Counties: Albany to Delaware / Dutchess to Livingston / Madison to Otsego / Putnam to Suffolk / Sullivan to Yates
Browse Topographic Maps: Full State / Historical USGS Topographic Maps
Good morning! Cool and clear start to the Tuesday. Partly clear 🌅 and 29 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. 🌡️
I’ll be the first to admit that it is a cold start to the morning with the heat off 🌸 but it’s spring and I’m not going to pay for heat if there is no danger of pipes freezing or excessive cold. Indeed this afternoon it should be in the mid 50s. That said, I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my February – March electric and gas bill was only $85. Heating blanket boosted the electric side of things a bit but keeping it at 48 except the coldest days helped a lot. 💵 I was expecting a little bit over $100 for the bill like the January – February bill with the cold we had mid February.
Today will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny ☁, with a high of 56 degrees at 3pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 8th. Light and variable wind becoming west 6 to 11 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 55 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1921. 6 inches of snow fell back in 1905.❄
What can I say, it’s going to be a a nice day. 🏢 Too bad I’m going to be in the office all day downtown. Now if we could only have another pandemic and I could be remote working from my truck at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center like I was three years ago. 🐦 Watching the birds while I wrote the memos 📝 and endless Zoom meetings. Those were the days.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 47.6° from the due south horizon (-23.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:31 pm with the sun in the west (265°). 📸
I cooked up some of the wild salmon I bought on Sunday. 🐠 I have to say it was tasty. And easier to cook than fish sticks or breaded fish filets. Healthier too. I don’t know why I had never done it before, you just take it out of the freezer in the morning, toss it in the refrigerator before work. Then in the oven broccoli 🥦 and also brown rice with lentils and seasonings – chilli 🌶 powder and garlic powder. Being individually vaccum wrapped its more plastic than I would like but I’ve cut plastic out in other ways like not buying apple juice or as much milk and it’s a lightweight plastic bag that should make an excellent fire starter especially with the fish oils. 🔥 Really easy to bale that plastic wrap into a tight ball ⚽. Cost wise, it’s slightly more expensive but the portions are perfect and actually save money by ensuring you only eat the right amount as the rest is frozen and can’t be eaten right away. 💵
The sunset is in the west (271°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:09 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:36 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:10 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 47 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 17 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.
Last night I went to the Elm Ave Park 🏞 and walked until dusk 🌆 which was nice for the first time after work this year. 🚶 It helps to get in the extra steps 👣 and it’s fun to walk in the woods around dusk 🦉 and see what wildlife is out there. Still though not a lot of evening after dinner but it’s good to get to bed relatively early.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 31 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 30th. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. 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 29 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1875.
Finished my taxes last night, 📝 and while checking the paper forms for my state taxes noticed that I hadn’t reported any Capital Gains on my federal taxes, panicked for a minute and double checked my investment statement and confirmed no capital gains received this past year as the market ended down 📉 so much this past year. I didn’t sell anything this year but in better years I do get some capital gains just from the index funds that sell off parts at times to make sure they are still accurately tracking the market. But not in 2022, as most of the leading stocks were down. Got lots of dividends though but I prepaid enough to cover them. I filed 📂 my federal taxes online but did paper state taxes as the state ones are simple as I’m a renter but not super poor so I don’t have any real state tax credits except for my contributions to my neices education account.
Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. 😞 Saturday, rain likely, possibly mixed with snow, becoming all rain after 8am. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Sunday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 49 degrees.
I was hoping that the upcoming weekend would be warm and sunny ⛺ for camping at Rennselearville State Forest but I don’t think it’s likely. I was figuring the fire risk would be low if there is snow on the ground. The fire ban applies only to brush burning not campfires kept small and in eye sight. 🔥
Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Average High is 50 🌸 when the sun will be setting at 7:17 pm with dusk at 7:44 pm. On that day in 2022, we had cold weather, partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 27 and 18 degrees. Debbie downer. We hit a record high of 85 back in 1945.
A look at what the median residential property is listed at in various Capital District Zip Codes, according to Realtor.com. Note some of these zip codes have too few houses listed to be statistically significant.
