My original plan today was to take it a bit easy, as my right shin felt just a little tender after Monday’s run. This is pretty normal–when I’m starting to run regularly again, the shins go through a phase where they are a bit tender before adjusting to the increased workload. I did not execute my plan, but I sort of had a reason–the weather.
It was cooler at 16C, and had showered just before (it stayed dry for my run), which meant it would be “easier” to run. I proved this with a snappy starting pace of 5:32/km. I did slow toward the middle, but by the last km, I felt energized and lengthened my stride to finish, coming in at a brisk 5:27/km. My overall pace ended up 5:35/km, which is pretty good. My legs are holding together fine as I write this summary.
The showers must have scared off everyone, because for the 5 km that I ran I encountered not a single person. I was like The Omega Man, if he jogged. I did encounter many slugs, however, and they provided extra challenge as I dodged and skirted around them. I did see two people on the trail post-run, but also nearly at the very beginning. The solitude was kind of nice. As was not having to wear sunblock.
In all, a fine mid-week effort.
Wildflowers near Cariboo Dam, post-run.
Stats:
Run 884 Average pace: 5:35/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CW, short loop) Start: 11:34 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 28:07 Weather: Cloudy Temp: 16°C Humidity: 77-79% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 166.8 Total distance to date: 6,280 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (65/140/205)
I feel kind of dumb, because it took me far too long to realize:
These canned (pre-recorded) keynote events are just long ads for Apple products and services, nothing more.
Why would I want to watch a 90+ minute ad?
Even if I wanted to, there are reasons not to:
Everything is incremental upgrades (which is fine, just not exactly exciting).
Things that aren’t upgrades, like services, are inherently uninteresting to showcase. I actually don’t even know why Apple is in TV and movie production, other than the C-suite has an insatiable appetite to make more money, and will greenlight anything that is tangential to Apple’s vision/mission/whatever.
Apple’s keynote presentations have grown trite, predictable and overlong.
Everything can be summed up in an article that takes five minutes to read.
Because the events are just pre-recorded segments massaged to within an inch of their virtual life, there’s no chance of something going wrong to keep things interesting, like when Face ID–the signature feature of the new iPhone X–literally failed onstage the first time it was demonstrated.
So no hot takes, no medium-warm takes, no cold takes, nothing of that from me.
Well, except a summary, because I like lists. Here’s what Apple showed:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Pro
AirPods 4
Apple Watch Series 10 (it’s thinner!)
AirPods Max (and AirPods 4) now connect via USB-C
“Apple Intelligence” ad nauseam, from what I can gather
Today’s run was under pleasantly cloudy skies. My only complaint, weather-wise, was a complete lack of wind. A bit of a breeze might have been nice. Conditions were decent, otherwise. At one point the sky started to brighten and I was concerned the sun would come out–not a terrible thing, per se, but with the humidity so high the sun would have made it Super Muggy™.
It was busier than expected, but the business–mostly people just walking, not too many with dogs (all on leash) didn’t present any issues. One huge gang of people congregated near the turtle nesting area, so I was able to get by them early on.
As for the actual run, I started out fast at 5:35/km, slipped to 5:45/km, then surprisingly improved after that and finished with an overall pace of 5:39/km, my best pace in a fair while. I’m not trying to get faster, mind you, I’m just trying to improve and make sure my knees or other body parts don’t explode. So far everything has stayed intact. This pleases me.
As does the lack of bears, mountain lions or Bigfoot sightings. Occasional off-leash dogs are bad enough.
Overall, a good start to the week.
Still Creek, post-run. So still!
Stats:
Run 883 Average pace: 5:39/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 10:37 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 28:25 Weather: Cloudy Temp: 17°C Humidity: 83-81% Wind: light BPM: 154 Weight: 167.0 Total distance to date: 6,275 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (60/132/192)
Or rather, I came back and the cat was there. The last few times I saw this cat, it demanded extensive scratches and belly rubs before letting me pass. Apparently tonight it was on patrol, so it demanded affection, but was willing to let me go my way, since it had important duties to tend to.
Scracth behind my ears, human, then I must return to guarding this street.
I had 90 minutes or so to kill before birding yesterday and so when I arrived downtown I got off at the ?Main Street SkyTrain station and walked from Science World along False Creek, to just past the bathhouse at English Bay, then back to near the Aquatic Centre, which is just by Burrard Street Bridge.
Here’s a gallery of photos I took, a combination from my iPhone 12 and my Canon EOS M50 (you’ll know which is which, trust me).
