Search Results for: photo well shit

Carrots are the magic ingredient in anything baked that’s good 🥕

I do maintain that as I eat my ever so delicious pancakes. Just like with bread and cakes nothing beats the sweetness and softness that carrots bring to cooking. And that sugar high is great for the ride to work this morning.

Good morning! Tuesday, Tuesday. Second gear of the week. Mostly sunny and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. ☀ When there is no hope, there is spring. 🌸

Carrot pancakes again for breakfast. 🥞 Johnnycakes last night for dinner. You know, loaded with onions, spinach and spices. They’re easy and taste so good. 🚲 Riding in early this morning so I can take the long way in on this beautiful spring morning. Feeling good after a good night’s sleep. No smoke alarm ⏰ issues this night plus I sleep so much better with the windows open. 🛏 Smelled smoke when I awoke but it was wood smoke and not the least bit acrid so I figured it didn’t matter just a fire place somewhere.

Today will have increasing clouds ☀ 👉 ☁, with a high of 72 degrees at 4pm. 16 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 17th. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the morning. I’d say this is yesterday’s forecast for the eclipse but it’s slightly warmer. A year ago, we had sunny skies. The high last year was 55 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 1991. 13.3 inches of snow fell back in 2000.❄

New landlord emailed me said he was having somebody come by to inspect and measure the windows. 🪟 Seems a little sketchy but I’ll make sure to have my curtains drawn when I’m walking around nakid, lol! 👁️ I’m glad at least it seems like they’re renovating the unit next door, but I do wonder what they’re doing measuring and checking the windows. Well, if I have to move I’ll have to move.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:57 pm with sun having an altitude of 55.2° from the due south horizon (-15.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:53 pm with the sun in the west (275°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (282°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:31 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 57 seconds with dusk around 7:59 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-northwest (281°) at an altitude of 11° from the horizon, 229,725 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:35 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 65 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 14 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over today.

It was nice enough last night to go down to the park 🏞 after dinner and riding home 🚲 the long way. Finished through Chapter 36 of the Robert Caro’s Power Broker audio book – 45 hours but played at 2x speed so more like 22 ½ hours listened to so far. Only maybe 15 hours left, as the 1940s fade into the fifties, and Moses’ final big works with the Power Authority and the Cross Bronx Expressway and ultimately his downfall under Governor Rockefeller.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers after 11pm. Increasing clouds 🌧, with a low of 47 degrees at 5am. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 11th. South wind 6 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2023, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1974.

Might do the park again 🏞 though I need to find some more e-books to read next. 📚 That Libby app is so great. The rest of the week with rain coming looks like crap unfortunately for going to the park but I have conventional books I can read then. 🍞 Going to bake bread and spaghetti squash tomorrow and soak beans for cooking in the morning. Thinking about making chicken noodle soup 🍜 for Wednesday, likely a cold and wet day. Though not too cold.

Weekend looks kind of cool and shitty like usual. 💩 And I’m not talking about the cow crap they spread before the rain to soak it good into the ground. Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 59. Typical average high for the weekend is 58 degrees. Maybe the following weekend I’ll take a long weekend to head out of town, depends on the weather.

But wait there’s more with, next Tuesday having an Average High is 60 🌷 when the sun will be setting at 7:40 pm with dusk at 8:08 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, warm weather and temperatures between 78 and 57 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 60 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 2012.

Setting Sun

Going to be a beautiful Saturday for a drive out in Rensselaer County 🛻

Get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes my way.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Going to be a beautiful start to the weekend for doing some driving around. Partly cloudy and 39 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Monday around 2 am. ☃️ I do wish I could go out camping, but things are going to be muddy after the rain, plus I’m thinking a week from next Thursday of heading up to the Adirondacks for a three-day weekend, assuming they don’t get a shit ton of snow up north in the meantime or it’s pouring rain all Easter weekend. 🐇

