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May 6, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Gotta make that money 💵 to save for a better tomorrow. Plus buy beer, ammunition and gasoline. Three weeks to Memorial Day 🇺🇸. Not that it feels like it. Cloudy, damp and 55 degrees ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 51 degrees. The skies will clear around 2 pm.

I caught the earlier local bus 🚍 to work today. I was up so I figured I might as well get in the office early. 🏢 No sun now but they are still promising it later. I don’t know about you but I’m tired of all these cloudy, rainy days. Not sure how long the day will be but I’m hoping to get over to Finger Lakes wine night 🍷 for a while this evening. I don’t drink much anymore so it won’t take much free booze to have my share. Tomorrow is mock session so I’ll probably get out at five o’clock tomorrow.

Today will have a slight chance of showers before 10am. Cloudy, then gradual clearing during the afternoon 🌞, with a high of 71 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 20th. Maximum dew point of 51 at 7am. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 65 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1930. There was a dusting of snow in 1994.❄

The sun will set at 8:01 pm with dusk around 8:32 pm, which is one minute and 6 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 66 degrees. The dew point will be 46 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 21 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers after 3am. Partly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 53 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 2nd. Maximum dew point of 47 at 6pm. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2018, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 50 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1874.

I was thinking more about the weekend and I’m thinking about camping ⛺ up at the campsites near Stewart Landing and then driving down to Little Falls on Saturday. Sunday I could hike some of the upper Glassco Mills trail. 🚶 Never been back that way. I probably wouldn’t bother with bringing my kayak as the water is still pretty cold.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Memorial Day 🇺🇸 when the sun will be setting at 8:22 pm with dusk at 8:56 pm. On that day in 2018, we had rain showers, partly sunny and temperatures between 68 and 54 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 73 degrees. We hit a record high of 94 back in 1914.

I’m still thinking about the East Branch of the Sacandaga for Memorial Day Weekend. ⛺ But only if the weather is decent and not too ungodly hot although I bet I could find a good swimming hole or two in the East Branch. 🏊 I wonder how much those campsites fill up? I’m thinking mid June heading up to Perkins Clearing lest I’m on call 📞 and I need to do work from camp. I can call my clients from the hammock with my cowboy hat on. 😎 Plus that site is nice and open so I would get a lot of Solar power. ☀

April 23, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Partly sunny and 53 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. There is a north breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 42 degrees. Nice sunny morning, things are starting to green up nicely. 🌱

Getting ready for my weekend trip up north. ⛺ Not hundred 💯 percent sure on the route, as Friday remains a wild card. Still thinking about heading up to Tupper Lake for the second half of the week although the weather looks more unstable there on Saturday than the Southern Adirondacks. I’ll keep studying the forecasts.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 76 degrees at 4pm. 14 degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around June 7th. Maximum dew point of 46 at 11am. That’s going to be a super nice day for late April, without a drop of humidity. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 2007. 2.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄

The sun will set at 7:46 pm with dusk around 8:16 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain showers, clouds 🌧 and temperatures around 71 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 11 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 46 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have showers and thunderstorms likely before 3am, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 48 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around May 18th. South wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 45 degrees. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1965.

I have to pack my clothes, personal stuff and cooking gear tonight. 🍳 I’ll also go shopping. Then tomorrow after work, it’s off to the Adirondacks. I’ll probably go straight out to Amsterdam tomorrow on the Thruway as the sunset is still relatively early and I’m planning on going relatively far north tomorrow. I should top off the propane tank and I really need to replace my work boots. 👢 I guess while at Tractor Supply I should also look at getting some inexpensive muck boots to wear around camp if it’s really muddy come Friday. I can use them all summer long when things get muddy.

Earth Day yesterday was fun 🌎 but it seems like so much of it has become commercialized in recent years. I guess it’s good people are talking about the problems but few want to make the tough decisions.

