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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Under the Agency Building

Made it to Sunday on this 3-day Veterans Day Weekend โ›ช

Yesterday was fun with that 46 mile bike ride up to Halfmoon. Lots of interesting history, learning about the Old Champlain Canal and GE Silicone as I rode over the old Waterford dump and the past the massive slag piles from GE Silicone. The Champlain Canal was very quiet though Peebles Island was packed so I didn’t dwell there.

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Up bright and early, ran to Stewart’s around 5:30 to get milk ๐Ÿฎ for my coffee. โ˜• Partly clear and 29 degrees in Delmar. ๐ŸŒ… There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Still a while until the sun rises, but at least things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธ That said, not going to be a real warm day today.

Fried up two onions this morning ๐Ÿณ with lots of delicious turmeric, mushrooms, spinach, kidney beans and of course two eggs scrambled up and topped with Parmesan cheese and nutritional yeast and hot sauce. I am like yum and quite healthy to boot. With that banana I had for a side, ๐ŸŒ I should be good for a while. Which is good as my pantry is getting a bit bare, going to go shopping relatively early this morning to avoid the crowds — maybe around 9 AM. Probably go to Walmart but I’ll follow up with a visit to Price Chopper as I’ll want to get King Arthur Whole Wheat flour for baking bread this week — and maybe make flatbread wraps too. ๐Ÿž I figure shower ๐Ÿšฟ and get a good early start today. ๐Ÿ˜ด I’ve been up since a little after 5 AM.

Today will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 43 degrees at 2pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 30th. North wind around 6 mph. Kind of a cool day, it would have been even cooler if I had gone to Vermont. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 71 degrees. The record high of 68 was set in 1909. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1968.โ„

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 29.7° from the due south horizon (-41.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:56 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (239°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:37 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:06 pm, which is one minute and one second earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:41 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 40 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 53 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over today.

So yesterday was a fun day. ๐Ÿšฒ The ride to Peebles Island wasn’t bad, though I didn’t particularly enjoy the part through Green Island as that section is entirely on-road though the rest of the trail is segregated from highway traffic. It’s good, I’ll keep this in mind for future weekends, maybe explore some of Troy or Peebles Island when it’s hopefully less crowded. It was a good bit of exercise.

Tonight will be mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. 10 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 17th. Calm wind. Might have to even turn on the heat tonight. โ™จ๏ธ In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 36 degrees. The record low of 13 occurred back in 1981.

Tomorrow going to start another 5-day work week, ๐Ÿข working downtown in the office but I expect a relatively busy weekend, and it should go by quickly. Might be nice enough to ride to work several days next week, saving on bus fare and benefiting health ๐Ÿšฒ though obviously I’ll be busing it home at end of the day as it will be dark by a little after four. The following week is a 3-day week

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

Vast

Fifty days remain in 2023 ๐Ÿ—“

Day by day. The fact that Thanksgiving Day Week is basically the week after next week shows how fast the year is coming to a close. While maybe it would have been nice to get out of town this weekend, I’m thinking today I’ll ride to Peebles Island and have some fun closer to home while trying to hold the line on expenses, though I’ll probably end up taking the 18 bus back home and will probably need to get to the grocery store and or Walmart this evening as I’m eating myself out of house and home again.

Good morning! Partly clear ๐ŸŒ… and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY on this Veteran’s Day. ๐Ÿต There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ Not so cold for a mid-November morning, though it won’t warm up that much and it will be breezy.

Up a bit before six o’clock โฐ though I was awake before then. Decided to do oatmeal-banana pancakes with chia seeds today, ๐Ÿฅž topped with shredded apples ๐ŸŽ mixed with boiled apple cider, cinnamon, ginger and heated in the microwave. It was good. I have to admit I also had a bit more of that soup I made up last night — chicken soup I guess — ๐Ÿฒ though it was more of a stew with rich earthy overtones with lots of cumin and ground chili spice. Also finally getting around to cooking some chickpeas, ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿณ might make hummus or just have them with various meals. Mom was suggesting putting them in soups. I also like them with fresh fruit, kind of like a trail mix without as much as fat as nuts, though they can certainly be good mixed in a handful of almonds, blueberries, and raspberries. ๐Ÿฅœ

