Good evening! Clear and 75 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 54 degrees. The evening is mild but not too humid yet.

I decided I didn’t have enough packed early enough to get up at 5:30 am tomorrow and head up to Speculator and work up there tomorrow. 💻 So I’ll work at home or maybe the library for a while then head up north after work. I’m hoping that I won’t be asked to work late tomorrow. ⛺ The nights are long so even if I worked and left at seven it wouldn’t be that much driving at dark.

I got my truck back and it drives better especially with tight parking spots. 🅿 The alignment wasn’t just wearing out the tires it was making the steering awful sloppy. 🚘 I just didn’t want one to snap on the road. I think the tires along with the new ball joints and tire rods should last at least 15,000 more miles which will probably get me through to November 2021 when I’ll probably retire Big Red – I’ll be over ten years old than and more than 100,000 miles. I’m thinking at that point going the route of getting a good bicycle, and just renting a car a few weeks a year for vacation. Red has been mostly fun but like many cars of people youth it’s better to look back at the good ol days and have rosy memories 💭 of the world that once was.

I decided I had enough money in checking that I would pay off my credit card bill 💳and with the overtime and skipping my next savings deposit I’ll be fine as the credit card bill isn’t due for a while. I will continue to do the market investments and retirement IRA as normal. I did a good evaluation of my accounts and with the markets being up lately, things looked pretty good. Markets are up. Really I could see retiring at 55, owning land and an off grid cabin by then. 🏡 That said, I should be careful not to count IRA, deferred comp or 401k money until I’m 60 and that’s growing quicker than other investments – as there is less taxes and I’m putting more there to avoid NY taxes. It’s nice to know that while I have a long ways to go I have a future, some day I’ll get out of this moldy apartment in the city. 🔮

Tonight will have patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 55 degrees at 5am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 11th. Maximum dew point of 55 at 10pm. Light south wind. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 60 degrees. The record low of 39 occurred back in 1958.

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 10% illuminated. The Buck 🦌 Moon is on Thursday, July 2. Buck yeah. The darkest hour is at 12:57 am, followed by dawn at 4:43 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:18 am in the east-northeast (57°) and last for 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Sunrise is 6 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (64°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 13 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, sunny 🌞, with a high of 88 degrees at 3pm. Nine degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 59 at 10am. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 75 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 2018.

Tomorrow morning I’ll probably skip my walk and continue to pack 💼. I want to have everything ready besides my coolers. I also won’t put the kayak on the roof until late to fully top off the battery bank. I have enough food and supplies for seven days in the Adirondacks 🗻, I am going to bring the kayak for Saturday and Sunday paddles, maybe on Lewey Lake and the Miami River. Never dun that before. 🚣 Probably stay up north through the day after Primary Day working from camp, the Speculator Beach and library. I bought a small fan that I can use for extra cooling up at camp. 💨Runs on 120 volt AC current so I can use the same power line I use for my laptop. I have the DC fan for use in the truck cap, this is more for the screen tent 🎪. Uses between 27-37 watts depending on the speed (wattage drops a bit as the fan heats up) and pushes around a fair bit of air. Power factor is 0.55 so the volt amperes is more like 63 VA at high but that’s to be expected – probably a shaded pole motor and any electric motor has impedance.

In four weeks on July 15 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (300°) at 8:31 pm,🌄 which is 4 minutes and 40 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 85 and 60 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 1997.

Looking ahead, Latest Sunset 🌆 is in 1 week and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 31 weeks.

Good evening! Clear and 71 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. ✨ The dew point is 50 degrees. Not bad for mid June. Going to be hot though the second half of the week.

Nice evening, 🌃 I went for a walk after work to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. Saw a box turtle digging a nest 🐢, I watched for a while with binoculars but didn’t see any eggs being laid. Also observed a very much nursing doe with some nice big udders grazing on the grass and taking a dump and peeing. They’re kind of like cows, they don’t really give much thought to when and whdre they poop 💩. On the bird front lots of robbin, a pretty male cardinal, a Rose breasted Groesbeck (not a real pretty one) and several rabbits and bunnies. 🐰 That one rabbit was a real nice one.