After I was supposed to be in bed last night, 💤I ended up playing with the Processing Modeler in QGIS. I really want to develop an algorithm for figuring out the peaks of mountains reliably. I’ve noticed that the process I’m using isn’t always correctly identifying the peaks so I have to rethink the process. 🗻

Looking ahead, there are 12 weeks until Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:30 pm with dusk at 9:04 pm. On that day in 2018, we had hot, humid, mostly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 96 and 69 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1900.

April 22, 2019 Night

Good evening! Mostly cloudy with some clearing to the west and 62 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a north breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 46 degrees. Made for kind of a nice sunset but I do wish it was a little sunnier all of today. The skies will clear around 10 pm.

It was a nice enough of an evening that I went to the park after work for a while with a book. 📙 It was one of those self improvement type books that encourages you to think more about who you are and how to make a better future for your and make life more enjoyable. I’m really kind of bored with many parts of life, I’m kind of looking for new adventures and things to do while I’m still in New York making and saving money.

Looking for new ideas on things to do, not just the same trips year after year after working my job all week long. It’s all gotten too routine and life is going by too quickly. My desire to change is part of the reason why I’m thinking in a few years of getting a bicycle to replace my truck. 🚲 I feel like not having a vehicle would force me to adjust my life, have new experiences. Truck camping is fun but its all become the same. ⛺ Maybe this year once the black flies are done, I’ll do more wilderness camping with the hammock and packing light.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 49 degrees at 5am. Nine degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around May 21st. North wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2018, it was clear in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1975.

Tonight will have a Waning Gibbous Moon 🌖 with 76% illuminated with the moon rising at 11:28 pm. The moon will set at 9:04 am. The Last Quarter Moon is on Thursday night with partly cloudy skies. The Flower Moon 🌝 is on Friday, May 17th. The sun will rise at 6:01 am with the first light at 5:32 am, which is one minute and 31 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 10 hours and 14 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 73 degrees at 3pm. 11 degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around May 27th. I’ll take a late May day without the black flies and the humidity. Maximum dew point of 47 at 7am. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had sunny. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 2007. 2.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄

Tomorrow I shop 🏪 and pack for camping. ⛺ The plan is to set up camp in the Southern Adirondacks for two nights starting Wednesday after work. Friday looks fairly wet, so I’m thinking about driving up to Tupper Lake and maybe camping and hiking around there on Saturday then drive home on Sunday, maybe stopping a few places on the way back home. Probably take an easy drive back down along NY 30 both ways as I hate expressway driving. I think I’d rather do that then sit in the rain ☔ on Friday plus I haven’t been up to the Tupper Lake area in years, I think it’s five years since I camped at Horseshoe Lake and Jones Pond in that area. Not bringing the kayak, there is plenty to do on foot and I want to use the solar on the sunny days.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 58. Sunday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 62. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 40 at 1pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 63 degrees.

I’m still thinking about possibly one more camping trip before Memorial Day Weekend ⛺, namely that Moss Island and pre summer season trip to Piseco-Powley Road but worse comes to worse that can wait until June. Going to be a busy month for me. A trip to Madison County and Rogers Environmental Education Center is another real possibility as is a trip to Spectator camping where I did last Labor Day Weekend. I figure I should travel and camp these next two years as much as I can if I’m thinking about going car less in 2021. That said, most of the places I’m planning on going this year are pretty ordinary, I kind of wish I could do something new and different for a change. I really need to think about more wilderness camping in the back country. It doesn’t have to be that heavy miserable big pack frame we used in Boy Scouts with no technology at all.

In four weeks on May 20 the sun will be setting at 8:16 pm,🌄 which is 30 minutes and 29 seconds later then tonight. In 2018 on that day, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 75 and 56 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 71 and 48 degrees. The record high of 91 degrees was set back in 1962.

I’m really fascinated by possibilities and power of the Processing Modeler in QGIS. 🌐 By plugging different filters together, extracting and manipulating raster data and vectorizing it there is some pretty remarkable things I could dream up. There is a lot of great things you can do with digital mapping I’m just discovering now after all these years with QGIS. I think running out of state land to map in many ways is a blessing as it’s forced me to become more creative with the stuff I do with map data and add other useful features. Too often in life I find myself in a rut lacking creative energy or a desire to try something new.

