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Maybe not the coldest Martin Luther King Day ever … โ›„

I could of and probably should have spent another night in the woods last night, but I didn’t. I was put off by the promise of high-winds, heavy snow squalls and my still fairly new camp stove that wasn’t working really well. Going to order a backup regulator and filter so going forward to avoid future problems. I might go back out camping in two weeks, if it warms up for my 41st birthday or maybe I’ll wait until Presidents Day Weekend.

Good morning! Mostly sunny and 18 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. ๐Ÿƒ.

Up at 5 AM ๐Ÿ˜€ making some pancakes with oatmeal, wheat flour and shredded carrots ๐Ÿฅ• to get that fiber-rich boost to my morning. Feeling good this morning, I thought I was starting to develop a cough yesterday, but I think I might have breathed into too much campfire smoke ๐Ÿ”ฅ in the cold on Saturday night. Blueberries, mango, honey and pure maple syrup to top the pancakes. ๐Ÿฅž Probably have a bit of a sugar high today, and if not that, I definately did do that second pot of coffee. โ˜• I’m up and going. Clear but cold this morning.

I do think it wouldn’t have been a bad day in woods, ๐Ÿ• but the forecast seemed so bad yesterday, plus I didn’t really pack enough food and I forgot to bring road salt to control the ice at camp. There will be future weekends, or so I tell myself. I do want to make sure I have that stove working well, at full output as I like my pipping hot coffee and eggs cooked quickly ๐Ÿฃ especially on a cold day today. But it’s easier to get up at 5 AM with a heated apartment and electric stove to quickly heat up coffee on such a winter’s morning. I do wish I could be watching the sun rise at camp again.

M. L. King Day will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 28 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Not terrible for mid-January. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1995. Seems like a good day to be listening to Dion’s Abraham, Martin and John on this cold winter day, though it’s expected to warm up as the day progresses. 13.4 inches of snow fell back in 1983.โ„ Maybe an inch or two of snow tomorrow. I could drive into my new office, but I think I’ll figure out a way to bus it was the transfers and or the shuttle as I don’t want to deal with snow or for that matter traffic.

Thinking about going for a bike ride this morning ๐Ÿšด‍โ™€๏ธ though the rail trail might be covered with snow. I could just ride the roads, maybe go out to Five Rivers or something. I also want to go to the library for a while, I’ve thought about making some Iowa caucus data from 2016 maps up to share on the blog. ๐Ÿ—บ Then later on this morning, going to head out to the folks house for a visit. ๐Ÿ‘ช Pork roast for dinner, should be yummy. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Last night, I made some chicken soup up, ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿณ I was pretty good. I am guessing will be for lunch again too. Then I also want to make some bread up tonight, so I can put that in the oven for the morning. As I want to get in early tomorrow, as it’s the first day with the new position, I do need to be careful about cooking up soup or anything that takes too much time in the morning. Cold enough this morning I heard the heat kick on a few times, especially early on around 5 AM when I first got up to cook breakfast.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 26.2° from the due south horizon (-44.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 4:03 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (242°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:47 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 5:17 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter ๐ŸŒ“ Moon in the south-southwest (206°) at an altitude of 40° from the horizon, 226,535 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:53 pm. At sunset, look for partly sunny skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 28 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 40 seconds over today.

At some point I got to wash my truck and mountain bike, ๐Ÿšฟ both which have a lot of salt and mud on them. But right now with the cold that’s probably pointless as the roads are likely completely encrusted with road salt. There were a handful of things I didn’t get at Hannaford like peppers and more sweet potatoes I’ll probably want to get to get when I run out to Glenmont next time. I could drive in mid-week, and do all of those things on my way home after work. It really depends on how cold it is.

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow showers between 2am and 3am, then a chance of snow after 3am. Mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒจ, with a low of 20 degrees at 3am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 23rd. Maximum wind chill around 18 at 7pm; Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. 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 19 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1971.

