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July 15, 2019 Night

Good evening! Partly clear under the full moon 🌕 and 71 degrees in Delmar. Calm wind. The dew point is 58 degrees. It is beautiful moonlit night before the heat and humidity really kicks in later in the week.

I got some nice fresh and cold milk from Stewart’s, 🐮 and I appreciated the local cows with some fresh blueberries and cherries 🍒. I liked the blueberries but I guess the cherries I bought where only modestly sweet. I thought about buying ice cream but this is a healthier option. It was a nice reward after a pleasant evening walk. 🚶

Been working on Save the Pine Bush stuff at the library, doing research and recreating tax maps for a project for Save the Pine Bush. Some of those metes and bounds for the Crossgates parcel are tough to reproduce. 🌐 The metes are hard to find the reference point of the imaginary lines, and the bounds often follow detailed building edges. And it’s a shit ton of parcels. But I’m making progress. 🌲I’ll be back at it Wednesday night, as tomorrow night I’m over at John Wolcott house for his history project and file sorting. 📂 I’m thinking if a print the tax maps (probably after breaking the county’s silly print disable – Linux don’t care 🐧), and download the underlying OrthoPhoto geotiff, then I can probably work on it one day at camp off line.

Tomorrow marks 50 years since the first departure from the earth to the moon. 🚀 While only 24 human beings would ever walk on the moon, it was a remarkable accomplishment that was probably abandoned much too early in our history only three years later in December 1972. Some people are skeptical about the moon landings, it only happened six times by man before getting the congressional axe. ✂

I should see if PBS or one of the other YouTube channels will have a special I can watch about Apollo 11. 🎑 It would be fun to watch on the laptop while I’m at camp during vacation. That said by the time on my trip it should be the last quarter moon 🌓 so it should be good for looking at the stars assuming that I have clear nights up at Foster Pond. 🌟 Maybe see some shooting stars.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 59 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 21st. Maximum dew point of 58 at 10pm. Light southwest wind. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It was humid. It got down to 69 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1946.

Tonight will have a Full Buck Moon 🌕 with 99% illuminated. The sun will rise at 5:31 am with the first light at 4:58 am, which is 51 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and one minute of darkness, an increase of one minute and 29 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 86 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal. That’s like a hot summer day with humidity pushing in tomorrow. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 96 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1900.

So I have the camping permit 🎫 for camping in Wellsboro Thursday through Saturday nights but I don’t have to camp all those nights. It’s just an option, although I’ll probably stay at least one night as I don’t want to drive all the way back from the Allegheny National Forest in one day and I’d like to hike at least part of the Pine Creek Gorge trail. 🚶 I wish I had a working bicycle, that’s a good way to explore it.

I’m still on the fence about leaving Friday night versus Saturday morning. If I leave Friday night I will be out in the Finger Lakes by Saturday afternoon as I’ll stay at Brookfield on Friday night and drive the rest of the way on Saturday. 🏊 Probably take old Route Twenty out through Montezuma as mom wants me to get her wine 🍷 and I like avoiding both Cortland and Ithaca going that way. If I leave Saturday, I’ll go to Glimmerglass State Park Beach on Otsego Lake, then Brookfield Saturday night, and get to the Finger Lakes National Forest later on Sunday night, when I think it’s most likely that I can get the Chicken Co-op Campsite that my GPS likes to call it. ⛺ Which ever day I arrive, probably before setting up camp I’ll visit Taughnahock State Park and check out the beach on Cayuga Lake. I checked, the Winery opens at nine AM both days including Sunday. I didn’t know wineries could sell before noon in New York but apparently they can. That said I doubt I’d be out to Montezuma before noon either day.🐦 Probably won’t spend much time at Montezuma as it’s going to hot and sticky and there won’t be many birds out and about.

I kind of would prefer to visit the Watkins Glen Pool on the weekend 🏊 as it’s fully open then. Weekdays half of the pool is closed I believe although maybe not if it’s hot and sunny and there is enough people. But then again the swim lanes are fully open and the nice chairs are always available when the pool is open. The other thing is I only plan to spend half the week in the Finger Lakes, the balance of the week will be in Allegany or Cattaraugus County in Western New York and then down to Pennsylvania for a few days. 🚙

In four weeks on August 12 the sun will be setting at 8:01 pm,🌄 which is 30 minutes and 5 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had humid, partly sunny and temperatures between 79 and 67 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 81 and 61 degrees. The record high of 99 degrees was set back in 1944.