You can get the data here: https://econdata.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Reports/Core/RDC_Inventory_Core_Metrics_Zip.csv
| Median Listing Price Albany County, November 2022 | ||
| Zip Code | Post Office | Median Listing Price |
|---|---|---|
| 12009 | Altamont | $422,000 |
| 12023 | Berne | $160,000 |
| 12033 | Castleton On Hudson | $299,900 |
| 12045 | Coeymans | $399,900 |
| 12046 | Coeymans Hollow | $174,000 |
| 12047 | Cohoes | $469,625 |
| 12053 | Delanson | $328,450 |
| 12054 | Delmar | $296,175 |
| 12056 | Duanesburg | $269,950 |
| 12059 | East Berne | $360,500 |
| 12065 | Clifton Park | $491,950 |
| 12067 | Feura Bush | $206,313 |
| 12077 | Glenmont | $380,475 |
| 12083 | Greenville | $358,000 |
| 12084 | Guilderland | $500,000 |
| 12087 | Hannacroix | $621,500 |
| 12110 | Latham | $462,000 |
| 12120 | Medusa | $695,500 |
| 12122 | Middleburgh | $244,400 |
| 12124 | New Baltimore | $424,000 |
| 12143 | Ravena | $300,750 |
| 12144 | Rensselaer | $210,000 |
| 12147 | Rensselaerville | $555,475 |
| 12148 | Rexford | $426,175 |
| 12156 | Schodack Landing | $1,267,500 |
| 12157 | Schoharie | $334,725 |
| 12158 | Selkirk | $314,500 |
| 12159 | Slingerlands | $563,475 |
| 12180 | Troy | $255,925 |
| 12182 | Troy | $169,750 |
| 12183 | Troy | $178,450 |
| 12186 | Voorheesville | $262,750 |
| 12188 | Waterford | $334,925 |
| 12189 | Watervliet | $207,450 |
| 12192 | West Coxsackie | $484,000 |
| 12193 | Westerlo | $641,950 |
| 12202 | Albany | $131,500 |
| 12203 | Albany | $247,400 |
| 12204 | Albany | $274,375 |
| 12205 | Albany | $271,900 |
| 12206 | Albany | $114,925 |
| 12208 | Albany | $257,225 |
| 12209 | Albany | $165,000 |
| 12210 | Albany | $174,750 |
| 12211 | Albany | $497,225 |
| 12303 | Schenectady | $245,500 |
| 12304 | Schenectady | $199,750 |
| 12306 | Schenectady | $219,900 |
| 12309 | Schenectady | $384,950 |
| 12422 | Durham | $300,000 |
| 12460 | Oak Hill | $69,900 |
| 12469 | Preston Hollow | $472,500 |
| Andy Arthur, 12/28/22 Source: realtor.com residential listings database, realtor.com/research/data/ | ||
The other day half jokingly I noted on Facebook I didn’t want to leave my truck parked in the city with the stuff I needed for camp on a ninety degree day – with the propane tank, fireworks, ammunition and even the second battery sitting in the heat potentially posing a fire or explosion risk. I apparently watch too many cartoons or take the printed propane and battery warnings too seriously but I’d be unhappy if my truck burned. That said I was even more concerned about the heat decimating the ice I had to keep food prematurely.
Some random person that follows my personal Facebook feed commented that, that’s the kind of thing that gets you put on the government’s terrorists watch list. About the same time, reading the news for work, I saw this article about the Buffalo FBI surveillance of domestic terrorists and mass shooting threats. They mentioned that they had a unit that surveilled people of interest. That said, I was pretty bemused by the whole thing, noting that at least I’m creating good paying government jobs and the federal government has some of the best paid jobs in the Capital Region.
I’m really not that worried about government surveillance. If there is somebody in the government who sits around reading my blog posts and tries to psychoanalysis them, I’m glad I’m helping to keep them employed. I hope they enjoy watching my camping videos, stories about Big Red, my maps, photos and other content I provide. That said, more likely, they’re just read by an automatic spider run by the government like a Google, processed into some kind of intelligence like millions of other pages but ultimately not that useful. With 325 million Americans to keep an eye on plus six billion other foreign actors I’m sure I’m not that much of a priority or interest.
Sure as a staunchly independent individual, a single guy, who likes spending weekends in the wilderness, owns a few guns, are part of several pepper and off grid Facebook groups, plead to a misdemeanor a decade and a half ago, who has some conservative and some liberal views, I’m probably not the lowest of priorities by law enforcement monitoring. But I’m also not the highest either, and there are a lot more dangerous people out there like White Nationalists, religious extremists, racists and other hate groups. I’m certainly none of those things and there is a lot bigger fish to go after then me.
I also am aware that law enforcement has a lot of restrictions on monitoring citizens. Most monitoring when it occurs is probably broad-based and occurs on a lot swath of population and is fully automated. They have to have reasonable suspension that a crime is likely to occur in the near future and can only monitor people in public places or public utterances without a court order obtained by a judge after showing probable cause of a crime. Because of the cost and time involved, only when they have compelling evidence are law enforcement likely to investigate.
I am an amateur cartographer who designs maps and does a wide variety geospatial analysis using free and open-source geographic information software (GIS) and public sources of data to design quality maps, graphs, charts and datasets. I am looking for new and interesting projects to improve my skills, make connections and expand my portfolio.
Example maps can found below.
Example data can found below.
For most projects, there is no fee. I am looking for experience, references, mentors and connections in the geospatial community.