Today is Veterans Day, which will will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became rain by afternoon. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2002. 3.0 inches of snow fell back in 1906.โ„

I am thinking about riding out to Peebles Island State Park in Cohoes. ๐Ÿšฒ It’s about 17 miles or an hour and a half ride each way. I am thinking I would likely ride up to the park, bring a lunch, walk around Peebles Island and maybe a little bit in Cohoes along the Canal. ๐Ÿ“ท Going to be a nice sunny day with blue skies for pictures. Then ride back to Albany via the Empire Trail, and catch the 18 bus back home. ๐ŸšŒ as I expect by then I’ll probably be running low on daylight and pretty tired as it’s a big trip. ๐ŸŒ† Days are so short come mid-November. I am thinking my next out of town adventure will be in a little under two weeks — the day after Thanksgiving through the following Monday, probably Route 8 on East Branch. Some quiet time off the internet.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30° from the due south horizon (-40.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (240°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is one minute and 3 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 16 seconds over today.

Money is just kind of tight ๐Ÿ’ณ after vacation and renewing my blog contract and all the trips I’ve been taking. โ›ฝ I ended up transferring in $750 from savings to ensure I had enough money to pay my credit card bill and maintain adequate balance in my bank account through the money. It’s not a pay week but come Wednesday, $1,300 goes out to the credit card. Already earned $135 from blog advertising, though I won’t get paid until mid-December under the Google Ad Sense rules that require a $100 minimum unpaid balance at end of the month to get paid, and then they hold your check for three weeks to verify it and collect interest on it. ๐Ÿจ I know, it’s kind of obnoxious but I’ll probably earn at least another $30 or $40 bucks before the month is done to tack on the $135. Web advertising is a bit of a mystery, based on bidding — one day I earned like $11 in ad revenue which is crazy compared to a buck or two most days and when you multiply it out over the months, especially for a small little blog like this. It’s good I’m staying home this weekend.

Truth is I have a lot of money coming in, ๐Ÿ”€ but the thing is as soon as it comes in a lot goes out. I am continuing to invest heavily into my retirement accounts ๐Ÿ‘ด as now is the time to do it while I’m relatively young and making good money, ๐Ÿ’ต and also into my investment accounts so they can continue to grow and own my own land eventually. While interest rates are up on my savings account — close to 5%, with inflation I figure it’s better to be going into the stock and bond market, especially over the long term. There will be a recession ๐Ÿ“‰ but eventually we’ll come out of it and things will grow. I am hopeful I can pay back my savings account in the next few months, especially as some of those short term expenses like vacation come and go, though soon I’ll have heating bills, though so far I’ve avoided using the heat, though yesterday โ™จ๏ธ I finally put the screens in my window and patched the air leaks around the door, ๐ŸชŸ as I know I’ll need the heat before long. I have the heated blanket ready to go but I haven’t put that on the bed yet, though I will be ready when those days come.

Tonight will be mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 49 degrees. The record low of 15 occurred back in 1976.

Yesterday, I rode out to Voorheesville ๐Ÿšฒ and spent a lot of time reading and watching video and reading material for yet another Udemy class that I get free from the library. ๐Ÿ“ฑ Last week I finished a class called the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis, now I am a few hours into a class on Remote Sensing and QGIS. Basically it’s all about using data collected from satellites ๐Ÿ“ก to learn about what is happening on the earth’s surface. ๐Ÿ“š I was going to go down to the library last night but I was tired and comfortable in my bed, after enjoying that soup that I made earlier int he day. ๐Ÿ›Œ I figure this is the time of year to learn more, and Remote Sensing is only going to improve my GIS skills, especially combined with the use of raster math both in QGIS and R programming language.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone ๐ŸฆŒ when the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 43 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 48 degrees. Opened this morning in Vermont. We hit a record high of 71 back in 1928.

Old Railbed Follows the Creek

Nostgolia on this Election Day 2023 โ˜•๐Ÿ™ˆ๐Ÿ—ณ๏ธ

This year I’m glad I’m not involved in any elections or doing anything political. Just sipping my coffee watching the sun rise remembering the days gone by but glad I’m not at all rushed this morning.

