Today, after a few hiccups, I installed Ubuntu, splitting the drive that has Linux Mint installed roughly equally between the two. The GRUB1GRand Unified Bootloader bootloader was automatically recognized by Ubuntu, and it simply added the Ubuntu-related options to it. And, of course, made Ubuntu the default option.
As I’d just re-installed Mint, I didn’t spend too much time puttering around, but I puttered a bit. My initial impression is that I think I prefer the GNOME desktop to Cinnamon, but prefer the overall greater customization of Mint. Also, I think I will limit myself to four operating systems for now, because this is all quite silly (they are Windows 11, macOS 14 Sonoma, Linux Mint and Ubuntu).
Cinnamon is fine as a desktop environment. In fact, if you’re coming from Windows, it will feel extremely comfortable, but that familiarity made me realize that a Start menu with a bunch of pop-out menus of apps is maybe not the best way to present options (Cinnamon emulates the Windows XP/7 era of the Start menu, which is probably not as good as you might remember).
Anyway, I am now thinking of installing GNOME on Mint, which will likely be a bad idea, but I love a challenge, or something.
And I’m in a puttering mindset these days. I think it’s helping me to unwind. Or unravel. We’ll find out.
Also, unrelated, I love cinnamon toast and now I want some.
Where: Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Mundy Park (Coquitlam) Weather: Sunny, 19-27°C
The Outing
Burnaby Lake
Phillips Point at Burnaby Lake.
I suggested Burnaby Lake, not because I wanted to get a lot of steps, but because it has a lot of tree canopy and if we’re not going to see many birds because of the time of year, we may as well not see them while in the shade.
But we did see a few, including a brown creeper right near the bridge over Eagle Creek near Piper Spit. Unlike previous creepers, this one was hyperactive and was constantly flitting from tree to tree. This would prove to be the standard behaviour of nearly every bird we encountered, for reasons unknown to me.
Piper spit was again bereft of shorebirds, though the water level was a bit lower, so maybe they’ll be back again soon. We did spot a few yellowlegs near the dam, which is an odd place for them to hang out (they walked on the lily pads). Mostly it was geese (one of which clamped onto the tail of another in the water before they separated, because there must always be goose drama), mallards and wood ducks. We did see what must have been a late brood of baby wood ducks following mom around and chowing on one of the lily pad flowers.
The rest of the lake afforded a few nice views, but not much in the way of birds. There were barn swallows at the rowing club, but they were elusive as always, and a cormorant, but it was standing atop a distant pole.
Overall, though, it was a pleasant, if step-intensive outing.
Mundy Park
Lost Lake at Mundy Park.
Nic suggested the community garden at Tlahutum Regional Park after lunch, which would have meant minimal walking, but would be entirely out in the sun. I countered with Mundy Park, which we’d only been to once before.
It proved step-intensive as well, but there were a few birds, including some blue-winged teals (we think– some of the coloration didn’t seem to match up with what the Merlin app was offering). And there were turtles enjoying the sun and water at Lost Lake, which we totally found.
Mostly it was relatively cool and shady paths through wooded areas that were deep enough to actually get you away from traffic noise (unlike Burnaby Lake).
Despite the relative lack of birds (and the erratic behaviour of them), it was a fine day to be out, we didn’t get ankle-deep in black goo, and I set a new Garmin Forerunner record for steps, which stand at 36,199 as I type this.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.
On my iPhone and iPad, app updates are pretty much a daily thing. And the update notes are typically “Bug fixes and improvements”, which is so generic it tells me nothing, other than the developers are not actively trying to make the app worse.
I could run automatic updates, but that cedes too much control, and an update could go sideways. If I approve each update, I may hear about a bad one before applying it and avoid some trouble.
For a time, that red badge on the App Store icon showing me the number of updates bothered me, but something clicked in my brain that made me just not care about it anymore. So now I don’t update my apps and the badge number goes up, and I’m fine with that.
I still go in and selectively update some apps here and there, usually if the update seems useful or adds something that sounds enticing (this is rare).
Anyway, this is just one small piece in me achieving my own personal kind of Zen. More to come!
Back on July 26 I tripped, a little, while on a run. This gave me PTSD flashbacks to the run in August 2016 when I tripped and fell, my right foot having found and lodged firmly against a not insubstantial tree root, which then caused me to twist and fall onto the trail, skidding across the gravel on my side, something I do not recommend.
