I doodled this in Procreate1This is still a terrible name for an illustration program while in bed over two nights, plinking away at it. It’s the first sketch I’ve made in a while. I will continue to make more. Probably when I’m not in bed, since bed is not an optimal art-making location.
This is just for my primary email account, which is used mostly for receiving newsletters and such. I have various others I use for various other things, but they get little in the way of messages. They mostly just sit idle in Thunderbird, just the way I like it!
My recent(ish) email history:
Now begins the task of moving the bulk of my mail over to Proton. I suspect my approach will be to do this very gradually, to minimize the drudgery. I’ll report more on actually using Proton Mail soon. So far, the UI is pretty clean, but it is mostly just email, not really trying to break no ground. But it doesn’t share my data with anyone (unless they’re not telling, which would make me sad).
This was my first run in 11 days. If you read the previous post, you’ll see I had both good and bad reasons for missing the last four or five runs. Today, it promised to be sunny, mild, and I had no real excuses, so out I went.
And it was fine!
I opted for a t-shirt and with the wind low and the sun mostly out (and feeling a tiny bit warm now that spring is here), I was not at all cold or uncomfortable. I walked to the lake and did a short loop going counter-clockwise, starting by the fountain and then turning back right at the 3K marker. I ended my run just before reaching the 1K marker.
After being in a glum mood for a while (also see the previous post), I found it darkly amusing that these three songs popped up in consecutive order as I started my run:
(For those unaware, “Everyday is Like Sunday” regularly calls for the coming of Armageddon and atomic bombs.)
Despite the downer tunes, the run went well, with no issues, even after the week-and-a-half layoff. I started out OK with a pace of 5:47/km (I was keen to not push things) and ended strong with 5:38/km, while being a bit pokier in the middle. My BPM was actually the same as the last run, which is actually not bad at all.
As for the birbs, they were indeed everywhere. I swear the same song sparrow I nearly stepped on was on the trail ahead of me again. It really didn’t want to move and instead just keep flying low and stopping a short distance ahead of me. I’d get close, it repeated, until I finally actually moved over to the left to give it more room, and it seemed content to stay. It was still pecking around the same area when I looped back later. I also saw a pair of Steller’s jays at the same spot I’d seen a pair before (the intersection of the main trail and Conifer Loop). There are clearly shenanigans happening.
I also saw a pair of squirrels either fighting over a log or doing a squirrel courtship over a log. I am not a squirrelologist, so I couldn’t tell.
I also saw lots of robins, towhees, juncos and what I think was the rump of a Northern flicker heading into some trees. To clarify, the entire bird headed into the trees, I could only see the rump part of it. I even saw a pair of hooded mergansers drifting down the river post-run. Everywhere you go, it’s gonna be birds.
As a bonus, Metro Vancouver was finally convinced spring is here and the water fountain by the dam is open again. I sampled its deliciously cold water.
Another sign of spring: little bitty lily pads are starting to dot the surface of the lake again.
It was nice to be out again.
Stats:
Run 861
Average pace: 5:49/km
Training status: Maintaining
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop)
Start: 11:06 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:17
Weather: Sun and high cloud mix
Temp: 11-12°C
Humidity: 57-55%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 168.9
Total distance to date: 6190 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (330/610/940 km)
I think I am in a funk. Why do I think this? A list, because, as always, I like lists:
I think the cure is to just make myself do things, and I’ll naturally pull out of the funk. Why is the funk happening?
As always, it’s complicated. There are things happening. I think I am experiencing a certain sense of hopelessness in getting things–even small things2I like the word “things”–to change for the better. I don’t have much faith in people anymore. I guess that’s a big one. I don’t know that it will ever change.
But I muddle on.
Let’s see if I have a run update as my next post!
A bunch of robins and Northern flickers were foraging through the grass in Lower Hume Park. Let us not speak of the photos of the robins I took.
Here are two of the flickers, though.
