General

The Wisdom of Ned, #1

A series I may or may not continue, in my usual style. The first one is based partly on personal experience.

Wisdom of Ned #1

Beards are only low maintenance if you treat them like abandoned bird nests.

Should I go retro?

I’m mulling another redo of this blog’s look and I’m thinking of going all-in on retro. Not in a crazy way, like trying to simulate the <blink> tag or embedding MIDI samples, but something a little warmer, less corporate-looking.

I shall mull things like colour choices, fonts and assorted bits of whimsy. The downside of this is I am not a programmer and can’t just whip up some fancy CSS using my big brain, so the process will be slow, painful, etc. But possibly worth it.

I could do things like change from a basic white background. But should I?

I will ponder.

Canada Day random thoughts, 2025 edition

  • It could be worse.
  • It could also be better.
  • It’s very summer-like today, after the first week of summer was cool and a bit damp. A lot of people prefer the latter, even though we get it for about six months of the year.
  • There will probably be some fireworks going off later this evening.
  • The new sidewalks on our street are very bright in the sun.
  • I feel like more people cheat now than, say, ten years ago, possibly because more people are realizing they won’t get caught. This is not a good thing.
  • I have an itchy bug bite on my left leg. I have nothing in particular to help with this, except the power of my mind insisting it’s not really itchy at all.
  • I still love Bongo Cat. He is currently wearing a pineapple.
  • Apparently, Canadian patriotism is surging. A house a few blocks away is positively festooned with Canadian flags. I’m not sure how I feel about this, because nationalism generally leads to bad things.
  • I’ve seen reports that people are getting dumber. This feels right to me.
  • Am I getting dumber? My phone is often at 90% charge at the end of the day (even though it’s 4.5 years old). I think this is helping to preserve some brain cells.
  • When birding in Pitt Meadows, I went to check the temperature on my phone and it couldn’t pull the data in because of a very weak cell connection. It please me that such places exist, and you don’t even have to go too far to find them. Also, places where you can’t hear any traffic.
  • My leg is still itchy.

Remember summer?

It’s only been six days and I’ve already forgotten it.

Soggy view looking toward the new Pattullo Bridge.

(Also, why is it so fun to complain about something we have no control over? Did I just answer my own question?)

Summer 2025 is here! It’s cool and rain threatens.

The forecast today is for intermittent showers and a high of 17C, which is a few degrees below normal.

It’s also the first day of summer.

How you feel about this forecast will depend on how you view summer in general. A lot of people are in the “Summer is too hot, I hate it” camp, so they will delight in the cooler temperatures. They may be less thrilled with the rain, but something something prevents forest fires. Even though that doesn’t really apply to an urban area like Metro Vancouver.

For me, I just take whatever we get. We’ll have warmer and sunnier days and I will enjoy them, slathered in sunblock and whatnot.

In the meantime, the current conditions are actually pretty decent for running. The rain can hold off, though.

Bill C-2 is bad and Mark Carney should feel bad

NOTE: This is about politics. Canadian politics! If you're not interested in politics, skip to the next post or just scroll to the end for a photo of a kitten.

I think Steve Boots was right, Mark Carney is basically a Conservative prime minister in Liberal clothing. Boots’ video (linked below) details some of the horrible changes proposed by Bill C-2, the “Strong Borders Act” that would give the government far too much power with far too little–or no–oversight. It’s not often that I am motivated to write my MP, but I did today. My riding, which has been an NDP stronghold for decades, saw the vote split between the three major parties in the April 29 federal election, and long-time NDP MP Peter Julian was out. Based on his photo, our new Liberal MP is some high school kid. I wrote this to him today:

Hello Mr. Sawatzky,

Congratulations on winning your seat in the recent federal election.

As a constituent in your riding, I must strongly object to Bill C-2, the so-called “Strong Borders Act” which is draconian piece of legislation that vastly overreaches in giving the federal government expanded powers in law enforcement and immigration with little or no oversight. I believe there are portions of the bill that are unconstitutional.

It is depressing to see a new government come in and make this its first act, which seems mainly aimed at appeasing Donald Trump. This is not leadership, it is capitulation at the expense of Canadians’ privacy and of refugees simply seeking a better, safer life in Canada. We should not be emulating the United States. Prime Minister Carney’s government will not last long if this is the sort of legislation you champion.

I realize you are a Liberal MP and will likely to toe party line, but I urge you to vote against Bill C-2. It must be scrapped. Future governments will only make worse the abuses of power it enables. This is not the Canada anyone should want.

Here’s Boots’ video:

And here’s where you can find your local MP and their email address: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search

Finally, here is a kitten:

Why is there a spider in my toilet?

It’s a big spider and it’s sitting inside the bowl, an inch or so above the water. Why? How? WHY?

I can’t decide whether to wait and see if it moves on its own or to gently try getting it out, knowing it will probably somehow die instantly if it accidentally touches the water.

UPDATE: The spider has been safely redirected outdoors.

My dinner attacked me

Specifically, I stabbed some baked chicken with a fork, and it squirted me with hot chicken juice. This was not so bad when it hit my shirt, because the shirt’s going in the laundry tonight, anyway. It was less delightful when it also sprayed onto my bare arm. But hey, juicy chicken!

And here is what the internet tells me is a “chicken person”, which may explain why it’s delightedly holding the apparently cooked remains of a chicken (non-person).

What is the newest album I own?

Not an album I can access through a streaming service, but one I bought and can play anywhere.

The answer: Wilder Minds, by Mumford & Sons, from 20151Worse, I’ve barely listened to the album, I never got into it.

Yes, the newest album I own was released 10 years ago (I bought it when it was new).

I only started listening to streaming music (via Apple Music) a few years ago, so there really is a years-long dropoff between now and when I bought my last new album. I have lamented how streaming seems to have killed the album in favour of an endless mix of random songs, but now realize I’m part of the problem!

I’m slowly rectifying this, though. The past few weeks, I’ve been listening to albums on my runs instead of shuffling songs. The albums are admittedly ancient, for the most part, but it’s a start.

Let’s see what’s new out there…