Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Two weeks to Veterans Day Observed (Monday) 🇺🇸. Rain showers and 41 degrees in North Syracuse. ☔ There is a west breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. With the late sunrise, dark clouds, and dreary conditions, not a nice morning.

Still some UV light coming through the skies on to my solar panel on the truck creating some voltage, ⬛ but until I install the amp meter on my truck next week, it’s a little hard to know how much power as voltage is only one half of the equation, and but there is enough clearly to maintain the charge on the batteries at 13.1 volts.🔋 The rain takes an intermission tomorrow, with the skies clearing tomorrow around 7 am.

Today will have showers. High of 45 degrees at 1pm. 10 degrees below normal. West wind 5 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 65 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 1946. 3.8 inches of snow fell back in 2011.❄ I remember that snow storm, we got closer to a foot at my parents house, it was when I had Big Red and he was brand new. Amazing to think a seven years has passed by since that time. After seven years, the rust is really starting to show up, but I hope to get another 3-5 years out of it, assuming the oil consumption and other minor annoyances don’t get worse.

The sun will set at 5:59 pm with dusk around 6:29 pm, which is one minute and 24 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and 43 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 13 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 23 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over yesterday. Days have really gotten short quickly. They always do this time of year. That said, I kind of like the long nights in the wilderness, especially next to a hot fire and the big buddy heater, having a nice dinner.

Tonight will rain showers likely before 4am, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Cloudy ☔ , with a low of 37 degrees at 4am. One degree above normal. West wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2017, we had light rain and mist in the evening, remaining overcast into the early morning. It got down to 47 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1969. Chilly but not as cold as it will be getting in a month ago.

Next Thursday I plan to wire up the shunts and meters to monitoring the voltage and amperage on produced by the solar panel and battery on my truck. 🔋 I don’t expect this to be a big deal, it involves only relocating a handful of ground wires with the shunts, and providing power to the meter itself. For now, I think I may just mount the physical meters in the cab of the truck, although eventually I want to have them back in the cap where I can read them while camping. Probably use like a telephone wire to run power back there. I’ll have to look around to see if I have some telephone wire around, otherwise, I think my best bet may be a dollar store or maybe Wally World.🛍

The plan is on next Thursday, to get packed for the camping trip, check the oil and make other minor adjustments to the truck. 🚛 I will check for loose wires, make sure everything it working, and get all the junk out of my truck after 2 months out here in North Syracuse. Everything is well organized in the attic, so hopefully getting things set up shouldn’t be too hard, although being that it will be mid to late November when I return from my road trip, I should make sure to have plenty of warm stuff, the propane heater ready, etc. I will also want to go shopping, as I probably won’t get by a grocery store for the first few nights camping, although I may visit that new Aldi’s when I’m camping at Stoney Pond in Nelson.

There are 8 days, 12 hours and 52 minutes until the poll close on Election Day in New York. 🗳 It’s creeping closer each day. Tomorrow will be a week out from Election Day. I’ve done my civic duty or whatever you want to call it, filling out the scan-tron slip and mailing it back to Albany, to be counted assuming there is a very close election. 📬 I honestly don’t get all the hubbub about elections, because when it comes down it’s just a slip of paper with a bunch of bubbles filled out on it. I am not convinced that voting makes all that much of a difference in most people’s lives, but it’s a relatively low cost thing for most people — probably around $10-20 when you figure the cost of your time, gas to drive or bus fare to get to the polling place, or postage for the absentee ballot.💰

Probably the only place it really matters is the Town Board, with Maureen Cunningham running for a vacant seat. 🌲I think she will be a good town board person, and I think a Democratic board will be a good thing for the town — somewhat slowing the sprawl, and certainly making Delmar more pedestrian-friendly.🚴 Despite the complaints of rush hour commuters, making Delaware Avenue into a three-lane road with parking and bicycle lanes, will be great for the community, especially if they add more plantings and trees, to absorb some of the noise and pollution. We have to get beyond out dated thinking about urban planning. 🚃

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Veterans Day Observed (Monday) 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 4:43 pm with dusk at 5:13 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2017, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 44 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 49 degrees. We hit a record high of 68 back in 1909.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Definitely a cold and rainy weekend.🌧 Three weeks to Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌. A cold rain is falling, but no snow or ice, around 38 degrees in North Syracuse. ☔ There is a east breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear Tuesday around 10 am.

Today will rain and rain. ☔ High of 41 degrees at 4pm. 15 degrees below normal. East wind 10 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Definitely a cold and wet day. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. The high last year was 60 degrees. The record high of 79 was set in 1963. 1.7 inches of snow fell back in 2016.❄

The sun will set at 6:02 pm with dusk around 6:31 pm, which is one minute and 26 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and 40 degrees. There will be a northeast breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain. ☔ Low of 35 degrees at 4am. One degrees below normal. North wind 3 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 37 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1974.

Governor Ronald Reagan in 1964 delivers a speech on behalf of the Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater. The speech launches his political career and comes to be known as “A Time for Choosing”. 🙉 Eventually he would become president in the 1980s, a time known for plastic and making a lot of money and being a good consumer.

