I have a very large microphone, would you like to see it?

I decided to give voice dictation/speech recognition a serious try for my writing, to see if it actually works as well as its advocates suggest.

I didn’t want to use my gaming headset because I didn’t really want to wear a headset at all, if possible, so I looked into desktop mics.

I picked up a Blue Yeti USB microphone during Amazon’s Prime sale, both due to its sale price and its generally stellar reputation. I can use it for dictation, podcasts (if I had anything to talk about) and karaoke (if I want to annoy others and embarrass myself, or perhaps become the next Justin Bieber, except older, with better legs and fewer run-ins with the law).

This thing is gigantic. And it’s heavy enough to use as a weapon. A lethal weapon. But set up is dead (ho ho) simple and initial testing confirms it’s working just dandy. If I get some quality alone time this weekend (voice dictation is not something you want to do with others around, because it’s likely to bug them and make you look a little weird, to boot) I intend to give this thing a shot, probably starting off with Google Docs, as it has integrated speech. If I am convinced of its worth, I may move onto getting some flavor of Dragon Naturally Speaking (and how naturally does a dragon speak, anyway?)

From there I would also consider an app for the phone to record when I am out and aboot, or even get a digital voice recorder, which could later be played back into the appropriate software in order to transcribe my recordings.

It’s kind of exciting because it’s an approach I’ve never done before, but it could always be one of those crazy things that just doesn’t work for me, like touch typing, swimming or programming. I’ll find out soon.

A haiku to the summer cold

It was inevitable, really. After staying healthy for the trip earlier this month and healthy for the first week back at work, I felt a tickle in my throat yesterday afternoon that turned into a sore throat and sinuses by evening.

As I interact with other people all day–both by choice and otherwise–and live in a building where the hallway ventilation can be described as “no ventilation at all this year” I am perhaps only surprised it took this long for a cold/sore throat to latch on.

I am equipped with both DayuQuil and Nyquil. I am not taking both together, however.

The summer cold hits
Unwelcome sore throat and nose
Sickness and the sun

July 2018 weight loss report: Up 0.6 pounds

In what basically comes down to a rounding error, I was up 0.6 pounds for the month, missing actual weight loss due to probably nothing more than a single trip to the loo. Still, up is bad and I feel bad.

It was also a weird month, with two weeks of vacation/travel and irregular eating habits, including the consumption of more fudge than I’ve had since, well, ever. Mmm, fudge. Fortunately the fudge is in Barkerville, which is not exactly an easy day trip.

I remain donut-free, though I indulged in a few cookies.

More positively, my body fat is still modestly down for the year and I’m making a bold prediction: I will finally dip under 160 pounds again before the end of August, provided I do not have any donuts.

July 1: 162.2 pounds
July 31: 162.8 pounds (up 0.6 pounds for the month)

Year to date: From 162.3 to 162.8 pounds (up 0.5 pounds)

And the body fat:

January 1: 18.5% (30.2 pounds of fat)
July 31:
17.9% (29.2 pounds of fat (down 0.8 pounds)

Mini-golfing maxi-years later: The Revenge

I thought it had been three years since I last went mini-golfing, but a quick check reveals it was in May 2012, over six years ago. Egad. I was so much younger back then. Six years, at least.

Back then Jeff and I played to a near-tie, with him edging me with a score of 61 to my 62. It was all in fun, of course, so the score doesn’t really matter.

Still, I yearned for revenge. Or to at least get a few more holes at par, managing a mere 4 of 18 last time.

And so we set off yesterday, back to Eaglequest Coquitlam. The stream was curiously a little healthier now, and there was even a small working fountain. I say this was curious because we are in the middle of a heatwave when I wouldn’t have been surprised to see everything dry as the hardpan in Death Valley. It was about 33ºC, so we were grateful for the shade trees. Fortunately, mini-golf is not exactly a high-impact workout, so the sweating mainly came from it just being really, really hot.

And good news! I managed to score par on 6 of 18 holes, proving dumb luck can count for something. Two of these were actual holes-in-one. Sure, it’s just mini-golf and I wasn’t going to win millions of dollars and then get caught in some kind of sensational scandal after, but it was still neat to watch those two balls plunk down into the cup after just one swing. Unlike Hole 14, where it took 7 swings (Jeff waited until Hole 16 for his 7-shot).