Things are going better since I’ve been doing more research 🛖 on housing options, and realizing I have to be more flexible on my thinking — even if it means a longer commute then is ideal to live rural. 👨‍🌾Spending a lot of money on gas ⛽️ and burning through cars 🚗 every 8-10 years ain’t fun, but I may have to push closer to 35 mile commute rather then the less 30 mile commute I was going for. The thing is in 8 years from my next car purchase in 2025, I’ll have built up my solar system and there will be far more options for electric vehicles. 🔌 I really like some of the options for modular cabins, especially the smaller ones built to code for residential use at a factory and delivered to the site with full interior built. Right now I’m quite enthralled by the Zook Settler and similar style small-one floor code-compliant pre-built residential cabins. I am thinking one floor, no basement, smallest size for a smallest possible electrical and heating demand. I like the wood-walls, that won’t sure the dirt like drywall, and the metal roof for fire safety and insurance savings, lest an ember fall on the roof.

Then get an EPA-certified, efficient wood stove and a small heat pump and use one of the bedrooms as a mechanical room — for batteries, split-phase inverter, well pressure tank, and maybe eventually a washing machine and computer equipment. 🔋 If I get serious about the map making business, I might eventually get an used plotter. I am thinking the heat pump can be used when I’m not there to keep things from freezing in winter. ♨️ Wouldn’t run much though, as I’d keep the temperature low on the heat pump in the winter, 🌨️ and the thing is a cabin built to 2018 federal energy standards, as required by NY State, passing blower efficiency tests, 🌬️is going to have minimal heat loss. I am going to need a quality gasoline generator like a Honda, which will have remote start, which can be triggered off inverter on low battery, which can keep things from freezing up in winter if I’m away for an extended time. Plus as much as I personally loathe air conditioning, the climate is warming 🌎️ and it sure would be nice to come home to on that sultry summer nights, especially when the batteries are full and it makes sense to be keeping the cabin cold rather then wasting the solar energy. 🧊 Use a standard electric refrigerator and probably a gas stove converted to use propane — and in winter, sometimes use the wood stove to atop. If I’m only using propane for the stove, I can get away with 30 lb propane tanks, that I can throw in the pickup and get filled at any propane retailer rather then paying a big truck to come out there and be dependent on one supplier. That said, it’s going to be a lot of money, but I’ve saved for a long time, done well in the markets. What I’m building is far smaller then your typical suburban home and will consume far less energy, especially fossil energy.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 54 degrees at 5pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 5th. West wind 5 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 82 was set in 1990. 13.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄

At any rate, that’s all fun and games, 🕹️ though first I have to find land that I love ❤️‍🔥and is a good fit for me. The commute thing sucks, but I want to find a place that feels like and will be my home for the rest of my life.  🚗 I am exploring Rensselaer County today, not because that’s necessarily where I will move, as I’m biased towards the Hilltowns of Albany County, but as far as birds eye distance goes  🦜 there’s more remote country, closer to work then in the Hilltowns, being that work in Menands. 🐐 The roads kind of suck and traffic in Rensselaer County, (Hoosick Street and NY 7) but as a property owner, the conservative politics of land of Joe Bruno would suit me well. 😃 What’s good for my business, as I like to say, might not necessarily always be good for myself. Not only do I want to look at a list of parcels I’ve seen listed in Hoosick Falls, Petersburg and Grafton, I also want to explore some of Petersburg State Forest for mountain biking, hiking and camping 🏕️ 🥾 in the future. It’s fun to drive the back roads.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 45.9° from the due south horizon (-25° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:26 pm with the sun in the west (263°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (269°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:04 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 53 seconds with dusk around 7:31 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the southwest (215°) at an altitude of 73° from the horizon, 239,018 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:05 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 50 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over today.

For the Easter weekend, 🐰 as I was noting, I really want to get out of town to go to the Adirondacks. The burn ban doesn’t apply to small campfires, and I don’t think it’s going to be bone dry up north at that point based on the forecast. 🔥 Plus I really want a good fire to help myself sleep better  🛌 and burn up some of the accumulated papers. I have nothing but disdain for the burn ban, but I understand the fire risk this time of year, as I know how easy it can be set your yard on fire, and as a future property owner I don’t want that to happen. 😐️ You can say what you want about New York State, but it pays my bills and it’s my home. Building standards mean I will end up with a quality, energy efficient building even if I have my views on the gun laws and open burning restrictions. Happy March 16th.