I left Five Rivers around 7:45 I could have stayed later as the days are long but I didn’t want to walk home on the narrow shoulder of NY 443 as it got dark. 🚙 That road is so narrow as it is for walking 🚶 although I’ve done it many times before. Sure it would have been nice to work late and make more money but seeing all that nature was nice.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, clear 🌃, with a low of 52 degrees at 5am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 1st. Maximum dew point of 51 at 12am. Light south wind. In 2019, we had mist in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 61 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1954.

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 17% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 12:57 am, followed by dawn at 4:43 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:18 am in the east-northeast (57°) and last for 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Sunrise is 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (64°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 16 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 55 at 10am. Calm wind. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. It was humid. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 94 was set in 1994.

Still don’t have Big Red back 🚘, they’re having trouble figuring out the proper size tie rod I guess for the replacement. I should have it back tomorrow though. I’m annoyed but at least the shop has been keeping me in the loop about the delays it seems. Not sure if I’ll be able to get ready and leave for the Adirondacks early Thursday before work – I’d have to get shopping and to the laundromat and I don’t see that happening especially if I have to work late tomorrow. Overtime is nice but it means less free time for myself even if I am working from home. 🏡

In four weeks on July 14 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (301°) at 8:31 pm,🌄 which is 3 minutes and 41 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 86 and 69 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 99 degrees was set back in 1995.

Looking ahead, Primary Day 🗳️ is in 1 week, and Election Day 2020 🗳️ is in 20 weeks.

Good evening! Mostly clear and 69 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 49 degrees. Not a half bad evening not really hot.

Today was a long day at work 💼 but I got two hours of overtime so I can’t complain too much. Working late though meant I couldn’t walk out to Five Rivers after work but I did get down to the park ⛲ and walked some of the trails in the ravine. A found a tick on my neck which I pulled. 🐜 It was a butch to remove. I got podcasts so I was happy about that. 🎧 I kind of wish I could have been on the wifi today as sometimes watching a movie picture in pictures can pass the time when I work, especially the more boring 💤 parts of the day.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 51 degrees at 5am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 29th. Maximum dew point of 49 at 8pm. Light northwest wind. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 63 degrees. The record low of 40 occurred back in 1961.

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 24% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 12:57 am, followed by dawn at 4:43 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:18 am in the east-northeast (57°) and last for 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Sunrise is one second later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (64°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 21 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 81 degrees at 4pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 26th. Maximum dew point of 52 at 10am. Calm wind. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 68 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1967.

I couldn’t sit out back because Big Red 🚘 is still at the shop with my lawn chair out back. As usually is the case when you have alignment issues and tire wear, the tie rods and ball joints needed replacement to do the alignment but I’d rather replace them then have them break on the trail or road. When they snap sometimes they do body damage or cause the truck to roll depending on the speed they snap. And the internet is full of Chevy pictures with snapped tie rods, it’s a meme. 😭

Those Chevy’s have notoriously weak tie rods and with the lift kit they’re do for replacement at 90k miles. 🔧 But hopefully this will even out the tire wear and things will last at least through the inspection in November. ⚫ It was noticeable just looking at the front wheels over the past year – they’ve been looking fairly messed up for a while. Cheaper than new tires or renting a car when the wheel fell off. Not a lot of tire wear up front but it’s obvious looking at them they were a bit messed up and the classic popping noise of the ball joints could be heard at times.⚪ A little less than $1,200 later I’ll have the truck back tomorrow. But so be it – I’ve already budgeted for it when I bought the lift kit six years ago – figured $5,000 for the lift kit then $5,000 for repairs thereafter.

I did plan for this week as I knew I would work late several nights 💵 and earn some overtime which adds up at time and a half. This will be a good week for billable hours at my job. I’ll retire the debt tomorrow from savings and hopefully the rest of the summer will be trouble free with the trugk.