I really should find time to rebuild my electronic VMS sign for my office but I think I need more wire and I’ve been loathe to spend more time with the soldering iron. 🔬I should spend more rainy days on that kind of thing.

It’s still pretty early by I’m tired. 😴 I should finish putting my wash away and get to bed. Each night I keep retiring earlier but that’s fine because I wake up earlier. A good night’s sleep is important for doing a good job at work. Plus I have to pack for camp tomorrow.

Looking ahead, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 5 weeks, Average High is 80 🏖 is in 2 months, Latest Sunset 🌆 is in 9 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 10 weeks, Cow Appreciation Day 🐂 is in 12 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 16 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 19 weeks, Autumn 🍂 is in 5 months and Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 24 weeks.

April 5, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Next Friday is Grilled Cheese Day 🧀. Mostly cloudy and 31 degrees at the Four Corners in Bethlehem, NY. ⛅ Calm wind. I missed the express as I had an issue with my contacts 👀 so I ended up deciding to go for a walk down to the four corners. Rain later then the skies will clear tomorrow around 2 pm.

Today it seems like the rain held off so I was able to walk down🚶to the four corners to get some exercise before taking the yokel local because I running a few minutes too late to catch the express bus 🚍. Probably is close to the same amount of time leaving from the four corners as catching the express but not as scenic. 🚆The seat I’m in adjusted strangely not very comfortable. 💺 Cloudy this morning ☁ but the rain is going to hold off until later. ☔ Cool but not so cold this morning, I ended up leaving the heat off last night as it will be in the upper forties by afternoon and mid sixties on Saturday. Things are still warmer with the heat off in my apartment compared to mid winter with the heat on.

I am glad it’s finally a Friday. 🎉Seven weeks from now I’ll be getting ready to swat black flies during the long Memorial Day Weekend. No to Moose River Plains this year over Memorial Day Weekend but I’m inclined to visit the Southern Adirondacks, maybe along Route 8. Been a long week for sure 😕 having to work last Sunday.

Today will rain likely before 4pm, then rain and snow likely between 4pm and 5pm, then rain, snow, and sleet after 5pm. 🌥 High of 40 degrees at 1pm. 14 degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 6th. Light east wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Little or no snow and sleet accumulation expected. A year ago, we had partly cloudy. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 82 was set in 1928. 1.1 inches of snow fell back in 1914.❄

The sun will set at 7:26 pm with dusk around 7:54 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and possible sleet 🌧 and temperatures around 36 degrees. I probably made a good decision to wear my rain coat ☔. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain and sleet likely, becoming all rain after 10pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 36 degrees at 6pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around April 11th. South wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no sleet accumulation expected. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of 14 occurred back in 1943.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 60 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical day around April 18th. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. A year ago, we had partly cloudy. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 82 was set in 1921. 17.3 inches of snow fell back in 1982.❄It’s a reminder that we can still have snow this time of the year but it’s increasingly rare especially with the warming climate in the Albany area.

Saturday now looks like the nicest day of the weekend. I have my neice’s birthday 🎂 party in the afternoon but in the morning I’m thinking about walking out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, this time not deciding I accidentally leaving the oven on. 😮 It sucked having to run back so quickly the other day after the oven fiasco that turned out to be just some dried out brownies. 🍪

Looking ahead to Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 62. Calm wind. ☀ Maximum dew point of 42 at 4pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 54 degrees.

As I noted yesterday I’m thinking about hiking Platte Clove Road on Sunday. 🌲I think I’ve figured out a good legal place to park, although it will add maybe a mile more of a walk. I’ll bring my microspikes in case the road is still icy but I doubt it.🐸 The gates are still closed but I should be able to walk past them. I’ll think about it some more tomorrow. I think it would be a nice full day hike without much mud or muck. Get the blood pumping too. That said if the forecast continues to become cloudy, I might change my mind, maybe do some fishing instead 🎣.Maybe next weekend? The gates open on Platte Clove Road to automobiles 🚘 on April 15th supposedly.