After my run this past Wednesday, I returned to the scene of the trip-but-not-fall to better determine what my pesky right foot had snagged on this time.
I came away with some suspicions, but no irrefutable evidence.
First, the crime trip scene. This is the best place to trip, because it is a mix of sun and shade, which is difficult for your eyes to adjust to. Tree roots and other obstacles can hide in the shady bits, secretly waiting for you, given away only by their quiet sinister giggles.
Shade and sun: Perfect triping weather!
At first, I thought I might have hit an exposed stone. It’s large, but smooth, so it would make sense that I might trip on it, but not actually be dragged down by hitting it. But the stone is nearly in the middle of the path, I tripped on my right foot and I run on the right side of the trail. Even a bit of drift would not allow me to have encountered this stone of potential evil intent with my right foot.
This large exposed stone is likely innocent.
Then I noticed this small stone, which is close enough to be in the tripping zone, yet small enough to not haul me down.
Arrow provided in case it’s not obvious.
This was the only other suspect, so it was either this little stone, or something else that has since moved on, an invisible rock, gremlins, aliens or a forest poltergeist. Or maybe I just tripped for no reason at all. Bodies can be weird.
In any case, I’m still slightly paranoid to run this section of trail clockwise again, but I will, eventually.
After installing the new internal SSD, I decided to nuke my install of Pop!_OS before really giving it much chance, despite the fact that it actually ran PowerWash Simulator in Steam without any issues, something I could never get to work in Mint.
Instead, I re-installed Mint and so far it’s been working fine. I feel like Mint offers more customization, or at least makes it more obvious and visible than Pop!_OS and I likes me some customization. There were a few things I’d apparently forgotten from last time, though. A few observations on Linux Mint 22:
Signal has to be installed by running three separate terminal commands. I’m surprised there is no flatpack or AppImage for it. Maybe a security thing? UPDATE: I misremembered from my earlier Mint installation. There was an unofficial flatpack, but in Mint 22 only authorized flatpacks will show in the software manager by default.
I still don’t like the look of the app icons. It gives me Windows 8 vibes. These are not good vibes.
I really like desklets. I always put one up that shows the time.
I suspect gaming will still be iffy, as the Nvidia drivers feel a bit weird. I also had an issue with a phantom third display and I’ve already forgotten how it went away. I think I just chose an older Nvidia driver.
The biggest knock–which is a positive for some–is probably how closely Mint hews to Windows. You have the Start menu, the taskbar, the system tray, all of them renamed slightly, but working fundamentally the same way.
I installed the Grub Customizer, which allows you to set Windows (for example) as the primary boot option in the menu when you restart the PC (after 10 seconds it defaults to the default and starts loading). Unfortunately, this isn’t made specifically for Linux Mint, so it shows a bunch of Ubuntu options and I didn’t like it, so I got rid of it. At least it still has a boot launcher, unlike Pop!_OS.
The biggest issues remains apps:
No TickTick, though the web version works
No Diarium (I have toyed with both Joplin and RedNotebook to see if they can substitute)
Graphics software is interesting, possibly doable?
I’ll keep puttering around. In fact, I’m typing this in Mint! I may experiment by putting together my next birding gallery in Mint. We’ll see.
I might also go back to Pop!_OS because I didn’t give it much of a chance and the Cosmic GUI is coming.
Come back soon for more Linux tragedy and farce!
Now to reboot the system and see what happens, ho ho.
Yesterday (August 6) I ventured into Coquitlam to run a few errands, and hopped off the SkyTrain at the Lafarge Lake station. Because I was only a block away, I walked over to, then around Lafarge Lake, which is a compact (and artificial) lake that is a weird combination of manicured on the west side (concrete walls, paved path) and more natural (rough-hewn fences and gravel paths) on the other side.
There is also a mining cart and what appears to be a hobbit house. The mining cart I get, as the lake was originally a quarry, the hobbit house, no idea.
The geese honked occasionaly, but it was a nicely calm place, otherwise.
The vast and non-slimy part of the mudflats off Iona Beach.
We got out to a slightly later than usual start, in keeping with the casual BC Day vibe or something, our first destination, Iona Beach.
Good news, we still haven’t needed the Deep Woods Off! yet. Perhaps that one biting bug nightmare was just a one-time abberation.