I am excited about tomorrow with the new position. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿซ I have so much to learn in my coming months, though everybody seems to think I will be a good fit for the position, with my knowledge of data science and public datasets. In other words, I am good at typing a lot of %>%, though I probably should brush up on Python and certainly COBOL in the coming months. But a lot of things it’s best to leave up to the actual programmers. It’s a big change, but it’s good to embrace change, and I look forward to doing good work and improving my own life. I’ll need to update my investments and tax deductions, but I first want to to slowly bring up the level in my checking account ๐Ÿ’ธ which has been so depleted in recent months, mostly due to inflation eating away at everything. I worry a lot, probably way too much, though I’ve had fewer and fewer problems with actual anxiety attacks since I’ve been eating healthier. ๐Ÿฅฆ But as I note in one of today’s blog post, there are so many problems and risks in the world, ๐Ÿ“‰ that most important thing to do is to protect yourself against all the evils of the world today. They really are out to get you.

Cold and blustery weekend on tap. ๐Ÿงค๐Ÿงฃ โ›„ It’s winter, what I can say. But it’s not expected to last with a warm up expected the following week. Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 17. Blustery. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 23. Probably filming my little part of Reszin documentary that week. Oh, really, as Reszin once said about my bullshitting. Probably too cold to ride over to the filming location, ๐ŸŽฌ which I am not actually sure where it is but it can be combined with a run to the store or Walmart. Always seem to need more food. ๐Ÿ Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until my 41st Birthday ๐ŸŽ‰ when the sun will be setting at 5:05 pm with dusk at 5:34 pm. That year of being forty went by like a flash. But it was good day, I mean year especially in the markets. How fast the days come and gone. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 44 and 22 degrees. I had a lot of fun camping that weekend, doing a bunch of cross country skiing. Maybe I should do again. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 54 back in 2002.

Grey House

Happy J6 Day!

The bad behavior of three years ago is still on the news, but I think they make too big of a deal out of an rollicking, out of control protest. Joe Biden won the election, fair and square, and no disruption of pomp and circumstance of the electoral count in Congress was going to change it. It wasn’t unlike the Black Lives Matter movement or so many other crazy protests from people rightfully frustrated about the lockdowns and pandemic, that hurt many in our country. It’s not like we as a society aren’t constantly smashing glass and tearing down buildings in the name of progress, both lawfully and otherwise. The government needs more people urinating on it, too many politicians believe they are too self-important. I just remember how cold that day was, working from home, staying warm with the heating pad and space heater. What a shit storm, by a shitty President in shitty times on a cold winter’s day.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend as we wait for the snow to arrive! Cloudy and 26 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜ Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at Monday around 11 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ And then all the snow will start melting. Going to be in the fifties with rain come Wednesday. I don’t expect the roads to be particularly bad for the Monday commute, though what do I care, I’m taking the bus in. ๐ŸšŒ Between the shitty weather and being session days next week, I doubt I’ll be doing much riding to work this week. ๐Ÿšณ Unlike this past week, when I rode to work three out of four days, with only the one day being a session day when I went for a 6:45 AM bike ride before work.

Decided to make Johnny Cakes this morning, with corn meal, baking powder, whole-wheat flour, milk, some water and salt. ๐Ÿฅž No sugar like is common in the cornbread mixes. Topped them with Greek yogurt, mango and honey. Next time I want to try a more savory version, with chopped onions, some garlic, and maybe some spinach in the mixture. But this was pretty good, though I wish there was a bit more fiber involved in the meal. I like my breakfasts to be packed with protein and fiber for an all day punch — and not too much sugar. ๐Ÿคช Sugar makes me crazy, it gives me anxiety. I am happier when I avoid it, though I have to say pancakes in general are much better with true maple sap, then imitation sugar-free syrup. But honey is good for a change.