In the end I did get my revenge, with a score of 56 to Jeff’s 61. Yes, after six years away, Jeff returned to the course and got the exact same score. It’s a little weird. I improved, though I have no rational explanation for this.

But it was fun. We shot video, though Jeff is apparently a videophobe, so I only shot him playing through part of one hole. He captured my entire stellar 7-shot performance on Hole 14, though. I may post the video at some point. For now you may observe me missing on my fourth shot.

Missed by *that* much.

And the official™ scorecard:

Run 588: The fastest run ever! (since April 14th)

Run 588
Average pace: 5:59/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:29 am
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 30:07
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-28ºC
Humidity: 49%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 162
Weight: 162.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 4520 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8

Do you know what happened on April 14, 2018? Well, you can assume a few things, like the sun rose, there was no nuclear war and so on, but in general you probably don’t remember a lot of specific details of that day.

That day was the last time I jogged at Burnaby Lake and had an average pace below 6:00/km–until today.

My pace today was…5:59/km. Yes, I beat the six minute mark by precisely one second, which could be a rounding error. But I’m taking it.

For this run I decided to start at the official 0K marker, run CCW over the dam and skip the side trails. I would be running only on the main, official Burnaby Lake Loop, to see how accurate the GPS on the phone really is. As it turns out, it was off even by the 1K mark. By the time I hit the 5K marker I was showing a distance of 4.82 km. Not catastrophically off, but not exactly super-precise, either. I had to run well past the marker to hit 5K, but at least I did so before hitting the next corner and getting back out into the cruel and unforgiving sun.

I also skipped the sun block and amazingly didn’t get burned. Because that already happened weeks ago, mainly.

I felt fine for most of the run, despite the heat, though it was easily the sweatiest run to date in terms of flicking it away from the sides of my eyes. I also did a lot of running after finishing the official 5K on the way out and maintained a good pace for those stretches, too.

The trail was a bit congested in weird ways, with long stretches featuring few, if any people, then I’d suddenly find myself approaching a couple from behind while another person walked toward them, and a runner or two behind that walker, all converging for the same spot at the same time. Thanks to dexterity, timing and luck, collisions were avoided.

The only real downside came after, with the knees feeling the most sore they’ve been in weeks, but I’ve been subjecting them the past week to daily 5K walks, a post-work run and today’s run, so this is not unexpected. It’s not horrible, just a nuisance. For now, at least.

Overall, it was a relief to finally break the 6:00/km mark again and the increased activity is definitely leading to improved stamina, as I’m no longer thinking, “Why won’t this run end?” on the 5Ks now. I’m not sure when I’ll try a 10K, but possibly sometime in August.

Time to pick on engadget again!

engadget has actually improved its design enough over the last few years that I’m perfectly fine with it now, and the content is good enough that I check it every day.

Still, these two items in their Back to School Guide 2018 were within close proximity of each other, I don’t own either console and still know the highlighted statement is rather incorrect even before looking at the listed prices. Anyway, it’s a little funny. I wish the Switch was cheaper (it’s $400 in Canada).

The price gap is actually even higher here in Canada-ville.

Run 587: It only feels like 29ºC

Run 587
Average pace: 5:55/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:34 pm
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 30:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 31ºC
Humidity: 38%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 162
Weight: 163.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 4515 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8

For the first time in a long time I actually ran after dinner. Yay!

In the middle of an Africa hot heatwave. Maybe not the best timing, but…

It went possibly better than expected. I sweated a lot but it was just humid enough to keep the dreaded dry mouth™ under control. I experienced a few moments of pushing too hard (for the weather) after the 4K mark, but it subsided quickly, and the knees were actually not feeling too bad at all.

Most of the river trail after 6 p.m. is under the shade of the tree canopy, which made a huge difference, too.

I also managed to stay under the six minute mark at 5:55/km, which pleases me greatly, the way catnip pleases a cat. Well, maybe not that much. Still, it was nice.

No real issues to report, except it was muggy and hot, starting at 31ºC and dropping a negligible one degree. Weather Underground said it “feels like 29ºC”, which is also negligible. 😛

BPM was actually down slightly–could it be more regular runs are actually starting to get me back into shape a little? Possibly.