If you have a large project, let’s talk about it. I might be willing to do it for free, if it’s something really interesting
or important like fighting suburban sprawl and pollution. I don’t a business or taxes set up, so I can’t really charge at this point.
Please send me an email describing the mapping or data project in as much detail as possible.
My email is andy@andyarthur.org
Not currently. I can send you a file based on your specifications to print at your local print shop.
Depends on complexity of the project. Many projects only take minutes, however if a project requires georeferencing, data cleaning, or custom shapes or layouts, it might take significantly longer. More revisions lead to better quality output.
No! This is just a hobby. But I’m interested in expanding my skills. I do a lot of mapping for my blog and in support of community organizations like Save the Pine Bush.
Thats for you to decide. I don’t have formal education in map making, and I don’t have professional tools. But do take a look at the work I’ve done below.
This shows a 3D rendering of the Buckville Canal north of Hamilton
This map shows the use of 2020 PL 94-171 data to calculate population density in City of Albany.
This 1985 aerial photo shows Crossgates Mall prior to it’s expansion.
This GIF image shows the change in unemployment during Coronavirus panademic.
This image shows hiking trails near Brooktrout, Falls Pond and Deep Lake.
Peebles Island, a Comparison 1952
3D Interactive of campsites at Moose River Plains.
Sample tax map in Albany.
Election results – 2020 Presidential Election, Onondoga County.
Map showing where sparklers are legally sold in New York.
Downtown Plattsburgh 1866 Beers (1866 Beers vs. 2020 OSM)
3D Rendering of Canandaigua Lake
Map showing Buffalo Mayoral Primary results and campaign donors.
Overlay of Proposed Retail Core in 1963 Plan for the Capital City.
Map showing Local Area Unemployment Statistics – April 2020.
Interactive tax map in Delmar
State Land in Stockholm, NY – Buckton State Forest.
Empire State Plaza take area, 1952
3D Rendering of the 1898 Watkins Glen Topographic Map
Properties in Albany Pine Bush Study Area,Excel Files: Various Tax Rolls,Find coordinates and political districts,Look Up State Tax Records and aScript for Processing RPTL 1520 PDFs.
Querying state property database, political enrollments, PL 94-171 Census files, calculating population statistics, what address is a district in, converting old districts to new districts.
| Miles from Albany | millions population |
| 50 | 1.002 |
| 100 | 1.750 |
| 150 | 3.511 |
| 200 | 17.102 |
| 250 | 17.725 |
| 300 | 18.699 |
| 350 | 19.411 |
| 400 | 20.187 |
| 450 | 20.201 |
import pandas as pd
import geopandas as gpd
# path to overlay shapefile
overlayshp = r'/tmp/dis_to_albany.gpkg'
# summary level -- 750 is tabulation block, 150 is blockgroup
# large areas over about 50 miles much faster to use bg
summaryLevel = 150
#summaryLevel = 750
# path to block or blockgroup file
if summaryLevel == 150:
blockshp = r'/home/andy/Documents/GIS.Data/census.tiger/36_New_York/tl_2020_36_bg20.shp.gpkg'
else:
blockshp = r'/home/andy/Documents/GIS.Data/census.tiger/36_New_York/tl_2020_36_tabblock20.shp.gpkg'
# path to PL 94-171 redistricting geoheader file
pl94171File = '/home/andy/Desktop/nygeo2020.pl'
