But what I am planing on doing is what I did way back in June 2008 when I stepped on my scale and, over its piercing screams of horror, saw that I weighed 187.5 pounds (it could only show half pound increments, which seems like an odd limitation for something that only does one thing).
Today I weighed in at 171.9 pounds (thanks, modern-day precision!), which even a non-math expert like me can see is only about 16ish pounds short of my roly-poly former self.
(At this point I was going to share a screenshot taken on my iPhone 5 in 2012 showing my weight in MyFitnessPal as being something like 143 pounds, except I cannot find the shot now. So just imagine it here.)
The point here is my approach to getting to my desired goal of 150 pounds is not working.
It didn’t work in the early 2000s, either. In order to actually lose weight back in 2008, I had to redo my entire food plan and stick to it. I did and lost over 40 pounds. I don’t need to lose 40 pounds this time, so I already have a head start!
Here is my plan, which I will start on May 1, 2025:
No snacks, except for fruit or veggies. And no cheating by counting something like “strawberry shortcake” as fruit.
I will wean myself off non-sugar soda over the space of a month or so. This is to avoid nasty caffeine headaches from withdrawal, which has happened before.
Linux Mint is getting closer to being a replacement OS for me over Windows 11 and macOS whatever (the yearly updates are kind of meaningless now, it’s just a yearly dribble of new features no different from what MS does with Windows 11, just with a cute name like Sequoia attached).
But it’s still not there quite yet, which I’ll elaborate on below.
First, I’ll say this: Linux Mint (the distro I have been running for some months now as a third OS) is pleasant to use. It stays out of the way, it doesn’t constantly ask me to grant permission to everything (Macs are trending toward becoming the UAC nightmare that was the initial release of Windows Vista, sinking the user experience in favour of “security”). There are frequent updates, but they are handled with a few clicks whenever you decide to apply them. Most don’t require a system restart.
It has built in software bits like applets, extensions and desklets hat are easy to add (or remove) that help customize the experience in small, but nice ways. The look and feel of the entire OS is highly customizable. It loads fast, everything feels snappy.
At this point, the only things holding it back for me are the same as before:
Photo editing
Gaming
Journaling
Photo editing has improved and I’m experimenting with a few new programs there, such as Prima.
Gaming is also getting better, though having an Nvidia card complicates things a bit. Native gaming, when available, works great, and emulated gaming is also pretty good now. It’s not quite there, but it’s close.
Diarium (the unfortunately named journal app I use) I am running in a Windows 10 VM. The VM is a tiny bit laggy, but since I only use the app briefly in the morning and evening, it’s not a big deal. A native solution would be preferable, but seems unlikely, unless I switch to a different piece of software.
Still, I feel Linux Mint is closer than it’s ever been in terms of replacing the other OSes. If and when I get a new PC, I will likely turn this one into a dedicated Linux box and see how it goes on a rig that is 100% penguin-based.
First, despite it being a weekday morning, the trail was unusually busy. And several people appeared on bikes! I managed, “Bikes aren’t allowed” as they pedalled past me. At least they weren’t riding like maniacs.
Conditions should have been optimal, but the combo of wind and humidity was apparently enough to result in some nasty DMS1Dry Mouth Syndrome and it got so bad at one point that I paused the run briefly to try to generate any kind of moisture in my mouth at all, because I could not swallow. The pause was about equivalent to the time it would take to tie up a loose shoelace, so I don’t think it gave me much of an edge in terms of pace.
Speaking of pace, this run–probably because of the dry mouth and constant sun–felt a lot harder than Monday’s. I crept past the six-minute mark on the second km and hit it exactly on the third, but thanks to a decent start and recovery at the end, finished with an overall pace of 5:58/km, with a BPM once again of 152.
I toyed with going on a straight 5K, then walking out from the lake, but I’m glad I didn’t, because my watch was already yelling at me for overreaching at the end of the run.
I think I may have to dig out my li’l water bottle and take it on my next run. There is something horrible about trying to swallow during a run and your mouth is so dry you literally can’t. Bleah.
Still, that’s another 5K done, and I didn’t have any other issues, so here’s to Friday’s run being better-hydrated and smoother. I’ll also try to aim for an earlier start.
View from Cariboo Dam, post-run, looking east.
Stats:
Run 918 Average pace: 5:58/km Training status: Overreaching Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop) Start: 11:16 a.m. Distance: 5.02 km Time: 29:57 Weather: Sunny Temp: 14-15°C Humidity: 56-53% Wind: light to moderate BPM: 152 Weight: 170.9 Total distance to date: 6,425 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (20/15/35)
With bonus people, because the Easter weekend is the only one of the year with not one, but two stat holidays.
This time several family groups with wee children did kind of get in the way, but just a little. Dogs were well-behaved, but as often on the river trail, some were off-leash. Boo to the dog owners.