Good morning! Happy Election Day 2023. Partly cloudy โ›… and 51 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. โ˜” There is a west-southwest breeze at 15 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 47 degrees. I can smell the manure somebody’s spreading this morning ๐Ÿ’ฉ it’s November in Madison County and the field work is soon to be done for the season. ๐Ÿšœ They might have snow as soon as midweek.

Turned out to be a much nicer morning then expected. โ˜• I knew it was going to be a great day when I awoke, saw the clear night skies ๐ŸŒœand the moon. Had a nice hardy breakfast of eggs ๐Ÿณ with lots of vegetables and onions ๐Ÿง… that I got at Aldi’a yesterday in Cazenovia. While yesterday was cold, damp and gray at times it was still a good day with lots of riding ๐Ÿšฒ and making the most of my day off. A lot has changed in this world over the past few years but mornings are still quite beautiful and the coffee is good.

Glad I’m not involved in any elections this year ๐Ÿ—ณ but there were many hard fought ones out of Bill Magees auction house ๐Ÿ—๏ธ ๐Ÿถ๐Ÿบjust down the road. Been half a decade now, I saw the bridge in Cazenovia they renamed after him. It was sad he lost five years ago, but during that general election cycle wasn’t my race. ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐ŸŒพ Truth is winning these rural districts is almost impossible with the democratic party becoming mostly an urban issues party with gun ๐Ÿ”ซ control one of their top priorities. I can understand why people vote the way they do nowadays out in the country. ๐Ÿšœ It’s not just Trump. Both parties have become more extreme but the Republicans have really locked up the rural areas nowadays. I have a feeling that Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator John Tester of Montana are going to loose in 2024, especially if the GOP runs a stronger presidential candidate then felon Donald Trump. โณ Time moves on. Democrats though really have locked up the suburbs, especially the older ones and professional class. ๐Ÿ•ด๐Ÿป

Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 43 by 5pm. ๐ŸŒฆ๏ธ Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1938. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1886.โ„

I’m not sure how long it will be nice, clouds are already pushing in. ๐ŸŒฅ I don’t want to deal with wet camping gear ๐Ÿ• so I’m slowly but surely taking things down. I don’t have solid plans for today but I think ๐Ÿค” I’ll just go for a walk ๐Ÿšถ around Stoney Pond then head home and get unpacked. ๐Ÿ‘ช Planning to go see my family this afternoon it’s been three 3โƒฃ weeks as I’ve been out of town ๐ŸŒฒ on various trips. Despite yesterday being cold and dreary especially midday it was a great trip.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:47 am with sun having an altitude of 30.9ยฐ from the due south horizon (-39.6ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 4:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (249ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:50 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:18 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:53 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 44 degrees. Breezy, 20 mph breeze โ›… from the west-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Today will have 10 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday I rode the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. ๐Ÿšต Nice ride though best on a mountain bike as some parts of the trail are a bit rough with roots and gravel. Pungent with the cow poop and water slurry ๐Ÿฎ ๐Ÿ’ฉ one of the dairies was applying to a nearby field but that’s to be expected this time of year.

Spent a little bit of time riding around New Woodstock yesterday after taking the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. ๐Ÿš‚ Neat little village with a Historical Museum just off the rail trail. They like in Cazenovia also have an old Black Diamond Caboose there. Cute little village.

Unfortunately my bike had developed a really annoying squeak on Sunday afternoon โš™๏ธ which I couldn’t figure out and started applying grease everywhere, including getting it all over my hands ๐Ÿ‘ and jeans ๐Ÿ‘– and started to drive me crazy thinking I might have a failing bearing or some problem that could leave me stranded. I thought it was just some stone dust from the Erie Canalway somewhere it shouldn’t be mixed with the grease. Kept stopping, applying grease trying to find the noise. ๐Ÿ”• Finally, I figured it out, it was the left pedal got some stone dust in it and squeaking. A little spray lubricant, knock off WD 40 on the pedal after my south trail ride ๐Ÿšฒ returned my sanity.