Flicker #1:
Flicker #2:
Fire hydrant by the sea (specifically Crescent Beach):
Scenery on scenery, Brunette River:
Spring blossoms:
I mean, really now.1Also, don’t judge me for the mess of cables in view. I swear I’ll go wireless one day.
A few years ago, I switched my primary email from Gmail to Outlook. My thought process was:
The switch took many months, but now virtually all of my email goes to my Outlook account. My Gmail account is largely vestigial at this point, though I do keep in active, in case I need to log in and find something from the Before Times.
You might see where this is going if you look at the first bullet point again. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft has started turning into Google Jr., with an emphasis on ads, data collection/harvesting and everything I disliked so much about Google.
For example, this, when you use the new Outlook email client (which will eventually be mandatory across all platforms):
That 772 number varies by region (it can be even higher). I can duck some of this by using Thunderbird as my email client, which I do, and I’ve generally been happy with it.
But better yet may be using an independent company for my email, one that treats customers as customers, and not data to be mined. This means paying, of course, which is the primary disadvantage. I did this once before with HEY, and I found it a bit weird, but it brought some innovation to the email space. Then the owners of HEY revealed themselves to be Musk-championing tech bros of the worst sort, so I had to kill HEY. This was a bit painful, so I’m reluctant to do it again.
On the other hand, I write very few messages. Most of my email is in the form of newsletters, updates and things like that. This makes moving my account less painful than it otherwise might be.
The two options I’m considering are:
Both can integrate with Thunderbird, both have web clients (Proton’s is prettier, the Fastmail client is more just functional), pricing is similar, though Fastmail offers more storage (30GB vs. 15 GB). Proton offers additional privacy-focused services, though both emphasize privacy and security.
I am currently undecided, but doing a trial of each right now (Proton’s is technically costing me one U.S. dollar for a month).
I’ll have to decide one way or another fairly soon, so I’ll have an update in a few weeks. Whee!
Where: Blackie Spit, Crescent Beach (Surrey), 1001 Steps (Surrey), Brydon Lagoon, Hi-Knoll Park (Langley), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, 6-14°C
The Outing
The weather forecast was a lying liar again, promising “mostly sunny” and delivering the opposite. We did have some blue sky, but the sun was mostly blotted out. On the plus side, less harsh light to deal with.
We started out at Blackie Spit, delighting in the ease of parking on a weekday morning. It was perhaps a bit cooler than expected. The water was low, which bode well for shorebirds, and we saw…a few. A couple of greater yellowlegs were poking about. We also saw some cormorants, a few loons (the bird kind, not the people kind), and a horned grebe. The herons were on the pilings instead of their usual spot in the marshland. It seems the herons everywhere have shifted locations. Spring fever, maybe.
We also saw a pair of juvenile bald eagles on other pilings, with an adult in a nearby tree. Maybe a parent watching the kids? You know what trouble kids can get up to.
The bird boxes offshore usually used by purple martins appear to have been taken over by starlings, as Nic got shots of them all over the boxes, with some bringing in nesting material.
After wrapping up there, we made a quick return trip to 1001 Steps to see if we might spot more Harlequin ducks or birds of paradise or something. We saw a couple of cormorants flying off and a distant heron. I shot a lot of rocks. We moved on after working out our thighs on the trip back up the staircase.
Next we hit a new location, Brydon Lagoon in Langley, as Nic had seen reports of a rare Black Phoebe in the area (Black Phoebe sounds like a goth YA novel to me, but what do I know about naming birds?). While we did not see the rare bird, we did see birds. The lagoon itself, with a fountain in the middle, was actually well-represented by many species, sort of a mini Reifel or Piper Spit. We ventured south into Hi-Knoll Park, which consists of meandering trails, which offered pleasant views of creeks and things, but few birds. We saw a robin. I took blurry photos.
It was nice to check out new scenery, though.
We rounded off the afternoon with our usual last stop at Piper Spit and lo, a lifer1This is what fancy birder people call a bird they’ve never seen before. It has nothing to do with serving prison time. appeared in the form of a tree sparrow, which is a small birb with great camo. The water at the lake is still high, so no shorebirds to be seen, but most everything else was around, including the buffleheads, which seem to be at least semi-regulars now. The cowbird population is also much higher than it was from even a few days ago, when I was last here. When it comes to photos, cowbirds are still like migrant robins for me.