Today will have a chance of snow, mainly after 4pm. Cloudy ๐ŸŒจ, with a high of 32 degrees at 1pm. One degree below normal, which is similar to a typical Southeast wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 2007. 12.7 inches of snow fell back in 2002.โ„

Today after my bike ride ๐Ÿšฒ out to Voorheesville, going with the folks up to see my sister, niece and nephew, the later for the first time. ๐Ÿ‘ถ ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿ‘ง‍๐Ÿ‘ฆ Then hopefully before the snow starts too hard, I’m going to head to the laundromat ๐Ÿ‘• and wash my clothes and run to Hannaford for bananas ๐ŸŒ and a few other things I didn’t get at Walmart. Pea soup for dinner. ๐Ÿฅ— Should be good, mom got me a handheld blender which I was used to blend the peas nice and smooth, so it should go down nice and smooth. Add some balsamic vinegar and get the bread I have in the freezer out and I’ll be eating good. And then just enjoy the snow as it comes down. ๐ŸŒจ

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 24.8° from the due south horizon (-46° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:52 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:37 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 5:08 pm, which is 58 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:44 pm. At sunset, look for snow ๐ŸŒจ and temperatures around 32 degrees. There will be a east-southeast breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 14 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 3 seconds over yesterday.

My office is basically all packed up and cleaned ๐Ÿข ๐Ÿ“ฆ and I brought home everything except my mug, phone charger and USB hub/monitor cable, so I’m ready to move to the suburban office as soon as they’re ready in my office. It’s not going to be on Monday, though I thought it might be so I wanted to be prepared. โš ๏ธ Whenever I get the heads up, I’ll be ready to move. I’m ready and excited to take on the new tasks, but I’m willing to serve in whatever capacity my business needs me to do.

Tonight will snow. The snow could be heavy at times. ๐ŸŒจ Low of 28 degrees at 9pm. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. East wind 7 to 10 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible. Most of snow will fall on the overnight, In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1878.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Make Your Dream Come True Day ๐Ÿก ๐Ÿค  ๐Ÿฎ  when the sun will be setting at 4:45 pm with dusk at 5:15 pm. On that day in 2023, we had rain showers, mostly cloudy, mild and temperatures between 43 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 71 back in 1932.

Mountains and Bridge

Inspection day! ๐Ÿ”Ž ๐Ÿ›ป

It always makes me nervous but why I don’t know as Big Red is running well and AFAIK all the lights are working good. Oil change and tire rotation too today. Let the shop get all of those things done at once. I’ll just take off the hub caps.

Good morning! What day is it? Big Red, gets state inspected day, of course. Snow flurries, partly clear and 32 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ„ There is a west-southwest breeze at 8 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ

Up at 5 AM to have breakfast of eggs, onions, rice and corn and other veggies. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿณ The burner element failing this morning was a surprise as it arc flashed when it cracked and shorted, but I’ll replace the burner either today or this weekend. Last night I fried up sweet potatoes with onions and veggies with some left-over turkey from Thanksgiving. ๐Ÿฆƒ Finishing up that bread I had made up on Monday, I will bake a new loaf tomorrow morning along with cookies for work, and maybe that spaghetti squash. ๐Ÿ† Squash is really cheap at Hannaford this week, and I have $5 in points rewards expiring on Friday so I plan to go to Hannaford when I pick up my truck this afternoon.

Dropping the truck off at eight thirty. ๐Ÿ›ป Pulling the hub caps off now. I forgot to ask for synthetic oil but I’ll ask when I drop the truck off. ๐Ÿ›ข Doesn’t matter that much I don’t drive much in the winter. I used to do my own oil changes but by the time I got the oil, struggled to remove the oil filter it wasn’t worth it. Then I’ll walk ๐Ÿšถ home and get down to work. I’ll start my day working from home, have lunch then spend the remainder of the day working from the library ๐Ÿ“š where I don’t have to worry about using too much bandwidth. ๐Ÿ“ถ Rush projects continue today, so I’ll be busy. Also want to get to the store after picking my truck up from the shop. I need soap ๐Ÿ–๏ธ among other things.

