March 29, 2018 Sunset Update

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Once it warms up, we have longer days 🌻 to look forward to in coming weeks. Next weekend we will have the first 7:30 PM sunset 🌇 of the year, which means it won’t be dark for about a half hour later around 8 PM. 😎

7:30 pm sunset – Saturday, April 7
7:45 pm sunset – Saturday, April 21
8:00 pm sunset – Friday, May 4
8:15 pm sunset – Friday, May 18
8:30 pm sunset – Tuesday, June 5
Latest Sunset – 8:37 pm – Friday, June 22 ⛱
8:15 pm sunset – Monday, July 16
8:00 pm sunset – Wednesday, August 1
7:45 pm sunset – Sunday, August 12

How to Do Nothing author Jenny Odell on resisting the pull of Instagram – Vox

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How to Do Nothing author Jenny Odell on resisting the pull of Instagram – Vox

Odell’s proposed course of action doesn’t have much use for the now-trendy “Time Well Spent” movement (which relies on more tech to solve the problem of too much tech) or apps that inform you when you’ve wasted too much of your day on social media, or any solution proposed by the same Silicon Valley wunderkinds who profited from getting us into this mess. The goal of those projects, she argues, is to guide you into repurposing your time in a way that’s productive. They’re purportedly about wellness, but they’re tinged with the stink of capitalist always-on hustle culture. She doesn’t even want to get rid of social media, just redo it. Just get us all some peace.

March 2019 Save the Pine Bush Hike

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On this beautiful early spring day, well except for the clouds, we had pretty good turn out for the Save the Pine Bush hike. The birds where chirping, there was a pretty good refreshing breeze.

What First Responders Don’t Know About Fiery EVs – Bloomberg

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Tesla Fires: What First Responders Don’t Know About Fiery EVs – Bloomberg

After an out-of-control Tesla Model S plowed into a stand of palm trees on a highway median outside Fort Lauderdale last month, police rushed to put out the ensuing blaze using a department-issued fire extinguisher. It was a wasted effort. The car kept on burning after the crash, which killed the driver.

The police may not have known lithium-ion batteries inside electric vehicles, once ignited, can’t be put out with chemicals from a conventional extinguisher. The battery fires are susceptible to a self-destructive chain reaction known as thermal runaway, causing a feedback loop of rising temperatures. The Tesla fire stumped a series of first responders in Florida. Firefighters eventually doused the flames with water, which seemed to work, but the wrecked car reignited twice more after being towed away. That prompted what a police report later termed “extraordinary measures,” including a call to Broward County’s hazmat unit for advice on stamping out the fire once and for all.

The accident illustrates the challenges faced by first responders unfamiliar with the special characteristics—and hazards—of electric vehicles’ powertrains. Safety experts say the only way to extinguish a lithium-ion battery inside a car is with thousands of gallons of water, much more than what it takes to stop a fire in a typical gasoline engine. The other option is to just let it burn itself out. “It’s such a difficult fire because it takes so much water to put out,” said Robert Taylor, fire marshal in Davie, Fla., where the crash occurred.

March 31, 2019 Morning

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Good morning! March is almost done. Next Sunday is 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇. Partly cloudy, blustery and 55 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ 17 mph breeze from the south 🌬 with gusts up to 34 mph 💨💨💨. You hear the wind pick up from time to time. 🍃 The dew point is 44 degrees. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around noontime. ☃️

It was nice having some sun this morning as I got up for work. Rain showers are expected to push in shortly though. ☔ I’m off to the shower 🚿 and then to a long day at work on this final day of March 2019 that’s more like a wet wool smelling lamb then anything else. Woke up early around 5 AM then fell back asleep. 💤 I’ve been waking up a lot around 4:30 AM many mornings, not sure why, maybe it’s because I’ve been going to bed early.

I turned the heat back on 🔥 before leaving for work, as tomorrow will be pretty cold. It’s set to 50 degrees. Too warm inside to kick on until later, but I don’t know how late I’ll return tonight. Only need it through Tuesday morning, 😊at which point I hope the heat can be off until October. It’s not that expensive but I need to save some money with camping season just around the corner.