If I stick to the schedule I should run again on Thursday, with the weather about the same. If my results hold up to tonight’s, that’ll be good enough for me.

Run 586: Technically faster than Run 585

Run 586
Average pace: 6:03/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:19 am
Distance: 5:02 km
Time: 30:25
Weather: Sunny with high cloud
Temp: 20-25ºC
Humidity: 53%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 164
Weight: 162.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 4510 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8

Rather than exactly duplicating the last run, I decided to actually start on the other side of the dam, at the official 0K marker. I then took the three side trails (Spruce and Conifer Loops, Piper Mill Trail) as usual. This should have resulted in me hitting 5K before the actual 5K marker. Instead I hit 5K pretty much right at the 5K marker, so another 300 m or so seems to have gone missing again. This was backed up again by the fact that even though I immediately switched the activity to an Outdoor Walk, I was passing each km marker by a good 300+ m before dinging the next km on the app.

My theory is I have no theory. It’s just weird. I’m going to try the next lake run with just the watch, to see if it’s GPS produces different results. If they’re the same, then I’m just going to assume the earth’s rotation has changed or some kind of witchcraft is at play. If they’re different, then obviously I’ll have to spend $1300 and get a new phone this fall.

The run itself was technically faster. The pace was the same at 6:03/km, but today the overall time was a whopping seven seconds swifter. The splits were very consistent, all clustered between 6:00-6:06/km. I felt mostly fine, though I felt I was flagging a little around the 3K mark. One annoyance dogged me for about the first three km–the underside of my right foot was strangely sore, in a kind of “funny bone” way. It wasn’t painful and in fact it almost made me want to giggle in the same way hitting your elbow does. I think it may have slowed me up a little. I’m not sure what I did to my foot last night. Just another part of this weird run.

Even the trains were weird. I started on the Spruce Loop and there was a train trundling off to the right, as happens semi-regularly. I ran almost a full km before the train finally moved on–and it wasn’t exactly tootling along like it was being driven by a nice old grandma. What I’m saying is it was a mega-long train. Later, I became strangely entranced by a train while running the Cottonwood Trail. The trains do not normally entrance me, I’m not sure why this one did. As it happens, I looked down just in time to avoid stepping on a snake that was being unusually tardy in slithering off the path. It was also a drab brown instead of that splendorous black and gold, so it was obviously going camo. I think stepping on a snake is considered bad luck. Especially for the snake.

Finally, as I moved onto the trail adjacent to the sports fields and the final stretch, the geese were again lounging about in their new favorite spot, directly on the trail. As I approached the two geese actually in my way I clapped my hands, the universal gesture for “I have the right of way, you stupid geese” and they very casually waddled just enough to let me by. They were acting so chill, so cool, I had to check to see if they were wearing Ray Bans. Still, it beats them attacking me with their beaks.

The resurfaced South Shore Trail is pretty much done now and is all run-ready. The signs say they are also working on the Pavilion Trail, which is quite gnarly, so I’m curious to see how that goes.

Here’s a before/after shot of the same section before and after it was rolled/compressed.

I was farther back in the first shot, the pile of gravel was not twice as massive before they rolled it.

For someone in an ORV the resurfaced trail is now 200% less fun.

I actually had a good amount of stamina after the run, so I fell into a pattern where I would start running when I hit the next km )on the watch) and run until I felt like stopping, though sometimes I challenged myself with specific mini-goals (“Run to the end of the next boardwalk” or “Run until the bear stops chasing you”, things like that). My fastest walking pace was 6:36/km, which is actually not far off from my worst run pace, so I did quite a bit of running.

I’m not feeling any particular ill effects now and I’m going to start stretching to see how that affects the knees.

In theory my next run will be on Tuesday but it looks to be hot and I’ll be back at work, so no guarantees. I’ll definitely run in my mind, though. Yes.

 

Run 585: Reptiles, roadwork and strange results

Run 585
Average pace: 6:03/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:47 pm
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 30:32
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 19-23ºC
Humidity: 69%
Wind: light
BPM: 163
Weight: 161.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4505 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8

Today I ran the same route as my previous run, with a few differences:

  • I ran in the early afternoon instead of early morning
  • it was more humid
  • it was cloudy
  • it was 19-23ºC instead of 24-28ºC

That last one is the big one.