Today will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 11am. Mostly sunny ๐ŸŒฆ, with a high of 38 degrees at 12pm. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 15th. West wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1984. 14.0 inches of snow fell back in 1915.โ„

While cooking ๐Ÿณ this morning the large burner quit working. No heat then it started to arc a bright white color where it broke. I could call the landlord ๐Ÿ“ž but I’m not going to bother him over a $10 to $20 electric stove element I can just pick up at Home Depot and plug it in. I can see were it cracked, it’s a plug-in and a very standard cheap part. Should also replace the catch basins on the stove too, they’re pretty burnt through again. ๐Ÿซ– Figure anytime I call the landlord he’s ultimately going to tack it on my rent so I don’t call unless it’s dire. ๐Ÿ’ต My apartment needs a lot of work but it’s inexpensive and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. ๐Ÿก

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:50 am with sun having an altitude of 24.3° from the due south horizon (-46.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 24 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 9 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for snow ๐ŸŒจ and temperatures around 36 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 14 mph with gusts up to 28mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 8 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 34 seconds over today.

As I do from time to time I check my net worth and retirement accounts. ๐Ÿ’ฐ They’re up 33% from three year ago in November. Not the pandemic low but things were still down a bit. I’ve been expanding my bond holdings in recent years but it’s really the stock that have been high flying โœˆ these days.๐Ÿ“ˆ That said, I do share people’s concerns that the stock market is overvalued, especially the high-flying seven corporations that dominate the S&P 500 but the way I look at it is while they may go down, and even the market may have a substantial correction, other stocks will be replace them eventually and ultimately the index will grow. I still think broad-spectrum indexing is the way to grow, along with regular steady automated purchases, without regard to any trend. Spread out the risk, stock funds, bond funds, broad-sector funds. I’ve lived through times of up and down on the market ๐Ÿ“Š — I am bad and don’t look at much at the market when things go down, but then again I don’t really act on any short term trend. Combined with my better paying job out in the suburbs, I look forward to a brighter tomorrow. I just want to build a secure future for myself, with so much instability in the world today.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers before 9pm, then a slight chance of rain showers between 9pm and 10pm. Mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 24 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 12th. Maximum wind chill around 14 at 5am; Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 17 degrees. The record low of -5 occurred back in 1898.

Took the later local bus home last night ๐ŸšŒ as I was working on that rush project. Gets me home a half hour later then I would otherwise get home. Not a super big difference, dinner was done by seven and I went out for a walk before coming home to a warm glass of milk with cinnamon and ginger and retiring to bed. โ˜• If I take the free shuttle back the plaza with my new job, I’ll be taking the bus home more often, but if I decide to take the Purple Express to downtown, I can probably catch 519 home at the regular time, though that will cost an extra $1.30 a day. Works out to an additional $300 a year, though my new job will pay far more extra then that. But I don’t know, I like saving money, and the free shuttle drops me off in the Plaza which I can spend the half hour getting steps in at the Plaza where it’s warm. I got options to mull over.

Back in 1962, NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit. ๐Ÿ›ฐ๏ธ Nowadays when you look up at night you occasionally see Starlink and that’s quite an impressive amount of satellites in the sky. I’ve heard it’s great for those who live in remote areas and need high speed internet. It’s expensive but if it provides work and puts food on the table it’s pretty neat.

Warm and fairly sunny ๐ŸŒž this weekend. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 45. Still thinking ๐Ÿ’ญ about biking ๐Ÿšฒ down to French’s Mills on Saturday. Sunday, mostly cloudy especially late, with a high near 45. Nutcracker with the family ๐Ÿ‘ช them. Rain comes in for Monday. โ˜” Busing ๐Ÿš it to work Monday. Typical average high for the weekend is 38 degrees.

 Road Summit

Made it to the weekend, today should be nice, tomorrow who knows ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Maybe nice is an exaggeration but it will be mild by mid December standards but fairly cloudy. I think it will be a good day to ride and stay close to home, at least not drive anywhere. Tomorrow I can shop I figure before going out to the folks house in the driving rain.

Good morning! Mostly cloudy and 40 degrees in Delmar. โ˜ There is a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. There is a inch of snow on the ground. โ˜ƒ ๏ธTemperatures will drop below freezing at Monday around 10 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Made a nice breakfast cake up with oatmeal, cranberries, bananas and pineapple ๐Ÿ. Drank a lot of coffee โ˜• but I’m good as I’m not planning an ambitious day though later on as it warms up I’m thinking about a bike ๐Ÿšฒ ride out to Voorheesville and maybe later on to French’s Mills or Altamont. There is a lot of places I haven’t explored on my bicycle around and even some local preserves that I can’t be bothered to drive to but are within biking range.

