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A bit of a chilly start to a nice Tuesday ahead 🪟

I concede that it doesn’t help that I left at least some of my windows open last night and all of them are open now for the fresh air.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Sunny and 35 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Thursday around 2 am. ☃️

Johnny cakes are with broccoli and onion 🧅 this morning topped with Greek yogurt. A very filling breakfast for sure. Had a banana 🍌 and some coffee ☕. Nice sunny 🌞 morning, looking forward to riding to work. 🚲

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 66 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 29th. South wind 5 to 15 mph. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light drizzle by afternoon. The high last year was 54 degrees. The record high of 87 was set in 2007. 2.4 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄

Caught another mouse last night 🪤, this time not the big sucker of last time. 🐁 Since the neighbor moved out and they’ve been renovating the unit next door 🚪 been catching more mice. That mouse zapper trap remains awesome as it’s so easy to use time and time again. Easy to clean and rarely do mice eat the bait before getting zapped. Then you just dump them out.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:54 pm with sun having an altitude of 60.1° from the due south horizon (-10.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:09 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (282°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (288°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:47 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 8:16 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (116°) at an altitude of 5° from the horizon, 248,349 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:54 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 59 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 14 mph with gusts up to 24mph. Today will have 13 hours and 49 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over yesterday.

Got the basics at Hannaford yesterday, 🛒 you know onions, broccoli, 🥦 and frozen fruit. 🍓 In the morning I got bananas 🍌 and apples 🍏 to eat at work. It’s nice being able to stop on the way home when I bike commute. I guess that’s a convience I miss by busing it to work. Made a quick stir fry 🍳 when I got home last night and then went to the Town Park 🏞 for a walk and to read 📖 for a while. Ebooks are great, free from the library.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 3am. Increasing clouds 🌧, with a low of 44 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 3rd. South wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 25 occurred back in 1965.

One of the great things about being able to computer program 🖥 is when the programs they give you at work aren’t working properly you can code your own. That is really handy. Been so busy at work lately but maybe it’s because I’m always coding and working on improving processing at work. But I love the job 😍 and always want to be improving things. Already got to run the label 🔖 job for the May birthday 🎂 mailer today. How fast the month comes and goes. I think that means today is a pay day too.

The weekend doesn’t look half bad. ☀ I’ll have to figure out something fun for Saturday. Probably not camping this weekend as I did it last. Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 61. Maximum dew point of 41 at 7pm. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Maximum dew point oyvf 57 at 3pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 65 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until 8 PM Sunset 🌇with dusk at 8:34 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 59 and 45 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 69 degrees. We hit a record high of 92 back in 1930.

Trees

Hump Day starting out nice 🐪

Sunny and not too cold for mid April but so far no real warm weather. Those days most certainly though are coming.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. But as they say, the nice weather is not expected to last. Mostly sunny and 43 degrees in Delmar. ☀ There is a north breeze at 7 mph. 🍃

French toast this morning 🥖, slicing off some slices of the homemade bread I made last week that was getting stale. Not bad topped with strawberries 🍓 and honey 🍯. Dinner last night was fried zucchini 🍆 with sweet onions 🧅, riding home last night I picked up some more.

When I was cooking this morning 🍳I apparently startled a mouse 🐁 which proceeded to jump from the counter to the hot stove and then across the room in the air. Apparently the electric mouse zappers didn’t get him as I ignored the mouse captured blinking light on it last night. 🪤A mouse trap don’t work if it’s full.

Today will have increasing clouds ☀ 👉 ☁, with a high of 64 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 25th. North wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the morning. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 64 degrees. The record high of 91 was set in 2002. 0.3 inches of snow fell back in 1965.❄

Should be a beautiful day for riding in 🚲 but depending if it rains ☔ I might have to bus 🚍 it home. So be it. Still good exercise. 💪🏻 Yesterday it was nice reading 📖 down at the park. 🏞

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 58.1° from the due south horizon (-12.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:02 pm with the sun in the west (279°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (286°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes with dusk around 8:09 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southeast (155°) at an altitude of 64° from the horizon, 250,209 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:45 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 59 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 33 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.