# field to categorize on (such as Ward -- required!)
catField = 'Name'
# geo header contains 2020 census population in column 90
# per PL 94-171 documentation, low memory chunking disabled
# as it causes issues with the geoid column being mixed types
df=pd.read_csv(pl94171File,delimiter='|',header=None, low_memory=False )
# column 2 is summary level
population=df[(df.iloc[:,2] == summaryLevel)][[9,90]]
# load overlay
overlay = gpd.read_file(overlayshp).to_crs(epsg='3857')
# shapefile of nys 2020 blocks, IMPORTANT (!) mask by output file for speed
blocks = gpd.read_file(blockshp,mask=overlay).to_crs(epsg='3857')
# geoid for linking to shapefile is column 9
joinedBlocks=blocks.set_index('GEOID20').join(population.set_index(9))
# store the size of unbroken blocks
# in case overlay lines break blocks into two
joinedBlocks['area']=joinedBlocks.area
# run union
unionBlocks=gpd.overlay(overlay, joinedBlocks, how='union')
# drop blocks outside of overlay
unionBlocks=unionBlocks.dropna(subset=[catField])
# create population projection when a block crosses
# an overlay line -- avoid double counting -- this isn't perfect
# as we loose a 0.15 percent due to floating point errors
unionBlocks['sublock']=unionBlocks[90]*(unionBlocks.area/unionBlocks['area'])
# sum blocks in category
unionBlocks=pd.DataFrame(unionBlocks.groupby(catField).sum()['sublock'])
# rename columns
unionBlocks=unionBlocks.rename({'sublock': '2020 Census Population'},axis=1)
# calculate cumulative sum as you go out each ring
unionBlocks['millions']=unionBlocks.cumsum(axis=0)['2020 Census Population']/1000000
# each ring is 50 miles
unionBlocks['miles']=unionBlocks.index*50
# output
unionBlocks
Most highly assessed properties in Albany County …
from arcgis.features import FeatureLayer
lyr_url = 'https://gisservices.its.ny.gov/arcgis/rest/services/NYS_Tax_Parcel_Centroid_Points/MapServer/0'
layer = FeatureLayer(lyr_url)
query_result1 = layer.query(where="COUNTY_NAME='Albany' AND FULL_MARKET_VAL > 100000000",
out_fields='PARCEL_ADDR,CITYTOWN_NAME,FULL_MARKET_VAL,OWNER_TYPE', out_sr='4326')
df=query_result1.sdf.sort_values(by='FULL_MARKET_VAL', ascending=False)
df['Full Market Value'] = df['FULL_MARKET_VAL'].map('${:,.0f}'.format)
df
| OBJECTID | PARCEL_ADDR | CITYTOWN_NAME | FULL_MARKET_VAL | OWNER_TYPE | SHAPE | Full Market Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 26652 | 64 Eagle St | Albany | 1204254925 | 2 | {“x”: -73.75980312511581, “y”: 42.650469918250… | $1,204,254,925 |
| 3 | 9150 | 1200 Washington Ave | Albany | 886298715 | 2 | {“x”: -73.81092293494828, “y”: 42.679257168282… | $886,298,715 |
| 4 | 10208 | 1400 Washington Ave | Albany | 642398287 | 2 | {“x”: -73.82369286130952, “y”: 42.685845700657… | $642,398,287 |
| 0 | 885 | 251 Fuller Rd | Albany | 440042827 | 2 | {“x”: -73.83559002316825, “y”: 42.690208093507… | $440,042,827 |
| 5 | 18164 | 632 New Scotland Ave | Albany | 377568201 | 8 | {“x”: -73.80381341626146, “y”: 42.655758957669… | $377,568,201 |
| 1 | 906 | 141 Fuller Rd | Albany | 321199143 | 2 | {“x”: -73.83323986150171, “y”: 42.693189748928… | $321,199,143 |
| 19 | 108087 | See Card 1067 | Watervliet | 280898876 | 1 | {“x”: -73.70670724174552, “y”: 42.719628647232… | $280,898,876 |
| 15 | 65380 | 737 Alb Shaker Rd | Colonie | 263916100 | 3 | {“x”: -73.80365248218001, “y”: 42.747956678125… | $263,916,100 |
| 9 | 21923 | 304 Madison Ave | Albany | 234265418 | 2 | {“x”: -73.76227373289564, “y”: 42.648000674457… | $234,265,418 |
| 2 | 907 | 201 Fuller Rd | Albany | 203426124 | 2 | {“x”: -73.83362605353057, “y”: 42.692609131686… | $203,426,124 |
| 16 | 69999 | 515 Loudon Rd | Colonie | 166065600 | 8 | {“x”: -73.74958475282632, “y”: 42.719321807666… | $166,065,600 |
| 7 | 20592 | 47 New Scotland Ave | Albany | 162276338 | 8 | {“x”: -73.77597163421673, “y”: 42.653565689693… | $162,276,338 |
| 6 | 20574 | 132 S Lake Ave | Albany | 146296360 | 2 | {“x”: -73.77970918544908, “y”: 42.654390366929… | $146,296,360 |
| 8 | 20597 | 113 Holland Ave | Albany | 143498501 | 2 | {“x”: -73.77306688593143, “y”: 42.650762742870… | $143,498,501 |
| 17 | 78203 | Mannsville | Colonie | 142570400 | 1 | {“x”: -73.71245452369443, “y”: 42.718124477080… | $142,570,400 |
| 18 | 95509 | 1 Crossgates Mall Rd | Guilderland | 130554700 | 8 | {“x”: -73.84702700595471, “y”: 42.687699053797… | $130,554,700 |
| 10 | 24521 | 86 S Swan St | Albany | 128436403 | 2 | {“x”: -73.75980563770365, “y”: 42.653931892804… | $128,436,403 |
| 13 | 46883 | 1916 US 9W | Coeymans | 110000000 | 8 | {“x”: -73.83388475575597, “y”: 42.488730743021… | $110,000,000 |
| 12 | 35152 | 380 River Rd | Bethlehem | 105263158 | 8 | {“x”: -73.76445503554325, “y”: 42.595925419330… | $105,263,158 |
| 14 | 65097 | 15 Wolf Rd | Colonie | 101967213 | 8 | {“x”: -73.81423716588279, “y”: 42.709939498581… | $101,967,213 |
Interactive maps with backcountry and roadside camping: New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia & Vermont.