I decided I needed to get out and touch trees, so I dressed for a run, not really planning to run, but better to be prepared. I didn’t really prepare as well as I should, because I opted to not wear sunblock, though fortunately that didn’t come back to burn me, as there was lots of shade and the sun was often diffused by what seemed to be encroaching (though still relatively light) smoke haze.
When I got to the lake, I had to use the loo, then decided after to stretch the walk from 8 km to 10, but miscalculated and ended up stretching to 11 by completing the full Spruce/Conifer Loop before starting back homeward. On the way back I started listening to music, which put some pep in my step.
I was about 500 meters or so from the entrance to the river trail at North Road, and roughly 2 km from home when I rounded a corner and spied a large black bear up the trail ahead of me. When I say large, I mean big enough to probably swat me dead with one good swipe of its salmon-fresh paws, just like in the movie Grizzly, which traumatized me in 1976 (and was also very stupid, but also awesome to 12-year-old me).
The bear seemed more interested in its general vicinity, so I was able to discreetly backpedal around the bend without it seeing me, after which I jogged a safe distance away, to contemplate next steps.
As it turns out, a short time later, a cycling couple came by. I flagged them down, they confirmed the bear, but said it was wandering off and was likely now gone. Did I feel lucky? I called Jeff and this allowed me to “make noise” by talking to him while I cautiously walked forward. Eventually I came across a couple walking and did not notice a bear chasing them, which was a good sign. I asked them about the bear and they laughed and said probably the only English they knew, which was, “Sorry, we don’t speak English.” Fair enough. I was pretty close to the North Road exit now, so continued on, bear-free.
As for the actual walk, some running, but not a lot, and more than I’d expected, because I hadn’t built-in “jogging a safe distance away from a giant bear” into the outing. It was warm and a bit muggy, but not too bad in the shade. The light had that weird yellow cast to it that said smoke haze was probably rolling through.
Overall, I was glad to get out, glad to not get eaten by a giant bear, and will be relieved when the bears go off to hibernate for the winter, so I only have to worry about rogue coyotes or maybe especially squirrelly squirrels.
NOTE: I very briefly thought about taking a photo of the bear, but figured it made more sense to move back, since it hadn’t noticed me. I’d like to think that was my version of some kind of survival instinct.
Graffiti on the No. 1 Highway overpass. Also what I got after seeing the black bear.
Walk 125 Average pace: 8:09/km Location: Brunette River trail/Burnaby Lake Distance: 11:02 km Time: 1:40:53 Weather: Sunny with haze Temp: 27-28°C Humidity: 58-55% Wind: light BPM: 113 Weight: 166.9 pounds Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Total distance to date: 918.2 km
Due to various circumstances, we made an unusual afternoon trip to Reifel, and on a Friday. Unsurprisingly, the gate was open when we arrived, due to a low number of bookings, so we drove over the speed bumps from hell and headed in.
To our delight, the Sandhill crane family was in the grassy area right near the gift shop at the entrance, preening and such, offering us plenty of opportunity to get good shots. The two babbies are now nearly as big as the adults, with their upper bodies and heads looking a lot more adult-like than even the last visit a few weeks ago.
We also saw our first Northern shovellers of the season, though of course, they don’t migrate, they just hide nearby, apparently, then come out of hiding at the same time every year, by coincidence!
Though there were shorebirds, most of them were farther out in the ponds, affording poorer opportunities for getting shots. Most were also snoozing, which made sense given the time of day and the relative warmth. Nic kept insisting it was hotter than the reported 23C, but it felt fine to me. Maybe my sunblock repels heat or something. It makes me smell pretty, so anything is possible.
Songbirds were in scarce supply, but the heat was probably a major factor there, too. We saw one spotted towhee and one chickadee. We each got a single shot of the chickadee before it took off, as if it had appeared specifically to tease us.
What was not in short supply were the Canada geese. They were legion and they were everywhere, their constant quiet honking (and sometimes less-than-quiet) created an atmosphere ripe with the tension of potential goose drama. The actual drama was minimal, with it mostly relegated to groups of geese suddenly flying from one end of a pond, then back to where they started, perhaps in an attempt to beat the heat. Or maybe they’re just weird.
We rounded out the trip with one look at the cranes, then headed off into rush hour hell to visit Piper Spit.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
View looking east from the pier.
Piper Spit started with what seemed a rare opportunity–a handsome garter snake right next to where we parked. But sadly, it turned out its tiny snake skull had been crushed, and it was deceased.