Today will have showers, mainly after 8am. Temperature falling to around 43 by 3pm. Breezy, with a south wind 14 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had sunny in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 56 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1998. 14.6 inches of snow fell back in 1997.❄

The sun will set at 7:20 pm with dusk around 7:48 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 39 degrees. Breezy, 18 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 31mph. Today will have 12 hours and 42 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before midnight, then a slight chance of snow showers between midnight and 3am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 28 degrees at 6am. Four degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical night around March 23rd. Northwest wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2018, we had cloudy in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of 9 occurred back in 1923.

As previously noted, Monday will be sunny but cold 🌞, with a high of 44 degrees at 4pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similiar to a typical day around March 16th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 18 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. A year ago, we had sunny in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 77 was set in 1986. 5.0 inches of snow fell back in 1924.❄

The one day weekend came and went pretty quickly for me. Back to work on this Sunday morning.😮 Not that I had big ambitions for today, it’s kind of a rather wet and rainy day.💦 Yesterday, despite the clouds was a pretty mild and nice day – the Pine Bush Hike was nice as was Bennett a Hill. 🚶I’ll post my Bennett Hill photos later on today.📷

Nice hiking up Bennett Hill yesterday. Those cows next to the mountain though sure were muddy. 🐄It looked like their path back to the barn was a bit flooded too. Cows are fairly hardy animals but wet feet just like humans can cause all kinds of problems too. Not a bad hike but a lot of people on the mountain.

Driving out to my parents house, past my neighbors house with their hobby farm with pigs, cows, goats, chickens,🐷🐮🐤 and God knows what else reminded me how jealous I am of them and their redneck life with all their knowledge and toys I’ll never have. Even if I work hard and invest everything I can, I’ll never be able to achieve the life that they did. 🔨They’re is something so wonderful and charming about the redneck life.

I went out and saw the folks yesterday for dinner, hanging my hammock up and relaxing out front there. 😁I wouldn’t mind using the hammock where I live but the landlord chopped down all the trees in the yard. Well I’ll get plenty of use this summer. 🐸I’m thinking about doing some hammock camping in the back country this summer. Once black fly season is done for sure.

I went out for my evening walk and sat out back for a while, still a pretty mild evening although in some ways I prefer laying in my bed compared to the lawn chair. 🚶 Had a nice glass of cider vinegar water and retired to bed around 9:30, listening to a podcast for a while.🎶 I tried to get as much sleep as possible as I know today is going to be a long day.

I bought about $30 on groceries yesterday but today driving into work I’m going to buy some pan spray, 🍳 which I forgot plus some candy 🍬 to hand out in the office plus some energy shots. Even if I don’t take them tonight to keep my alert for the drive home, they’re good to keep in my truck should I get tired driving up to camp one night. ☕ Energy shots are good for keeping awake without having to stop and pee along the road every five minutes. I also need to gas up the truck this morning, ⛽ first time in a month. Gas prices have gone up a lot.

Stopped at Falvo’s on the way back from the Save the Pine Bush Hike and bought some more of their meat balls. 🍝I have a full pack in the freezer but my parents swear by them and I figured I should buy them before they are gone for good. Those old fashioned butcher shops are all a dying breed and the owners there are a million years old.👵 I missed out on ever going to Toll Gate Ice Cream 🍦and I don’t want to not have a few good meals from there.

I noticed the cruise control isn’t working on my truck even in the warm weather due to that sensor that is malfunctioning.🔎 Not critical, more annoying, I thought it only was a cold weather problem. I might have the General fix🔧 it the next time I have an oil change done💸. Annoying enough I think I’m willing to pay for the fix, especially if I’m heading out a lot more to spend time in the Adirondacks camping this summer.🚗

The long range looks cloudy but mild for next weekend. Next Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. ☁ Typical average high for the weekend is 54 degrees.

In four weeks on April 28 the sun will be setting at 7:52 pm,🌄 which is 31 minutes and 51 seconds later then today. In 2018 on that day, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 68 and 45 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 64 and 42 degrees. The record high of 92 degrees was set back in 1990.

Looking ahead, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 1 weeks, Palm Sunday 🌴 is in 2 weeks, Easter 🐰 is in 3 weeks, Cinco de Mayo 🤠 is in 5 weeks, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 6 weeks, Fathers Day 👨 is in 11 weeks, National Nude Day 👱 is in 15 weeks, Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆 is in 22 weeks, Autumn 🍂 is in 25 weeks and Average High is 60 🍂 is in 28 weeks.

Upper Falls