List of NYS DEC Lean-Tos with map coordinates. List of NYS DEC Firetowers with map coordinates and more information.
Google Spreadsheet with Roadside, Primitive and Pay Campsites
Explore the Finger Lakes Trail, Long Path, Northville-Placid Trail and Long Trail/Appalachian in Vermont.
Catskill Park Mountain Peaks, Hudson Valley & Long Island Peaks, Peaks Over 3000 ft Elevation, Highest Peaks in Adirondacks, Interactive Map of All Named Summits in NYS, Blaze Colors in Catskill Park, Trailhead Parking Coordinates and Addresses in the Catskills.
Browse USGS Topo Quads as PDF 🆕 by State Lands or County. You can Bulk Download New & Old USGS Topograpic Maps.
Links to various NY State Land Websites 🆕. Get latest GIS Data from state Web Services.
Moose River Plains – Campsite Listing, Maps and photos of state’s largest free camping area.
Piseco-Powley Road – Campsite Listing, Maps and photos of 15 mile dirt road with camping.
Catskill Park Primitive Campsites – An overview of free camping locations in Catskill Park.
Burnt-Rossman Forest, Cattaraugus County, East Branch Sacandaga River, Finger Lakes National Forest, Madison County, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virigina.
Campsite Coordinates for Bog River Flow / Lows Lake, Hudson River SMA (Buttermilk Falls), Lake Lila, Oswegathie River, Nine-Corner Lake, Pharaoh Lake Wilderness, Saranac River Campsites, Stillwater Lake, Schoharie County, and Sugar Hill State Forest.
Overview of Camping Areas in the Catskills, Green Mountains, Southern Adirondacks, Central Adirondacks, Northern Adirondacks, Allegheny National Forest and Penna. DCNR Motorized Campsites and the Monongahela National Forest West Virginia.
Free Campsite Overview Maps: Adirondack – North Country, Catskills, Central NY, Finger Lakes, Western NY. Interactive Map.
Places I camped in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
Bicycle Trails and “Blackie” My Mountain Bike 
Finally bought a mountain bike, after chewing over a mountain vs commuter bike. Really enjoying riding my bike to work and when it rains there is always a bike rack to safely take it back home. One way to get to adventures at Thacher Park is the Nature Bus.
Empire Trail – KMZ and Interactive Map. Parking along it.
More Trailways with KMZ files including the Albany County Rail Trail, Black Diamond Trail, Catharine Valley Trail, Catskill Scenic Trail, Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Rail Trail, Genesee Valley Trail, Link Trail.
Wildlife Management Units (Deer) – KMZ Map shows the WMU boundaries.
Summer 2019 Aerial Photographs of WMUs
KMZ Maps of Deer Harvest Density by Town: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. By WMU 2017, 2016, 2015.
KMZ Maps of Buck Harvest Density by Town: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. By WMU 2017, 2016
2016 -2019 Deer and Buck Harvest by Town – KMZ Spreadsheet with FIPS codes for making your own calculations.
Parking and Access to Trout Streams – An interactive, downloadable KMZ Map.
Lakes with DEC Contour Maps – A KMZ Map links to Contour Maps for Fishing.
State Truck Trails Over A Half Mile – Dirt roads to explore in the backcountry.
NYS Statewide Snowmobile Trail System – State trails on public and private lands.
Interactive Maps of NY Census – Explore and download KML files.
Charts and Interactive Diagrams – From population to pollution control.
Andy Arthur GitHub – Git my R and Python scripts used to make maps and diagrams.
Use ArcPullR to Get Geospatial Data – Super easy way to connect to get GIS data in R from government servers.
GDAL Opens E00 Files – Most open source programs nowadays can open common geospatial formats.
NY Building Footprints – Where to find on the internet for making maps.
WMS and ArcMap Services – Downloadable CSV file listing services used on the blog.
2022 US Census Population Estimates – Red states, south continue to gain population.
2020 Cartogram of State Population
Properties in Albany Pine Bush Study Area, Excel Files: Various Tax Rolls, Find coordinates and political districts, Look Up State Tax Records and a Script for Processing RPTL 1520 PDFs. Match NY SWIS Codes to FIPS Codes and GEOID
Big Red – Photos and Videos of my lifted truck with its camper shell. Big Red’s Dual Battery Setup for Camp Power, Video Tour and Diagram. Big Red is getting old. What is next? I’ve thought about going carless for a while to save money and reduce pollution. Or maybe going bigger? Or smaller? Five dollar gas sucks.