Swung by Critz Farms hoping to get apples ๐Ÿ but it looked like only the brewery was open ๐Ÿป and I wasn’t looking for a drink. So I went to Cazenovia Lake Park. Kind of cold gray afternoon but the geeese didn’t seem to mind the cool gray day on Cazenovia Lake. ๐Ÿฆ†

Then I went to the Lorenzo State Historic Site, never been there before. โ›ฒ Been by it a million times though. It was a Monday so all the buildings were shut up and no visitor services or as I needed a bathroom ๐Ÿšฝ but it was still nice to explore the grounds. Swung by the library ๐Ÿ“š in Cazenovia for a pee.

Then I Canastota – Cazenovia Trailway, it was starting to rain and was cold didn’t spend a lot of time, โ˜” wanted get back to camp and start cooking soup plus by then I needed another bathroom ๐Ÿšฝ break. Too much coffee โ˜• in the morning. ๐ŸŒ… Also didn’t feel like carrying my mountain bike over several steps to cross Bingley Road. Visited Aldi’s in Cazenovia ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿฅฆ, such a delightful shopping experience. ๐Ÿ›’ Low prices, simple selection quick in and out and the cashier lines without them bagging is so quick. โ˜บ

Got back to camp around 4 pm accidentally brushed a tree with one of my tires backing into the campsite โ›บ rushing having to pee but didn’t do any body damage to my truck ๐Ÿ›ป as the tires stick out beyond the body. Sun โ˜€ came out and ghe wind died down. Fried onions and mushrooms, boiled carrots, broccoli, spinach and whole wheat pasta, added some tuna fish ๐Ÿ  for an excellent dinner. Soup really warmed me up ๐Ÿฒ, I just wish I had some homemade bread ๐Ÿž to dip in it but I eat all of that the previous three days. Had a nice fire ๐Ÿ”ฅ didn’t rain until 7:30 pm so it was a good evening at which point I retired to bed ๐Ÿ› in my truck for the evening.

Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 11pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 11pm and 1am, then a chance of flurries after 1am. Cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 14 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1971.

Cool but fairly decent now for Veterans Day Weekend, especially come Saturday. โ˜€ Friday, clouds then clearing, high may reach 43. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, going to be sunny and 39. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. Probably will stay ๐Ÿก next weekend.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Average High is 50 ๐Ÿ‚ when the sun will be setting at 4:42 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 1973.

One Car

Getting vaxxed this evening ๐Ÿ’‰

I fully expect to be declared Democrat of the year for getting the shots (flu and COVID boosters), have a fireworks display in my honor and a highway overpass renamed in my honor. And I’ll be such a patriotic American and Biden supporter helping the geriatrics and mentally retarded immune suppressed children not die. Heck I might even vote for Bobby Kennedy Jr for President. But mostly because it doesn’t seem like much fun to get the flu or the COVID after all these years. I’m selfish son of a bitch and I’m even going to pharmacy to get my shots that is subject to a labor strike, mostly because I didn’t know when I made my appointment.

Good morning! Happy Cold Start to the Thursday. Free battery ๐Ÿ”‹ test day coming to a driveway near you. I fully charged up the lights on my bike this morning. Mostly clear and 26 degrees in Delmar, NY. ๐ŸŒ… Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. ๐ŸŒก๏ธFirst freezing day of the year for Albany though it was colder then that first morning I was in the High Country of West Virginia. Definitely wearing gloves ๐Ÿงค when I ride to work this morning.

Today will be sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 48 degrees at 3pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 18th. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph in the morning. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 67 degrees. The record high of 82 was set in 1950. 0.1 inches of snow fell back in 1911.โ„ They got more than that in the High Country of West Virginia last night.

Biking to work and home again today. ๐Ÿšฒ Really today and tomorrow are the last real opportunities to do this with the time change ๐ŸŒ‡ come Sunday. ๐Ÿงค I’ll probably continue next week to ride to work on nice days but will be busing it home in the evenings. ๐Ÿš Not riding through the South End or the unlit bike trail after dark. Or local streets with all the traffic. ๐Ÿš˜ Wearing the gloves yesterday definitely helped on the ride as it’s getting cold out.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:40 pm with sun having an altitude of 32.7ยฐ from the due south horizon (-38.1ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 5:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (244ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (251ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:49 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 5 seconds with dusk around 6:16 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:51 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a south-southwest breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 17 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 30 seconds over today.