Tonight will have showers, mainly after 2am. 🌧 Low of 41 degrees at 6am. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 22nd. Light southeast wind becoming south 6 to 11 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had partly cloudy skies. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -1 occurred back in 1916.

One month 📅 from now will be Average High is 60 🌷 when the sun will be setting at 7:40 pm with dusk at 8:08 pm.

Snow and Ice Covered Truck Trail

The Long Commute 🚘️

One of the things I don’t like about owning land is the long commute. Everybody warns me about it, but it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with it having lived in Dormansville for many years growing up and commuting various jobs in the Greater Albany area. I haven’t driven to work in many years, but I do remember those days well. I also drove from Dormansville up to Hudson Valley Community for two years, five days a week. That was about 30 miles each way.

Some people do long commutes to get more affordable property. Other people do it because they like the rural lifestyle, they want acerage, land they can call their own. That’s the camp I fall into. I have determined that a 30 mile commute — 45 minutes each way or an hour and half total is a reasonable trade off for a rural lifestyle. Especially if much of that commute is on fast-moving, 2 lane rural highways, it’s something I can live with even if it’s a pretty big nuisance.

Things have changed in my life — working in the suburban office with acres of parking, and a 9-5 schedule. Except for those dark days in November, December, January and early February, most of the time I will be driving in the daylight. It’s much different then when I was working the late nights, in a downtown office, where the only option for parking was off-site in a large parking garage.

At roughly 350 miles a week (assuming up to 10 miles per day side trips), it’s a lot of driving and it’s tough on cars. As much as 18,200 miles a year. Each week 7 1/2 hours spent motoring if it’s 45 minutes each way. Then again, I guess the flip side is that’s about what I spend on bus between the time getting out to the stop, waiting for the bus to arrive and head home. But a whole lot more expensive. And that’s time I can’t spend exercising or doing other things, though I can certainly stream podcasts and audio books as I drive.

I can figure on using a tankful of gas each week. Probably not an $80 or $100 tankful, as I don’t think my big jacked up truck has all that much useful life in it, but certainly $50-75 a week in fuel, especially if I end up something like a 4×4 compact pickup like a Toyota Tacoma. Probably going to need something with four-wheel drive out in the country for the winter and mud season. When fuel prices inevitably go up to $5 or $6 it will become a big  pain the but though my budget and salary can absorb it. Plus replacing the vehicle every 8-10 years due to the mileage more then the age. Again, I’m sure I can afford it but do I want it?

I don’t know, I kind of like living in the city and busing and biking it to work. I don’t have to worry about weather or breakdowns. But the flip side, is I like being out in country, having fires, burning things, listening to frogs and howl of the coyote and the idea of owning my own land, and not being a pawn at a landlord’s game. Where I have a real home, not a moldy shit shack where I get my mail and plan my next escape to the wilderness. It’s where my roots are. I really struggle to know what’s right but I’m deeply unhappy with the my current situation.

Pickup with Ice

Keeping moving forward 👣

One of my fears is that I will get stuck in the process of buying land and building a cabin on it. In many ways, it’s a much more complicated and drawn out process then simply looking at a house, going through a well established path of real estate agents, title searches, house inspection, and traditional mortgage but it also turns out not to be an impossible project without many construction skills or equipment.

In some ways buying raw or minimally developed land (such as an old trailer site or badly damaged home with some infrastructure), especially with cash is a much harder road to hoe. While I haven’t totally written off getting a mortgage — there are tax benefits, namely you can reduce your total income by the amount you pay in mortgage interest — the cost of money these days makes it seem like a waste. And I worry about getting ripped off, and regulatory issues more generally as all of this world is very new and complicated to me. I’ve always preferred to pay with cash, it’s generally cheaper though it will involve cashing out stocks and paying a shit ton of Capital Gains taxes.

Where I am today

Right now I am at the stage at studying parcels that are currently on the market and giving it some thought. What is out there without a home? What are the prices? How far from work? How close to neighbors or potential neighbors who could complain about things to the town? Since drafting my first draft of the homestead and cabin on Saturday, I think I have a better idea — the priority being having the right redneck kind of neighbors, general distance from neighbors, ability to homestead with livestock and have bonfires, ride an ATV around the property, heat with wood, compost, garden and use on-site solar to avoid being tied to growing expense of the dirty power of the electrical grid. Buy and build what I actually want, even if that’s somewhat more expensive then I’d like to spend and not what other people want from the property.

I’m teaching myself LibreCAD so I can draw my vision for the home and the property that I want in a way that is presentable to potential sellers or their real estate agents, town building officials, and architects. I am not a very good hand drawer, and knowing at least some CAD and floor plan design drawing techniques will be good to illustrate my vision to the appropriate people. While I am sure not all of my ideas can be implemented due to regulatory and cost reasons, being able to have a clear idea of what I want on paper, in an easily readable form will make it much easier to obtain what I want.

Maybe the best way to judge my progress is to have a rough time table :

Going forward

  • Late Winter 2024
    • Apply for conventional mortgage to learn more about the process, see what credit resources are available and investigate conventional properties in rural areas sold by conventional realtors.
    • Read library books on the process of buying a home
    • Start the conversation with friends about what their experience is on buying rural land and homesteads, what resources they used, what contractors and banks they utilized
    • Draft up on paper what I am thinking I want my “practical dream” homestead and house would like so I can present my idea to various friends, colleagues, realtors, and town officials.
    • Change from buying additional stock to saving in an a high-interest savings account
  • Spring 2024
    • Turn my paper draft of what my “practical dream” homestead into a CAD project that I can present to others to get feedback.
    • Learn more about the process of building a home by reading and talking to people, specifically the process of working with an architect, getting town approval, selecting a quality, reliable contractor.
    • Learn more about building materials and methods, including what is the latest in affordable off-grid solar.
    • Continue to study properties on the market and tax records, write code to analyze the pros and cons of various properties.
    • Grab the latest list of tax-delinquent properties from the county, match against county tax maps and records, and see if there are properties worth pursuing. Write owners listed on tax records via certified mail.
    • Drive the back roads, looking for abandoned or vacant properties then pulling up their owners from the tax records, searching to the internet to see if the owner passed away or what the story is about the reasons for being abandoned. Write owners listed on tax records via certified mail.
  • Summer 2024
    • Develop a list of properties that meet my desired criteria and have been preliminarily vetted using publicly available GIS data like tax maps, LiDAR, orthophotography — new and old. Run my analysis code on the slope and direction of the land, along with consulting DEC wetland maps, distance to other properties, especially other homes, and other potential nuisances such as junk yards, barnyards, dumping grounds.
    • Reach out to property owners and realtors to confirm the property is still available and to get tours of the land, sharing my vision for the land.
    • Work with an architect to draft plans for the cabin
    • Develop a short list of contractors to build the home
    • Develop a short list of companies to drill the well, put in the road/improve the road, put in the septic tank and leach field
    • Meet with town officials to discuss my vision for the property, including showing a draft architectural drawing, or at least my own concept
  • Fall/Winter 2024
    • Work to close the deal on the land after title searches, consulting with a real estate lawyer, getting the land perc tested for septic, speaking to neighbors about their experience with drilling wells and other potential nuisance concerns with the land, such as something they’ve heard about the land like dumped toxins or flooding that is non-obvious from public records and GIS data.
    • Do not renew my certificate of deposit but keep those funds in a Savings Account, possibly start cashing out some of the stocks and bonds I have saved, reserving funds to cover Capital Gains taxes.
    • Try to close the deal on property, paying with cash if possible. While I will have to pay a full year’s worth of taxes on the undeveloped property, having it on the bag with tentative approval for the cabin for plans would make it worth it.
    • Potentially have some infrastructure work done on the property — improving the road, water well, septic, etc. Might make sense to wait until the new year due to delay Capital Gains tax hit.
  • Late Winter/Spring 2025
    • End my lease for the rented apartment and move out onto the land, camping or using my truck camper (assuming this is allowed — it’s possible at that point that Big Red will be replaced but can be taken off the road, used for hauling gear around the site and camping out of).
    • Live on the land, getting to know it well. Maybe get chickens and rabbits for eggs and mea, a shed to store things including the well pump and gasoline generator.
    • Have finished the infrastructure improvements, especially the driveway/roadway to cabin, site foundation.
    • Work on getting the septic and water put in.
    • Work with contractor to get town permits secured to build the cabin.
  • Summer 2025
    • Work with the contractor to have the cabin built to the point it’s habitable with water and septic and plumbing but not fully complete inside, work with building inspector to get certificate of occupancy based on minimal legal completion
    • Get the cabin to the point where it’s waterproof and secure, start to move inside
  • Fall/Winter 2025
    • Get woodstove and propane heaters professionally installed and up to code
    • Have cabin fully insulated and ready for winter so pipes don’t freeze and I have a comfortable place to spend the winter
    • While I don’t anticipate having the solar done at this point, I can string up extension cords from the gas generator, a few small solar panels and batteries, use small portable lighting through the winter — rather live “without electricity” for a winter to really get to know the land and spread out the tax costs
    • Finalize the design of the solar equipment, inverter, and batteries
    • Work on completing parts of the interior such as flooring and walls, working with an electrician to do the breaker box, while doing some of electrical wiring myself with review of the electrician and town building inspector.
  • 2026
    • Have internal electrical wiring and fixtures finished and approved by the electrician and building inspector.
    • Obtain, mount and install solar panels, inverter, batteries.
    • Work to complete inside walls and flooring
    • Secure a full-size, energy efficient 120 volt refrigerator and full-size gas oven and range for the kitchen
  • 2027
    • Add additional solar panels to the system
    • Add a chest freezer for storage of meat in unheated shed or building overhang
    • Build a shed or small barn, start adding goats and/or maybe hogs to the homestead
    • Various site improvements

As the protests chanted, “Nobody Died When the Weatherman Lied” 🌫️ ✊☹️

Yesterday was not nearly as nice as the weatherman had argued it should have been. At times it was downright chilly outside. But it was a nice afternoon to spend out in country over at old friend’s homestead picking his brain on how he financed and put together his 10-acres of land with a beautiful farm house and barn from the 1820s. It was chilly and cloudy, as today also will be, but not so cold. I left the windows open last night, after I the smoke alarm went off again, but I’m hopeful to keep the windows open for most of the rest of the summer at this point. Only a few more weeks that there is a good chance of freezing weather.

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. 🙀 Mostly cloudy and 41 degrees in the land of the Delmartian, as I get ready to ride to work. ☁ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Friday around 4 am. ☃️

Well maybe not a beautiful day today, ☁️ it should be good for riding to and from work. I want to bring my new artwork into the office 🖼️ but I’ll wait until a rainy day later in the week when I either take the bus or drive in. 🚘 I realized I need some more eggs 🥚 and I should get some kind of candle warmer plate. I couldn’t find it in Walmart the other day but looking online, they have them in-store for $10 but I didn’t know the aisle. 🕯 Yes, the use electricity, but they don’t charge me for that at work, lol. Working above a printing plant sometimes smells like sulfur. 👃 You know, like Ticonderoga or Plattsburgh.  Same thing for the brighter 200-watt light bulb I got for my desk, 💡 though it’s an LED bulb so it only uses 27-watts and is replacing the 60-plus watts of hideous overhead florescent lighting. 🛋 So far I haven’t been asked to give back the lamp, but I was looking at Walmart, and they have many attractive desk lamps for sale, as will garage sales and paces like the Salvation Army should I have to give back the seemingly forgotten lamp I found covered with dust in the closet.

Today will have patchy dense fog before 9am. 🌫 Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 55 degrees at 1pm. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 6th. Maximum dew point of 47 at 1pm. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1919. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:08 pm with sun having an altitude of 41.2° from the due south horizon (-29.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:12 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (256°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (263°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:50 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 6:17 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:50 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 54 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 27 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.

I plan to start my deep dive into the land 🤠 today, and am going to try to write some code to analyze parcels based on steepness of slope and direction of slope. Both of those have significant impacts on the ability to build and homestead on the land, plus I want to make sure if I do build a house 👷 that it’s built in a place that is resistant to excessive rainfall, that is certain to happen with the warming climate. 🌍️ Also want to take a deep dive into CAD, and try to get to place were I can at least sketch out a house plan. Really want to go simple and low resource when I build, not so much as a cost measure but for sustainability and simplicity purposes — I want to spend the money up front and then have minimal out-year costs for maintenance and repair. That said, despite being conditionally approved for an excessively large mortgage to buy a conventional house, I am increasingly thinking about buying with cash 💵 and knowing my land and house is paid off and cheap to operate. Utility bills and repairs on my house scares me the most about it, more then the up-front cost. Plus I just hate how everything is plastic now. 🔥 Have you ever burned plastic? Shit stinks and burns so black, especially some of common materials used these days.

Tonight will have a chance of rain after 5am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 42 degrees at 5am. 19 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 27th. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1948.

I really enjoyed meeting up with that friend of twenty years ago 🏘 and learning more about how he obtained his homestead. It’s a ways out from the city, but it is a wonderful 10 acres and an beautiful old 1820s house. I really miss being out in the country, in the hilltowns. ⛰ Since I got my big jacked up truck, and well the burn ban, I don’t cruise the backroads like I once did. 🔥 He built quite the life for himself and his family. While I am still stuck, for now, in the suburbs in my dumpy apartment. Not that my dream off-grid cabin is what many people would call high-class living, but I won’t be paying rent and I’ll be able to do my thing, have fires, listen to the frogs on a warm summer night. 🐸 And see the mountains every day driving to and from work.

Today 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. 🏛️ Pretty remarkable that was only about 100 years ago. And in 1957, S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90. 📈 The market opened at a ceremonial $17.75 and at this point is well over 1,000.

Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. 😞 Saturday, a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 60%. The likelihood of camping this weekend seems fairly low. Maybe another good weekend to red and study about buying land, and continue my research. Typical average high for the weekend is 43 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until April Fools Day 🤡 when the sun will be setting at 7:23 pm with dusk at 7:50 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had rain and temperatures between 74 and 41 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1986.

Under a cloud

It’s good I took the long way to work 🚲

Erie Boulevard was closed under Interstate 90 due to a water main break or maybe bridge work. I don’t know, I was running a bit early and I figured it would be a nice day for a longer ride via the Menands Exit. Figure extra riding in the morning means less I need to do come the evening after work.

Good morning! Mostly sunny and 31 degrees in North Albany, NY. There is a south breeze at 8 mph. 🍃.

Got up early 😀 and rode in early, in part to take advantage of the nice day and because I was up early, as I didn’t sleep well. 💤 Not sure why I didn’t sleep well, maybe because it’s I’ve had so much to think about in recent weeks. 😟 At least my office has unlimited free coffee ☕ which is a big benefit over working at Alfred E Smith Building, which had a coffee club but I never joined. I bring in my own skim milk with mint extract, rather then use creamer. Sometimes if I’m feeling healthy wanting less calories, 🧊 I’ll go the route of just adding ice — we have an ice machine here — and then add vanilla, cinnamon and ginger I have in my desk.