We moved on to the pier and happier sights, like the growing population of coots, pintails and teals. There were a lot of geese here, too, possibly coordinating through long-range honking with the ones at Reifel. The ones here were behaving themselves.
The light was on the right side today, affording us better shots than our last visit, and more male wood ducks are sporting full mullets now. Blackbirds were also plentiful, as were pigeons, which repeatedly swooped down from nearby trees, hung around on the pier for a bit, then went back to the trees.
And we saw several young song sparrows, to complement the handful of other songbirds we’d seen.
There were shorebirds here, too, but also farther away, much like the ones at Reifel. Boo.
Also, on a glitchy note, after changing the battery in my camera just after arriving, my camera started acting cray-cray, and I’m wondering if the battery was being goofy or something. Testing will be done. Also, the batteries I have are nearing four years old, so it’s probably time to look into getting some fresh back-ups, anyway. It made shooting quite annoying (constantly turning the camera off and on), but I still managed some decent shots.
In all, a not-unexpected quieter day for birbs, but as always there were still things to see, the weather was gorgeous (if perhaps a tad warm–I believe we broke records today) and everything is still very pretty.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.
I did a strange thing today–I headed out relatively early! I had reason, as it’s sunny today, with a high expected of 27C. Not gross and hot, but warmer than I’d like, plus running under the sun saps my energy like nobody’s bidness, as the kids say.
So I was off at 9 a.m., running by 9:54 and back before noon. So efficient!
Interestingly, conditions were nearly identical to Monday in terms of temperature and humidity, but there was one distinct change–it was sunny instead of cloudy. Actually, two changes: there was also much less wind. The change from cloud to sun had a noticeable impact–I started out fast, but kept losing steam until pushing a bit in the final km, so my overall pace was 5:45/km, five seconds slower than last time. However, my BPM remained the same at 153. I felt fine.
The trail was lightly populated, and a group of four walking ahead on the trail presented no issue as I approached them. I said, “Coming up” and “Behind you” and the woman directly in front of me popped out of the way with impressive nimbleness. I actually said thanks as I passed. I like when people are courteous!
Overall, I’m glad I got out and had a respectable run, especially after yesterday’s slothful, sort of awful day hunkered inside the condo. Touching trees (or just running by them) is good for the body and for the mind.
Still Creek, post-run. Back to being very still.
Stats:
Run 882 Average pace: 5:45/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 9:54 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 28:54 Weather: Sunny Temp: 19-20°C Humidity: 80-77% Wind: light BPM: 153 Weight: 167.4 Total distance to date: 6,270 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (55/119/174)
I have long-since given up on participating in National Novel Writing Month (and have no plans to take part this November), but it popped up recently for a reason I didn’t expect: The organization’s stance on AI (which they think is A-OK).
As I state in the title above, this seems like a weird stance to take and is probably insulting to the people NaNoWriMo thinks they are championing (and I’ve seen several posts from people in the target group on Mastodon saying just this). No one needs to use AI to write a novel, and I’d argue that no one should, especially for something like NaNoWriMo, where many participants are new writers just learning their way. Using the crutch of AI could easily lead them to writing worse fiction, reinforce bad habits and suck the soul from their work. It could impede them from finding their own voice by bumbling through and learning from their mistakes.
And this is all apart from the ethical arguments surrounding AI being largely or even mostly built on the theft of the work of others (sure, some AI companies are starting to make deals, but how will a writer possibly know if the AI they’re using is “clean” or not?)
I’ve toyed around with AI a few times on this blog, mostly as a kind of joke, because the results are usually awful, bland or blandly awful. I’ve stopped now because the energy costs make me feel bad about using it just to fart around.
Some have pointed out that NaNoWriMo might be beholden to its sponsors, as one of them has AI features–ProWritingAid–but they have been a sponsor since long before they adopted AI tools. Here I was going to point out that another sponsor, Ellipsus, has a very anti-AI stance, but…it looks like they pulled their sponsorship in the last day (statement here: We’re stepping down as a NaNoWriMo sponsor. Here’s why.)
I expect more fallout to continue, and it already seems like an opportunity for replacements for NaNoWriMo has begun–one is already in the works that I know of: https://writingmonth.org/.
Of course, none of this will stop anyone from trying to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. You don’t need a big website–or AI–you just need an idea, and a lot of dedication to see it through (and about 1–2 hours per day of free time, in my experience).