They’re continuing to gut the apartment next door and tore up part of the slab. 👷Quite the construction 🚧 project, they’re must have been a lot wrong with the physical plant of the unit next door, probably this explains why my apartment is always wet and the bathtub never properly drains. 🚿 Or the mold issues. Who knows if the fixes next door will also improve my unit as a side effect. I can hope.

Tonight will have showers likely, mainly after 10pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 45 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 5th. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 38 degrees. The record low of 21 occurred back in 1948.

Cool this weekend with temperatures running 6 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. 😃 Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 58. Breezy. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees.

Still not sure what my weekend plans are going to be 🌲 in part because it’s going to rain on Friday evening and I’m thinking in a few weeks it would be nice to go out to Schoharie County and do a spring time ride along the Catskill Scenic Trail rather than do it this weekend. I do want to camp ⛺ maybe just a quick overnight but it’s probably too cold to do a hammock camp just up in the woods. I thought about heading back to the Adirondacks but it’s a pretty good trip to just head there for the weekend.

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until May 🕊 when the sun will be setting at 7:57 pm with dusk at 8:26 pm. On that day in 2023, we had rain and temperatures between 59 and 45 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 66 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 2001.

Winding Road

Not the nicest Hump Day around ever to kick off spring 🌧️

March rain and snow showers bring mud and a lower fire risk and hopefully some green though it will need to warm up a bit. But I’m sure 80 degree days aren’t far off. I am just hoping for nice weather come Easter weekend.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Rain and snow showers around and 34 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a south breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 8 pm. ☃️

While I concede that I probably will get wet, I am going to ride my bike to work today. 🚲 I am nuts 🤪 but hardly that’s a secret – I figure I’m kind of the Charlie Luce of Data Services. You know the former CEO of ConEd who used to ride his bicycle to work and to construction 🚧 sites to view projects in the 1960s. I think the bigger danger is getting soaked at five o’clock 💦 though if it happens I’ll throw my bike on the bus 🚍 and come home and get changed. I like the exercise and saving the bus fare. 🎫

Today will have a slight chance of rain and snow showers before 11am, then a chance of rain showers after noon. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 47 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. South wind 8 to 10 mph becoming west in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 52 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 2012. 7.0 inches of snow fell back in 1944.❄

Last night I got home and was somewhat chilled through from the evening bike ride. 🌬️ It was windy to say the least. Microwaved a sweet potato, chopped it up and fried it with onions and corn. 🍳 Not a half bad dinner, I was fully engulfed in the Power Broker audio book. 🎧️ You know the classic one by Robert Caro on Robert Moses. The politics are intensely fascinating. 🏗️ I was going to read and watch some videos about building green homes, but somehow I was cold so I retired to under my electric blanket and was asleep shortly after 7 PM. I had planned to get up really early — maybe at 4 AM to do more reading, 📚️ but somehow I didn’t get up until some point between 5:30 and 5:45 AM which is late for me. I guess I needed a bit of extra sleep last night. 🛏️

Probably the reason why my sleep is so fucked up 💤 is because I drink like 2-3 large cups of coffee in the morning,  ☕️ then I come into the office in and drink two more cups of iced black coffee.  🧊 It keeps me awake, but as my doctor noted last year, it’s kind of excessive to say the least. I should drink more water  in the morning, and try to be more in moderation so I’m not pissing all of the time. 🥛 But also by the time I get home I’m just warn out after all those hours of studying data records. Plus I’m spending so much time thinking what my future home would look like, and all the steps to implement it. But what I need the most is a good night in the wilderness with a big fire. 🏕️ 🔥 I’m really hoping next week.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 47.5° from the due south horizon (-23.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:31 pm with the sun in the west (265°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (271°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:08 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:36 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the east-southeast (111°) at an altitude of 51° from the horizon, 249,398 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:09 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 15 mph. Tomorrow will have 12 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over today.