Today will be mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒฅ, with a high of 49 degrees at 3pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 17th. South wind 7 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1966. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 2009.โ„

I won’t say it will be a banner weekend โ˜” especially as the rain comes tomorrow but I’ll make the best of it. I decided against the Salvation Army this weekend, it’s a bit of a drive and I am okay ๐Ÿ‘Œ on clothes truth be told and I don’t love riding the sand trails in the Pine Bush that much. ๐ŸŒฒ๐ŸŒฒ I kind of want to get to Indian Ladder Farms for some apples ๐Ÿ. I’d prefer Altamont Orchards but that’s a pretty long bike ride. Maybe I’ll just wait to I get groceries tomorrow. ๐Ÿ–ฅ Kind of want to get to the library to use the Wi-Fi too this afternoon. ๐Ÿ“ถ

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:49 am with sun having an altitude of 24.6ยฐ from the due south horizon (-46.2ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (239ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is one second earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 47 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 10 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 51 seconds over today.

Finally finished that course on Categorizing and Classification of Data Using Machine Learning in R. ๐Ÿค– OK course, but I’ve wish they explained the pros and cons of the different methods better but I’ve previously read up on that. ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿซ I’ll probably eventually study a Python course on the same topic but first I’m studying Artificial Neural Networks for Business Managers in R Studio. I can’t complain too much, all these classes are free with my Bethlehem Public Library card ๐Ÿ“š unlike many who pay for them. I doubt the instruction quality, at least of this last class would be something I’d pay for. But I still learned how to do a lot of it in R that I previously only knew concepts but not the R packages and code to implement.

Maybe I should cut back on the turmeric. That 6.2 oz bottle I bought last Sunday is third eaten already. ๐Ÿง‚ My teeth could yellow and folks think I’m a smoker, lol. That said I shouldn’t have to worry much about tooth plaque or gingivitis. ๐ŸฆทI just like my food yellow and tasty plus I never have any aches anymore despite climbing all the those stairs and riding all those miles. There are days when every meal ๐Ÿด involves tumeric starting with the fried onions and eggs ๐Ÿณ in the morning.

Tonight will have a slight chance of rain after 4am. Mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 40 degrees at 2am. 16 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 20th. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 20 degrees. The record low of -4 occurred back in 1902.

Trying to keep costs down this weekend as after my credit card ๐Ÿ’ณ bill is paid I’ll only have $350 left in my bank account to tide my over until I get paid the following work week. ๐Ÿ’ธ Heck of it is looking at my second to last paystub of the year I made more then I expected? So much money is going out the door ๐Ÿšช to retirement and investing plus inflation keeps taking a bigger chunk each time I shop for groceries. ๐Ÿช I’m hopeful with my new job next year I’ll make a little more money but with inflation that doesn’t go the way it once would have. I think ๐Ÿค” I’ll do good work in the new job despite my fear ๐Ÿ˜ฑ of messing up ๐Ÿ’ฃ and the inconvenience of transferring buses ๐Ÿš to get there days I can’t mountain bike it. Plus I’m making like $75 a month in ad revenue on the blog.

Today in 1958, the John Birch Society is founded. Businessman and founder Robert W. Welch Jr. (1899โ€“1985) developed an organizational infrastructure in 1958 of chapters nationwide. ๐Ÿฌ After an early rise in membership and influence,๐Ÿฅธ efforts by those such as conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review led the JBS to be identified as a fringe element of the conservative movement, ๐Ÿชฐ mostly in fear of the radicalization of the American right. ๐Ÿ˜ตโ€๐Ÿ’ซ

Looking ahead, next Saturday is Tea Party Day ๐Ÿ when the sun will be setting at 4:24 pm with dusk at 4:54 pm. On that day in 2022, we had snow and temperatures between 35 and 33 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 38 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 2021. Never got into drinking much tea ๐Ÿต. I do like my warm glass of milk before bed ๐Ÿ› on a cold night with some vanilla, ginger and lots of cinnamon though.