Looking ahead, Work Like a Dog Day 🐩 is in 3 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 4 weeks, National Dog Day 🐩 is in 6 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 7 weeks and Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 12 weeks.

April 19, 2019 Morning

Good afternoon! Today is Good Friday ✝️! Four weeks to Pack Rat Day 🐀. Nothing like a good fire to celebrate that. 🔥 Mostly cloudy and 67 degrees at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. ☁ There is a south breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 57 degrees. I figured that I had today off from work and it would be a nice thing to walk out here. Tomorrow is going to be rather wet and not much sun is expected until Easter Sunday. The skies will clear Sunday around 4 pm.

Ever since I’ve started walking out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center I’ve started to appreciate it more. Walking out here you get to see the transitioning landscape from suburbia to a more rural landscape, 🐸 and somehow the nature seems more real than when you fly out here in motorized transportation. 🚙 Plus the walk is free 🚶 The rail trail 🚂is nice but it lacks the benches, bathrooms and solitude of the environmental education center.

Today will have a chance of showers, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 72 degrees at 2pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around May 23rd. Maximum dew point of 58 at 1pm. South wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 92 was set in 1976. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1983.❄

I have no rush today at Five Rivers for a change, absolutely nothing planned for this afternoon. I can just sit an observe the natural world as long as I want. 🐦 Kind of nice for a change. Everything lately seems rushed or on a schedule.⌛

Ever since I started listening to John Burroughs books on Libre Vox, I’ve started to enjoy more and more nature study. 📙 Not necessarily just looking for one species but observing animal behavior. Maybe hunting and fishing got me started but there is much to learn in the woods and wilderness. 🌲Even just watching cows 🐮 march through rip and munch grass can be pretty fascinating to me. I used to be a much more of a go-go-go type person when I was younger in the woods but now I like to study and observe more.

The sun will set at 7:42 pm with dusk around 8:12 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 69 degrees. The dew point will be 58 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 35 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Once I get back home this afternoon, I’ll have lunch and go down to the library. 📖 Mostly just to use the internet, maybe I’ll get a book out. Probably spend a few hours down there and maybe download some more videos to watch while riding the exercise bike. There is no shortage of videos this time of year on trout fishing, spreading manure or discing fields this time of year on the YouTube. Spring turkey too. Plus it’s interesting to find out what folks are doing on the many homesteading and off grid channels I follow. 🎧 To take it with me when I hike or ride the bus, I’ve written a script to convert the videos into audio files. Some videos really are better just to listen to the audio too.

Tonight will have showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. 🌧 Low of 64 degrees at 11pm. 25 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 62 at 4am. 🏖️ South wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1875.

Next weekends forecast is shaping up nicely. Depending if it stays on course I may very well just take off Thursday and Friday to go up to the Adirondacks. ⛺ That will be four nights in the wilderness which means I’ll have to move my site after three nights but I can relocate my campsite the day I head fishing 🎣 or hiking. 🚶 Lots of sun means lots of solar power which is great and hopefully I can rely primarily on the solar to keep the battery 🔋 charged. Looking forward to some nights in the wilderness.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Pack Rat Day 🐀 when the sun will be setting at 8:13 pm with dusk at 8:45 pm. On that day in 2018, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 80 and 59 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 70 degrees. We hit a record high of 92 back in 2017.

Moving to Pennsylvania ?

The past few months I’ve been writing down my thoughts on moving to different states when I eventually are in a place to become a land owner and an off grid home. Pennsylvania is an interesting option, especially in the Pennsylvania wild region (North-Central PA) but I have to admit as much as I liked my trips down there, I also have a lot of questions about the state’s future.

I’ve always liked Pennsylvania as the rural towns have kind of a backwards charm to them. I think the state has a very strong land ethic, the state values conservation and a working landscape strongly. Pennsylvania has a very active and engaged sportsmen community, hunting, fishing and trapping are big in the state. Agriculture and forestry also is a big part of the economy and is taken seriously by state leaders.

Pennsylvania has some fantastic mountains and hills in the Pennsylvania Wild Region. There are many roads and access points to the backcountry, active sporting community supporting and advocating for the land. Land that is used has an active activist community backing it, more than just a romantic view of nature. There are great parks, places to camp, hunt, fish and trap.