I am seriously thinking about building an off-grid house. I have a first draft. I need to learn CAD! I have a road map towards buying land and building. I concede might have to live with long commute and give up traveling and camping. I need to be strong.
Why off grid? Well, I’m not into contemporary society. I want to own land, but not be called a landowner, and a cabin, not hooked to electrical grid, farm, raise pigs for food and burn my own trash. I’m saving for a better tomorrow, hoping to make the leap to another freer state. Having acreage is important. Cornfields aren’t bad neighbors. Maybe though my vision has grown smaller and more local. More on off-grid living.
I am 16 years into my career and have made some significant progress in my life. I love my job. But I do wonder on all the things I’m missing out but saving sure makes me high. Maybe it will be different when I own my own land — the end of goal of all this saving.
2020 into 2021 during the pandemic was a year of remote work. It was a struggle not having internet at home, worked a lot out of my truck. But I worked remotely from Horseshoe Lake which was super cool.
Generally I like the idea of owning land in a red state, particularly Idaho, Iowa, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin — and Midwest more generally. But I may settle for New York – it’s all about the f-ing money!
I use open source software and public sources of data for the blog. Quantum GIS (QGIS), GDAL/ogr2ogr, PyQGIS, GeoPANDAS, R Studio and Leaflet for map making, Arduino and ESP32 microprocessors, Ubuntu Linux and XFCE Window Manager. I’ve recently gotten interested in machine learning.
I avoid using commercial software like Microsoft Windows and do not have home internet or television. If you don’t use commercial software and use your brain, fears of computer viruses are overblown. I deleted most of my social media accounts.
Creating Digital Surface Models using LiDAR Point Clouds.
R Statistical Programming 
The R programming language and RStudio are powerful tools for statistical analysis, making maps and charts. Many of the blog posts and analysis I do are in R, ggplot not only makes great charts but also maps using tidycensus. Generally, R is better then Python for geospatial work.
Use IDW Interpolation to fill in missing Census data, Zonal Histograms for land cover, load WMS Aerial Photography in R, find mountain peaks, save Census shapefiles using tigris quickly, pull NY Election Night Results using Selenium. Fast reverse Geocoding in PostGIS. Working with PDFs in R. Fix a common error starting rselenium/wdman. Make data-filled calendars. R is wonderful and weird, learn it!
Python and Pandas 
Querying state property database, political enrollments, PL 94-171 Census files, calculating population statistics, what address is a district in, converting old districts to new districts, Shapefiles missing Projection information in QGIS.
Learn to code for free modern HTML, Javascript, Python and SQL at freeCodeCamp and web development at the Odin Project.
Politics 
Crunched Election Results with Turnout for Albany County: November 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and Primaries June 2019, Pres/June 2020, June 2021, June 2022, Aug 2022, June 2023.
Albany County Races converted to the new 2023 EDs using Super EDs and Code: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and Primaries June 2019, Pres/June 2020, June 2021, June 2022, Aug 2022.
Above Election Results as zipped Excel files.
Albany County Legislature Districts 2024 Maps –
Maps Comparing 2017 and 2023 Albany County Election Districts and a Crosswalk Table Showing the Proposition of Voting Age Population in New and Old EDs
Maps of 2022 NYC Assembly Races, NYS Assembly Races, NY Senate Races, Governor’s Race in Erie County and Statewide. Partisan shift in governor race between 2010 and 2018.
A comparison of Democratic Performance 2022 Assembly Districts to those proposed in 2023 by the IRC. Here is latest 4/20/23 IRC Maps, showing ADP and how they change from existing Assembly districts. Most towns upstate, outside of cities, are quite red. Using LATFOR data with R to calculate Average Democratic Performance.
You can scrape employee salary data from SeeThroughNY using R. Other useful investigative resources.
I often think politics is for losers. I’m into the politics of statistical analysis and reading history books.
I believe strongly in the first amendment, second amendment, oppose gun restrictions and I support de-funding the police in favor of lower-cost technology and civilian employees. Maybe use red flag laws for voting to stop dangerous voters? And the media should stop promoting mass-shootings, even if it’s super profitable for all involved. They should tax the media when it promotes violence. I think some people are much too paranoid in politics. How elections are rigged under law to benefit incumbents. But vote, it’s the best option and inexpensive.
Yeah for the third parties! I voted for Larry Sharpe for Governor and Jo Jergenson for President but my views are complicated and often vote for Democrats, after voting Jill Stein Green Party in 2016.
Generally, I think Biden has been a good change over DJT and glad the Trump era is over and are glad prosecutors and grand jurors are holding him responsible by indicting him for many serious felonies. I don’t think Trump can win in 2024, as nothing has changed politically from 2020.
I think rural people should be left alone and not worship government workers or have parades for them. I am no fan of Donald Trump, his speeches are bad, I don’t like Trump’s embrace of radical environmentalists, but do admire the homemade roadside monuments to DJT.
