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.
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.
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
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 23-31°C
The Outing
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 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.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
Kittens.
So here’s one for you (and me) that I saw on Mastodon:
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.
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).
More to the point, they think rejecting AI outright is classist and ableist. You can read their (modified multiple times) statement here: What is NaNoWriMo’s position on Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
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).
I’ll post more as the situation develops.
Also:
I read Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy newsletter and you should, too! Because science is fun and outer space is neat.
Today’s edition (linked above) includes a shot of Mars taken from the Mars Express explorer, which launched in 2003 and is still working and sending back shots like this one.
I like it so much I’ve made it my desktop wallpaper and am finding excuses to close windows, so I can see it. I love the clarity and the two standout details–the cute little moon of Phobos and the gigantic Olympus Mons volcano, which is about twice as high as Mt. Everest and around 600 km wide.
As I said, space is neat.
Here’s a 2K version. The newsletter has links to versions that go all the way up to 6K.
It’s Labour Day, which is a stat holiday, and that means bonus people on the trail for my run!
Likely due to extensive cloud cover, the crowds were smaller and actually were not an issue at all. Once again, people lived up the ideal of the polite Canadian. Dogs were leashed, people were accommodating and the weather was perfectly pleasant for running, with the temperature right around 20 and a pleasant breeze helping with the higher humidity.
As a result, I lopped a full 11 seconds off my previous run, coming in with an average of 5:40/km. I even had the gas to get 5:29/km in the last lap. Another small bonus: despite the increase in speed, my BPM was down slightly, to 154.
The trail had a few more slugs than I expected, so there was a decent amount of dodging. I am pleased to report no slug families were orphaned today.
In less pleasant news, the resurfacing of the trail from the rowing pavilion to the bridge at Deer Lake Brook is…not great? I am reserving final judgment, as I’m not 100% sure they are done yet, but the portion of the trail from the bridge to where the trail splits is especially lumpy and uneven now. It was actually much smoother and flatter before the resurfacing, so they’ve essentially downgraded it. It’s easily the worst resurfacing job I’ve seen since I started running at Burnaby Lake in 2011. But like I said, maybe they aren’t done, so I’ll give it a few more weeks and see how it shakes (or evens) out.
Overall, though, this was a fine run in good conditions and the crowds were a pleasant non-factor. Yay.
Stats:
Run 881
Average pace: 5:40/km
Training status: Maintaining
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:45 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:32
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 19-20°C
Humidity: 81-78%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 153
Weight: 167.6
Total distance to date: 6,265 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (50/106/156)
When I got my first PC in 1994 (30 years ago!) I had to choose between Intel or AMD for the CPU. I chose AMD because their Am486 DX-40 CPU was both faster than the 33 MHz Intel equivalent, and cheaper. Win-win!
It served me well for several years.
Around the same time, a friend of mine, flush with money earned by working on the railroad (all the live long day) also got his own PC, but because he was Mr. Moneypants, he got a tricked out Intel 486 CPU running at 66 MHz.
We both had the game Crusader: No Remorse, which came out in 1995 and remains one of my favourite PC games of all time, despite having a shall we say, somewhat inelegant control scheme.
You can’t see any in the screenshot below, but if you look at the flashing red light on the wall, it’s about the same size as fans you would see spinning away in the game, as fans do. And this is where I saw that 26 MHz could make a big difference–on my friend’s PC, the fans spun smoothly. On mine, they hitched, like the wiring in them was funky or something. It made me a bit sad, and a little jealous.
Today, 26 MHz is about as relevant to CPUs as the first horseless carriages are to today’s electric vehicles, but back in the 1990s every new processor (save budget models) brought significant, noticeable speed boosts. It was in that environment that tech sites like AnandTech flourished, and I can see why it and other similar sites are dying off now–today, most people buy laptops and just deal with whatever it has when it comes to gaming (unless they are hardcore enough to seek out gaming laptops), or you have the enthusiast/gamer market where people aren’t looking for all-around good systems, but ones that can excel at playing very demanding games, cost oodles of money and have enough lights on them to be seen from space.
But yeah, for a time, if you wanted smoothly spinning fans in your games, a couple of hundred dollars more could buy you that.
September good:
September bad:
