The Individual blog, No. 93 for the week starting July 7, 2008.
Monday
I Was Sick Part of the Weekend
Tuesday
Wednesday
Dumping More Money Into My Bike
But It's Brutally Hot Out There
Thursday
Boondocks is about farms, rural life, and power toys.
Energy looks at high energy prices and our future.
Enviroman looks at man and the environment.
Hayseeds looks at politics and life in our nation.
Outblog is all about my outdoor experiences.
Transit looks at the changing ways we get around.
Truck gives you stories and trips in my Ford Ranger.
I Was Sick Part of the Weekend. So Saturday and Friday where kind of a wash for me, although I did make it to the fireworks on Friday night, and to Henry Hudson Park on Saturday.
By Sunday I was feeling much better, and I went out canoeing with the dog. Of course the dog got in the mud and muck, so I made him swim across the lake to clean himself off. He was very clean, but very tired. I paddled around Fawn Lake for some 4 or 5 hours. It was great.
Friday night I volunteered with the Bethlehem Neighboors for Peace Booth. Next week I'm going to the Peace Picnic in Grafton, so I will put off going camping for a week or two, and not take my first of a series of three day summer weekends next weekend.
I made some "improvements" to the blog code, mostly invisible to you, but with lots of higher resolution photos and bigger emphasis on my photography—on both the blog and the fodder articles. I want to give people more of a sense of the rural beauty of the communities I so love. Next up is more photos of rural buildings, people and communities. I really want to expand my reach of photo documentation. P'Link
What A Hot Evening Out There. The humidity out there is pretty intense. I actually took a nap and didn't do much this evening, until I went out for my evening walk around the Bethlehem High School at 9:30 PM. I was dripping by the time I got back inside to my non-air conditioned apartment. I also need to ask my landlord to fix my stupid overhead fan.
Buck naked with a cold beer in one hand isn't too bad though. I just wish I could be sleeping outside, buck nude, in my pickup truck. I think they kind of frown upon that in suburban Delmar. I'm thinking about doing that tomorrow night, especially if the heat shows no signs of breaking. Nights like this you almost want winter to come back, so you can enjoy the truly frigid weather of Albany.
Freezing rain, snow, and evil road salt can't be too far away. I really do love all the seasons in the Capitol Region.
Today was another remarkably uninteresting day at work. More spreadsheets with pages of numbers that are meaningless except to those higher ups who know what they really mean. Life is fun in an office, working for the great State of New York. At least getting out of work at a reasonable hour is nice.
For some reason beyond my understanding, totem-xine, the movie and mp3 player built into the GNOME Desktop stopped playing Mp3 files, including podcasts. Then it started working – without me changing any software or doing anything in particular. I usually just use totem with gpodder for podcasts, while I use rhymthbox for my 1232 songs, totaling 3 days, 3 hours, 55 minutes of music.
I am subscribed to 39 different podcasts. Certainly one of the stranger ones is TAMU's Beefcast, which is a weekly podcast about the beef cattle industry. Some how so much of their terms, language, and the way of life is so strange to me the political activist living in the Albany area.
Tomorrow, I better be getting my repaired bike wheel back and a new tube, so I can ride my bike. I can't stand not having a bike, and I'm completely out of food in my apartment. If I don't get my bike tomorrow or find something good at the Empire Plaza Summer Farmers Market, I might have to drive my pickup truck to store mile and half away (!) to buy some food. Shocking. I heard this rumor that some people still use their cars to get around town, so I guess I won't look like too much of a radical. P'Link
Dumping More Money Into My Bike. And so the game goes, after buying yet another bike tire, and getting more spokes fixed on my bike. But it's back on the road once again, which makes me happy, as I can once again get around town quickly and easily, and pick up groceries and the alike. P'Link
But It's Brutally Hot Out There. Well at least it's humid enough that biking ain't nice. It's just plain damp and hot out there, and the weather is nice in the library.
On the bus ride home, I saw several crashed cars along 787, including by the South Pearl Street Exit and the end of 787 where it hits 9W. Despite the massive 5 PM downpour, I didn't get too wet, as I hid out under the porch of the Capitol, or whatever you call it.
I simply jumped over the river of water coming down State Street, missing the big puddle, but still getting fairly wet the 15 seconds I dotted out at the bus stop to flag down the bus. At least, I wasn't driving, and did not get into an accident. Actually, despite all the tme I've gotten stuck in mud, snow, and muck off-roading—I've never been in accident.
That is of course excluding the time I put my Plymouth Sundance in a ditch passing a car at low speed (I kept sliding all the way off the road), the time I slipped backing up in my driveway and bent the tailpipe / part of the side panel hitting the Sundance with my pickup, and the time I backed the Sundance into a stone fence post in high grass.
It's all probably because I almost never drive in the city. P'Link
Clear, Calm Weather Returns. We need some low-humidity weather that is so purty. The good news it is back. I've been uploading some new pictures today, and plan to go out at lunch time and take some more pictures.
In a few minutes I will probably go up to the Corning Tower, or at least spend some time photographing the buildings and people on state street. I haven't decided.
I also rode my bike to work today. It was great to have it back and working once again. Now I am able to get around town, ride to work, ride out to Five Rivers, and even get to the grocery store—all without touching the fossil fuel burnin' pickup truck.
I've actually been spending some time researching the next truck I wil be getting next year. I really want to get a Toyota Tacoma—I like the size and styling, but they are significantly expensive then a fairly comparaible Nissan Frontier.
Not going camping this weekend. It's not going to be a three day weekend either. Bethlehem Neighboors for Peace picnic this week at Grafton Lakes Park. Next weekend though, I am going out camping. Should be nice.
Going to be hot once again on Saturday. So stay cool.
I'm out with my camera. P'Link
Copyright ©1999-2008 Andy Arthur.
All mistakes are intentional or otherwise.
Mind where you step in a cow pasture or legal mindfield.