So the big thing today is getting my shots ๐Ÿ’‰ after work. I’ll probably have a sore arm ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿป after it and might even feel a little sick ๐Ÿฉน but I figure it beats the alternative of the COVID or flu which I’ve heard from others really sucks. I should be able to walk there ๐Ÿšถ which is one of the reasons I’m not canceling with the labor strike ๐Ÿคœ but also because they have it in stock and not all pharmacies do โš•. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I catch autism from the vaccines, and start pounding my chest with a steak knife ๐Ÿ—ก or better yet, go crazy ๐Ÿคช and donate $1,000 to Sandy Hook Promise. I might not speak right, but I know what I’m talking about.

Tonight will be partly cloudy ๐ŸŒƒ , with a low of 29 degrees at 5am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 23rd. South wind 3 to 5 mph. 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 35 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1980.

Fresh bread ๐Ÿž and 15 pea soup today has been cooked. ๐Ÿฒ It will be lunch and dinner. Soup has carrots and beans, somehow I forgot onions but it tastes good. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Last night I also made a soup, ๐Ÿฅฃ that was a tuna fish soup with whole wheat pasta, carrots, onions and obviously tuna fish. ๐Ÿ  Surprisingly delicious!

The weekend has improved somewhat but I’m still on the fence about heading out of town. ๐Ÿคบ Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 57. Southwest wind around 5 mph. Set your clock ๐Ÿ•’ back one hour or else you’ll be an hour early to church โ›ช shivering your ass off staring at that steeple like a sheeple ๐Ÿ‘ come Sunday which will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Typical average high for the weekend is 54 degrees.

Looking towards turkey day, there are 3 weeks until Thanksgiving ๐Ÿฆƒ when the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 24 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 1931.

Allegheny Reservoir from Jakes Rocks Overlook

My electric use is up nearly 33% since last October โšก

Shocking I know. It’s all the baking and cooking I’ve done lately, that extra kilowatt or two adds up each day. Fortunately the difference is maybe $8-10 at the most, as I was using under 100 kWh a month before I got into cooking and now it’s closer to 150 kWh.

As I don’t have a lot of electronics at home, and go to bed early not using a lot of lights, most of the energy I use is the hot water heater, the refrigerator and the stove/oven. And doing cooking uses all three of those appliances a lot more.

But it’s worth it for the fresh bread, healthy delicious meals, and the good life. Who knows, with inflation these days, I’m probably coming out ahead with less money spent at the grocery store on processed foods, though my grocery bills are way up too. I’m not complaining, eating healthy is an important part of being an adult and living the good life.

Wow that was a long intro to my Wednesday blog post!

Good morning! What day is it? A day and cloudy hump Day, of course. Mostly cloudy and 50 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜ Calm wind. Charging the light on my bike now, showering shortly and then off to work. Not a lot sun expected tonight, but will clear out late tonight around 8 pm. Might be good for an evening walk, though I haven’t been doing a lot of walking lately, as I’ve been riding to work, intentionally taking the long way in and home to get in more miles on the bike. ๐Ÿšด‍โ™€๏ธ

This morning I burned up more kilowatt hours ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿณ making more homemade bread and butternut squash in the oven, with eggs and coffee up top. โ˜• I had a lot of coffee this morning, and the eggs ๐Ÿฅš ๐Ÿณ were cooked with onions, kidney beans, cilantro, and some frozen veggies. It was a good morning but I had too many cups of coffee to walk though I was fine riding in as I stopped drinking early enough to piss off some of the excess coffee. The doctor says only one cup of coffee in the morning, which some days I ignore as I like more then one while I’m cooking and having breakfast. If I’m not walking, it’s not like I need a pee break.