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow showers before 9pm, then a slight chance of snow showers after 5am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear 🌧, with a low of 22 degrees at 4am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 4th. West wind around 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2023, we had clear skies in the evening, which became clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 24 degrees. The record low of -01 occurred back in 1956.

This weekend is a mixed bag but generally Saturday is wet and Sunday is sunny but cold again. 🌦️ Saturday, snow, possibly mixed with rain, becoming all rain after 8am. High near 42. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 48 degrees.

I am potentially thinking about driving down to Catskill Mountain Cabins in Kingston to learn more 🛖 though I almost want to do more research first as I know as soon as a salesperson gets my phone and email 📱 📧 I will be harassed to buy now. And I’m not sure if that option is right for me. Already since I’ve mentioned to people that I’m interested in building a small solar powered home, I get people sending me pictures of tiny homes and off grid cabins in the wilderness – both which aren’t practical or realistic options for the life I want to live. I want to have good information in my hands 👐 and do what’s right for me before buying 💰 but also I don’t want to delay forever.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until 8 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 7:33 pm. On that day in 2023, we had sunny and temperatures between 67 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 57 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 1922.

Harvey Mountain

Going to be a nice late winter Tuesday with ample sun but the wind sticks around ☀

At least I have power this morning and it’s not like I’m showering in the pitch black like yesterday. The windows are open as I like the fresh air, even if it’s cold out. Plus I burnt some crap on the stove this morning and it was a smoking.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Sunny and 34 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a west breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 5 am. ☃️

Going to be such a nice day I plan to leave early 🚲 and ride in via the longer way using the Menands exit off the Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail. Mornings are dark currently with the time change but we gain back that daylight quickly. 💡 Things are much brighter this morning though with the power back on. 🔌

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 59 degrees at 4pm. 15 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 14th. Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Less windy though then yesterday. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 46 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 2012. 30.4 inches of snow fell back in 1888.❄ That’s a lot of snow. But then again, last week if it had been colder and not an El Nino year, we probably would have gotten a ton of snow.

It was great being able to ride home, with the extra hour of sunlight. 🌆 We’ve gained a lot of time in evening in recent weeks, but the time change ⏲ really was a game changer in the evening when it comes to sunlight. If it wasn’t so dang cold and windy last night, I would have totally enjoyed an evening walk in the daylight, or maybe even going down to the park.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:06 pm with sun having an altitude of 44.3° from the due south horizon (-26.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:22 pm with the sun in the west (260°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (267°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:59 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 7:26 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west (260°) at an altitude of 28° from the horizon, 228,842 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:00 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 50 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 9 mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 53 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over today.

I am continuing to read, How to plan, contract, and build your own home. 🏠 I am not super interested in the section about what people want in the latest big suburbanite home, but I am quite interested in the permitting and contracting section, along with learning some of the basics of building construction. 👷‍♀️ While there are experts out there you can hire to swing a hammer, I want to make sure I’m getting a fair deal, 🤝 that things will get signed off by town officials ✅ and that I’m able to build and live the way I want. I may have to pass up on a parcel or two that I love because I’m taking my time, ❤️ or pay a few months extra in rent, but I want to do what will work well for the next 20 years of my life through retirement and maybe beyond.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 35 degrees at 3am. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 10th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. I can probably leave at least some of the windows open tonight. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -6 occurred back in 1885.

Today in 1933, was the first of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats. 📻 He really mastered the communication methods of the time when he was running for president. A lot of homes had radios by the thirties. It’s funny though I listen to a fair bit of audio and even radio programs these days it’s either streaming or podcasts. Radio is still good when you are in the Adirondacks though without cell phone reception 📶 but there are a fewer and fewer places like that.