As previously noted, next Friday is Grilled Cheese Day 🧀 when the sun will be setting at 7:34 pm with dusk at 8:03 pm. On that day in 2018, we had rain showers, partly cloudy and temperatures between 54 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 57 degrees. We hit a record high of 84 back in 1977.

In four weeks on May 3 the sun will be setting at 7:58 pm,🌄 which is 31 minutes and 48 seconds later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had mostly sunny skies with generally warm weather, with a few rain showers and temperatures between 83 and 61 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 66 and 43 degrees. The record high of 89 degrees was set back in 2001.

I spent about an hour on the exercise bike 🚲 and then a few hours playing around with mapping on my laptop. I’m trying to get better at simplifying shapefiles and extracting rasters. 🌐 GIS is a really complicated science, I keep learning more each day. I skipped my evening walk because I got working on playing with map data 🔣and honestly I thought it might be cold out.

I thought I had blocked Facebook Lite from running in the background of my phone 📱 but it’s popping up notifications again. I guess I am going to just have to completely uninstall it. I can use the browser for updating my Facebook page every once and a while. It’s just become such a headache in my life. They make that product so obnoxious.

I finally got tired of telemarketers and the certain groups calling me 📞 asking for money and trying to sell shit I don’t want to buy. So I installed an app that I believe automatically sends any phone number that is not in my contacts list 📱 right to voicemail – without that stupid missed call notification. ➿ I regularly check my voice mail when it comes in and then decide to call back.

Most robo calls don’t leave voice mails in my experience.🔕Sometimes I’ll refuse the robo call but it’s still in log that I have to clear out which is a pain. Some robos are creepy, 👹and most are annoying just because when you get a call even if you dismiss it. I get people need to fundraise and if you don’t ask you won’t get. 💵 I sometimes will send some group a few bucks but that doesn’t mean I will give again right away. Usually I give to local groups but occasionally I’ll give to a national group if I’m interested in a particular campaign they are advocating in. I don’t get into politics and rarely if ever contribute to political campaigns.

By conserving money of the past month I think finances have improved this April 💸 but I still have my my credit card bill 💳 to pay and state tax bill to pay mid month. With the quarterly payments next year hopefully my state taxes won’t be so bad next year. The feds over withhold enough I don’t have to worry there. Once I start traveling and camping more ⛺ expenses will increase but I expect to remain within my budget going forward. The solar helps save fuel at camp and I’m trying to walk and do more things closer to camp, especially now that I have the solar to top off things.

Looking ahead, Grilled Cheese Day 🧀 is in 1 weeks, Cinco de Mayo 🤠 is a month away, Pack Rat Day 🐀 is in 6 weeks, Memorial Day Weekend Starts 🏕️ is in 7 weeks, 8:30 PM Sunset ️⛱️ is in 2 months, Dog Days of Summer 🌻 is in 3 months and Labor Day Weekend Begins 👨‍🏭 is in 21 weeks.

March 18, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Two weeks to April Fools Day 🤡. Partly sunny and 30 degrees in Elsmere. NY. There is a west breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️ Snow is mostly gone here in the city except for some piles around. ⛄

Cold start this morning but it warmed relatively quickly. Lots of sun which is helping things warm up quickly. ☀ The spring sun is much stronger than the winter sun. I heard the heat 🔥 click on this morning. But all and all, relatively seasonal and dry for most of the week. ☔ Still quite a bit of salt on the roads but at least I have the worse of it washed off my truck. 👌

Eggs again this morning. 🍳 That cleaned up frying pan is fantastic. Nothing like a good omlet in the morning for a filling meal 🍴 that lasts a long time. The low humidity meant my shirt 👚 and pants 👖 was kind of wrinkled this morning which was a bit annoying. I tried to iron it the best I could. The air is just so dry. I probably should have folded the wash as soon as I pulled it out. But usually it’s fine to wait until I get home and put it on the hanger. I guess it’s fire weather once the snow melts away. 🔥 I also need to get my jacket to the dry cleaner.👔 I will have to wear my new jacket tomorrow. I was going to do it today, but I wanted to remove all the labels and stickers before I headed into work. But for today, I’ll look like a college professor. It’s a bad case of a Mondays.