There are 10 days, 10 hours and 36 minutes until the poll close on Election Day in New York. 🗳 This is the final weekend before GOTV starts next weekend. Busy times, but so be it. It’s just one more step in the whole process, that is playing out for another year. I got my absentee ballot today, and I will study it later, fill it out, and sending it back to Albany. I’m still leaning towards Larry Sharpe the libertarian dude for governor, then mostly Democrats down-ticket by voting on the Working Families line. Maybe a few people on the conservative line too. I’ll have to think about it. I try to keep my ballot interesting.📬

Last night, I went to Walmart and picked up some supplies. 🛍 I got another shirt and more canned goods to eat in the office. 🥫 I can’t wait until I am back home again and can eat normal food. Sure I could get take out or eat somewhere, but I hate all the packaging and waste. 🗑 I’d rather just have something in a recyclable can. Plus it’s hard to get time away from the office. It will be so much different when I’m out camping. 🏕 I can do so much more cooking on my great camp stove 🍳 and the camp oven. 🍞

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 when the sun will be setting at 4:38 pm with dusk at 5:09 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2017, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 40 and 25 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 47 degrees. We hit a record high of 73 back in 1928.

Good afternoon! It’s a Monday again. Two more after this before I get to back home. Definitely miss the routine of catching the bus to work. Driving to work is for the dawgs. Three weeks to Veterans Day Observed (Monday) 🇺🇸. Cloudy, damp, and 46 degrees in North Syracuse. ☁ There is a southwest breeze at 7 mph. 🍃.

Not a real nice day for sure. Kind of bitterly cold and damp. Yuck. I guess not every day can be 75 degrees and sunny. It’s tough that this October is more typical then many we have had in recent years. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Thursday around 3 am. ☃️

“Wish I was a Kellogg’s Cornflake
Floatin’ in my bowl takin’ movies,
Relaxin’ awhile, livin’ in style,
Talkin’ to a raisin who ‘caisson’ly plays L.A.”

– Punkey’s Dilema, Simon and Garfunkel.

This afternoon will be mostly cloudy ☁, with a high of 50 degrees at 4pm. Seven degrees below normal. Southwest wind around 8 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. The high last year was 74 degrees. Back in the bad old days. 👹 Long ago they seem. The record high of 86 was set in 1979. There was a dusting of snow in 2005.❄ Not a real nice day, but you can’t control the weather but you can control your attitude towards it.

The sun will set at 6:09 pm with dusk around 6:38 pm, which is one minute and 32 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and 48 degrees. There will be a south-southwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 42 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of sprinkles after 5am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 41 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal. South wind around 5 mph. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 43 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1969.

Last night when I was heading home, I noticed the accessory battery looked a bit low. 🔋I was a bit concerned as I thought that meant I might have a loose wire or some other problem with the battery. Turns out I had left the starting and accessory batteries connected and forgot about it during the day, and the load of the headlights and unlocking the doors with the engine off made both batteries voltage sag a bit momentarily.

Not it was a problem, but my misreading of the gauges made me a bit worried for a few minutes until I figured out what was really going on. I got to be real careful with that switch when camping, ⏺ making sure it’s in the “I” rather then the “II” position when I’m using camp power. That said, I usually keep a close eye on both the starting and accessory battery voltages when I’m at camp.

Today in 1897, using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13 1/2 hours before burning out). 💡 Talk about some dated technology that had a long life-span, as vacuum tubes filled with various gases continue to light our buildings to this day. That said, light-emitting semiconductors,  have all but certainly replaced that this technology, although for existing fixtures many of the mercury-vapor florescent lights and some tungsten-filament energy hogging bulbs are used in rough-service areas like barns.🐄

I was reading about solar power converters, ⬛ last night, which are used in some multi-panel solar systems to boost or buck current from individual solar panels to increase efficiency. Basically, solar panels put out a wide range of voltages depending on how much power is coming out of them. You need a certain voltage to charge a battery, and if the voltage is too low the battery won’t charge well, while if the voltage is too high, the battery will off-gas and eventually explode. Likewise, solar panels are most efficient if you apply some resistance on them so you get the right balance of amps and voltage. It’s a bit complicated, I don’t fully understand the technology, and it’s hard to explain, but it’s interesting to learn more about it. 📟

Honestly, when I own land and a cabin up in the wilderness, I don’t care about all that fancy technology, and aren’t really that interested in having high-voltage 120 volt, grid-style electricity. 🔌 Maybe use a few small inverters to power a few appliances, but my goal is to use as little electricity as possible, and stay with 12 volts or maybe 24 volts with buck converters. I guess things like water pumps, refrigerators, etc. often require more power, which easier delivered with a higher voltage and lower amperage.

But that’s some time off. I need to continue to save and invest for another decade, as I figure I will need at least a quarter million to pay for relocation costs, land, and a small cabin. Land is expensive, and while a smallish cabin is more affordable, I want something that is well insulated and protected from the rain. 🏠 I don’t mind doing low-voltage electrical stuff and basic maintance, but I want something decent to start out. Oh, and a good job once I relocate. But I think with some saving, careful investing, and planning I can make it a reality sometime after 2030. That seems like a long time away, but it’s really not that far out, and I’ll only be 47 years old at that point, and still lots of my life left.

There are 15 days, 7 hours and 45 minutes until the poll close on Election Day in New York. 🗳 Two weeks tomorrow. Three weeks, my vacation will be well underway, god-willing that is. I am still very carefully watching the North Atlantic Oscillation to see how it will impact my trip. I am hoping the weather won’t be too bitterly cold, snowy or rainy. Who knows though, things can certainly change.

Regardless, it will be nice sipping the cup off coffee in the morning next to the heater ☕ and having a rip-roaring fire at night. 🔥 Cooking some decent food in the camp oven — fresh bread, muffins,  pizza. Yum. Sitting back, feeling the chill at night. Hanging out in the woods with a shotgun, going for a hike, seen the land. Just not rushing around, not so busy lie i’ve been lately. I’ll be glad once that time comes around.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Veterans Day Observed (Monday) 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 4:43 pm with dusk at 5:13 pm (Standard Time). On that day in 2017, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 44 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 49 degrees. We hit a record high of 68 back in 1909.