I actually felt kind of energetic and in fact my first km was under the six minute mark. The rest were not, alas, but I still came in at 6:03/km, a nine-second improvement over the last run and a move (ho ho) in the right direction. My knees are a bit sore after but I really don’t feel they made a difference in the run itself. My right calf is also a bit sore, but not from the last run. I think I pulled it while sleeping, perhaps while dreaming of some future dystopia I may yet live to see.

Overall, then, I was pleased by the improvement (BPM also down to 163), but was left a bit disappointed that I didn’t break the 6:00/km mark..and a bit puzzled, too.

Normally when I run counter-clockwise at the lake I run the three optional loops. Because I start a bit past the official 0K marker, the additional loops help pad the difference, so I usually end a 5K run near the actual 5K marker. But today that didn’t happen. In fact, I finished well past the marker, as illustrated below.

Google Maps put this at about 365 m, which is, well, quite a bit past 5 km. I’m not sure if the tracking just went bonkers for a bit or what, but I remember looking at the watch as I neared the 5K marker and when it reported 4.67 km I was displeased. I was displeased for another 365 m. 😛

But overall I’m happy with the run, regardless of how the technology recorded my efforts. I felt zippy enough to do a lot of running on the way back, at one point bringing my walking pace below 8:00/km.

This was the first run of the season where the FIRE DANGER signs were out, ironically on a day that started cloudy and cooler than the past week. The sun came out shortly after the run and it warmed up, but I was fine with the clouds. That and the increased humidity kept my mouth from drying out. Also being a weekday there were few others on the trail. They were doing active work on the Southshore Trail, piling on more gravel. Running clockwise would have put me on this, which would be less than ideal for running. Once they roll this stuff down so it’s nice and compacted it will be a thing of tree root-free beauty.

On the reptile watch another sneaky snake slithered silently into the brush as I approached. It was a black and gold garter snake. I’m thinking there’s one giant black and gold garter snake family here. I also noticed, for the first time, a turtle sunning itself on a log in one of the ponds adjacent to the lake. He looked very content.

I am tentatively planning another run on Friday and the weather looks to be similar, so it shall prove interesting to see how it compares to the last two.

A few random pics from Central Park and Metrotown

Yesterday I bought a new desk fan. This is as exciting as it sounds. The brand name is Vornado, which is a portmanteau of vortex and tornado, which seems a bit redundant as a tornado is a vortex by definition. Then again, calling the fan Tornado would probably not conjure up the right image, either (“Imagine the destructive power of a tornado in your living room, in a convenient, compact form!”) so I guess they made the right call.

Anyway, before acquiring the fan I enjoyed some of this absurd summer weather by strolling about Central Park. A few of the pics I took didn’t turn out well (tip: your iPhone camera will auto-focus on a face, it will not auto-focus on a flower, unless you make that flower the center of your image or tape a picture of a face to it). But a few did.

I like the composition of this one, but the white flowers are a bit fuzzy and blown-out.

This one captures some nice detail in the flower and surrounding leaves.

And then there were the fish in the lower pond. Given how hot it was it’s not surprising some of them were barely moving. I watched one lazily swim toward the edge of the pond and drift until it hit bottom, at which point it bolted backward, like a cat that turned a corner to find a banana on the floor. Here’s a shot of them collectively hoping for cooler temperatures.

Trying to swim somewhere cool. Also, I think those kids in the background are feeding the trout.

And here are some fish demonstrating their fancy camouflage. It’s like “Where’s Waldo?” except wetter and stinkier. The one in the center of the image is the fish that ran aground, as mentioned above.

I left the park and went to Metrotown because I love crowded suburban malls, especially ones with working air conditioning. The Grand Court (which I’d say is more Grand-ish) was having some kind of panda awareness event.

And one more from the escalator. I think the fake pandas on display here actually outnumber the real pandas out there. Actually, I have no idea, but I wanted to say that.

After this I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond, grabbed my fan and left for home (well, I paid for the fan, too). The fan works well, and unlike the previous one, it’s not missing any rubber feet, so it doesn’t need to be propped up on a dish towel.

The one downside is it has a strong “new plastic” smell, being new plastic and all, and that new plastic smell is getting blown constantly into my face. It’s kind of gross. But after a few hours it’s much better and the breeze is otherwise pleasant and welcome.