As expected, the sun started coming back out as we wrapped up. But it didn’t rain, we saw a lifer and got to see some new sights, so that was all right.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
I view the Cadbury creme egg as a decadent indulgence that is now forbidden, because each one would require two full 10K circuits around Burnaby Lake to burn off the calories they contain.
However, I spied a 3-pack in the store post-Easter at a discounted price I could not resist.
I had one.
It was…OK! Not particularly decadent. The surprising part is the calories per egg is only 150. I think this comes down mainly to the eggs being smaller than in days of yore. They are 40 grams each today. A cursory search of the internet suggests they may have shrunk by 7-11% in recent years. Part of it may also be that *I* was smaller when I used to eat these semi-regularly, so the eggs may have seemed bigger back then in comparison.
In any case, I’m sated now and still losing weight. Win-win!
Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 11°C
The Outing
The morning started with:
Followed by:
I decided to take my camera and walk it to Piper Spit for a bit of unplanned birding. It helped that the weather was mostly sunny and mild.
I opted to not take my camera out until I got to Piper spit itself, a decision I came to regret when I started to approach the bridge over Eagle Creek (this is near Piper Spit) and heard the unmistakable tapping of a woodpecker. I looked up and spotted it pecking away madly, as they are wont to do. The angle wasn’t ideal, but still, woodpecker! I unpacked my camera, put on the telephoto lens and got…a partial shot of its butt. Not even enough to identify it. Oh well.
To partly compensate, I turned around and there was an adorable bunny sitting behind me.
Early on a weekday morning there are far fewer people on the pier and initially no one had seed, so the waterfowl were mostly going about their business without paying too much attention to the humans. The lake’s water level is still up, so no island and no shorebirds. Most others were accounted for, and I got my first shot of a cowbird this year. Yeehaw, as they say.
A pair of sandhill cranes also showed up and made their way to the pier, walking around me so close I almost couldn’t shoot them with my telephoto lens. They are probably the most chill wild birds I’ve seen.
A couple of buffleheads were hanging out again, but were keeping away from the pier, so I couldn’t get good shots of them. Instead, I decided to take about 50 million shots of the swallows buzzing over the lake surface. Amazingly, I managed to get the swallow in every shot I took. Most of them were blurry, but still! A few actually turned out rather nicely, so it was worth the effort.
I missed getting good shots of a dramatic battle, though, because I just stood there watching with my jaw agape. A pair of geese decided to go at it, each one grabbing onto the other with their bills, then, circling tightly around, daring the other to let go first. Eventually, one did, and it got chased into the water by the other. The victor did the snaky head thing for a bit, then just stood there, looking ready to murder. You can see him post-fracas in the gallery.
The other birds were more in tune with the cranes, pretty relaxed, some snoozing, many poking about for seed. I also saw a pair of wood ducks higher up in a tree than I’ve ever seen them, like they thought they were crows or something. I also saw some crows.
Overall, this was a fine outing, helped by good light that never got overly harsh.
The Shots
The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
LinkedIn decided to send me an unsolicited email recently. I immediately unsubscribed, because I have negative interest in receiving anything at all from LinkedIn.
Today I got another email. I followed the Unsubscribe link and logged into my LinkedIn account. There is a section called Notifications. Convenient!
It has a lot of categories:
That’s 11 categories–and several have sub-categories, each with their own notifications. You can disable all of them, if you like (I like this very much). What you can’t do, however, is just turn off ALL notifications at once–the option doesn’t exist.
This is LinkedIn, and by proxy, Microsoft, showing contempt for its users. Turning off all the notifications requires 24 clicks. 24! Absurd. This should be illegal. It probably is in Europe.
I’m now pondering whether to just delete my LinkedIn profile entirely, make it part of The Culling. LinkedIn is bad and should feel bad.