Looking Forward to Trump’s Speech

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I am quite interested to hear what President Trump has to say this evening. Most presidents rarely get much of their State of the Union policy proposals through, and we can guess what Trump will be calling for, it should be interesting to hear what he was to say.📣 I like how Trump has made it a priority to downsize government, although admittedly much of his talk on scaling back government has been more rhetoric then policy.🌎 I want to see a society where there are fewer, simpler laws and less government inference in every day life.

One thing I hope he talks about is climate change and the need to invest in renewable energy. Granted, this hasn’t been a priority in his first year, but I am still hopeful he can change his mind. ⚡Renewable energy has the ability to spur new industries, to help out areas previously left behind by economic growth. Coal may have been Applachia’s base industry, but now renewables like wind, tourism, and new forms of value added agriculture are it’s future.🏔 The old America was about making basic materials, the new America is about making experiences.

I hope the president also puts a priority on immigration and embracing diverse groups of new Americans.👬 We should value hard-work, we should be encouraging people to move to our country who have the dedication and wiliness to fill positions that Americans don’t want. We need to fix situation that DREAMERS are in, and open our borders to people who share our values.

Criminal justice is another issue he should address. I hope the president calls for an expanded death penalty, that is fast and effective. We are overcrowding our prisons🔫 and releasing too many ex-felons to the street, rather using a fast, humane way of executing criminals after being found guilty of felony.💉 We need to get people off the street that are panhandling and harassing people as they pass on by doing their business.👺 Rather then focusing on gun control, we need to focus on killing off criminal class that are destroying our society.

The president should also address healthcare. 🏥The short-comings of the Affordable Care Act are widely covered in the media, but he should address how we will provide affordable healthcare to all Americans. Maybe he will put forward a Single Payere the government will help subsidize healthcare to make sure it is affordable for all Americans.

Making college more affordable should also be a priority the president, and not just throwing more money at the problem.🍎 We should find ways to help colleges economize, slim down costs, make tuition more in line with the amount of aid that is currently available. New York’s Tuition-Free is a good idea previously adopted by Rhode Island and Tennessee, but it doesn’t do enough to constrain costs. 📚

There is much that the president can say in his address for our country. I look forward to seeing what he has to say.

January 30, 2018 Evening

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Good evening! Cloudy with some snow flurries around ❄ and 26 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north-northwest breeze at 10 mph. The skies will clear around 11 pm.

With that breeze, it was a bit chilly waiting out for the bus. Running a few minutes late because of the traffic on South Swan but 787 was a breeze with only light traffic. I swear they must have adjusted the traffic light timing as many nights lately it runs quite well. 

Tonight will be scattered snow showers, mainly before 9pm. Cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low of 13 degrees at 6am.🌕 Three degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 2 at 6am; Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 11 degrees. The record low of -26 occurred back in 1948.

Tonight will have a Blue Moon with 100% illuminated. The sun will rise at 7:10 am with the first light at 6:40 am, which is one minute and one second earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 2 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 21 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of snow after 4pm❄. Increasing clouds, with a high of 30 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal.⛅  Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 26 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1913. 6.9 inches of snow fell back in 2000.

Tonight I’m looking at patching the code to ensure all the lights are off on my VMS / clock when bedtime comes. Its a relatively small fix. I’ve also been learning about the EEPROM and will start storing the color temperature and brightness in the permanent memory, so that the strip remains at the dam brightness and color upon power reset or a momentary failure of the power supply. This way if the lights flicker I won’t be plugged into darkness or totally bright light unexpectedly. 

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 26.⛅ Sunday, a chance of rain and snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 34. ❄💧Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees. Not exceptionally nice for the first weekend of February. 

With the lack of snow and relatively cool temperatures I think I will stay in town this weekend. It’s gets tough with there being a lot of snow up north and still a fair bit of ice in Schoharie for truck cap camping and tent camping isn’t practical when there isn’t snow to drag back in the heater, tent and gear. Two months from now, winter definitely will be on a downswing. I miss traveling, I miss camping and having a fire. ⛺

In four weeks on February 27 the sun will be setting at 5:43 pm, which is 36 minutes and 10 seconds later then tonight. 🌅In 2017 on that day, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 55 and 26 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 38 and 20 degrees. The record high of 61 degrees was set back in 1997.

Looking ahead, Lame Duck Day is in 1 week, First Day of Spring is in 7 weeks,🐣 Good Friday is in 1 months,🐰 Election Day 2018 is in 40 weeks and Election Day 2020 ✔is in 144 weeks.

Only 114 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!

The Magnetic Field Is Shifting. The Poles May Flip. This Could Get Bad.

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The Magnetic Field Is Shifting. The Poles May Flip. This Could Get Bad.

"The Earth’s magnetic field protects our planet from dangerous solar and cosmic rays, like a giant shield. As the poles switch places (or try to), that shield is weakened; scientists estimate that it could waste away to as little as a tenth of its usual force. The shield could be compromised for centuries while the poles move, allowing malevolent radiation closer to the surface of the planet for that whole time. Already, changes within the Earth have weakened the field over the South Atlantic so much that satellites exposed to the resulting radiation have experienced memory failure."

January 30, 2018 9 AM Update

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Good morning! A rather cloudy Tuesday ☁ for President Trump’s and first State of Union Address. 👹Next Tuesday is Lame Duck Day. 🐤Snow flurries, cloudy skies and 24 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north breeze at 6 mph. The skies will clear around 9 pm. I think I saw a few snow flurries around, but other then that, it’s just another late January gray winter day. But don’t worry, be happy. Spring is only just around the corner, or so I tell myself. 

🐣Only 49 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🐢

Today will be cloudy, with a high of 32 degrees at 1pm. One degree above normal. North wind 6 to 10 mph. Things will start to warm up more as we head into February,🌸 although I’m sure we are due for at least one more big arctic blast before it’s done. ❄A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 30 degrees. The record high of 56 was set in 2013. 11 inches of snow fell back in 1966.

The sun will set at 5:07 pm with dusk around 5:36 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday.🌄 If I get out of work at 5 PM, there will still be a fair amount of daylight. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 27 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 20 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 9pm. Cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low of 11 degrees at 6am. Four degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 0 at 6am; Northwest wind 9 to 13 mph. Fairly cold, but certainly a better way to end the month then how we started it in the in arctic blast. 🎢I might bring the heat up a few degrees this evening, just so things don’t get too cold, but I’m still reeling from the at $100 electricity and gas bill during the recent cold blast. 💣In the summer, I probably pay half that, and my budget is always so tight.  Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 11 degrees. The record low of -26 occurred back in 1948.

So I’m catching the late bus downtown, because despite my lights I was tired from the gray skies and didn’t get a early start. The funny thing was last night, my birthday I was in bed by nine and asleep by ten. I need to get back in the habit of getting to bed earlier. 💤I guess if I don’t run into my boss on the elevator I’ll be fine. 🏣 Tomorrow I plan to be in earlier.  The clock is built continued to glow into the night as there is another bug in the code, but at least it wasn’t flashing. I just need to set one more pin to low at night to shut off the lights. This time, I got up and unplugged it. I will fix all the bugs eventually. I like hacking away at my own code to make it better. 

As previously noted, next Tuesday is Lame Duck Day🐤 when the sun will be setting at 5:16 pm with dusk at 5:45 pm. When that happens, I’ll be home many nights before dusk is done. That’s always a nice sign that spring is coming.🌄 On that day in 2017, we had snow, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 33 and 25 degrees.❄ Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 55 back in 1991.