Happy Weekend! Tired but there is more to do so I’m ready to leave first this coming morning. Mostly clear and 28 degrees in Delmar. There is a west-northwest breeze at 11 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 22 mph 💨💨💨. That wind is kind of cutting. Things will start to thaw out at Sunday around noontime. 🌡️

When I get home, I’m going to have a quick dinner then run to the laundromat and grocery store to pick up a few more items. Mostly just dish soap, I overlooked it yesterday. I’m going to see if the dollar store has a few ribbons and bows, that might make the campsite look really festive. 🎄 Tomorrow I’ll pick up some rock salt in case the campsite is ice – I don’t want to slip and fall on the ice, milk and a bag of firewood to get me started for the first night. I’ll need more that a bag but I’ll be able to cut and chop more, assuming I get there at a reasonable hour. Thinking about also getting a second lantern globe in Oneonta Walmart in case I accidentally break the one that’s on it.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 13 degrees at 6am. 11 degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 11 at 7pm; Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight. In 2017, we had cloudy skies, clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 20 degrees. The record low of -3 occurred back in 1902.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 1% illuminated. The moon will rise at 8:13 am. The First Quarter Moon is next Friday with partly cloudy skies. The Cold Moon 🌝 is in 2 weeks. The sun will rise at 7:12 am with the first light at 6:40 am, which is 56 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 51 minutes of darkness, an increase of 59 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 29 degrees at 2pm. Nine degrees below normal. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1927. 4.3 inches of snow fell back in 2001.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, sunny, with a high near 34. 😎 Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the morning. Typical average high for the weekend is 38 degrees.

Got the big end of the year report in today and I have next week off for my trip. Probably will miss the office Christmas party but that’s fine. At lunch time I visited the ATM so I’ll have enough money should I need some. Also went to the Albany Public Library and got a few additional books so I’ll have lots to read. 📚

I’m a little worried about the darkness and the cold but I’ve certainly done these trips before and I’ve covered my bases and carefully planned everything out. Assuming there is a decent amount of sunshine for solar and my sanity I think it will be a good trip. If I get tired, or don’t want anymore darkness I can always drive home a bit early. One day at a time. Been a little sore and tired lately but hopefully some nice nights in the woods will help that. The stews I make should be good. 🍛 I am looking forward to long winter naps that are 12 hours long.

In four weeks on January 4 the sun will be setting at 4:35 pm,🌄 which is 13 minutes and 55 seconds later then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had rain, drizzle, snow, sleet, fog, patches of fog, mist, cloudy skies and temperatures between 44 and 22 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 31 and 15 degrees. The record high of 64 degrees was set back in 1950.

Looking ahead, First Day of Winter ☃️ is in 2 weeks, 4:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 3 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 is in 6 weeks, 5 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 7 weeks, March 🌨 is in 12 weeks, Ides of March ✝ is in 14 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 4 months, Memorial Day Weekend Starts 🏕️ is in 24 weeks and Dog Days of Summer 🌻 is in 30 weeks.

Good evening! Cold, dark and 43 degrees in Delmar. ☁ It’s the first Monday night of December. Its particularly cold not because of the mercury but because of the wind. There is a west breeze at 15 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 2 am. ☃️

Bus left the plaza right at 5:12 and was right on time.🚍Good, I didn’t have to wait for long. State Christmas Tree, well actually the Capitol is all lit up.🎄Looks really pretty although it seems a bit crooked and those LED lights, especially the blue are a bit garish. I’m sure once those lights are in the landfill, people will look back and say gosh that was tacky.

Tonight will have a chance of rain showers, possibly mixing with snow after 8pm, then gradually ending. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around November 23rd. Northwest wind 10 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1940.

Tonight will have a Waning Crescent Moon 🌘 with 10% illuminated. The moon will rise at 4:04 am. The New Moon is on Thursday night with mostly cloudy skies. The Cold Moon 🌝 is on Friday, December 21st. The sun will rise at 7:08 am with the first light at 6:37 am, which is one minute and 2 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 47 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 14 seconds over last night.

Once I get home, I am leaning towards fish sticks, onion rings and corn. 🍤 I think that would be a good dinner. Running low on milk, I might run to the store while dinner is in the oven. It’s literally two doors down to Stewart’s and their milk is cheaper than the grocery store. 🐄

I think most likely after dinner I’ll walk down to library. 🏃 Maybe hop on the internet for a bit, and return my library books. 📚 I guess there is stuff I could work on around the apartment but I figure it’s good to get a few more steps in today. Probably also listen to Marketplace before the library. 📻 When I get home from the library, I’ll probably put Mountain Stage on the radio and listen to it. I was listening to a show about Appalachia today and thinking about how much I miss West Virginia.🎻 I don’t think I should try to drive down there next week but maybe next year. Beautiful state, beautiful people although it really is a mix of beauty and ugliness as all things are in our world. Those strip mines up by Mount Storm coal plant aren’t that pretty. 🏭

At lunch today, 🏃I got in a good mile or two in walking around the plaza. It is easy to rack up the miles if you walk in the tunnels to each agency building, to the museum basement around the base of the Egg, 🍚and the Justice building lobby. I’m trying to walk as much as possible as I know it’s good for health although I really need to think about replacing my boots as multiple holes are now in the soles of the boots. 👞 Eventually I guess.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 32 degrees at 2pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around December 27th. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph. It might be a nice day except for the wind. It will certainly be good for snow in the lake effect belt. I don’t know how they do it up in the Tug Hill.❄ Those snowy commutes with the big hills must be miserable. A year ago, we had cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1998. 6 inches of snow fell back in 1901.❄

Cool this weekend with temperatures running 8 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. 😀 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 29. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Typical average high for the weekend is 38 degrees.