The important thing is that I managed to catch the local bus 🚍 on time. ⌚ I expected a fairly busy day at work, maybe a long day as conference may extended into the evening 🌃 as they continue to discuss the budget.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 41 degrees at 4pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 9th. I’ll take it. West wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 2012. 8.0 inches of snow fell back in 1977.❄ Not 1977 this year but fairly cold.

Today marks the second day with more daylight then night or somewhere around it depending where you are in New York State. 🌷🌱🌞 In a month the average high will be 60 degrees as the weather continues to moderate. I’m thinking a month from next Wednesday will be my road trip, camping ⛺ and exploring. More on that later.

The sun will set at 7:05 pm with dusk around 7:33 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 7th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. In 2018, we had mostly clear in the evening, which became mostly sunny by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 15 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1967.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 43 degrees at 4pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 14th. Not terribly cold, but not super warm either. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 2012. 9.6 inches of snow fell back in 1971.❄

Sunday was sunny but cold. It was a nice walk down to the Normans Kill gorge and then I had a nice Sunday dinner at the folks house. 🍀 Saint Patricks Day corned beef, 🐂and all the fixings. Good to enjoy it while I still can. I know my parents won’t be around forever. I’m not a big cook myself and I doubt I’d ever make something like that for myself. Definitely felt cold after the seventy degrees weather on Friday and that wind was biting. ❄

After dinner the mercury quickly dropped but the wind stopped and I went for my evening walk. 🌃 Not a terrible not, actually it felt fairly mild with the wind slack and a nearly full moon 🎑 although clouds were crowding things out at times and there is a lot of light pollution locally. Honestly, despite the cold weather it seemed warmer than it was during the day.

Continuing to work on my VMS sign in my bedroom, adding more messages and almanac data. My most recent add involved 📝 adding dusk 🌆 and dawn data, legislative session day and bus schedule countdowns. I am continuing to debug but the bus countdown feature is very helpful. 👏 I still have a few bugs 🐞to fix and I want to change the order of the messages but I can just change that in the source code and ref-lash the memory.

I think on Wednesday, the first day of spring I’ll deactivate my Facebook page. I’m remarkably sad 😔 about leaving Facebook which is stupid although I’ll keep my account open for reading other people’s posts. 💻 I’ve already deleted most of the old posts on my personal Facebook which until August 1st Facebook api restrictions was linked to the the blog. I might occasionally post things to my personal Facebook but that’s not my focus going forward.

Mom 👪 was disapproving of me quitting Facebook as she was wondering how she could continue to keep up with my blog and photos 📷. Just have to do it the old fashioned way visiting the blog a few times a week. I’m fed up with the Facebook platform on so many levels, and rather than deal with stupid comments and the fight for likes and more prominence in the feed, I’d rather focus on my personal blog and keep the pictures and maps here. I have complete editorial control 🎮 over my blog, and I can change the format to however I like. I may pull back from Twitter too but I’m going to keep that link live for now.

It’s just become too much of a game 🎰 with Facebook and too much of a hassle to maintain the code and update Facebook. I don’t want to spend my time trolling for likes and clicks. I really want to focus on my own life and priorities and enjoy the greater freedom and self expression of the blog. I hate to loose the followers and the story I’m telling but I think I can do it better here than elsewhere. 📝

I’m glad that I’m using up the food 🍲 in the refrigerator and cabinets. I’m saving a fair amount of money by not going shopping 🛄 or driving. 🚘 I haven’t gassed up Red since mid February and I have a half tank left. It’s good as it will help me make it through April financially and save for my mid-April trip. I’m looking forward to camping ⛺, hiking 🗻, and fishing. 🎣 Still not sure how far I’ll end up going – maybe the North Country TBD – but it could still be a special trip.