Under the Agency Building

A Rainy Sunday Ahead ๐ŸŒง๏ธ

It could be snow but not with El Niño and the jet stream in its current position. At least we’re not expecting to get as socked by rain as the southern states in the coming weeks.

Good morning! Happy Wet Sunday. Yes, clouds โ˜๏ธand 40 degrees in Delmar. Rain coming soon. โ˜” There is a north-northeast breeze at 5 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Tuesday around 9 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ Still another pretty mild day, saving on the heat being off. I don’t know why I worry so much about heating bills, as they only work out in the coldest months to be like $30 over the normal non-heating bills, but I do. โ™จ๏ธ It’s not like I don’t make good money, though I’m always broke as I’m stashing so much in the market and for retirement. But I just don’t like seeing my money go up into smoke, ๐Ÿ’จ says the boy who drives a big jacked up truck that has a drinking problem. โ›ฝ

Yesterday wasn’t a real productive day, ๐Ÿ“š the biggest thing I did was go down to the library for a while to work on my laptop ๐Ÿ’ป and then reheat some chilli and cook some kidney beans. Like yesterday, this morning I baked a breakfast cake with oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, an egg, stevia, two bananas and cranberries. Good breakfast, super moist, really like a cake. ๐Ÿฐ Been doing a lot more cooking with cranberries as they’re dirt cheap this time of year — $1.50 for a large bag, and quite delicious. Been continuing on that machine learning course, ๐Ÿค– now that I’m in the deep dive into principal component analysis, really starting to learn a lot more. The course I’m learning is primarily about using R packages for machine learning, but most of the techniques could be used with Python. I probably would learn Python and scikitlearn for machine learning, but I feel like I know R better these days as that’s what I constantly use, as like the maggitr pipes and ggplot graphics output.

Today will have showers likely before 8am, then rain, mainly after 8am. ๐ŸŒง High of 44 degrees at 2pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 29th. Northeast wind around 6 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 53 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 2009. 5.2 inches of snow fell back in 1893.โ„

After showering this morning, ๐Ÿ›€ heading to Walmart to get groceries for the week, probably around 9 AM before the crowds get there. The big thing is spices, but also frozen fruits and vegetables, plus the usual like another container of oatmeal as I used that up making breakfasts, pancakes and bread. ๐Ÿ›’ Making a list this time in hope that I won’t forget things, though chances are good at least some of things on my list won’t be in stock, as it always happens. Then I want to wash the kitchen floor, do some cleaning and straightening up. 

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:46 am with sun having an altitude of 25.3° from the due south horizon (-45.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 16 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a east breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 14 seconds over today.

This afternoon heading out to the folks house ๐Ÿฒ for some turkey soup and the Sunday dinner. Just going to be kind of a rainy day, but I figure get home early then I’ll have time to make up bread ๐Ÿž and soak beans or maybe peas in preparation for making soup come the morning. Then that will be Monday’s dinner. Been working on slowly but surely eating up some of the food I previously frozen but also making sure to maintain balanced meals each day. And maybe some time to read ๐Ÿ“– before heading to bed pretty early. No need to stay up late on such a dreary day.

Tonight will rain, mainly before midnight. ๐ŸŒง Low of 39 degrees at 6am. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 23rd. South wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1940.

Yesterday I was thumbing through some properties and land on Zillow. ๐Ÿ˜ So much is that suburban crap with marble countertops and neighbors. It’s hard to find nice pieces of land with acreage. Not that I’m seriously thinking of buying at this point but it can be fun during downtime. That said, moving to the suburban office with free parking, makes it more tempting to think about moving back out to country. Plus I’ll be making more money at my new job, but I think that’s putting the cart before the wagon, because who knows how it will work out or how I’ll like it. It’s a big step forward though. But for now, I’ll probably stay in my apartment. It’s inexpensive, even if it is run down. I have my fun getting away and camping in the wilderness. ๐Ÿ• Looking forward to getting away again in two and a half weeks on the run up to the Christmas holiday.