As for the run, I started out a bit slower in order to pace myself (I am still rusty as all get-out) and was mildly concerned when the second km edged just over the six-minute mark, but I picked up the pace to finish and ended with the same average as my 3K run a few days ago: 5:55/km. BPM was up slightly to 152, which is fine as I actually pushed a bit in the second half.
I didn’t experience any issues otherwise.
The weather was mostly sunny and around 10C, which felt a bit cool with the wind before the run, but was fine during.
Overall, it was skookum to get another actual 5K run done. Onward and upward, I say! Or at least onward. Upward would be a bit weird for running.
The river, post-run, looking sunny and green.
Run 917 Average pace: 5:55/km Training status: Productive Location: Brunette River Trail Start: 11:04 a.m. Distance: 5.02 km Time: 29:45 Weather: Mostly sunny Temp: 10-11°C Humidity: 68-66% Wind: light BPM: 152 Weight: 170.6 Total distance to date: 6,420 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (15/7/22)
In version 7.51 of Signal (desktop version) they changed how you access stickers. Before, you clicked on a sticker icon in the text box and chose a sticker. One click, simple.
Now you click the emoji icon, which makes no sense because stickers are not emojis, they’re stickers, then you have to click over to the Stickers tab and choose a sticker.
In simpler terms, what took one click now takes two. This is a regression, no matter how you look at it.
Here’s how the Signal team looks at it on their Github page: “Now you can experience the pinnacle of human technological advancement in Signal Desktop with a brand-new selection interface that makes it easy to quickly find an emoji, sticker, or animated GIF that’s perfect for the moment.”
They could have left the sticker button in the text box and still implemented this change. They could have made the sticker button customizable for “quick access” to stickers, emoji or gifs, but no, instead they just made adding a sticker two steps instead of one.
They have also taught me to never update Signal again. Good job, you clowns.
Where: Crescent Beach (Surrey), Serpentine Fen (Surrey), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Sapperton Landing (New Westminster) Weather: Mostly sunny, very windy 12-14°C
Crescent Beach/Blackie Spit
View looking east from Blackie Spit.
We headed off under a dreary gray sky (I actually changed out of my shorts to long pants), but by the time we got to our first destination, Crescent Beach, the sun was out. I didn’t regret changing, though, as it was quite windy (gusts up to 37 km/hour), and it was keenly felt right on the ocean.
However, we were rewarded with a somewhat rare sighting of a black-bellied plover, walking along the shore by itself, in its full mating colours. It was a bit far off, but still nice to see. We also saw various killdeer, but my photos of them were thwarted by a combination of foliage and distance. Or maybe a killdeer kurse.
I had better luck shooting some gulls, getting probably the best in-flight shots I’ve taken. There was also a group of herons that came swooping in over the area near the pump house, and I got my best-ever shots of herons in the air. None of them were pooping, though. You can’t have everything.
We wrapped up and headed to destination #2: Serpentine Fen.
Serpentine Fen
Mrsh wrens in here, somewhere.
Yet another heron flew in over the river mere moments after we arrived. Having seen very few herons recently, herons were all over the place today.
We also saw an eagle perched on the roof of the first viewing tower, but it took off before we could get closer, alas. Nearby in the river, a goose was sitting on a nest on a little island, looking strangely serene. Close by in the water were another goose and a heron. For a time it seemed like there might be goose/heron drama, but the heron wandered away.
We saw some shovellers in the ponds here, too, so maybe this is their secret “migration” spot.
The second viewing tower had a hole in the floor big enough to slip a foot through:
The hole as seen from below, from the safety of the ground.
I did not linger long in the second viewing tower.
The third tower never presents much of a view, but if you climb one tower, you gotta climb them all, them’s the rules.
Nic was taunted by a few marsh wrens as we neared the end, but decent photos of them were not in the cards (or the marsh) today.
With the weather warming up slightly, we moved on to Piper Spit.
Piper Spit
The lake surface rippling under a steady wind.
As it’s a holiday weekend, there were a fair number of people at the pier, but it wasn’t too bad. We noted the absence of two recent regulars: Northern pintails and coots. The absence of any potential coot drama just feels wrong. The geese made no attempt to pick up the slack, perhaps due to the copious amount of seed everywhere. Too much, really.
I saw and shot my first brown-headed cowbird of the season, but it was in some bushes, which made getting good shots impossible, short of having a convenient chainsaw, which would probably spook the birds and every other living thing in a 100-meter radius (including myself, I should never operate a chainsaw).
Still, we got shots of geese wearing leaves and seed, ducks wearing petals, and pigeons snoozing in the sun.
Sapperton Landing
New Pattullo bridge in foreground, old one in background.
After arriving back in New Westminster, I offered up Sapperton Landing as our last stop for the day. It doesn’t always yield a lot of birbs, but has nice scenery as a backup. We did see a song sparrow and an Anna’s hummingbird, along with assorted waterfowl (none very close, as is often the case here). The replacement Pattullo Bridge is coming along and unlike birds, there’s never any risk of motion blur in shooting it. Several of the scenery shots I took here were strangely crooked, even by my usual standards.