I have the new battery 🔋 in my phone 📱. Seems to last quite a bit longer. It’s good because I’m hoping to get at least six months to a year more out of this phone. Not bad for a phone I use constantly but only spent $50 for it. I’m quite happy not having on of those fancy phones all the kids use nowadays. 😂

Finally we might get a nice early spring weekend. 😎 Saturday, sunny, with a high near 42. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 57. Typical average high for the weekend is 47 degrees. I will take it. I want to get out and enjoy the weather, while it’s nice.

If it’s in the fifties and sixties next weekend I want to unpack my truck and inventory the camping gear. ⛺ I like to get everything ready for the first trip of the year. Plus I’m running out of room in the outside trash cans and want to start loading bottles and cans into the back of my truck to eventually take to the transfer station. ♻Seems like all the lighting 💡 is working fine in the cap, but I still want to replace the upper led tape which has multiple sections failed with a brighter and more energy efficient model.

Saturday I am going up to Saratoga for my niece’s birthday party. On Sunday, I’m thinking of going hiking somewhere, ⛰ though maybe not the Catskills as I don’t feel like hiking in the snow at this point, and the snow will be crap for skiing if it’s near 60 degrees. Maybe Cole Hill State Forest or Partridge Run.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Tax Day 💰 when the sun will be setting at 7:37 pm with dusk at 8:06 pm. On that day in 2018, we had freezing rain showers and mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 36 and 28 degrees. Pretty damn cold day last year to enjoy my government imposed poverty. 💸Typically, the high temperature is 58 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 2003.

According to the message board on my wall there are 100 days until Primary Day. ☑ I see a lot of local candidates are posting about it as they work to collect signatures. I’ve volunteered a few times to collect petitions and I’ve scrubbed and reviewed petitions 📜more than a few times at work. It’s hard work for sure. I often think holding elected office is kind of a madness, they’re are better ways to make money for a whole lot less work. 💵 I guess somebody has to do it. 👔

Looking ahead, Tax Day 💰 is in 4 weeks, Average High is 60 🌼 is a month away, Pink Moon 🌕 is a month away, Earth Day 🌎 is in 5 weeks, Flower Moon 🌕 is in 2 months, Memorial Day 🇺🇸 is in 10 weeks, July 🏊🏿 is in 15 weeks, Labor Day 👨‍🏭 is in 24 weeks and Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 29 weeks.

January 19, 2019 Evening

Good evening! Just starting with the first flurries of the big snow storm and 23 degrees in Delmar. ❄ There is a north-northeast breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 9. There is a inch of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at Wednesday around 11 am. 🌡️ No snow yet, but it’s definitely coming.

Tonight it will snow as the blizzard continues. The snow could be heavy at times. 🌨 Low of 22 degrees at 9pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similiar to a typical night around February 21st. Northeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible. In 2018, we had partly cloudy. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -22 occurred back in 1970.

Tomorrow will snow, freezing rain, and sleet, becoming all snow after noon. Areas of blowing snow after 2pm. Temperature falling to around 13 by 5pm. East wind 13 to 16 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere tomorrow. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. A year ago, we had cloudy in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 53 was set in 2006. 8.7 inches of snow fell back in 1978.❄

This morning I met my parents for Saturday breakfast then took them to the store, also picking up some frozen vegetables, as I was totally out of them and I like having a lot of frozen veggies with my meals. They are low-cost, low-packaging, and easy enough to cook in the microwave or oven. Healthy too. I usually buy the biggest bags I can get in bulk, as that’s the most food for the least amount of plastic. I’m hoping to avoid going shopping this week, or at least buy the minimum extra food to save money.

