Maybe the cloud isn’t all that. A few years ago I got a Synology NAS and it works pretty well. All of my photos from my phone are backed up effortlessly and I can access them from mobile using Synology apps. I can easily backup my camera photos, too, if I took the time to set it up. Right now I pay for the family plan for Microsoft 365, so Jeff and I can each get 1TB of OneDrive storage and access to the Microsoft Office apps.
But Word still drives me crazy, its permissions often create problems where none should exist, and there are free alternatives, like LibreOffice and OnlyOffice. My next renewal is in April, I’m thinking I might go with the NAS and open source apps instead. I just need to be prepared to provide tech support for the inevitable friction from making the move!
Basically, I am feeling this urge to pare back everything to The Olden Days of Computing, where everything was mostly local and the internet was for cats. I’m not saying I want to go back to floppy disks, but some things were better way back when.
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. Not shown: All the tree debris.
After calling off Monday’s run due to Xtreme Wind™, I headed out today under a cloudy sky, but no discernible breeze.
I opted to start by the dam for as an old-time throwback to how I used to begin my runs. It was 7C, but my two layers kept me warm.
I surprised myself with an unusually brisk first km, coming in at 5:24/km. That slipped all the way to 5:39/km by the next lap, but I improved my pace after, including a record for the Garmin watch with fastest 1K to date–5:18/km, which is how I finished.
I pushed a bit at the end, but not excessively, and I did pause the run to take a few shots of a fallen tree (photo below), but I don’t think that gave me an appreciable boost.
No issues–either with my body or with dogs/other people/trees occurred, so the run went well, apart from the nice pace.
The most notable thing, other than my zippy performance, was the state of the trail a few days after the storm. I could see a few spots where smaller trees had been cleared, plus a lot of debris still on the trail in places (the Cottonwood Trail was especially bad). Sections of the trail, especially earlier on, had been badly scoured and will need to be repaired, though the uneven bits were at least easy to avoid.
In all, a good run, a reminder that nature isn’t to be messed with, and a refreshing break from The Rains.
Ex-tree near the 4K mark, with jaunty cone placement.
Stats:
Run 899 Average pace: 5:31/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 10:00 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 27:46 Weather: Cloudy Temp: 7-8°C Humidity: 83-79% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 166.3 Total distance to date: 6,345 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (135/257/392)
I mean, assuming my version of CLAWS got published, like this one has (courtesy BookBub). Interestingly, the 1976 timeframe referenced is similar to when I wrote CLAWS.
Brunette River: Very high. The sky is blue, but the wind was ripping.
Today was supposed to be a run day. I waited as a few morning showers passed, with the promise of better weather later. The better weather emerged, with actual sunshine. Yay! I changed and headed out.
As I headed out, I realized the high winds of the previous night’s storm were still rather high. I secured my cap and continued off to the lake, observing the ground for debris to see if I might need to reconsider.
I spied one large-ish branch down in Hume Park (photo below). This raised an eyebrow. I pressed on.
I could not avoid being in the shot. Enjoy! Also, this was tiny compared to other tree parts I saw later.
At Lower Hume, a very large tree was laying across the roadway. I opted not to take a photo because of the three workers already doing their part to remove it. I wish I had because by the time I returned, they had already cleared almost all of it away. It was, as mentioned, a very large tree. This caused both eyebrows to raise up.
When I got to the river trail, it was not as festooned with debris as expected. I cautiously started down and as I neared a bend by The Old Tree Bridge (years ago a giant tree fell across the river and was so tall it formed a bridge across the river that remains to this day. It’s not a very good bridge, as the other side is just a sheer wall you can’t climb up or anything), I heard a loud crack, then another. I stopped and looked about. I couldn’t see the source and continued on.
But I thought I recognized the sound–wood breaking or snapping.
I got to where one of the famously leaning trees was famously leaning, but now also swaying ominously. I pondered questions like, If it started to fall, how much time would I have to react and get out of the way? Do you feel lucky, punk? And others.
At this point, I felt the health benefits of not getting clobbered by a tree outweighed the health benefits of a run, so I turned back. A few minutes later I heard more cracks, looked to my left, and watched as several large branches snapped off another very large tree and tumbled to the ground. I kind of jogged out the rest of the way, so I did get a run of sorts after all.