It is an expensive state to live in, with high taxes but somewhat cheaper then New York. Open burning, burn barrels, and fires are generally allowed in that state, which is a big thing for me being the fire bug that I am. There are many off-grid hunting camps located near state lands, and while there are more rules and regulation for what you can and can’t not do on your own land, it’s far less restrictive then New York. Fireworks are much less restricted. Gas tax is a bit high though, which is the understatement of the decade.

The second amendment and hunting is well protected in Pennsylvania, although you do have to wonder about the future of the state. It’s a must-issue state for carry permits, there are not permits required to own ordinary handguns. Pennsylvania has the second largest rural population of any state, but it’s also has some big urban areas, with gun violence problems that could push the state to more restrictions. Some of the hunting laws are a bit restrictive though, with Sunday hunting banned, among other things.

Sounds really great. But could the state go blue in the near future? What new laws and restrictions could the activist-types push? Could there be new gun law enacted, even higher taxes, or more restrictions on open burning? What role would animals rights activists have on hobby farming and commercial agriculture alike? Pennsylvania has a great rural part of the state, but things could change in the future, with a change in the balance of power.

Previously, I wrote about …

The Mid-West

This book I am reading makes a good point about the Midwest – the land is cheap, people are friendly and laid back, zoning and codes regulations tend to be much less with less enforcement. Conservative cultural norms are more laid back, preferring that government stay off people’s land and out of private businesses.

Building and living in an off-grid ‘tiny’ house or cabin is much easier when you don’t have to deal with nearly as aggressive of code inspectors. Buying a handgun or other firearm for hunting and personal protection is just as easy – fill out the federal paperwork, have them do a quick background check, and pay the cashier, and walk out with your new gun. Outhouses and composting toilets are easier to get approved, if there is any review at all. As long as there isn’t a high fire risk, you’re free to burn your trash and debris, typically with no permit. Off-road shops, ATVs, snowmobiles, and alike abound, often with a good trail system to ride not too far from home. Good-sized white tails, geese, ducks for hunting and other wildlife abound in the rural landscape.

West Virginia for Living?

West Virginia is one of many charming states with a lot of good rural land to explore. I’ve certainly enjoyed my road trips down there, and I will probably go back there this autumn. There is are two off-grid living channel I follow on the Youtube, and it’s wild and wonderful down there.

But I’m not sure I would choose the state to live in. For one, the summers are brutally hot even in the mountains and the winters are cold and icy. The roads are often steep, twisty and narrow which makes vacation fun, but probably not so fun when they are covered with ice and snow and you have to get other places.

March 4, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Average High is 40 ☀️! As we head into the spring 🌷things do warm up at an increasing rate, reaching an average high of 50 in only three and a half weeks. Four weeks to April Fools Day 🤡. That’s also the first of April and opening day for trout season 🎣in case your not aware. My fishing license expires on April 13th, I might try buying it online this year. It would be easier that way. State budget is also due then, jokes on y’all.

Mostly cloudy and 29 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a north-northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. After last night’s mini snow storm there are 4 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️ Not far above freezing but with the sun ☀and road salt things are already starting to melt a bit.

It snowed last night 🌃 but didn’t start until relatively late. ❄ I don’t care that much as it’s largely melted off the roads at this point. I skipped my evening walk because I figured I got an hour in on my exercise bike 🚲 and didn’t think it was necessary at this point. Plus I was tired 😴. Dimmed the lights retired to bed before ten.

When I first woke up, I turned the heat 🔥 up for a bit. No need for it heat by time the sun ☀ came up, as things warmed quickly. Expecting a mild day today although not super warm. The south facing windows in my office 🏢 will be nice though with the sun radiating in. Kind of pretty with the fresh snow everywhere, although I’m hoping it’s one of the last. Probably not a realistic hope.