Speaking of nightmares, stay tuned!
As usual during peak summer, we did not see a wide variety of birds, but groups of starlings and barn swallows were out and aboot, as well as some killdeer along the river bobbing their heads, and roughly a million dragonflies. The outing concluded with a ring-billed gull pulling worms out of the mudflats.
In-between, we got many shots of the vast low tide, which seemed even lower than normal. Some of the sand actually felt firm and was drying. This created the illusion that I had changed into my “I don’t care if they get wet” shoes for no reason. We made it almost all the way back to shore, within sight of the parking lot and my shoes were still keeping my feet dry. All that was left was a pile of kelp to stomp over to reach the sandy shore, maybe 10 or 12 feet of it. Easy peasy!
Except underneath the thin crust of bright green kelp was a black ichor that was deep enough to come up to our ankles. It also smelled like the fermented remains of The Old Ones. We were committed by the time we realized what we stepped in, so we trudged through the black oil-like goo, then made liberal use of the hose outside the washrooms to wash our shoes, our feet and maybe a little bit of our souls.
We then went to lunch, pretending we couldn’t smell anything.
Piper Spit
Some waterfowl, water and other water-related things at Piper Spit.
We made only one more stop, at Piper Spit. Good: We didn’t get stuck behind any trains. Bad: The water level of the lake was considerably higher, completely submerging the landmass and forcing the shorebirds to dine and snooze elsewhere.
We made do with the usual collection of mallards, wood ducks, poop monsters and blackbirds. The cowbirds seem to have left already, but the young green-winged teals were enthusiastically chasing each other around, testing out their not-quite-ready-for-flight wings.
Songbirds were generally scarce, though a few pigeons were cooing around, as they do. I tried to get a prize-winning shot, but alas.
Speaking of alas, my camera was giving me issues again and I am fairly certain it is the telephoto lens or the adapter. At one point I went to take a photo and could hear a sound coming from the camera. The connection between lens and adapter was a tiny bit loose, so I tightened it and the camera seemed to behave better after. We’ll see how it goes. Replacing the adapter would be relatively cheap, the telephoto lens, not so much (or at all).
In all, a low-key kind of outing as befits this time of year.
Some winter migrants should start showing up soonish. Perhaps the first coots will come calling. One can dream.
The Shots
Soon™
The Birds (and other critters). Rare or rarely-seen birds highlighted in bold.
But it still fits! It was fairly humid and reasonably warm for today’s run. I started a little later than normal and only semi-cheated today, as I ran to the fountain at the Nature House (just over 2 km in) to grab a quick drink at the fountain.
I checked my watch multiple times in the last km. I wasn’t hurting, but I still wanted the run to end. I wanted to not run. I wanted to lay down in the warm, soft grass.
The starting km was at a more casual pace–I always think this will help me conserve energy for later in the run, but that never seems to happen, so it just drags down my overall pace. Speaking of pace, it was 6:02 in that first km, which is pretty dang slow. The good news is I at least maintained that pace for the second km.
But then I slipped to 6:13 for the third and sputtered to 6:18 for the fourth. I didn’t feel awful, I just had very little forward movement, which is necessary for running. I resolved to push a little for the final km, and did that one in my best overall of 5:58. This brought my overall average to 6:07/km, which is not good but is also not horrible.
The trail was fairly quiet, so I didn’t encounter many people. Between the second and third km, an excavator was digging out a ditch on the north side of the trail, presumably to help with drainage. There was a guy standing away from it on both sides, getting people to stop until they could signal to the excavator guy (EG) to stop digging. He did this by setting the shovel down gently on the trail, as if in solemn ceremony. I almost wanted to salute or bow or something. Instead, I just ran and offered a friendly little wave.
The day started with an early trip to the store, so at 2:47 p.m. I am already at 30,000+ steps. I think I may go lay down for a bit now.
Here’s to Friday’s run being hopefully a bit cooler and maybe a bit faster.
Bridge over Still Creek, post-run.
Stats:
Run 875 Average pace: 6:07/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 11:53 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 30:44 Weather: Sunny Temp: 23-24°C Humidity: 67-65% Wind: light to moderate BPM: 155 Weight: 167.0 Total distance to date: 6,235 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (20/43/63)
Yes, the title is part sarcasm. But only part, because the worst part of adding an internal 2.5 inch SATA SSD to my PC was getting the computer to sit on the set of wheels I use to keep it off the carpet (to reduce dust ingress). I eventually gave up on the wheel and now the PC is elevated on a sturdy box.