I don’t toke. But whatever. There are too many transit authorities.
The Earth 
Why I oppose wilderness areas and parks. It’s trendy to be green these days, but is eco-marketing good for the planet? I visited the Mount Storm Coal Plant and Corridor H.
I worry about a lot about overly-aggressive Climate Change Action, and Undermining Environment Laws for Climate Action. I think we should all admit we are Addicted to Fossil Fuels. These days, urban recycling has become a joke, when it’s still an option at all. It’s better to just buy less shit and avoid the alure of Costcos. I really don’t like how aging radicals have become industrial solar salespeople.
Big bucks are coming to state-designated disadvantaged communities under the CLCP. Which counties and political districts are in line for the the most pork? Interactive map.
I’m a big of farmers who are essentially Living Off the Earth and think Rednecks are Noble Savages. Dairy Farming are key to our rural landscape. I’d trust a farmer or a hunter in a pile of guts he’s butchered over any ivory-tower scientist.
Hundreds of multi-acre industrial solar farms are being built in our state. How bad is solar for the environment? We should ask tough questions. Interactive of recently built solar farms, proposed facilities. List of proposed industrial solar facilities. See how the Greenville Solar Farm changed the landscape.
Saving Money 
I am not a fan of ESG Investing as it’s not well diversified. I prefer index-funds and other tax-advantaged ways of saving. Why I am concerned about saving enough for retirement, even though I’m in my late 30s. We as a nation should save more, consume less. I like the idea of carbon tax to replace capital gains taxes to discourage consumption.
Mission Fifty & Being Healthier 
I am now officially in my 40s! I am building to a better life in my 50s, which means getting up early, walking a lot, saying no to cake and yes to more fruit. In many ways, the forties are an awesome time to be alive.
And eating healthy for less without losing sleep over arsenic. And I don’t think we should subsidize unhealthy habits. How I got started in eating healther. Meals are too focused on meat and carbs due to how we describe them, maybe I eat too many bananas in the office, what to eat while camping, worry more about salt then GMOs, eat more beans. Do spend extra for farmers market peaches, especially doughnut peaches and plums. Consider ethnic supermarkets. Thinking about how to make a healthier macaroni and cheese, spinach-mackeral-pasta salad, quick-cook biscuits and whole-wheat bread. That said, too many recipes are junk food crap. Okay in moderation is not okay. The fact that I’m thinner is not a sign I’m dying.
A few years back I decided to explore my mental illness with therapy, thinking about why I have so much anxiety and how many of my values are rational or just thinking too much rednecks’ burn barrels and how much of a throwaway society we live in. Do I want to change?
I’ve learned to care less about the world, and focus more on myself. Maybe I am happier as I am now, saving and investing a lot towards owning my own land, where I don’t have to deal with all the bullshit of modern life.
Mission Fifty: Getting to the point where I own my own land. 
Healthy Eating / Growing My Wealth
Healthy Thoughts 
/ Enjoying Life 
Questions, comments? Feel free to email me at andy@andyarthur.org.
I use GNU open source software.
Plus I like buck goats,
because they’re real macho men
spraying their beards with goat urine.
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Good evening! Mostly clear and 73 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a north breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 53 degrees. A very nice evening, might even want a long sleeved shirt 👚 by morning. No fan tonight for me in the truck cap. ☢️
I did everything that I planned today without feeling rushed. 😊 I too often feel like I am running 🏃 from park to park 🏞 on vacation and not taking time to relax. But this year with the pandemic smoldering in the background and an otherwise busy season with work I’ve been taking it slow and doing a lot of reading 📖 and relaxing 🛏 while still enjoying the Finger Lakes. I’ve limited the number of parks I plan to visit and are staying at the same campsite ⛺ with no cell service 🔕 all eight nights to avoid set up and take down. After vacation, work is going to be non-stop as a supervisor, and I’ll be on call 📞 virtually all the time through November.
Caywood Point was interesting to explore on Seneca Lake. 🛥 I bet it’s fun to camp dorm there on a very starry night. 🌃 Some folks had tents pitched right on the shoreline – I guess you don’t have to worry about the tide on a Finger Lake. Seemed like an interesting group of people who hang out there. I should think about going back there and do some fishing 🎣 off the dock or go for a swim 🏊🏻♂️ there.