Not happy 😊 I moved my truck to the grass 🌾, as I don’t think we will get much more snow this week but at least my parking spot will be cleared of snow. 🅿 I may want to move it this week so I don’t sink in the soft ground with the warmer March weather (HAH!) 😜although I did leave it locked 🔒 in 4×4 mode. I do need to get ketchup and dish soap, so maybe I will go out to the store this week and move the truck. Not sure though. Landlord did plow this morning, I was actually a bit surprised, as there isn’t that much snow. Maybe with the new tenants in the house up front, he’s trying to make a good impression.🕴

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 33 degrees at 11am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 10th. At some point the weather will change and it will feel more like May or June rather than February. Northwest wind 9 to 15 mph. A year ago, we had light snow. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1919. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

In 1985, Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States. 💉In 1917, Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.🙅 And in 1957, S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.📈

The sun will set at 5:49 pm with dusk around 6:17 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 26 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 14. ☃️ There will be a west-northwest breeze at 15 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.

Packed up a lunch and dinner 🍲 as I figured it’s going to be a long day at work, especially with conference after session. I expect to be at work probably until after sunset 🌇 but I’m fine with that, I think the bus will still be running 🏃 as I doubt I’ll be at work after 11:30, and quite possibly get home much earlier. ⌚

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 9 degrees at 6am. 13 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around -2 at 6am; West wind 7 to 13 mph. In 2018, we had light snow in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1948.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of snow showers after 3pm. Increasing clouds 🌞, with a high of 25 degrees at 2pm. 15 degrees below normal. West wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had light snow. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1964. 8.6 inches of snow fell back in 1917.❄

Yesterday, I hike the rail trail then went over John Wolcott’s house. 📜 Spent several hours sorting through files, trying to figure out what the old dutch and other documents were all about. I prefer to go over on the weekends, at least while I’m still in town, as it’s more productive to spend a few hours rather then just an hour or two, after work. I’ll have to see though once the nicer weather comes, maybe I can go after work with more sun in the afternoon. The rail trail was nice 🚂 although a bit icy in parts, certainly not snow free. Sat down by the Normans Kill Falls for a while, watching the river. Got a lot of steps in yesterday, for sure.

I put a set of ((parentheses)) around the end of the weekend by watching a video 📹 about the history of LISP. What an odd but useful old computer 💻 language for sure. Made the half hour on the exercise bike pass by quickly. ⏳I also watched more of the How Farms Work channel update video I downloaded. I figured I am burning calories, plus learning about a lot of things I don’t know that much.🚜The best part about pre-downloading the videos, is I don’t have to watch the commercials for all the commercial products, although I do try to go back to the channels that I like and click the like button, and sometimes run the ads in the background when I’m online so they get their credits and views.🚲

Reinforced the button ⭕ on my pants 👖. While that’s a good thing, as they were starting to get loose, it wasn’t the pair I intended to wear today. I wanted to fix it that pair, so it was reinforced. After spending so much time with the needle and thread, 🧵 it almost made me late to the bus.🚏 But I ended up making it time, so that’s what’s important. I also ordered some more dress pants and another blazer, so I should look sharp, despite the many session days.🕴I hate having to ration dress pants or wear the ones that don’t fit well. I like being as comfortable as possible at work. I probably should at some point get my jacket dry cleaned, maybe once I get my new one.

Finally took the trash out. 🗑 It realized it had been inside for a couple of weeks, and I was starting to realize it started to smelled a bit. As I don’t have trash pick up, have a container for the compost, buy in bulk, aggressively recycle and in the summer burn the burnables while camping, 🔥 I sometimes forget about taking out the trash while cleaning. It’s actually amazing how little trash I have — three or four weeks of trash easily fit in a single shopping bag. Recycling, especially with those milk bottles takes up a fair bit more space. I wish they had returnables still at Stewarts. At some point, I’ll want to go to the transfer station with the recycling but I usually like to put that off until the end of winter. Much easier in the summer months, when I’m camping and have a fire every day.♻ I do find myself always acquiring so many disposable shopping bags, I really should buy some reusable bags. But then again, that might be the law soon. it’s not such a big deal in the summer when I’m camping, as they get used up then, but it’s a annoying how fast they multiply around home in the winter and have to be taken back to the store.

Got the 5 volt ⚡ linear regulators I ordered from China in the mail ✉. I am planning to use these for powering the small electronic projects powered my truck, namely the smart-relay I am building and the GPS logger I built last year.🌐 I used the built-in regulator for an Arduino to power the first version of the GPS logger, but I ended up burning-out the voltage regulator due to the relatively high voltage the truck’s alternator puts out, and the current draw by the GPS and the SD card reader. A linear regulator isn’t ideal for minimizing current draw, but when the truck is running, it doesn’t really matter, as we are only talking a few dozen milliamps. I am still now waiting on the relays I bought from China to do the switching for the smart relay, but I will continue to test and build things on my breadboard.

