Run 888: Lucky 60

Brunnette River, pre-run.

Today’s run was a little weird because I got a late start and am pressed for time today, as I have an appointment mid-afternoon. I decided to run the river trail as it would be quicker, plus it was kind of drizzly and yucky, so I didn’t especially feel like walking through that to get to the lake, anyway.

With the weather as it was, I encountered very few people, but this was compensated for by the many puddles I met and had to dodge around instead. Also slugs.

My initial pace was strong, but I dropped on the second and third laps, after having four days off and growing fat and pudgy. I picked back up for the fourth and fifth km, though, with an overall pace of 5:43/km, which I think is fine given the circumstances. Weirdly, my heart rate was 142, which is quite a bit lower than usual (normally on the lake trail it’s in the 150-155 range). I assume this was because I lollygagged a bit on the 2nd and 3rd km, combined with the river trail being easier for running. Nice, but as I said, weird.

My right knee started feeling a bit twingy around the 4K mark, then felt better in the final stretch, then felt a bit twingy on the walk back. It doesn’t feel like the lump has grown, so it may just be some minor strain. I will monitor.

Otherwise, the run was fine, save for the drizzle misting my glasses and forcing me to look over the top of them for pretty much the entire run. One day we’ll have weatherproof optical wear. But not this day.

Also, this was my first run as a 60-year-old. I did okay for an old man. :oldmanemoji:.

Stats:

Run 888
Average pace: 5:43/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 11:35 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:42
Weather: Clouds, light drizzle
Temp: 17°C
Humidity: 89%
Wind: light
BPM: 142
Weight: 167.8
Total distance to date: 6,300 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (85/177/262)

A quick enchanted frog

During Inktober 2019 I did a sketch of a frog wearing a crown for the prompt ENCHANTED:

It’s perfectly cromulent for a quick sketch, but it exhibits one of the issues I had when I started drawing again after many years: uneven, wobbly lines.

There are two things I did to change this:

  • In the primary drawing program I use, Procreate (iPad-only), I have turned on smoothing, which automatically smooths out lines as you draw them. The smoothing effect is kept low, because it gets weird and laggy as you crank it up, and I only need a little smoothing to balance out my hand’s natural wobble.
  • The other thing was just draw better. I used to draw lines in segments, then fix each segment if I erred, resulting in ugly, blobby lines. You might generously call it a style if it was intentional. Over time, I learned to just draw longer, more balanced lines. If I messed up, I’d redraw the entire line, not just a section of it.

I recently did a simple coloured version of the same sketch and ended up redoing all the line work, so it’s effectively ENCHANTED 2.0. Because I was rushing, there are a few little bits that should probably be cleaned up, and I may do that at some point. Mainly, this is just another chance for me to take an older piece, and show how just a few minutes with a more practised hand can make a noticeable difference. To my eye, anyway1Yes, in a way, this post is the world’s longest way of humble bragging about how much better I think I can draw now than in 2019..

Colour frog (I lost the original reference, so the colours are just my best guess for something frog-like):

Eventually, I’m going to try more experiments in line thickness, so I can get a result somewhere between the wonky lines of the first sketch and the rigid uniformity of the colour update. Still, progress!

It’s the first day of fall, 2024 edition

Boo.

That is all.

Well, and a cat:

Okay, a little more:

Today’s forecast is light showers and a high of 18, which is a bit cooler than normal. Tuesday they claim a high of 25 (not a record, but 5 degrees warmer than average) and mostly sunny. The point is we have reached the season of variable weather, where it could be sunny and almost summer-like (good fall) or wet and cool (not Fonzie cool, the other kind), which is bad fall. But the seasons are relentless and there’s no avoiding them, so instead I will look forward to drinking tea, keeping warm and enjoying runs where I don’t have to worry about Dry Mouth Syndrome. See? Positive!

Birding, September 21, 2024: Summer ends, but the honking endures

Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Boundary Bay Dyke Trail (Delta)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 14-19°C

The Outing

Reifel Bird Sanctuary

Outer pond at Reifel.

We made good time heading out, though ominously a few light showers began as we travelled the highway. They didn’t last long and it ended up being mostly sunny for the rest of the day, which was also the last day of summer. Goodbye, summer, I’ll miss you!

It was a fair bit cooler at Reifel than last time, but still warm enough by the end to doff our jackets and hoodies.