Fresh bread 🍞 and baked butternut squash 🍆 this morning, was cooking in the oven and on the stove 🥞 was johnnycakes with lots of onion, shredded broccoli, spinach, and topped with cottage cheese for protein. A good start to the morning, after a bit of a rough night sleeping. 🛌 Because I was listening to podcasts in the wee hours of the morning, and then reading for a bit 📚️ I got all of the advertising for mattresses and BetterHelp every commercial break while I was riding into work listening to Fresh Air. I am not sure I like the idea of mental help over the internet or phone 📞 , I feel like you miss something when you can’t get people’s facial expressions and be in the same room with them. That said, that licensed mental health professional I saw a few years ago was downright creepy in the basement of a run-down office building on the outskirts of town. But then again, I guess talking about your thoughts is a bit creepy too. 👨‍⚕️ What, I just like burning shit and need to move back out to country. 🚜 🔥  Freedom, baby.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 18th. South wind 8 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 2017. 10.7 inches of snow fell back in 2005.❄

I am moved into my new private office 👨‍💼 which I’ve grown to like more and more now that I’m out of the temporary cubicle and made it more homey with a desk lamp that I found in the closet, my plants, and some other random decorations from my old office. I still have a lot of empty wall space, but I will be filling that with several photos and posters in the coming week, I am getting them delivered on Saturday and will pick up frames. I have two large pictures from West Virginia and a 24×34″ color aerial photo of the Capital Region that I plan to frame and hang in my office 🖼️ next week the next time I drive in or take the bus — probably next Wednesday when it rains. 🌧️ I am also thinking of getting a candle warmer, and one of those sent candles 🕯 to make my office smell good, 👃 especially if I have too many beans 🫘 for lunch or track in manure 👢 when I have my homestead. Also a brighter bulb 💡 for the desk lamp — Walmart has super bright 200 watt equivalent LED bulbs. I should bring in my desk fan, should be hot in here come the summer. 😅 I want my office to be a calming place when the shit starts to fly in the data world, you know when the SQL query breaks. 🔢 Still don’t know if I can technically keep the lamp, it might belong to a different department, but it was in the closet collecting dust. 🛋 If I have to buy my own lamp, then so be it.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 40° from the due south horizon (-30.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (254°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (261°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:46 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:13 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:47 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 44 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 30 degrees at 2am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. South wind around 10 mph. Stlll not bad, not warranting turning the heat back on, as things will stay warm enough over night. In 2023, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of -04 occurred back in 1940.

Tomorrow will rain, mainly after 8am. 🌧 High of 45 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 15th. South wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1991. 11.9 inches of snow fell back in 2018.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, mostly cloudy, 🌥 with a high near 58. North wind around 6 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees. Sunday looks like a nice day for a ride, or maybe driving around in countryside, trying to carefully observe various properties. 🏘 I want to learn more how people live, what are realistic options, and not be stuck with the suburbanite crap.

I was sort of hoping to get out camping this weekend, 🌧️ but not with the rain expected. It will be a good weekend to research property some more 🏘 🌲🔍  and do some reading on buying land. I am not rushing things at this point, but I also don’t want to give up the goal. 🥅 I just want to make the right decision. Plus get caught up on sleep after last night’s bad night in bed. 🛌 I actually don’t know why I was so troubled by sleeping, I have my nice new office to work from today. I am going to text my friend from Boy Scouts tonight 📱 to see if he will be available this weekend. I’d love to learn more about how he financed and rebuilt his homestead. At this point, I’m just trying to sift through all the details. 🧁

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Ides of March ✝ when the sun will be setting at 7:03 pm with dusk at 7:30 pm (Daylight Savings Time). Friendly strangers in black sedans be liking that day. 🖤 On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 37 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2019.

Snow from Acra Point

Sunny and cold this President’s Day 🌞

After a rough night last including many trips too the bathroom after eating too much red lentil soup and beans, and then the smoke alarm going off at 3 AM, I’m up and going this morning. Started out my day stocking up my pantry with fruits, vegetables and other healthy eats for the week to come. A barely sub-$100 grocery bill, though not by much, but I’ve finally gotten to the point where my pantry had a few things left over from last week, and most of the unhealthy stuff from a year ago is now gone.