Weekend will be mild but it’s sliding in the wrong direction. 😞 Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Sunday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Typical average high for the weekend is 45 degrees.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Last Day of Winter 🏂 when the sun will be setting at 7:08 pm with dusk at 7:35 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 2012. I’m not sad about that but I bet March is going to end colder then certainly 2012.

Cattails

It’s nice sleeping with the windows open 🔲

The fresh air is nice even if I don’t love all the road noise.

Good morning! Rain and 51 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ Breezy, ️18 mph breeze from the south-southeast 🌬 with gusts up to 28 mph 💨💨💨. The dew point is 50 degrees. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 11 pm. ☃️

Pancakes 🥞 with fruit and maple 🍁 syrup this morning. I should get some locally bottled syrup as this point I’m sure the sugar houses are firing up. Coffee ☕ too but not to much as there is plenty in the office 🏢 to drink, lol 😂.

Rainy ☔ morning today, but I’m driving to work 🛻 as we are going to lunch to celebrate 🎉 the retiring director and I need a car to get to lunch plus I need to get money 💵. I also want to bring in some of my plants 🌿 and some of my other office stuff that’s been sitting at home while I’ve been in the temporary cubicle. 👞 I have big shoes to fill but I know I’ll do excellent work that I’m proud of in coming years. In some ways it’s a dream job – I’ve always loved working with computers and data – and I get to use the Unix text utilities and SQL every day. Plus lots of R and Python. 🖥 I miss the politics and working Capitol Hill but I’m hopeful to be more involved with that side of things come the autumn. 🗳 Those posters I’m sure once framed will be beautiful in my office. 🖼️

Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 11am. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 59 degrees at 2pm. 19 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 14th. Maximum dew point of 55 at 1pm. Breezy, with a south wind 18 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1903. 9.7 inches of snow fell back in 1948.❄

I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy 😊 to have my rent check clear 💵 but it seems like my new landlord didn’t delay in cashing the check. It’s good to know he got paid and he’s not going to play games with Venmo. 🎮 While I don’t view Delmar to be my home forever, and hopefully not into next winter it buys time. Even with the June rent hike, this is still my cheapest option to live here. I don’t think I’ll come out ahead owning a home compared to renting a cheap place on the bus 🚍 line and riding to work 🚲 most days.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 39.3° from the due south horizon (-31.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:05 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (253°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (260°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:43 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 57 seconds with dusk around 6:11 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:44 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 58 degrees. The dew point will be 54 degrees. Breezy, 22 mph breeze ⛅ from the south with gusts up to 37mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 15 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over today.

I’m still looking at better housing options even though my rent check cleared as saving money isn‘t the only thing in this world, I’m rapidly getting older 👴🏼 and as I settle into what is likely my career for the next twenty years, I should look for a lifestyle that I really want to live. As I noted yesterday, few things scare me more than dropping dead at age 64 and not living the life I want before then. Life isn’t guaranteed forever. Plus I’m super jealous of all my friends and colleagues who have land out in the country. 🚜 I shouldn’t be but I am.

I am basically pre-qualified for a mortgage after submitting a ton of documents but I haven’t followed up with the banks to get it in writing or get a letter ✉ of pre-approval. Part of it is I might not get a traditional mortgage should a buy a fixer up property or have a cabin built to my specifications. To be clear, I don’t want to stall now that the pressure is off but I want to make the right decision on what may define the place I call home my remaining working year. I am continuing to read a book 📖 about custom home building ⚒️ and the contracting process. Is that the right option for me? I don’t know but I don’t want to be stuck in a house too big with features I don’t want with a life I don’t want.

Tonight will rain showers, possibly mixing with snow after 10pm, then gradually ending. 🌧 Low of 24 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 1st. Windy, with a south wind 23 to 30 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 48 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -2 occurred back in 2008.