In preparation for the coming snow storm I moved my truck off the driveway so the landlord can push the snow back from where I normally park, and took out the food waste, trash and recycables for the first time since I got back from my Madison County trip on New Years Eve. I didn’t want to dig out the trash cans after the snow, and the food waste was starting to rot inside.🗑 Certainly that’s more of a pressing concern when it’s warmer in the summer. I’m hoping it will a relatively lightweight snow without ice that I can brush off my truck as I can’t find my scraper, and I don’t feel like doing a lot of shoveling. The accessory battery is certainly well charged on the truck — with the limited amount of sun we had today, the voltage was a nice 14.3 volts until returned to a float voltage of 13.3 volts.😎 I really have to hook the amp meter and shunt I bought last summer to see how much power is actually coming off the panel — voltage tells you if it’s charging or the battery’s state of charge but not how much energy the panel is actually producing in watts (amps x volts).

So I thought about going out for a walk this afternoon but I was kind of lazy and when I went outside, it sure felt cold with the breeze of the impending storm. Started flipping through this rather interesting book about the ins and outs of purchasing and wiring solar panels on your own. Looks like a fascinating book. I know the basics of electricity, but not all the industry standards. I might later go out for a walk when it’s snowing around the usual evening route but for now I’m down at the library for a bit. 📚I went last night also to the library and got some books, now I’m just downloading a few more Youtube videos about farming, cabin-life, trapping, and electronics. I have this script that downloads them to the hard drive, so I can watch them later on. I am actually kind of disappointed that the snow didn’t come mid-week, and we couldn’t have the warm weather with sun for skiing that is expected mid-next week when I have to work.⛷

Starting to get a common cold I’m afraid. I’ve noticed it on and off all week, and I actually avoided going over to John Wolcott’s house so I wouldn’t get him sick. 😷 But then I felt better this morning and having a few cups off coffee right getting up. I’m trying to drink lots of water and taking it easy. I’m actually not sure if it’s a cold or just some congestion but I figured I’ll be stuck at home tomorrow, as the library will be closed I fully expect. Monday’s a holiday from work, but I have to dig out Big Red to take Dad to the doctor in the afternoon. I’m hoping the wind will be reasonable enough yesterday that I can go out skiing around town, but I don’t know the wind chills are supposed to be quite extreme especially come Monday. 🌬I already have the heat turned up a bit, and will probably leave it warmer for the foreseeable future, well until Tuesday or Wednesday when it may get back up into them mid to upper 30s. Otherwise the gas heat won’t keep up and I’ll need to turn the electric baseboard heat on upstairs.

This evening I have some small soldering and electronics projects I want to work on. I plan to finally disassembly the board the operates the warm/cool white LED string I use in my bedroom to make it easier for getting to sleep and waking up in the morning, pulling off the MOSFET transistors and soldering them on the new board powered by the LOLIN32 ESP board, which will be controlled via bluetooth and my phone rather then an IR remote. 💻Combined with the more powerful processor and larger memory, I should have many more options for the lights talking to each other in the my room. I was hoping to use the other transistors I bought a while back but I found out they were not logic grade, so driven at 3.3 volts would produce a lot of heat and a dim light output. Well, this way the existing ones that are logic-grade will get reused immediately. I did order a few more from AliExpress.

Mid-week I got my new dress shoes from Zappos. Really nice shoes for $50, probably a much nicer score then what I would have gotten had I gone to Supershoes in Northway Maul. I know people have thoughts about the good ol’ days and brick and motar retail, but I tell you if you can get stuff you actually need online for a better price, it saves on carbon, saves on unnecessary waste in the form of building and unsold merchandise. 👞 Warehouses don’t have to be pretty, they can serve a lot more people then a traditional brick and motar store. Online reviews are pretty good too. I’ll have to think about them for the next set of boots I need once my current ones — which are only a month old and in good shape — wear out. Although, I think it’s hard to beat the Brahama boots I get from Wally World, as I find expensive ones wear through the soles just as quickly, as I walk a lot and spend a lot of time out int he wilderness.

As previously noted, next Saturday is 5:30 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 5:01 pm with dusk at 5:31 pm. On that day in 2018, we had sunny and temperatures between 32 and 9 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 31 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1950.

December 3, 2018 Morning

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.

Andy Arthur.org

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