Most people have probably never kayaked between Albany and Troy on the Hudson River. Yet, it’s a trip one should make, because it’s both fascinating and relaxing, as you paddle between two cities through a lush green landscape.
Not only is the Hudson River conviently located between the two cities, a short drive for residents of the Capital Drive, it demostrates the solitude one can get, and still be within a couple of miles of major former industrial cities in Upstate NY.
It shows the scale of man’s industrial works up close, as they tower far above you. Who would have ever thought the South Troy Bridge was so tall?
And while the river is much cleaner then yesteryear, you will still smell the raw sewage floating in from some storm drains.
You’ll find secret little tributatories, all but forgotten about in the era of powerboats and superhighways that once buried important little rivers and creeks, and made islands into mainland.
You will get a new impression of the river and it’s many crossings, and the noisey automobile traffic that “flies” over the river.
You’ll notice how nature’s creations tower far above our cities and urbanized areas.
And you’ll get a new look at the ordinary city, that often looked at as one passes it buy almost in an ignorant fashion.
The month of May is upon once us again. It’s the first full month of spring, and it’s also the month of the unofficial start of summer, also known as Memorial Day Weekend. The month starts out with the green of early spring well under way, and leaves us with the signs of a spring maturing, and summer well under way.
There will be warm days and cool days in May. The days will continue to grow longer and longer, until we reach the end of the month, and almost feel like the lengthening days are too long too be true. They will prove to be true, once the end of June comes and we start to see maturing summer work it’s way towards August, and ultimately the fall.
Farms and gardeners will prepare and plant their crops. Many will work outdoors, soaking up the beautiful warming weather of spring time. They will enjoying the changing outdoors, that will ultimately in four months bring fall time bounty. Things will start to growth, and the natural world will come alive again.
May is a month of barbecues, parades, camping out under the stars, and much beauty this month. Much to enjoy, much to do that wasn’t possible when things where colder and not nearly as green. The days will past quickly as we work ourselves into the first true month of summer with June, but it still sure will be nice.
So enjoy this beautiful first month of what hopefully will be many months with long and beautiful nights outdoors.
Most people don’t understand the difference between energy conservation and energy efficiency. Yet, it’s an important concept to understand.
For the sake of this example, let’s take a 100 watt incandescent light bulb. You plan on leaving it on for an hour, which will consume 100 watts over the hour or 0.10 kW/h. Giving it some thought about the electricity you will use, you decide to reduce your energy consumption by either conservation or improving the efficiency of the light bulb.
Energy Efficiency.
You decide to swap the 100 watt incandescent light bulb for a compact florescent bulb, which uses only 26 watts over an hour. The 26-watt CFL is as bright as the 100 watt incadescent bulb, so you don’t end up losing anything.
When you choose energy efficiency you don’t lose anything by switching over to the more efficient technology. Indeed, with modern compact florescent technology, the electronic ballasts are flicker and lamp color resembles a regular bulb. The bulb doesn’t get hot and lasts longer. You always win with efficiency!
Government can easily set efficiency standards. Through laws and regulations, the US Energy Department can tell manufacturers that they must limit the amount of energy required to complete a desired task. That does not mean giving up features, or shutting off the light bulb. Yet, without government efficiency standards, it can often be difficult to find more efficent appliances, because manufacturers are lazy and do not feel the need to innovate.
Energy Conservation.
You decide to keep the 100 watt incandescence bulb and turn off the light after 15 minutes, so you sit in darkness for the rest of the hour. You only use 25 watts over the hour.
When you choose conservation, you save money, but give up utility in response. If their is enough day light, you can turn off a light bulb, and use the day light to read by. You choose to buy a smaller car or television set to conserve energy. It’s a personal choice, or as Dick Cheney famously said, “Conservation is a personal virtue”.
Government can not normally force people to engage in conservation. Unless fuel is rationed or they send a cop to your door to tell you to turn off that 100 watt bulb, you can choose to use as little or as much energy as you want as long as you pay for it. People can be educated on virtues of conservation.
April Showers; Bring May Flowers. —Common Folk Proverb
The month of April is when in Albany we see the last snow showers of the year, and the winter is washed away by the occasional rain showers that dot the days. April in Albany is not a particularly rainy month, and indeed with the rapidly warming temperatures and dry weather leaves us with the highest wildfire danger of year.
By the end of the month, the valleys will start to show the first signs of green, and our world will start to return to it’s “technicolor” beauty. It will largely be a month of browns and grays in the mountains, occasionally with the lack of shade, the weather will be hot and brutal. We will all get bad sunburns in the next month, often the worst sunburns of the year, with no place to hide from the sun that is getting higher over our heads every day.
Over the next month, the daylight will grow by almost 2 hours, with the sun not setting until after 8 PM by the time May rolls around. The sun will start rising an hour earlier to. This bright springtime sunlight will start waking up nature’s cycles and engaging spring time weather by the end of the month. Green will be popping up everywhere.
April is in many ways November in reverse. November takes us from the delightful color of October into the wintry December. April leads us from the cold harsh weather of March back into the delightful color of May. Warm weather is heading our way, as is the beauty of springtime.
Enjoy the month, get out, and enjoy some of the bright clear days that make April such a charming month.
Most days I take the bus downtown to work. Yet, yesterday I was running really late, so I decided instead to drive into work. The idea is would save me a little time — at least compared to waiting another 10 minutes for the next bus to come.
And I did get to work a little bit earlier. But I wasn’t happy. I had to fight traffic both in and out of the city, then find an on-street parking spot. While were I park is far enough from the state office buildings and with permit parking to be quite easy, but it still was not a pleasant experience.
You have to drive around the block looking for a spot. Then once you find your spot, you have to get in it, and make sure your in compliance with all of the parking regulations. You check the signs to make sure your on the street the proper day, then look for driveways, crosswalks, and fire hydrants. After a while you get to memorize all of things, but you still want to check.
Alternatively, you can pay $3 and park in a city lot, where they feed the homeless people and winos. Who may spend the day sleeping under your car. Not exactly a great choice. Yes there are other lots, but either they are a lot more expensive, or they require you to pay for a month permit.
Then you spend all day wonder if some drunk driver or stupid city person is going to crash into your truck, while your at work. You get back your truck at night, and then say, thank god, nobody has messed with my truck while at work. And then you drive home.
If your lucky, you get out of work after rush hour. Otherwise, you sit in traffic, while you try to find all of the residential side streets to sneak past the worst of the traffic. But you still sit in traffic. Eventually, you get home, usually just about the time the evening bus stops next to your house.
..You come to conclusion, that despite burning a gallon of gas, and worrying all day, you didn’t realization you didn’t really save much time at all.