I am still thinking about going out to the Finger Lakes next week. I haven’t made a final decision yet, but it could be a full week if the sunny forecast out there continues. I don’t mind the cold so much if it’s sunny. I have almost a full propane tank and the heater can take the chill off the tent quickly. I’ll also bring lots of tarps to block the wind. ⛺ Not sure if I will take the full week off, but I might. Snow is the big concern this time of year but I believe the road where I’m thinking of camping has town plowing in the winter and no real snow is forecast for next week although that’s still a long way off.

The long nights could be fun with a good sized fire, the Christmas lights, some music and podcasts. 🔥Lots of time for cooking after dark and listening to the radio. Then maybe retire to the tent around 8 or 9 o’clock but not too early as it’s dark out there until like 7:30 in the morning this time of year. At least if there are blue skies, it won’t be so dark in the morning. And if I’m cold I can always warm up next to the heater. ☕Yeah, I’ll keep my knife and carbon monoxide alarm ready case of an emergency although I only really turn the heater on briefly.

In four weeks on December 31 the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm,🌄 which is 9 minutes and 48 seconds later then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had snow, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 8 and -2 degrees. Ducking cold last year on New Years Eve. 🐦Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 16 degrees. The record high of 61 degrees was set back in 1895.

Looking ahead, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 1 week, New Years Eve 🎆 is in 4 weeks, Latest Sunrise of the Winter 🌄️ is a month away, Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 is in 6 weeks, Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is in 7 weeks, Presidents Day 👴 is in 11 weeks, Average High is 40 ☀️ is in 13 weeks, April Fools Day 🤡 is in 17 weeks, Tax Day 💰 is in 19 weeks, Earth Day 🌎 is in 20 weeks, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 25 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 30 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 36 weeks and Election Day 2020 🗳️ is in 23 months.

Good Monday Morning! Yeap, Monday’s come back around again. Those weekends keep getting shorter, but maybe that means summer is coming quicker. One can only hope. Next Monday is 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️. Partly sunny and 43 degrees in Delmar. ⛅ There is a south-southwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. A remarkably pleasant morning, and while I didn’t leave in time for the express bus, I did catch the local from a bus stop down by town hall about a mile from home. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 3 am. ☃️

Definitely a nice walk down to the bus stop by the town hall, indeed I actually went one more stop below there, 🚏 but walked back as there was other passengers getting on and I didn’t want to make the bus stop twice. 🚌 Almost could have walked down to the express bus but I was late due to dilly-dallying a bit, although not by much. It wasn’t a bad bus ride in though.

The sun will set at 4:22 pm with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is 14 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies ⛅ and temperatures around 44 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze from the west with gusts up to 28mph. Despite being sunny it’s going to be cool with the breeze.

Today will have a slight chance of showers before 1pm, then a slight chance of showers after 2pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 48 degrees at 12pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around November 16th. West wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 2009. 5.2 inches of snow fell back in 1893.❄

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers before 9pm. Mostly cloudy ☁, with a low of 30 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 23rd. Northwest wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1940. It sometimes get really cold in December; there is a reason it’s called meteorological winter.

Based on the latest forecast for Central NY and the Finger Lakes, I am thinking of leaving on Saturday morning and returning on Wednesday, for a five day trip. 🏕 Rifle season closes on Sunday, so I would have the woods to myself after that most likely, except maybe for a trickle of small game and black powder guys. I could do a whole week, but it’s December, with very long nights and I honestly don’t know if we will get that much time snow free. Plus the office holiday party is a week from Friday.  I am going to wait a few more days before deciding, but I could get out of a town for a long weekend it would be nice, and kind of make up for the shitty weather during the week I had planned in November.

I am thinking to head back to the Finger Lakes National Forest. 🌲While I spent a lot of time up there, I actually like it a lot as I have cell services there, it’s not so remote, and I think Potomac and Picnic Area roads are plowed year round. Upper Potomac Road is relatively flat, so it’s not going to be dangerous if there is a dusting of snow or a little ice on it — not that there is much snow left there according to National Snow Analysis. I will probably call the Forest Service first to confirm. The other nice thing about the National Forest, is I can camp there for up to two weeks without getting a permit. 🏕 

If I do camp there and it’s sunny, I’ll find a site with decent southern exposure, probably just walk back in the woods to small-game hunt or hike. 🔫The days are so short, so there won’t be a lot of free time for various adventures at this point. I do plan to check the oil and maybe top off the water in the accessory battery, as I suspect the water levels may be low with it being charged all of the time by the solar panel.🔋 I will most likely hot tent, hang some Christmas lights on the trees, plus the back lit flags. I expect with the sunny days expected, I should have plenty of power without ever turning on the truck, even with the long nights and cold weather. I would probably want a site well protected from the wind, just because it gets windy up there, and it’s going to be cold being essentially mid-December by then. I expect very dark and long nights, but reading and podcasts can keep them enjoyable.

This week in the evening, I will continue to work on writing Android Apps for my Smartphone, 📱 to improve controls on the lamp over my bed and also to control the VMS sign in my bedroom. I actually really like working with Android Studio, once I got it going and shifted into offline mode, as I lack Internet at home. It’s kind of fun, because it’s drag and drop for interface building, and then a little object-oriented java code to hold it together. I didn’t think learning java was too hard, it’s actually a lot like most other object oriented languages. An interactive phone program with Bluetooth is much more powerful then just using an infrared TV remote, as you can have multiple screens and more options. Plus it’s harder to misplace one’s phone then the remote, and almost as easy to use with automatic paring in the code.

As previously noted, next Monday is 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ when the sun will be setting at 4:21 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. That’s the deep and dark of December. On that day in 2017, we had snow, patches of fog, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 36 and 18 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 38 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1966.