around 5 am. ☃️ Then the big chill comes, with probably some lake-effect snow, but I will have to watch it with my camping trip, so I don’t get stuck in a blizzard — although for most of my trip I don’t expect to be in the snow belt — so I will probably miss most of the snow, and it might actually be quite sunny but cold.

Today will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 3pm, then a chance of showers. ⛈ High of 62 degrees at 2pm. 10 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 50 at 11am.  East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 63 degrees. The record high of 73 was set in 2015. 3.2 inches of snow fell back in 1933.❄

The sun will set at 4:49 pm with dusk around 5:19 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for some clearing with a continued chance rain showers  🌦 and 60 degrees. The dew point will be 49 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 14 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over today.

Tonight will have a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 46 degrees at 6am. 12 degrees above normal. Breezy, with a southwest wind 14 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1962.

There are 14 hours and 14 minutes until the poll close on Election Day in New York. 🗳 Yeap, today is big election day. And then it’s over. then assuming we don’t have too much lake-effect snow, it’s my road trip. 🏕 A little snow, might actually be pretty. That said, I’m not expecting much down in the Finger Lakes or Southern Tier. At the Finger Lakes National Forest, a lot of the roads are plowed year round, and I’ll bring a shovel. I kind of prefer snow to a cold rain, just because I won’t get so wet with snow. I will pack lots of warm stuff.🌨

Actually, all said and done it looks like next week will be one of the best weather-wise all autumn. 🌤 At least several days with partial clearing and sun. Cold yes, but sometimes the sun will make up with it. 🌬 But I can string up tarps to block the wind. And hopefully it won’t be too cold. I am hoping that I can have all week off next week, so I can fully enjoy my vacation. We will see. I also need to get my registration done, and inspection done by the end of the month.

I plan to take care of the registration on Thursday or Friday, and then will get my truck inspected and possibly repaired over the Thanksgiving weekend. I have noticed some noise and hop when I really clink the wheels hard to turning on the very rough parking lot at campaign office,🅿️ so I am thinking I will probably need to have a ball joint or other suspension component replaced, but I don’t think it’s at a critical point now, but I want to get that fixed before it causes excessive wear on those big expensive tires I have on the truck. Or it could be nothing, just the suspension struggling to turn on the very rough pavement. I don’t have issues in most lots. I’ve not noticed anything on the highway or driving when I don’t have the wheels cranked almost to the maximum position when parking, but it will certainly get worse over time, and I certainly want it replaced before something goes bang on the highway.💥 Maybe when I have the inspection done. I always need something new to worry about.

I also need to top off the oil, (I have a quart ready to go in the back) ⛽and I would like to wire up the amp meter too, so I can monitor the amperage coming off the solar panel. The accessory battery is always very happy and well charged now, thanks to the solar panel keeping it topped off all day long. And obviously I have to get all my camping gear packed,🏕 my hunting licensed renewed,🎫 guns cleaned and oiled, 🔫 and food bought. I am thinking I might visit my parents on Thursday night if they are around, as I have an event to go to on Wednesday. I might see if there are any sales, as I might want to pick up some additional gear.

Then it will be probably one more trip to the Adirondacks in late November or early December, probably to the campsite I like near the East Branch of the Sacanadaga River, 🏞 before the snow sets in for the winter. The big game hunters usually start filtering out by then, so more campsites are available. ◼ I really like that campsite across from the Cod Pond Trail, as it’s set back from the road, but it has cell service,📲 and is very open above, which means I’ll have sunlight to power up the solar panel.

After that it’s the long cold winter, and I have many electronics projects I want to build from the components I ordered from AliExpress. 🔬I have a bunch of LEDs and other things I want to build, making signs and lighting devices. I am thinking of building some decorative vases with marbles that would change color, which would be especially cool with the UV “black light” LEDs I bought, mixed with something that will florescent under UV light. 💡 I certainly have a lot of components that I could build things from now. It’s going to be a long winter, but I kind of like not having drive much, and winter walks down to public library to pass away the time on the wi-fi.

Once I’m back home, I’ll be riding the bus to work, and not worry about traffic or driving will be nice. 🚌 It’s fantastic that they changed the bus route, so it will be on time more, and I will on cold days be able to get the bus at the turn-around. I hate the big gas and electric bills in the winter,🔥 but I’m continuing to invest and eventually I will be able to afford land and an off-grid house which will use solar for electricity and wood for heat, and maybe some propane.

As previously noted, next Tuesday is Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 when the sun will be setting at 4:42 pm with dusk at 5:12 pm. On that day in 2017, we had snow, cloudy skies and temperatures between 41 and 32 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 49 degrees. We hit a record high of 69 back in 1964.

As a final note, don’t forget to get out and vote. ☑️ I am not thrilled by our leadership, or many of the incumbents which will certainly be elected, but it’s important to at least raise your voice and be heard in our democracy. It’s good to cast a protest vote here and there. ✊