Pay week this week, which is good, because money is always tight. 💰 My budget is always pretty small, although I try to save money wherever I can — but traveling and camping season is coming soon. Plus I owe the government a shit ton of money come tax day, and my ever escalating truck insurance bill is due the end of the month. It’s my fault, I decided to increase my insurance coverage to protect myself in case I were to get into serious crash, and burned some little child or hit the side of a house. I didn’t think that extra coverage was that much, but it’s kind of added up. I always try to be safe driver, but you never know what shit could happen on the road.🏞

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 36. Sunday, a chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 41 degrees. At least Saturday sounds nice but continued cold next weekend. ❄ Maybe the following week we will get seasonable temperatures? 🌸 I’m still hoping to get out for a late winter camping trip soon, but a lot depends on how busy I’m with work and everything else going on in my life. 🏕 Getting rid of the snow would help too. I don’t drink beer (much) anymore, but I certainly wouldn’t mind a cold one in the wilderness.🍺

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until April Fools Day 🤡 and the start of Trout Fishing 🎣when the sun will be setting at 7:21 pm with dusk at 7:50 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2018, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 47 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1986.

Looking ahead, April Fools Day 🤡 is in 4 weeks, Tax Day 💰 is in 6 weeks, Earth Day 🌎 is in 7 weeks, 8 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 2 months, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 12 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 17 weeks, Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 4 months and Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 23 weeks.

January 25, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy 5 PM Sunset 🌆! It’s finally here, a sign that days are really starting to accelerate in length. Five weeks to March 🌨. Mostly cloudy with some icy spots ⛸️ and 30 degrees in Delmar. Sidewalks down to the park and ride were salted and mostly ice free but that wasn’t the case with my driveway. ☁ There is a south-southwest breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. There are 4 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at around 1 pm. 🌡️

That’s good, it will melt the ice before the big freeze comes tonight, although I guess now the weekend forecast is more moderate than expected earlier in the week.😎 Did you hear about the big news story today about the flooding and the boats being broken free from the Troy docks? 🚤 It looks like closed the Interstate 90 Patroon Island Bridge due to fears that a boat could strike the bridge, but for me the traffic impacts were minimal as far as I can tell. There was a cop on the on-ramp to encourage traffic to slow, but it seems like it’s moving. I bet though a lot of Rennselear County commuters are very miserable this morning. Quite a bit of ice though flowing down the river from what I could see of the South Maul flyover, and it looked like there was several tug boats operating on the river. Nice walk though down to the Park and Ride.🚌

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers after 1pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 34 degrees at 2pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around February 11th. West wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 25 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1938. 9.5 inches of snow fell back in 2000.❄

The sun will set at 5:00 pm with dusk around 5:30 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 29 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 11 mph with gusts up to 22mph. Today will have 9 hours and 44 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 7 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 12 degrees at 5am. Two degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 5 at 4am; West wind 5 to 9 mph. In 2018, we had cloudy in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 9 degrees. The record low of -17 occurred back in 1920.

Last night, I was pretty tired and felt a bit sick, so I had some dinner, listened to NPR’s Marketplace, pulled out the soldering iron and did some coding for a while 💻 then watched a few Youtube videos and retired to bed. I am still pretty happy with the performance of the new microprocessor I’m using to drive the lights, and now the blue channel is much more stable without the IR remote code not interfering with the PWM on the blue channel.

I am thinking I will add a HC-05 module to the board, so I can have a dedicated bluetooth channel to communicate to the light fixture over my bed, 🖧 as I am thinking it’s going to be too difficult and possibly too unreliable to use the built in bluetooth of the ESP 32 to switch between commands it’s getting from my phone and communicating across the room. 📶 The bluetooth serial library for the ESP 32 is pretty straightforward, some of the other bluetooth code including for setting up a bluetooth master is confusing. I don’t expect much of a difference in power consumption, especially as I’m using the buck regulator to supply the 3.3 volts, so no loses due to linear regulation like I have when it’s powered by 5 volts.🔌 It’s a work in process.