Good morning! Sunny and 26 degrees in Delmar, New York. 🌞 I wonder how many more times I’ll be saying that. It’s weird to think it might be coming to an end. Cool and blustery with a northwest breeze at 14 mph. 🍃. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around noontime. 🌡️

It’s beautiful out today, but with the wind is fairly cold. 🌬 I’m actually not rushing to get out too soon, as I’m really hoping to speak to my new landlord again, about the questions and concerns I politely raised in an email on Saturday, ✉️ that he has not replied back to. I would feel much better if I had contact information, and if I could pay him via a mailed paper check, where the paper trail is clear in case of dispute of payment. 💵 Maybe I’m too fearful of him, but he reminds me of kid who beat the shit out of me in high school. 👊 You know, the kid who barely made it out of high school, and floats from job to job in the construction industry and on and off the unemployment rolls as his parents a dying from alcoholism and decades of chain of smoking. I feel rather sorry for him, as I think he’s become a really decent person even if he smashed my nose into the locker multiple times back in the day. I also am waiting for calls back from various mortgage loan officers, 📞 and want to talk to some friends out in the country 🐮 who have bought homes in recent years, and want to get their advice and tips.

Washington’s Birthday will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 31 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical Northwest wind around 14 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1981. 11.4 inches of snow fell back in 1972.❄

I do want to get out and do some hiking this afternoon, 🚶‍♀️hiking up Bennett Hill or maybe Wolf Hill. It’s sunny out but cold. But I need some of serenity of the wilderness, even if for only a few hours. 🌲Things are so crazy these days. 🤪 Then head out to the folks for Sunday dinner. 👪 It’s important to talk to as many people and listen to as much advice as possible. 👂 Time isn’t as tight and things aren’t as awful as I imagine them to be in my darker moments, but change is happening, and it’s happening much too fast. ⌛ With the stock market, my portfolio is good, and high interest rates may work in my favor, as I can offset more capital gains taxes from selling stocks in good market by using the mortgage tax exemption. 📜 God, that makes me feel old.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 36° from the due south horizon (-34.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:53 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (249°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (255°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:32 pm after setting for 3 minutes with dusk around 6:00 pm, which is one minute and 16 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the east (100°) at an altitude of 54° from the horizon, 243,483 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:34 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 29 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 47 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 15 degrees at 6am. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 4th. Maximum wind chill around 17 at 6pm; Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1966.

Tuesday it’s back to work. 👨‍💼 I may drive in so I can retreat to my truck should bankers call to discuss mortgages, as I don’t have my private office yet, as the retiring director has a few more weeks left, though not much. It will be quite the operation to take over, and while I’ve learned a lot in these past 6 weeks and I have the skills to be an excellent leader, it’s scary, not least to say, as I’m replacing 40 plus years of experience. 🙀 But I have an excellent team I’m working with who will support me, and the reason why they trust me in such a place of high authority, is because I’ve delivered 16 1/2 years of results for my business. Still, it’s a big jump from being Deputy Director to Director, in an agency that doesn’t have deputy to fall back on. My bosses will just be several miles of up the road, and always there to support me, email and phone aren’t the same as sitting down in a room together. 👔 I might wear a suit and tie, but still a redneck inside. But I believe in myself and my future. Things could go terribly wrong, but I have a track record of success, and preponderance of the evidence is that I will do exceptionally well in the new position, especially with my knowledge of the R programming language, Unix shell scripting, C programming and technical aspects of Data Services.

Looking ahead to next weekend, it could be real nice. 😎 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 31. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 39. It’s early in the week, so I’ll take a wait and see approach. Go camping? 🏕 Who knows how busy I will be with the next steps in my life. 👣 Typical average high for the weekend is 38 degrees. Now we’re in the second half of February, things warm up quickly.

One month 📅 from now will be Last Day of Winter 🏂 when the sun will be setting at 7:08 pm with dusk at 7:35 pm (Daylight Savings Time). The average high temperature is 47 degrees, with a record high of 78 in 2021.

Hill Above Camp Cass