I really need to get some new jeans that are better fitting though I only got this pair a few months ago, not realizing what was despite the warnings I was given. Especially because the Salvation Army shirt I got is so nicely fitting. Still I’m hesitant to invest in a new clothes of any expense as I know what I’m up against in a culture that prioritizes low quality calories, excessive sugar and fat. I’m good but the social pressures are so bad, and it can be lonely eating things that are actually half decent for you.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Rain and 66 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☔ There is a north-northeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 66 degrees. The skies will clear tomorrow around 2 pm.
Too rainy 🌧️ for the morning walk and I wasn’t moving fast enough to catch the earlier bus 🚍 downtown. The rain let up and I walked down to the later express 🚏but in part I delayed as I didn’t really want to do laps in the Plaza in part because that would add another time up and down the eighteen flights at work and I didn’t want to do that. Lousy excuse but I’m still not doing elevators at work.🛗 It’s stupid, I’m not afraid of the state elevators and I’m sure the state police 🚨 would come and rescue me when the elevator breaks down but I like the exercise of climbing 🧗♂️ all those stairs. The worse thing that could happen is I get trapped in the elevator with the head of the Assembly Republicans and after a few awkward seconds maybe talk about deer 🦌 hunting or something in the wilderness.
Morning was eggs 🍳 with a bunch of onions, spinach, and peppers. Lots of fiber and protein there. Had a few cups of coffee ☕ though I really should cut back on the fluids as I’ve been having to piss a lot due to 6000pall the water I’ve been consuming from the watermelon 🍉, zucchini 🍆, egg plant and the fruit 🍏 I’ve been eating. Last night was breaded egg plant with panto breadcrumbs using egg as a glue, with a sauce made from tomatoes, jalapeños, onions and Italian spices and a bit of dried Parmesan on top. Broccoli 🥦 on the side. It was good in the broiler all crispy.
Today will have showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. 🌦 High of 71 degrees at 3pm. 11 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 69 at 2pm. 🏖️ Northeast wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 87 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1959.
Another work day today, then one tomorrow, then it’s off to camp in the Adirondacks. 🏕 I’m not sure how nice Friday will be and Saturday looks chilly up north, but I might end up bringing both the heater and bug screen, along with tarps. 📚 I’m sure Lynne is going to ask if I want to go to the Guilderland Meeting regarding the Senior Home Development in the Pine Bush 🌲 but I’ll see if I can get out of that because I don’t feel that great, and I’m tired of attending meetings regarding the Pine Bush, yelling and screaming and being mocked in the press. 📰 I really have other priorities, and I’d like to get books from the library and get packed for camping. I doubt I’ll leave before early on Thursday morning, but if I get ready, it’s less to do tomorrow. Pine Bush stuff is kind of important, but I don’t want to be on the forefront, and so many of these hearings and being shoved down by the town board is kind of boring. Plus I have salmon 🐟 to cook up tonight with spinach, and I’m looking forward to that on this rainy night.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 61.5° from the due south horizon (-9.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:20 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (284°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (290°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:59 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 8:28 pm, which is one minute and 27 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:07 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 70 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 13 hours and 58 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 32 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am, then a slight chance of showers between 1am and 2am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 65 degrees at 4am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 68 at 6pm. East wind around 5 mph becoming south after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 58 degrees. The record low of 41 occurred back in 1972.
In 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival Opens on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, 🎧 🎸🎷 much to the distaste of his neighbors and fellow community members. 🐮 I’m sure he just thought of it as a way to make some money on a wet, muddy field that wasn’t growing much hay or silage that year due to the weather. He used to run the largest dairy farm in Sullivan County. Of course, they cut his milk contract in subsequent years, and was forced out of the dairy business. His son would go on to be the Sullivan County Clerk some years later. And the farm became a tourist destination in recent years. 🗑 The hippies trashed the land more then Yasgur could have ever expected, to say nothing of what they did to the neighbors. And he just wanted a little money from the hippies, and expected after the weekend, the muddy field could be tilled up and put back in production.
On this day in 1970, President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 💰 Much was made out of it, but truth be told the US hadn’t been pegging it’s currency to gold since the 1930s and by the 1960s the value of the US currency had grown with the size of the economy and inflation, it was getting harder and harder to come up with enough gold to settle the currency, especially as investors sought more gold as a hedge of growing inflation as the sixties slid into the 1970s. 📈 Truth be told, regardless had the gold standard ended or not, the gas crisis would have still occurred, and it would have done a lot of damage to economy, though a lot of that was baked in after the sixties, and all the post-war expansion including the baby boom and the construction of the Interstate system which produced a enormous boom that was petering out by the seventies as major legs of the system were finalized. 🛣
Cool but sunny this weekend. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Maximum dew point of 58 at 2pm. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 84. Maximum dew point of 64 at 4pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 82 degrees. Actually, Sunday will be fairly warm and muggy. But Friday the high is only 66 degrees with rain showers. I am going to bring my heater up north I guess this weekend, along with the screen tent as the bugs may be bad. 🎪 I wasn’t sure if I was going to bring my kayak up north, but Sunday could be a very nice day for kayaking on the Mohawk River around Moss Island, 🛶 especially if I do a bike ride first. Although do I want to spend more time at the Potholers at Piseco-Powley? 🏊♀️ Decisions! 🤔
Looking ahead, there are 11 weeks until Halloween 🎃 when the sun will be setting at 5:51 pm with dusk at 6:19 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 37 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 75 back in 2019.