Last night 🌃 I had more fried zucchini with onions and corn with spices. A good dinner followed by some mango and chopped apple 🍏 with cinnamon. Then I went for my evening walk 🚶. Rode both ways to work plus a short ride around North Albany. Been finalizing the details of moving into the new private office and getting the phones 📞 switched over to that office. Plants 🌿 are moving into that office today even if the retiring director still will be there a bit today.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 59. I still think it would be a nice night 🌃 to camp on Saturday if not too muddy. Today’s rain should reduce the fire risk though it also will reduce the snow. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees.

One month 📅 from now the Average High is 50 🌸 when the sun will be setting at 7:18 pm with dusk at 7:45 pm (Daylight Savings Time). That sure will be nice when the heat is off and the windows open. And the evening commute much brighter 🔆.

Bullet hole

One more nice day before the snow 🌞

Monday, Monday. Riding to work and enjoying it before the snow comes and takes over the land again during this mid-February Valentine’s Day Week. Then a three-day weekend, though it might be cool and snowy so who knows about Madison County come Friday.

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Cloudy and at the freezing point in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Going to warm up as the day progresses, with the skies clearing around noontime. Not a terrible day ahead, though the morning will be cloudier and tomorrow will snow.

Oatmeal pancakes with shredded orange 🥞 🍊 made for a delicious 😋 start to the morning today. Topped with lots of blueberries I will note. 🫐 I know I’m waiting for the inevitable blood sugar crash 📉 though I’m hopeful that the protein in the egg plus the mixture of oatmeal, shredded orange including the peel and whole 🌾 flour will help slow the crash. Didn’t use any maple 🍁 syrup today, the blueberries were plenty of sugar, lol. 😂

I figure today’s the day to ride to work if any day this week. 🚲 👉 🌨 Tomorrow is going to be quite snowy, so it will be back to busing it back and forth to work. 🚵‍♀️ And after the snow tomorrow, the rail trail will be likely impassable for several days, ⛄ and while I could take Corning’s Hill and South Pearl to work, it’s going to be cold plus the shoulder of the South Pearl near the Port is a muddy rough mess. Not to mention, Wednesday looks like it will be quite cold. ❄️ I do need to call the bike shop and ask about a tune up for the bike 👩‍🔧 and getting those gears really tight and working well before spring comes and appointments with the bike mechanic get really hard to get. As I ride my bike nearly every day, I want to keep it running in top condition.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 42 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 6th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 1932. 13.5 inches of snow fell back in 1988.❄

On the way in, I got to stop at Hannaford ❤️ 🍬 and get some candy to hand out in the office for Valentines’ Day. As the director now, I have to make sure I have little trinkets to give away for holidays and special occasions to reward staff. 🎁 Nice little gestures. I know that’s what they did for years when I was just staff and deputy management, but being I’m now the big man in town, I got to make sure to plan to do such things going forward. 🎂 Also need to look up my staff’s birthdays and make sure to have cake or cookies for each of their birthdays. Figure I should budget about $20 a month for that. Even if I don’t eat cake and sweets anymore, I know a lot of people like that kind of thing. 🍪 It’s a nice gesture and important for a successful office.

Been exploring more of the free resources of the Bethlehem Public Library, 📚 namely E-Books borrowing using the Libby app that let’s you read 📖 and listen to audio books for free on your phone or Kindle if you have such technology. Mom was going to give me her old Kindle but I struggled to understand how the technology works 📲 and after cussing it out 🤬 I think it might be too old of a model. At any rate, I think it easier to read E-Books on my phone with the Libby app which saves them on the phone so I can use it offline in the remote Adirondack country. That said, I’ll probably use the audio books even more 📼 as I can listen while riding my bike 🚲 or by the campfire 🔥. I figure with my taxes so damn high, I best use every free government service out there – be it the state forests, free guided hikes, lectures, nature bus, bike trails etc.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.6° from the due south horizon (-37.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:43 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (245°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (252°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 5:51 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-southwest (238°) at an altitude of 30° from the horizon, 226,878 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:25 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 39 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 31 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over today.

