August 21, 2020 Night

Good evening! Partly clear and 73 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 62 degrees. πŸŒ†

It’s kind of a nice night but a bit humid. 😰 Went down to the park and read for a while and then a brief rain β˜” shower came through. Fortunately it wasn’t enough to get the book I was reading wet. It was clear by the time I walked home. 🏑

Tonight will be partly cloudy πŸŒƒ , with a low of 61 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 13th. Maximum dew point of 63 at 10pm. Light west wind. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was sticky. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 39 occurred back in 1982.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent πŸŒ’ Moon with 11% illuminated. At 9 PM, the moon was in the west (266Β°) at an altitude of 7Β° from the horizon, some 226,675 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. πŸš€ At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by February 9th. Buckle up for safety! πŸ’Ί The darkest hour is at 12:59 am, followed by dawn at 5:40 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:10 am in the east-northeast (73Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 1 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:48 am with sun in the east (79Β°). Tonight will have 10 hours and 22 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly sunny , with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 11am. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became thunderstorm by afternoon. It was very sticky. The high last year was 85 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 1916.

The plan is to go to Schoharie County and go swimming πŸŠπŸ»β€β™‚οΈ tomorrow with maybe some fishing in the evening 🎣 and then camp overnight. I’m planning on a fairly quiet low key weekend. I figure this most likely will be the last weekend I’ll be able to get to the Mine Kill Pool before it closes for the year. πŸŠπŸ»β€β™‚οΈ

In four weeks on September 18 the sun will be setting in the west (273Β°) at 6:59 pm,πŸŒ„ which is 48 minutes and 2 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 69 and 48 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 71 and 51 degrees. The record high of 91 degrees was set back in 1891.

I was reading about independent front suspension in relation to the Corvair article I was reading and the clunk I occasionally hear a full lock 🚘 is likely a sign that the struts are wearing out on Big Red. I’m not surprised 😲 but it doesn’t look to be safety critical or likely to lead to a breakdown and I doubt I’ll replace them at this point.

It is fun to look at cars and bicycles 🚲 although I’m still seriously looking at bicycles and renting a car for trips in the coming years but I could change my mind. πŸ’΅ I cringe at how much my car insurance bill is during the winter months when I drive 20 miles a week to the parents house and grocery stores. Having a car means I can shop at Walmart and take my own garbage to the transfer station β™», that is the stuff I don’t burn at camp. πŸ”₯ I do like traveling a lot on weekends but I feel like the whole automobile industry is so scamy and polluting 🏭.

I got a $60 bill from my dentist πŸ‘¨πŸΌβ€βš•οΈafter my most recent cleaning. It looks like it covers the past two visits with a $20 copay for each plus $20 for the x-ray. Totally reasonable but I’m annoyed because the sent me a bill a few weeks ago saying I owed nothing from the January cleaning. I don’t mind paying it but I will be annoyed if they end up sending me a $60 overpayment check in two weeks.

Looking ahead, Labor Day Weekend Begins πŸ‘¨β€πŸ­ is in 2 weeks, September 11th πŸ‡Έ is in 3 weeks, 7 PM Sunset πŸŒ† is in 4 weeks, Average High is 65 πŸ‚ is in 6 weeks, Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 is in 12 weeks, Buy Nothing Day πŸ›οΈ is in 14 weeks, Average High is 40 🌨 is in 15 weeks, Bake Cookies Day πŸͺ is in 17 weeks, First Day of Winter β˜ƒοΈ is in 4 months, Christmas πŸŽ… is in 18 weeks, New Years Day 2020 πŸŽ‰ is in 19 weeks, Bubble Bath Day 🧼 is in 20 weeks and 37th Birthday πŸŽ‰ is in 23 weeks.

Pine Creek Gorge

Fun city

β€œI still think it’s a fun city.”

– Mayor John V. Lindsay, 1966

Inside the Democratic Party’s plan to prevent vote-by-mail disaster – POLITICO

Inside the Democratic Party’s plan to prevent vote-by-mail disaster – POLITICO

The Democratic Party is kicking off the most complicated get-out-the-vote campaign in history — all without knocking on a door.

The party’s virtual convention marked the unofficial start of a massive public education, voter contact and legal strategy to make voting by mail a success in the fall, a huge priority for Joe Biden’s campaign. Record high numbers of people plan to vote by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic, and that group skews heavily Democratic, according to polling and absentee ballot request data.