As previously noted, next Sunday is 7:15 AM Sunrise โŒ›๏ธ when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 31 and 20 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 40 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1966.

House Pond is Getting Icy ?

29 days left in the year โŒ›

Depending on how you count it, basically four weekends left if even that before we start the 2024 year. Going to be a busy year, but I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life working out in the suburbs, really putting my data science knowledge and experience to work in my new job. But first a rainy but mild weekend to get through and the holidays.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Not such a drag as I had Monday off and the rest of week was pretty busy, although Friday morning dragged a bit waiting for the next project to come in. Mostly cloudy and 37 degrees at the Delmar, NY. โ˜ Calm wind.Temperatures will drop below freezing at Tuesday around 4 am. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Started out my morning a little after 5 o’clock as I always do. โฐ I’m not one to set an alarm but I wake up at that hour as I’m usually asleep before 9 PM and around then I have to get up and do the bathroom thing, ๐Ÿ’ฉ so it’s best to get up and going and get a bright and early start on the morning. Decided to bake a breakfast cake this morning ๐Ÿฐ — this time I started with food-processor milled oatmeal, whole wheat flour, stevia, two bananas, baking powder, canned pumpkin an egg, and some water and baking it. Topped it with lots of pumpkin pie spice. ๐ŸŽƒ It was pretty darn good, the egg and gluten from the whole-wheat flour made it very cake like and not so dry as often comes out when cooking with milled oatmeal. Plus some stomach-filling protein from the egg, and two types of fiber — insoluble fiber from the whole-wheat flour and pumpkin plus soluble fiber from oatmeal. โ˜• I had to go to Stewart’s to get milk for the coffee but now this morning is a go.

Today will have a slight chance of showers between 10am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒฆ, with a high of 47 degrees at 1pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 22nd. South wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1998. 6.8 inches of snow fell back in 2019.โ„

I am going to take a wait and see approach to today ๐ŸŒง but if it looks like it’s going to remain just cloudy I might head up to the Albany Pine Bush for a bike / hike on some of the trails, ๐Ÿšฒ ๐Ÿšถโ€โ™€๏ธ and then head up to the Salvation Army to look at clothes, especially dressier things for work. ๐Ÿ‘” I am though most likely going to have to just buy some dress shirts and pants for work ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ผ as nothing I have really fits well anymore after loosing so much weight. Then I need to get spices and probably some other groceries at Walmart, though truth be told my pantry isn’t bad currently but I need more frozen fruit and vegetables, ๐Ÿ“ ๐Ÿฅฆ along with the spices. Turmeric and ginger in particular but also some cinnamon and Chipotle would be good as I’m low on all those things. I don’t really have to go shopping, but at some point I do want to replenish my pantry and I hate to stay home all day. ๐Ÿ›’

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:46 am with sun having an altitude of 25.5ยฐ from the due south horizon (-45.4ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:39 pm with the sun in the southwest (233ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (241ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 18 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies โ˜ and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 18 seconds over today.

I haven’t decided to make bread or pea soup today. ๐Ÿž That was originally the plan but I kind of forgot or was tired and cold after last night so after my salmon ๐ŸŸ for dinner, I had some Greek yogurt and pumpkin, ๐ŸŽƒ then settled down to bed ๐Ÿ›Œ doing some more of the Udemy course ๐ŸŽ“ on machine learning and went to sleep. I might wait until Sunday evening to kneed and make more bread, and enjoy it fresh come Monday. Maybe the same thing with the pea soup. I do have kidney beans cooking down on the stove, so I could do beans and rice later, and I took both some previously cooked and frozen chickpeas and butternut squash out of the freezer. Also still have spaghetti squash in the fridge from earlier in the week I should eat before it goes bad. Maybe it’s best to save the bread until Monday. Pea soup is good but it can make me gassy, ๐Ÿ˜ค which is why I was thinking maybe better to have it during the weekend. Helps though if I make sure to drink plenty of water with it and avoid the shredded carrots ๐Ÿฅ• in the bread I’m serving with it.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 5am. Cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 39 degrees at 5am. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 23rd. Light north wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of -1 occurred back in 1976.