as it heads down Elm Avenue, maybe the Lutheran Church or down by Mike Whyland’s House, whatever that bus stop is called. Going to cook some onions, peppers, mushrooms and a ton of frozen spinach, and scramble some eggs and call that a protein-and-fiber rich breakfast that will get me going, despite not getting to bed until closer to 10 PM then I would like. 
Once again my sleep has been suffering since I got the bicycle, as I’ve been getting home late, like last night after shopping then bicycling home. 
Something has to be wrong with that bicycle front light I have — it might be a crappy cheap incandescent bulb but despite the new batteries, it really is terribly dark for riding on those suburban side streets without street lighting after dark. 
It is an Abus Granite 460 u-lock, security Grade 9. I was originally thinking Grade 10 or even higher, but it’s plenty beefy hardened-steel compared to what a lot of people use for locks out in the suburbs. It should be plenty secure if I park the bicycle at the State Capitol, near the security desk, at least during the day time. Ultimately I decided to mount the lock on the back, off the rack, mainly because I couldn’t fit the lock on the frame up front anywhere it wouldn’t be brushing against my legs.
this time the Mohwak Hudson Land Conservancy’s Normanskill West Preserve, which is across from Delaware Plaza at the end of Normanskill Boulevard. It is a really nice preserve, 
with much better views and some nice benches along the creek, along with better access for the creek for fishing, and some minor rapids. The preserve is much smaller then the Normanskill Ravines Preserve I visited yesterday, but much nicer. Gets dark early there in the ravine, though it probably is a good place to keep in mind for hot summer days. Then follow it up with ice cream 
at Jim’s Tastee Freeze, though I didn’t partake this time as I did that on Saturday. 
I was pleasantly surprised how many groceries I could load into the basket on the back. I was a bit worried about the weight, as the $5 Walmart crate I bought isn’t super heavy, but it worked out fine. I think it will hold up for any load that I am likely to put on my bike. The U-lock comes off and connects my bike securely to the bike rack quickly and easily. It’s an extra-large U-lock and is pretty heavy, but it is secure. Then it slides back onto the mount on the rack. At some point, I’ll post a video showing off all the features of Blackie 
as I put it together. 
that comes with rubber straps to hang on the down tube. This would put a lot of light over and under the front wheel, making for much safer riding, then keep the existing too dim light on the handlebar. I might see if I can clean the contacts or replace the bulb on of the existing fixture. I see they now make 
though I think it will likely be thundery. 
That said, I should spend some time cleaning and getting gear loaded up in my truck for a quick start tomorrow morning for heading out to Schoharie. 
My kitchen and bathroom has gotten pretty dirty from all the mud I’ve tracked in and could use a good cleaning. It’s been so humid so I should get out the ammonia and tackle the places where the mold is starting to pop up again.
Darn criminals ruining, I mean running our country. The judge incorrectly set the fine, rather then letting the jury do it, so his conviction was overturned on appeal. The law would remain on the books until it was repealed 1967. 🚨 Also in 1983, the world’s lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). They should build a pipe and send it up north to cool off people efficiently. ☃️
by early to mid-morning, for several hours of riding, 🚴 before heading to Mine Kill Pool 🏊 to swim for a few hours before it closes at six o’clock then head back to the state forest to camp. 
Days are getting a bit shorter now, though even at six o’clock I should be good to get to camp and set up. Maybe this is the day best to do Shauls and hike Vromans Nose, 
though it’s kind of out of my way before the riding the Catskill Scenic Trail and Mine Kill.
However, I also have a desire to visit Shaul’s this weekend. They are open on Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM, but closed on Monday. 
Perhaps I could go on Saturday, taking a northern route, then drive south to Grand George and experience the beautiful Catskill Scenic Trail. Finally, I can head back north to Mine Kill State Park. 
On the other hand, I don’t want to deal with the inconvenience of maneuvering in that tight campsite, securing everything, and driving on bumpy roads multiple times. It would also result in burning extra fuel. 
there for a few days without venturing out daily. I have some tough choices to make! Worse comes to worse, the real vacation starts Friday.
This preserve looks much more interesting then Normans Kill Ravines Preserve, and is much smaller / quicker hike, though a slightly longer bus ride. I was thinking I could go there and then go grocery shopping for the weekend thereafter, all using my bicycle. 
Probably Sunday as Shaul’s closes at 5 PM. 
Maybe that could be another pool and bicycle day. 
Truth is I don’t want to get home too late on Monday as I need to pack for summer vacation like the next day.