Groceries were another $120 this week, 🤯 which is more pain on the budget, but I did also buy some more loaf pans and knife sharpener. Eating all those fresh fruit and vegetables really adds up. 🍎 And it’s not like things are going to waste, 🚯 by the end of last week my freezer was mostly empty except for camping ice, but between inflation and everything else it adds up. Sunday night dinner was a really nice tomato 🍅 bean soup with the family 👪, I made some of my onion🧅 and carrot bread 🥕 to share. Took home leftovers, been slowly but surely eating up what’s in the freezer in an effort to cut my grocery costs. 🛒 Inflation sucks and I make good money 💵 these days but it doesn’t go very far anymore. Maybe it’s because I’m so committed to saving and investing in my future, 🔮 but I find it hard to make ends meet during these inflationary times.

I don’t even want to think about my $530 car insurance bill due the end of March or my taxes 🏦 which I haven’t started yet. I’ve been withholding extra out of each paycheck, 📂 which I’m hoping will help ensure I don’t owe a shit ton come April 15th. I got to figure out which service to use — I’ll probably use a Free-file site for my federal taxes, then copy that information onto a state tax form, and mail it in like I did last year. Hopefully not mess it up this time, and get a letter from State Tax Department. I hate filing taxes, especially when the government already knows how much money I make 🔍 as they get copies of my tax documents from my employers, banks, and vendors already. Thanks tax-vendor-software lobbyists and corporations. 🕴Life has gotten so damn expensive these days.

Tonight will have a chance of snow, mainly after 4am. Increasing clouds 🌨, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. North wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 24 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1875.

Yeah, I got to turn the heat back on tonight. ♨️ It’s been nice the few days with the heat off and the windows open. No electric blanket use either. I’ve been using the electric blanket a lot more this year, but not he past few nights. My electric bill has come down somewhat, 🔌 as I’ve not made as many soups and beans on the stove top, and have been making sure my oven is fully packed 🍞 when baking bread, to get as many meals as possible out of each time things are cooking in the oven. I like cooking 👨‍🍳 but it can get pricey at times buying those whole-food type ingredients, which really can be a lot more expensive when added up then the packaged processed crap I used to buy a lot more of when I was fat. 🤰

Hopefully now with that cable I bailed out from the post office 🔌 ⌨ I’ll be able to use that USB switch I bought two weeks ago, to switch between my laptop and work PC seemlessly when I get into the office. Otherwise I’m out $17 and a lot of aggravation, but it seems like the switch is working well when I tried it with the one cable it originally came with and the second cable I bailed out due to insufficient postage by the seller seems to be working fine. We’ll see when I get to the office this morning I guess. 🏢 That and tinkering with the gears ⚙ on my bike has been so much aggravation over the past two weeks. At least lately I’ve not been having problems with the smoke alarm 👩‍🚒 repeatably going off. The warm weather over the weekend has allowed me to have the windows open and clear out some of the cooking smoke and moisture from my dumpy apartment.

Cool with times of sun for President’s Day. ⛅ Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 34. President’s Day, partly cloudy, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

As previously noted, next Monday is Presidents Day 👴 when the sun will be setting at 5:33 pm with dusk at 6:00 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 47 and 23 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 37 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1981.

I’d like to get out of town for President’s Day 🏕 but the weather doesn’t look great. I was thinking about taking a half day off on Friday to head out to Brookfield and Charles Baker Horse Camp 🐴 for the long weekend, but now it’s looking like lake effect snow on Friday, and there is now way in hell I’m going to do the hills around Brookfield in the snow. I’ve dealt with those roads in the past, and they’re not well plowed, as Madison County primarily uses just sand and not salt, and some of those hills can be quite icy. That said, things could change before the weekend, so I’ll keep it in mind.

Riverfront House