Today will be mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒฅ, with a high of 61 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. Maximum dew point of 47 at 12pm. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 58 degrees. The record high of 84 was set in 2016. There was a dusting of snow in 2015.โ„

I will need my bike headlights both directions on for safety. ๐Ÿ”ฆ Not because it’s super dark out but the skies are gray, and it’s so important to be seen by other motorists on the road. I left my taillights charging over night, so they should be plenty bright for the night to come. ๐Ÿšฒ โš ๏ธ The past few nights I’ve been riding out to Slingerlands at the end of the day, to get in a few more miles of exercise as I haven’t been doing my morning walk as it’s so dark, and I don’t love walking in the dark any more, preferring to retire to bed earlier. ๐Ÿ›Œ

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:41 pm with sun having an altitude of 37.8° from the due south horizon (-33° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 5:32 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (251°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (258°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:10 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 6:37 pm, which is one minute and 34 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent ๐ŸŒ’ Moon in the southwest (216°) at an altitude of 11° from the horizon, 235,132 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:12 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 58 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 57 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 45 seconds over today.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, partly cloudy ๐ŸŒฅ, with a low of 43 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 11th. Light south wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1974.

Yesterday, I had a project that I worked on down at the library for a while ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿ’ป then I went home and kneaded bread. Dinner was just a quick finishing off of the pea soup, covered with curry and dipping the remaining bread I had a home. ๐Ÿฒ It was a good dinner, after I had a good bike ride home. Tonight I need to think about starting to pack and what food and supplies I’ll need for camping. I told myself today I would run to the store, but I may wait until Friday. Figure I could do the shopping and laundromat at same time, though I kind of want to get more sticky traps for mice ๐Ÿญ and maybe replace that increasingly problematic smoke detector with a modern ten-year one that detects flash over rather then just smoke from cooking.

Weekend still looks wet. Saturday, rain. High near 60. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Sunday, a chance of rain before 8am, then a chance of showers after 8am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 60 degrees.

Not as wet though heading south it seems like it will be a wet day ๐ŸŒง as will be the first day camping and by mid-day Sunday in Cumberland Maryland, it might actually have some nice sun for riding the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail Trail before heading down to West Virginia to set up camp for the night. ๐Ÿšฒ I want to spend a fair amount of time poking around Cumberland, but I also realize that night will sneak up before you know it this time of year. ๐Ÿ• ๐ŸŒ†

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Average High is 55 ๐Ÿ‚ when the sun will be setting at 5:50 pm with dusk at 6:18 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny, warm, mist and temperatures between 69 and 54 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 1950.

 Morning At Glacial Lake

Not the nicest day ever but it’s not raining. I say that a lot these days, lol. ๐Ÿ˜‚ โ˜

I was up at 5:30 this morning to make breakfast and get going, and then it was dark, sat down at my computer and finally figured out how to calculate mile points along roads and trails. Doesn’t seem like a major accomplishment but the code turned out to be something I’ve been racking my brain over the past year or so, though when I finally got it to work, it was fairly simple to implement in reality.

Good afternoon! Mostly cloudy and 55 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ˜ Calm wind. The dew point is 45 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 4 am. Not a real beautiful day, did see a brief break of blue sky but it’s dull and overcast again now. Not heading down to Pennsylvania or West Virginia today but those days will come, or so I tell myself.

I was up early and it was dark. ๐ŸŒ‡ The pancakes I made up with ground oatmeal and some quinoa were good ๐Ÿฅž I added a banana to the mix for sweetness ๐ŸŒ and topped with lots of frozen blueberries ๐Ÿ’™ and sugar-free maple syrup. I might end up eventually switching back over to real maple syrup but the low calorie nature of the prior is good, and it’s much cheaper. Maybe come next spring, when it’s fresh. And maybe only as a treat. It’s good to use up the quinoa — it’s better now that I’ve started to wash it better and it cook it longer to get rid of the bitterness but it’s not my favorite breakfast food just in a mushy bowl. But it’s surprisingly good mixed into the oatmeal pancakes.

Also continuing on the oatmeal theme ๐Ÿต (I bought more oatmeal this week), I decided to make oatmeal bread up this morning with whole wheat flour, water, yeast and a bit of salt. Also included shredded carrots ๐Ÿฅ• in the mix to boost fiber levels and give it more texture along with the oatmeal. I keep trying to make healthy meals, while keeping things interesting through variety. The apple bread the other week I wasn’t pleased with due to the lack of salt and fat in it, but the garlic bread I made was delicious. I topped the oatmeal bread with oatmeal and a bit more sea salt for good measure. I plan to bake tonight with spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes at the same time in a very full oven, and then reheat more pea soup — though I’ve thought about making up soup with the red lentils, salt, turmeric and other spices. That might be good, especially after my bike ride. ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ

Been reading and studying map making ๐Ÿ—บ in the effort to get better at GIS and make better more useful maps for the blog, make more ad revenue and expand my skill set. One of the big things I’m trying to master is label placement in QGIS. Automatic label placement often sucks, but I’m not very good at manually working with labels in QGIS. In modern versions of QGIS manual label placement isn’t hard but I find it rather confusing as I’ve never used the manual label placement options much and they aren’t always super obvious how to use them. Like how do only show desired labels using manual label positioning, rather then suppressing them? You can change one of the override settings to do that but it’s non-obvious. Plus I’ve been learning all about pinning labels, a concept I didn’t know much about until I spent some time reading and experimenting. Labels are important for quality maps but I have to admit I was very ignorant on how they all worked in QGIS.

This afternoon will be cloudy โ˜, with a high of 58 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 24th. Maximum dew point of 46 at 4pm. Light north wind. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 67 degrees. The record high of 81 was set in 1920.

The war on mice continues. ๐Ÿ I literally caught three more last night. I think one was that big fat sucker I tossed outside yesterday in my boxers and t shirt full of shaving cream like a girl ๐Ÿง’ yesterday. He got back inside and caught again. I haven’t set up the bucket trap this year but I did do both the spring traps and the sticky traps the later which I find works well with a big glob of peanut ๐Ÿฅœ butter which I won’t eat anymore but I’m find using it up catch mice. Lol, I haven’t heard anymore today in the walls but I envision there are hundreds ๐Ÿ’ฏ in my kitchen at night when I’m not looking. ๐Ÿ™€ I guess I need a barn cat for my apartment. I’m not into pets that I can’t eat ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ„ but I could see the utility of having a cat.

I am still thinking about going for a bike ride out to Indian Ladder Farms. ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿ‘ˆ ๐Ÿšฒ I’m just not motivated with the weather today, and I’ve been playing a lot around with maps and code this morning. I am so proud that I finally figured out how to Create Mile Points from a LINESTRING or MULTILINESTRING in R. While the final code I wrote was pretty trivial, it took me a long time to figure out my way around the details, and overcome some of my coding mistakes in earlier versions. It is quite a handy little piece of code, I should not. I plan to use it for a lot of projects in the future.

Tonight will have a New ๐ŸŒš Moon with 0% illuminated. At 12 PM, the moon was in the south-southeast (169ยฐ) at an altitude of 39ยฐ from the horizon, some 247,147 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. ๐Ÿš€ At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by April 19th. Buckle up for safety! ๐Ÿ’บ The moon will set in the west-southwest (258ยฐ) at 6:12 pm. The Hunter ๐Ÿน Moon is on Sunday, October 29. The darkest hour is at 12:42 am, followed by dawn at 6:39 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:08 am in the east (100ยฐ) and last for 2 minutes and 57 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 7:46 am with sun in the east-southeast (107ยฐ). Tonight will have 12 hours and 50 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over last night.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy โ˜๏ธ, with a low of 43 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 11th. North wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 27 occurred back in 1978.

In four weeks on November 11 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (247ยฐ) at 4:38 pm (Standard Time),๐ŸŒ„ which is one hour, 38 minutes and 20 seconds earlier then today. I won’t be able to ride the bike home from work at that point. In 2022 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 69 and 48 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 51 and 33 degrees. The record high of 70 degrees was set back in 2002. Those days will be here before you know it.

Looking ahead, Daylight Savings Time Ends ๐Ÿ›ฅ๏ธ in 3 weeks, Veterans Day ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ is in 4 weeks, Average High is 50 ๐Ÿ‚ is a month away, Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone ๐ŸฆŒ is in 5 weeks, Small Business Saturday ๐Ÿ›๏ธ is in 6 weeks, Average High is 40 ๐ŸŒจ is in 8 weeks, Earliest Sunset of the Year โŒ›๏ธ is in 8 weeks, Tea Party Day ๐Ÿ is in 9 weeks, Festivus ๐Ÿ– is in 10 weeks, Bacon Day ๐Ÿฅ“ is in 11 weeks.

Along Salmon River Reservoir