Tomorrow is the Save the Pine Bush Hike that I’m leading. 🚶🌲9:30 AM, ski trip start at the Discovery Center, then head out to the Truax Tavern trail barrens. I can’t believe it’s already been a month since the last hike and when I was camping in Madison County for that nice weekend at the end of year, but so time goes by so quickly. I do hope to get back out and spend at least one night in the wilderness come February, although the really long range doesn’t look good for Ground Hog Day Weekend.🐻 I don’t mind winter camping, but it’s can be outrageously cold and windy.🌬 I miss spending time in the wilderness, especially those long nights. That said, winter camping is a lot colder and harder to get to remote country unlike the summer. Those days and the black flies will return.🐜

Yes I was pretty tardy at posting my morning update to the blog yesterday. I forgot about clicking upload yesterday and I was very busy at work yesterday📤 so I had no time to click post especially as I got in the office as their was some delays on the bus. Today I got it posted a bit earlier. 😜

Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until March 🌨 when the sun will be setting at 5:45 pm with dusk at 6:13 pm. On that day in 2018, we had partly cloudy, mild, snow showers and temperatures between 50 and 35 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 39 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 2017.

January 17, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Four weeks to Valentines Day ❤️. I love it with all the sun, as it makes it pleasant, even if it is cold. Sunny and 12 degrees in Delmar. 🌞 There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Won’t need the lights on my in office until late. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 11 am. 🌡️

With the sun and not much breeze it really doesn’t seem that bad. I walked down to the express park and ride with my coat unbuttoned but I was burning calories. 🚌 Sitting in the woods I would probably have a different impression of the cold. I didn’t get a real early start, so I was skeptical about catching the bus, but somehow I managed to do that today. Traffic was heavy heading into the city, as the right lane was closed with a crash or a break down being assisted by the state police, and the left lane was closed ahead due to road-construction.👷 Another big commercial vehicle inspection thing going down today at the Park and Ride today.👮

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 25 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees below normal. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 28 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1889. 10.9 inches of snow fell back in 1994.❄

The sun will set at 4:50 pm with dusk around 5:21 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 24 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Reasonable for mid-January. Today will have 9 hours and 29 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 46 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will snow, mainly after 11pm. 🌨 Low of 18 degrees at 8pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 17th. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 2 degrees. The record low of -19 occurred back in 1957.

Last night was the Save the Pine Bush Dinner. The history of the the Rapp Road Historical Association is always a fascinating, and Anne Pope, Rev Sam Johnson and Stephanie Woodard had a great talk about it. 🗣 Good lasagna too, nobody left hungry or without their tastebuds full. 🍝 Definitely listen to the podcast.🎧 And also check out WMHT’s Crossroads: The History of the Rapp Road Community, if you are more into the video side of things and want a shorter introduction.

Definitely a good dinner, although like I do too often, I drank too much coffee and while I fell to sleep fairly early, 💤 the quality of sleep I get after having so much coffee definitely suffers. ☕ I also have a bit of a low-grade cold I’ve had on and off and by morning I had a bit of a sore throat and some aches. By the time I had my shower and was going, I was feeling a lot better, good enough to walk briskly down to the express bus stop this morning. 🍳 I made up egg waffles again, melted some cheese on them, although I got some egg shell in one, and it made it a bit crunchy.

Tonight is the sold-out lecture at the Pine Bush Commission about climate change.🌍 It should be a very interesting lecture. Going to be a cold night, so I hope I don’t have problems with the sensor not letting my get the truck out of park, but I think I figured out how to address that if I have problems — tap the brake a few times. After the first start and driving a bit, it seems fine. I probably should get it fixed, but if it’s fine once it’s warm, at least for now. I know driving a jacked-up truck to a global warming lecture is well, umm… but the Pine Bush center is out in the sticks and not easily accessible via public transportation. Depending on how willing I am to brave the cold, I might go for a short moonlit hike after the lecture.🌔

The other day, I watching the Steven Family Farm homesteading channel on YouTube. What a nice homestead they’ve built out of one of the shed-to-house conversions in the Ozarks of Arkansas.🏠 They’re really popular down south I’ve heard. I’ve actually never been to the south outside of Virginia, but I do like the laid back way of doing things down there, at least if your white and don’t live in a big city. I found the cultural norms in backwater Virginia to be just werid, kind of racist and repulsive.