Overall, a nice variety of locales, some rarely-seen birds, some darn good shots by both of us, and sunny skies, even if the windchill meant it felt like single digits of much of the day.
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. It looks pleasant and it was pleasnt!
It’s Good Friday or Goof Friday, as I typed while trying too hard to be clever yesterday, and as it is a stat holiday–not to mention sunny and warm–the trail was busy. But it was fine.
My goal was to finish the 5K I’d begun two days ago, which meant a 3K today. I did not try to conserve energy by starting slow, but I still started kind of slow at 5:52/km for the first km. I think the combo of warmer/windier/out-of-shape made it feel grindier than it would have otherwise. I also experienced a bit of dry mouth, as the humidity was low and dropping rapidly while I was out and aboot.
On the plus side, my BPM was back to 150, I stayed under 6 minutes for each lap and finished with an overall pace of 5:55/km, which is perfectly cromulent given my current state of fitness.
Also on the plus side: My new trail runners, the ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 with FF Blast™. I have no idea what FF Blast is or does, but I do know the shoes basically disappeared during the run, which is exactly what I want in a good pair of trail runners.
Overall, a nice outing, even if my Garmin gently scolded me for Overreaching at the end.
A lone Sandhill crane at Piper Spit, post-run.
Stats:
Run 916 Average pace: 5:55/km Training status: Overreaching Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 13:38 p.m. Distance: 3.03 km Time: 17:56 Weather: Sunny Temp: 17°C Humidity: 41-38% Wind: light to moderate BPM: 150 Weight: 170.7 Total distance to date: 6,415 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (10/3/13)
In near record time, I got a replacement pair of trail runners only a day after the lacing system broke on the left shoe of my Saucony Switchbacks’.
I went to SportChek, like a True Canadian®, and asked to see two pairs, one for running and one on sale that seemed like a good walking-around shoe.
They had neither.
Fortunately, I had done research and had a few others on my list. They did not have those, either.
Except for one pair…and they even had my size, woo. I am now the owner of my first pair of ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 trail runners. They look like this:
The only time the runners will be on the bed, fresh from the shoebox.
Oddly, I was going to grab a shot from the ASICS Canada website, but they don’t appear to have these listed, so maybe they’re discontinued or something. Even if they are, they felt comfy, with a nice level of support, and the soles have a zany pattern on them just because:
Screenshot taken from the SportChek site, as ASICS has disowned these shoes or something.
The ironic part is I actually picked up one of my Speedgoat 6’s and looked it over, mulling whether to wear them or not. I turned it over, observed the wear in the heel, not to mention a few embedded bits of gravel, and chose to stick to the Switchbacks. You may think there is no irony in any of this, and would be correct. The ironic part came just over two km into the run when the left shoe suddenly felt very loose. I paused the run to check and discovered the lace had snapped.
Because the Switchbacks use a lacing system based on tightening a looped lace with a dial, when the lace breaks, you can’t just easily swap it out for a new lace (which I don’t carry with me when running because that would be kind of weird), but you can’t really just tie the broken lace back together temporarily, because the tension-based system would just pull apart the knot, possibly before you even started moving.
The shoe that undid my run.
So after only 2K of a planned 5K run, my outing was over.
My pace was also quite slow, because I deliberately started out at a low pace, so I’d have enough gas in the tank for the second half, which never happened. Still, 6:05/km is fine for a run that didn’t go as planned.
The conditions were quite nice–mild and sunny late in the morning, with a gentle breeze. I was fine wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The pleasant weather saw a fair number of other people out jogging, with laces that were holding up better than mine. Alas.
Still, it was good to get out and on Friday I’ll be wearing some kind of shoes with laces that should hold together for what will probably be a 3K run, because my OCD will not tolerate having my total run distance end with anything other than a 0 or 5 (for now). But we’ll see.
Brunette River, post-run.
Stats:
Run 915 Average pace: 6:05/km Training status: Productive Location: Brunette River Trail Start: 11:05 a.m. Distance: 2.18 km Time: 13:16 Weather: Sunny Temp: 13-14°C Humidity: 61-58% Wind: light to moderate BPM: 152 Weight: 170.4 Total distance to date: 6,412 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Saucony Switchback (these are old shoes and will not be worn again since the lacing system broke)
Like the title says. Photos shot on my iPhone 12 on a pleasantly warm mid-April afternoon.
The last one I had to adjust the vibrance down because the camera on my phone starts shrieking in horror when it sees red, which is apparently a common phenomenon, as reds tend to oversaturate the sensor on the camera. The fix is one of those very obvious things: reduce the red in the photograph (or reduce the vibrancy, which achieves mostly the same thing).