The blog advertising pulled in $165 since September 23, ๐Ÿค‘ which isn’t too bad and will help me recoup at least some of the costs of the web hosting come a few weeks when finally the money is deposited in my bank. It looks like I will be earning roughly $75 a month going forward, getting paid every other month. By April, I should have recouped the hosting and domain costs from advertising, though some depends on ad rates which decline after the Christmas season and web traffic, ๐Ÿ•ธ which always picks up during the summer months when people are looking for trails and places for camping. ๐Ÿ• I probably wouldn’t have done the advertising thing but I didn’t like the sting of the rising hosting bills a few months back, of which my bank account still hasn’t fully recovered.

I put in a FOIL request for the Recreation Unit Management Plan Shapefile with the DEC. ๐Ÿ• This would be nice for making maps, somebody asked for it a while back and I never was able to get them the file. Basically this shapefile includes the area covered unit plans, and I can’t find it online on an ArcGIS REST/Service or the DEC website. I don’t like doing too many FOIL requests ๐Ÿฃ these days, as I don’t like my name all over government documents, but this would be useful to have, and could create many good maps and analysis for the blog ๐Ÿ—บ which could further drive traffic here. Come February 2024, I am also going to get the update voter file for the full state rather than just the county that I have now, ๐Ÿ—ณ so I can use it for analysis, especially machine learning purposes to see if I can figure out new ways of targeting ๐ŸŽฏ voters.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Average High is 40 ๐ŸŒจ when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had sunny and temperatures between 39 and 25 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 40 degrees. We hit a record high of 62 back in 1966.

Sun Peaks Over Ashokan Range

Cook! Cook! Cook! Happy Wednesday from the Kitchen. ๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿณ

Delicious, basic wholewheat bread — flour, water, yeast and a bit of salt, were baking in the oven along with spaghetti squash. Stove top there was onions and shredded broccoli frying soon to be cooked up with eggs and mushrooms, Cajun bean soup simmering away. Good breakfast, which will be followed by a delcious dinner when I get home.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Snow flurries and 24 degrees in Delmar, NY for the bike ride in. โ„ Calm wind.There is a dusting of snow on the ground. โ˜ƒ Things will start to thaw out at around 11 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ

Not a terribly cold but not a wonderful day for a bike ride in. ๐Ÿšฒ Less snow and ice on parts of the bike trail today compared to yesterday, though neither day was the ride impaired. Stopped at Hannaford as I had to get cookies for a colleague’s birthday ๐ŸŽ‚ in the office. Also got scrubby pads as I lost one when I was taking down camp in the snow in over the weekend, ๐Ÿšฐ wanted to get spices but they didn’t have a good selection or good prices. Also it seemed like even the bakery was overpriced at Hannaford. ๐Ÿช I should have just ridden up to Market 32 at lunch time. I bet they’d have the spices I need. But I’ll make due for now and put it on my list should I go to Wally World this weekend. ๐Ÿคท

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers before 8am. Partly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 37 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 18th. Southwest wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Cool day ahead but sunny except for the flurries around. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 2005. 3.3 inches of snow fell back in 1945. โ„

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:45 am with sun having an altitude of 25.9° from the due south horizon (-44.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:41 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 25 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:31 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 7 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 28 seconds over today.

Tonight will be partly cloudy ๐ŸŒƒ , with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Southeast wind around 6 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light drizzle by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1875.

Kind of cloudy and rainy this weekend. ๐ŸŒฅโ˜” ๐Ÿ˜ž Saturday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees. It’s fine, I didn’t have any big plans for the weekend, just let it go by, do some more of the Udemy classes, fix the wiring issue in my truck. 

As previously noted, next Wednesday is Saint Nicholas Day ๐ŸŽ… when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had rain showers, partly cloudy, mild and temperatures between 54 and 39 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 41 degrees. We hit a record high of 68 back in 2001.

Old Fort Hunter