Unlike our last visit, we got to see the Sandhill cranes, both on the ground and in the air. Also right up front was a healthy mix of shorebirds, including Greater Yellowlegs, some dowitchers and maybe a few others tucked in. Nic got some great shots of the yellowlegs flying (they were often flying in little spurts across the pond) and may post some of the photos in his store. BUY THEM ALL AND MAKE HIM RICH.

Chickadees were present, but elusive, while the first juncos, fox sparrows and golden crowns of the season made appearances. Yellow-rumped warblers were in numbers plentiful enough that even I got a few respectable shots.

Blackbirds did not seem as numerous as usual, so they may have gone off to wherever it is they go off to (it doesn’t seem to be far, because they always come back). In their place were a lot of house sparrows.

The geese were honking, but drama was on low. I got approached by several geese with mouths agape, but I think they were hoping I’d toss seed into their maws. I feel kind of bad when they do this, because I never have seed. I’m hoping they don’t have good memories.

After Reifel, we went to Blackie Spit in surrey, only to find a rowing event in progress and no parking. I suggested Boundary Bay, so we headed off there, and lo, there was parking.

Boundary Bay Dyke Trail

Have a seat and take in the bay.

The downside for me with Boundary Bay is the birds we see are usually never close. The upside is I can shoot prop planes up close basically forever. And I did.

We also saw some robins, which have been pretty rare in the places we’ve visited over the summer, plus a few remaining Savannah sparrows. We also saw a cute li’l bunny just as we started out, which I was not expecting, although if I think about it, I’m never really expecting bunnies.

Nic got weird and took a photo of people golfing. People! Like, humans, not birds. He rejected all of my suggestions for captions:

  • People with tiny balls
  • Swingers
  • The Last Putter
  • Foreplay

I mean, one of them wasn’t even dirty.

I also opted to put on sunblock here, which I think was both the right call, as well as my own final salute to summer. Tomorrow, I put on my parka.

In all, a good day for birbs, with multiple migrants returning, pleasant weather, and some good shotss all around.

The Shots

Soon™

The Birds (and other critters). Rare, rarely-seen or recently returned birds highlighted in bold.

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American robin
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Bewick’s wren (heard, not seen)
  • Black-capped chickadee
  • Cedar waxwing
  • Dark-eyed junco (returned!)
  • Fox sparrow (returned!)
  • Golden-crowned sparrow (returned!)
  • House sparrow
  • Red-winged blackbird
  • Savannah sparrow
  • Song sparrow
  • Spotted towhee
  • White-crowned sparrow
  • Yellow warbler
  • Yellow-rumped warbler

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • American coot
  • Canada goose
  • Great blue heron
  • Greater yellowlegs
  • Hooded merganser (returned, though they allegedly don’t migrate)
  • Short-billed dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Northern pintail
  • Northern shoveller
  • Sandhill crane
  • Wood duck

Common:

  • American crow
  • Assorted gulls
  • Raven
  • Rock pigeon

Raptors:

  • Northern harrier

Non-birds:

  • Copious grasshoppers
  • One bunny
  • One squirrel
  • Western painted turtle

This was my birthday cake

UPDATE: Real and yummy red velvet cake came two days later. Worth the wait.

A poor substitute, but it’s hard to screw up peanut butter and chocolate. Not impossible, but hard.

Also, I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point the Canadian version of these went from Reese to Reese’s, aligning itself with the American version. I always thought Reese sounded a bit funny.

These cups, which of course seem tiny in my adult hands, are about 76 calories each. Do not scarf.

It’s the start of the decade (as I know it): Turning 60

Yep, it happened just as the prophecy and my birth certificate foretold: I have turned 60 today.

In most demographic divisions, I am now in the last group, the group where no further division is necessary, because someone who is 60 acts, reacts and lives in the exact manner as someone who is 90. Or 100. (I riffed on this last year when turning 59, but now IT’S HAPPENING. Will start listening to country music tomorrow.)

Unlike last year, when I altered my run schedule specifically to run on my birthday (because I wanted to make a statement), this year I preferred to stick to the schedule, which meant I ran yesterday, will run tomorrow and take today off. Conveniently, my Garmin Forerunner, after wishing me a happy birthday, told me it was a Rest Day. I will not disobey my watch.

And that’s about all I have to say. It will be a slightly mellower day for me, but otherwise typical. I may vacuum, which is probably in the Top Five for least exciting birthday activities.

Here is a celebratory birthday GIF. I may add a drawing of my own later, I have an idea.

I’m going to be rich!