I hiked part of the Catherine Valley Rail Trail 🚂 through the Catherine Marsh WMA aka Bad Indian Swamp. 🌿I am sure the later is disfavored as a name, with the preference today recalling Seneca Chief Catherine Montour, although to this day there are towns that recall the first and last name, so the natives are hardly forgotten. 🐸🦆🕊️🐌🐍🐢 And I doubt the old name was referring to a Bad Indian, just that it was a large, thick area that was marshy and filled with reeds and difficult to pass until the Barge Canal and later the railroad tracks and NY 14 on the east shore. 🌾The swamp is largely reeds, probably the best views from the rail trail are of the Barge Canal. At least from the trail it didn’t stink of sewage. 💩
Then I went for a quick swim 🏊🏻♂️ at Watkins Glen State Park. Nobody was manning the toll booth so I didn’t have to show my Empire Passport 🛂. But the pool was open and mostly empty and lead to a nice cool way to break up the evening and cool down.
I went to Tops and stocked up on some food. 🥩 I bought some boneless chicken which I realized at camp was actually pork chops. 🐖 I have nothing against pork, it was good with the rice I bought, stuck in a nice hamburger role, washed down and with some beer 🍻. I also stopped at Glen Dairy Bar and got a large dish of soft ice cream 🍧 dipped in peanut butter 🥜. That was good.
Then before dark I went kayaking 🛶 from the Watkins Glen boat launch. I was going to paddle up to Hector Point but on the way up there I was warned by another kayaker that the water was choppy once you got beyond the bend, and after paddling a few more minutes agreed it seems a bit rough and didn’t want to get caught on open water and ended up just paddling along the south end of the lake by Clute Park. 🎣 Had my fishing pole but the lake was so rough and the south end of the lake so shallow I decided it wasn’t worth it.
Got back to camp around eight, 🏕️ cooked up the pork chops 🥩 and rice 🍚 had dinner and started a fire 🔥 and laid back in the hammock. I forgot to buy coffee ☕ today, I’ll have to get some tomorrow. Ice is not holding up well in the heat 🌡️, I may need to get more at any rate tomorrow and can get coffee at the same time.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 59 degrees at 3am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 21st. Maximum dew point of 54 at 10pm. North wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It was sticky. It got down to 67 degrees. The record low of 43 occurred back in 1957.
Tonight will have a Last Quarter 🌗 Moon with 37% illuminated. The Strugeon 🐡 Moon is on Wednesday, August 26. The darkest hour is at 1:13 am, followed by dawn at 5:42 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:12 am in the east-northeast (69°) and last for 3 minutes and 5 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 3 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:51 am with sun in the east-northeast (75°). Tonight will have 10 hours of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 28 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 9th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 5pm. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1947.
While I’m not totally sure and left the kayak on my truck, I am thinking tomorrow would be a good day for hiking. 🚶🏽 I am thinking about the Dresden – Penn Yann rail trail as I’ve never explored that part of the Finger Lakes and that was recommended to me on Facebook. Apparently this trail follows the old railroad grade in the gorge along the Penn Yann outlet. 🏞 Sounds intreguing in my book but I should read up on it before making the trip in the morning.
I’ve been having a few problems uploading photos 📸 today, there was a glitch in my new phone uploader that I built but I think it’s working now. I still have to upload photos from kayaking 🛶 this evening on Seneca Lake but that will have to wait until tomorrow when I have better cell service 📶.
I was saddened to hear about the passing of Reszin Adams, 😔 who has been called the alpha activist of Albany. Not only did she bake lasagna for every Pine Bush Dinner for 35 plus years, she was involved in everything from protesting the Vietnam War to Aprahid in South Africa.
I don’t know where things stand with the documentary 📹 I was working with Cynthia Pooler on her – we cut some n roll at her birthday party 🎂 in February but when she pandemic hit everything kind of stopped except for video editing. I barely know how to use the camera but we did interview several people om Reszin. Definitely sad news for everybody in the Capital Region that cared about progress and change.
At least I got to know her a little bit more than Theresa Cooke, 👩🏼 the lady who confronted Erastus Corning and made a big difference in openness and change in the Albany County Democratic Machine.🐴 I had met Cooke at Pine Bush dinners in her late years but never knew the difference she made in the 1970s. She just struck me as some kind of activist but I never asked any questions until I learned about her history upon her death.
In four weeks on September 9 the sun will be setting in the west (277°) at 7:27 pm,🌄 which is 45 minutes and 25 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 73 and 49 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 75 and 54 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1959.
Looking ahead, National Dog Day 🐩 is in 2 weeks, Corn Moon 🌕 is in 3 weeks, SORRY NO NOT NATIONAL CORN DOG DAY, Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 2 months, Average High is 55 🍂 is in 11 weeks, Day After Election Day 🛀 is in 12 weeks, Veterans Day 🇺🇸 is in 13 weeks, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 17 weeks, Tea Party Day 🐍 is in 18 weeks, Festivus 🍖 is in 19 weeks, Bacon Day 🥓 is in 20 weeks, Make Your Dream Come True Day 🏡 is in 22 weeks, Inauguration Day ✅ is in 23 weeks, Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 is in 26 weeks and Presidents Day 👴 is in 27 weeks.