I want to get two more summers out of it and I’ll make a decision next year at the end of 2021 if I want to retire Big Red and go carless for a few years. 🚲 I think it would be fun to have a bicycle and ride around town, do more things in town, maybe get a drink somewhere or even have internet at home and just rent a car a few times a year for road trips. I’m ready for not having to deal with the automotive industry or car insurance for a few years. Even with Uber fees and car rentals it really is a big savings. A lot of my colleagues have gone carless – they rent a car, take a bus or train, or Uber everywhere. I know the reaction I get from people is I’m nuts.

That said, at least I shouldn’t have to worry so much about either of those things failing anytime soon 🚘 or saving miles at this point. I’ve been a bit concerned about the tie rods for a while, I knew they were getting bad. I’m probably still considering going north for the second half of the week ⛺ as even if I do work long days as long as I have power and cell service I can log the hours ⏳ and get the work done that needs to happen from my screen tent 🎪 it hammock or even by the campfire. 🔥

I run a tight budget and I’m always saving where I can 💸but I love 😍 being in the woods and I give up plenty of other things my colleagues enjoy like nicer apartments, air conditioning, wireless internet, cable television, haul my own trash to the transfer station and I take the bus to work. 🚘 Big Red is kind of my guilty pleasure but I paid cash for it so I’ve never paid any financing fees for it. And I’m investing a lot of money and saving for retirement. But I’m not perfect.

And while land and implements is expensive 🚜 I do expect by then to have more money and when you own land you don’t pay rent. 🏡 And if I live off grid there won’t be electric and gas bills, especially if I can harvest wood for heat. 🔌 I doubt I’ll ever have cable or wireless internet and I expect my trash will go up in smoke – that is besides the cans and glass for recycling ♻ .

In four weeks on July 13 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (301°) at 8:32 pm,🌄 which is 2 minutes and 42 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had hot, partly sunny and temperatures between 88 and 65 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 1894.

Looking ahead, Average High is 80 🏖 is in 1 week.

Good evening! Mostly clear and 62 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 46 degrees. Not a bad night but still another fully kind of chilly night before the heat wave later in the week.

Today I did some hiking around Holt Preserve, 🚶 went out to my folks house 🏡 for Sunday dinner 🍲 and did an evening hike up Bennett Hill. Really quiet up there on a Sunday evening. I saw only one person hiking up there the other rest of the time it was quiet. What’s funny is this time of year it actually gets dark earlier at dusk 🌆 then in the winter due to the leaves on the trees. 🌲🌳🌳

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 49 degrees at 4am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 23rd. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 54 degrees. The record low of 42 occurred back in 1985.

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 33% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 12:57 am, followed by dawn at 4:43 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:18 am in the east-northeast (57°) and last for 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Sunrise is one second earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (64°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 42 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 26 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 75 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 6th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 6pm. Light north wind. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1988.

Tomorrow I drop off Big Red at the shop to find out why the back tire is wearing so unevenly. 🔧 I’m betting it was that rock I hit back in September 2017 that broke the shock boot but I’m no mechanic. I probably should have done it years ago but I had to have them put it on the lift and find all the stuff that is broken. 😕Better to repair than break down in the wilderness. That said, I’m hoping they can just bang or adjust whatever is bent back into alignment. And then rotate the tires.

I’m undecided but I’m thinking about heading up to the Adirondacks for the second half of the week ⛺ to camp and work remotely, assuming my office doesn’t reopen for in person work. It’s going to be hot plus bass season opens on Saturday. 🎣 Haven’t decided if I should bring my kayak – that kind of interferes with the solar panel I need for electricity 🔌 to power my laptop for work. Not to mention it would be fun to camp the first day of summer.

For the forth of July I was originally thinking about Moose River Plains 🎇 but maybe I’ll go to the upper part of Powley Road instead. I’d like to see it even though it’s a much longer trip with the road closure. I’m curious to see how much of the road has been rebuilt and how much has changed. The week before then I might go to Schoharie County to try out the pool assuming it opens June 28th as promised. 🏊

In four weeks on July 12 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (301°) at 8:32 pm,🌄 which is one minute and 44 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had humid, partly sunny and temperatures between 81 and 69 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 82 and 62 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 1935.

Looking ahead,