See:

But (a little) more seriously, I’ve been looking at novel-writing software and there are a few trends I’ve noticed:

  • A lot of software has moved to the browser (kind of yucko).
  • Most software has a monthly or yearly subscription attached (definitely yucko).
  • No one really recommends Microsoft Word, but a few recommend Google Docs (??).
  • Most non-browser software seems to run on Windows or Mac, but rarely both.
  • Scrivener is the unicorn because it supports Windows, Mac and has a one-time purchase price. It even works on Linux if you are willing to fiddle a bit (no actual fiddle skills required).
  • There seems to be a split between software that is pretty and modern, and One Dude Who Knows How to Code But Uses UI by Caveman Design.
  • None of the “best of” lists I looked at offered anything for Linux. Sorry, Tux! This is mildly surprising, because novelWriter is open source software that runs on all three desktop platforms: Windows, macOS and Linux. I’m trying it out now and will have more on it soon™.

In reality, I probably have the best option already, the aforementioned unicorn of Scrivener. But I am still traumatized by how it munged my work, and it does not play nice with network drives or cloud services, and I’m not yet certain if I want to restrict my writing to one platform. Maybe I should.

Also, this is my way of saying I may start writing fiction again. Woo. Or at least woo-ish.

The Culling: LinkedIn

I realized I hadn’t used my LinkedIn account for many years, and rarely at all.

I came to this realization because news began spreading today that Microsoft decided to use everyone’s LinkedIn accounts to train generative AI–by opting people in without telling them.

So with a few seconds of reflection (all that was merited), I closed my account. In two weeks it will be permanently gone, or perhaps “gone” because I have zero trust that these big tech companies actually purge data or honour the requests made by users.

Lifehacker story: LinkedIn Is Using Your Data to Train AI (but You Can Stop It)

And now, a cat:

Run 887: Bad math, more leaves and last of the 50s

View from Cariboo Dam, prerun: Back to the sun.

More leaves are self-explanatory. There are a lot of leaves that ain’t waiting till fall officially gets underway. Fortunately, the worst spots seemed to be on the post-run parts of the trail, but it did make me wonder if fallen leaves were on my list of worst trail running weather conditions. They are not! Probably because the hazard has been more potential than realized.

I had another nutty idea on starting the run. I originally planned a short loop and my idea was to go CCW, but start rough 1 km further back, so that by the time I cleared the Piper Mill Trail, I could just immediately circle back on the regular part of the trail. But as I neared the 0 km marker (the “official” beginning of the lake loop), I realized I was dumb, because I had assumed there was a one km gap between the 10K and 0K markers1My brain tries to be logical to a fault, sometimes.. There is not! It is more like 0.38 km. With this realization, and the weather being pleasant, I decided to just go all the way around the lake (but still only a 5K run).

The results were nearly identical to Monday, just a tad faster. I am good with that.

Again, there were a fair number of people out, a mix of walkers, joggers and people with dogs, but no issues encountered. Plus, I got a chance to feel “fast” when I eventually caught up and passed someone on the Cottonwood Trail. If he had been a little farther ahead, I would have probably finished my run before catching up to him. I take these victories where I can.

Finally, the last of the 50s: My birthday is tomorrow, so this is the last run I’ll do as a 50-something. The fact that I am still running is reason enough to celebrate, as far as I’m concerned. Go me!

Still Creek, post-run.

Stats:

Run 887
Average pace: 5:41/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:01 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:34
Weather: Sunny, some cloud
Temp: 17°C
Humidity: 78-75%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 165.9
Total distance to date: 6,295 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (80/174/254)

Cinema Mode vs. Racing Mode or White vs. Yellow

To the uninitiated, the title may make no sense. To me, it’s two of the preset display modes for my Asus monitors. The one that sits to the left has also seemed brighter and the whites whiter (now I sound like a laundry detergent ad) and for a long while I just left it all alone because both monitors were using DisplayPort and had the exact same settings.

Both used Racing Mode, which provided the least objectionable selection of gaudy, oversaturated colours. Or so I thought. On a whim, I selected Cinema Mode on the more yellowish monitor on the right and lo, the whites now look like they’ve been bleached to heck and back, just the way I like! I made a few other tweaks and now both monitors, using different settings, look roughly the same.

The real issue is likely either some fault in the right monitor, either something ultimately unfixable, or something not easily fixable, like the calibration being off. But for now, both monitors look the same(ish) and that’s good enough for me!

As a bonus (?), colours in Cinema Mode are a lot more…intense. Not necessarily oversaturated, but let’s say they pop a lot more. And I kind of like it. Maybe I’m becoming a more colourful person.