I will try again Wednesday, when the risk of being bonked by nature should hopefully be lower.
Stats:
Walk 126 Average pace: 8:51/km Location: Brunette River trail Distance: 4.71 km Time: 41:39 Weather: Sun Temp: 11°C (feels like 5C) Humidity: 70% Wind: high to extreme BPM: 110 Weight: 167.7 pounds Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Total distance to date: 922.91 km
By way of Tom Scott, I came across MetroDreamin’, a site that allows people to design the transit system of their dreams anywhere in the world.
I was curious to see if anyone had done anything with Metro Vancouver, where the actual transit authority, Translink, has timidly expanded its rapid transit program over the last 38 years. And they had!
This is my favourite example, which includes tram lines and SkyTrain everywhere.
Here’s an image of the map for the click-averse, but the link above is better (and doesn’t require an account).
And a close-up of the dense section around Vancouver proper:
And not forgetting the legend that details the various lines, both existing and imagined:
I love this kind of stuff. It’s too bad this remains a fantasy, because there are a ton of good ideas here, but no political will (including the financing) to make it real. Metro dreamin’ indeed.
There’s a social media account called Comics Outta Context. You can probably guess what it posts.
Today the account posted this, which raises questions:
Why is Shaggy in Hell? Why does the Devil have a pitchfork that looks like some $2 plastic job he grabbed from Spirit of Halloween? Is the Devil wearing a unitard or is he naked?
I decided I need to address at least some of this:
Martha and the Muffins is a great bad name, and also a pretty good band based out of Toronto. I remember them mainly for the above-titled song, “Echo Beach”, which was a radio hit in Canada back in 1980. It’s a great little pop song and captures a sense of longing that hits me right now. Plus sax!
There’s a decent write-up on the song on Wikipedia, where I learned that Echo Beach is a real beach, and it’s in Saskatchewan, and that the B-side to the single was a song called “Teddy the Dink.”
Enjoy! (They’re a good live band, too)
Bonus:
Echo Beach as seen on the Map application included in Windows 11:
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Calm, cool and relatively dry.
I skipped running on Friday, not because I was lazy, but because I was tired of running in the rain. I ran in the rain on Monday and Wednesday and did not want to run in the rain again yesterday. And it rained pretty much the entire day.
But with birding called off this weekend and the weather looking somewhat dry, at least for the morning and early afternoon, I opted to run today.
Success! It did not rain during the run. It sprinkled a little on the walk back, but even that was minimal.
I wore two layers, which proved handy, as it was only 8C for most of the run, my first single digit outing of the fall. Hello November!
Despite several dogs being off-leash, there were no issues, either with the dogs or with my body. I had my usual dip in the middle, but finished strong and, curiously, with the exact same time as the previous run, 28:21 minutes. I don’t know if I could ever pull that off again. My average was somehow a second faster, though, probably due to the magical world of rounding numbers.
The river remains pretty stinky with dead salmon. I repeat, this is probably the worst mating/reproductive system in the world, with the possible exception of the male praying mantis getting his head torn off and eaten by the female after they do the dirty.
Despite the odour, it was a good outing and a nice (and mercifully dry) end to the week.
View from Cariboo Dam, looking east, with bonus heron keeping vigil over the returning salmon.
Stats:
Run 898 Average pace: 5:38/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CW, short loop) Start: 1:03 p.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 28:21 Weather: Overcast Temp: 8-9°C Humidity: 90% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 167.1 Total distance to date: 6,340 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (130/244/374)
Better font rendering. This surprised me, but fonts look fuller and sharper.
Faster. Everything feels snappier, especially ordinary OS things like opening/moving windows.
The file manager does not regularly crash. Or crash at all.
So much more customization for the UI.
The panel (taskbar) can go anywhere, like in Windows’ olden days.
App and OS updates are handled by a single manager, making it simpler and quicker than Windows. Also, I choose when to install them.
A better bunch of built-in apps.
A better Mastodon app (Tuba) than anything on Windows (though not quite as good as some available on Mac).
Desklets, applets and extensions add a ton of optional convenience features.
There are aspects that aren’t as polished as Windows, I haven’t replaced all equivalent apps yet, and gaming is still not quite there, but at this point, the downsides of running Linux (I am still using Mint) are considerably less than when I first started tinkering with it. This pleases me.