Homesteading and off-grid shed-to-home seems like such an affordable way to do things, especially if you don’t want a big house and want to live out in the sticks with as minimal of material things as possible.🐷🐔🏠 Sure, not much value retained in the building, but it also means you might be able to pick up something used real cheap. On the Stevens Family Farm use solar for electricity, heat with wood, raise a lot of their own food and livestock such as pigs, chickens, duck, hunt, burn their own trash and compost their poop and organic matter (so nearly zero landfill), use bulk propane for their refrigerator and stove. Kind of like my old neighborhood.🚜 And they have a great view from their homestead. I don’t know though, 8 people living in a 800-foot structure must be tight especially in the winter, but they probably save a lot of money and resources, and don’t have to work nearly as hard for their lives. Living in the city and making a lot of money is fun,🤑 but I’d rather live a life based on reality rather then escape.

I’ve been also watching the cannabis debate in the state carefully, and what it will mean for people that want to grow their own marijuana.🌱 Not sure I would want to do that even if it was legal, but it’s an interesting discussion, and I think if they do legalize it I would hope home growing would be allowed. It’s a good crop from everything I read, and while I hardly have a green thumb or a desire to get stoned, it might be nice one day when I finally own land, and we come towards a rational national public policy as it related to cannabis. I could definitely see more low tax, conservative states allowing marijuana for on-farm growing and consumption. Like cigarette smoke, it marijuana isn’t pleasant to be around when others are smoking, but I feel like I should be able to do what I want on my own land. 🚭

Still watching the weather for the weekend, as it might be very snowy. Saturday going out for breakfast with my parents and then hopefully the snow will hold off until I get back home that evening. I have to return some library books 📚, then Sunday I will probably strap on skis, and head over to the rail trail for some winter skiing in the fresh snow they expect.⛷ I want to get that SSD drive installed and files moved over, and the software re-installed on the new drive. I will have to figure out if I should order a replacement sound connector for my laptop, and also if I want to get an enclosure so I can put my second old hard drive in the DVD bay now.💿

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Valentines Day ❤️ when the sun will be setting at 5:26 pm with dusk at 5:55 pm. On that day in 2018, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 45 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 34 degrees. We hit a record high of 63 back in 1946.

Kane Mountain Fire Tower

Kane Mountain is located next to Canada Lake, which is just north of Caroga Lake on NY 10. I hiked up there one evening, after spending the day hiking in the South-Central Adirondacks. It is a wonderful, quick hike, perfect after a long day of hiking or outdoor activities as one heads back to the Mohawk Valley or Albany as the case may be.

The trail up Kane takes you up about 500 feet in elevation over a 1/2 mile. It’s an old woods road, and well traveled, so don’t worry about hiking after dark if you have a flash light or even just moonlight.

Reaching the top of the mountain you reach the Firetower and an old Forest Ranger’s cabin, which sadly has been broken into and vandelized. It still was interesting to walk in and take a look at the cabin, including the tiny little woodstove that once was there. The bunks and other furniture where long gone from it.

Remind me again why people have to be such pigs?

The Fire Tower has some really interesting views out of it, and it is an interesting place to watch the sun set from in the evening. Here is looking from the windows of the observer station, which have the glass removed.

Looking due South, you can see Canada Lake, Sheely Mountain, and the Mohawk Valley to the South. Once you get South of Sheely Mountain, the area around Caroga Lake is relatively flat until you get to the other side of the Mohawk Valley, with the ridges Schoharie High Lands.

The light flickers over West Lake, which is connected to Canada Lake.

Looking at the Southern Adirondacks, heading North along the NY 10 Coridoor. Until recently visiting this portion of the Adirondacks, I always generally viewed these lands as relatively flat, but instead as this picture shows, actually is fairly rugged, with peaks in the 2,000-2,500 elevation range, which is about 500-1,000 above the valleys below. Not flat exactly.

Watching the setting sun from the Fire Tower.

Through the tower windows in the cab as the sun sets.

Due to the clouds, it wasn’t a perfect sun set, but just before the sun disappeared into the clouds, here is what I saw.

After sunset, looking at the fire tower by the last light of the day.

Hiking back there was a full moon.

Here is a map of the hike.

View Kane Mountain Firetower in a larger map

Andy Arthur.org

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