But I missed that two opposing wheels were still locked (my bad), so I’ll probably go back to the wheels eventually.
As for the installation, I was smart enough to make sure I had all parts before proceeding, then gave the internals of the PC a good cleaning (minimal dust since the last time). Once ready for the work I gathered the needed tools and took the PC to the kitchen counter, where I could work in good light and at a sensible height. This helped so much that I did not use any colourful metaphors during the installation.
The drive was successfully installed and will now be (at least temporarily) the home for my Linux adventures. The reason for going internal is the external drive (an M2. SSD in an enclosure and connected via USB 3.0) would very occasionally lose connection to the system, which means the OS just kind of dies and could get corrupted, etc. So right now that drive is going to be more like phat temporary storage or something.
I’ll have another post about my Linux misadventures soon.™
Also, I’ve decided that when I eventually build my next PC, I’m going all out on internal connections on the motherboard, no matter the expense. What I want:
Probably 3 M.2 slots for SSDs. Yes, 3! I don’t want to run out of internal storage, and I don’t want to have to plug in external storage.
But if I do need to plug things, in I want USB-C and not just internal headers, but at least 1-2 external ports supporting a minimum of 20 GB transfer speed.
Maybe even Thunderbolt or USB 4 to go all the way to 40 GB.
And covered in RGB lighting! Just kidding. I do not want my PC to be a source of light.
Yesterday morning I got up and, as I always do, stepped on the Garmin scale in the bathroom to weigh myself. Except before stepping onto the scale, I stopped, because there was some kind of coarse powder sprayed on it. Alas, I did not take a photograph, which will become more relevant in a moment. I did, however, put together this simulation of the scene in Affinity Designer:
Because I had just woken up, and my brain was operating at like 15% capacity, my priority was to clean this stuff off the scale, weigh myself, then get on with the day. I figured Jeff would have an explanation for the powder.
He did not, as it turns out, and this is where I wish I’d taken a photo, because while my depiction above is pretty close to what I saw, a photo, examined all zoomed-in, might better reveal what exactly this stuff was.
With neither myself nor Jeff laying claim to having caused the powder to land on the scale (I wiped the floor around the scale, but it did not seem like much of this stuff landed there), the obvious questions arose:
How did this powder end up on the scale?
What exactly was it?
The answer to both questions: I don’t know!
There is no apparent source for the powder. There is nothing like it in the bathroom, or anywhere else in the condo. It did not fall from the ceiling or come off the walls. It was not tracked in. It seemingly just appeared during the night and was there when I went into the bathroom early yesterday morning.
It did not return this morning, which is good, but does not lessen the general freakiness of its appearance.
If it’s an omen, I have no idea what it would mean. Clean more often? I mean, that’s always good advice.
I will update this post if more mysterious powder appears.
After several days of general loafing and skipping Friday’s run because my watch said so, I did an 8K walk/run today, with lots of running.
Surprisingly, despite the temperature feeling like 30C, it didn’t feel overly oppressive, thanks to a combination of a decent breeze and plenty of shade (the good kind of shade). The river trail was not very busy, perhaps because of my late afternoon start, but this also meant no dogs, which also means no dogs off leash. Woo.
Other than that, it was fine. I ran probably 3/4 of the way back and felt good. I had a sort of pleasant loping pace going.
Stats:
Walk 120 Average pace: 8:16/km Location: Brunette River trail/Burnaby Lake Distance: 8.02 km Time: 1:06:18 Weather: Sunny Temp: 28-27°C Humidity: 48-50% Wind: light BPM: 129 Weight: 167.2 pounds Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Total distance to date: 873.88 km
I feel like it’s a miracle every time I complete a gallery these days. But I have incentive, because my OneDrive storage is starting to max out. Gotta clear out all those RAW images.
Three young ducks on the move.
These young ducks came charging down the path, then pecked eagerly around our feet.
This duck gang did not stay out of the water for long.
Anna's hummingbird on a feeder.
Blackbird lording over his stash of seed.
Canada geese being Canada geese.
A blue dragonfly. Maybe a blue damsel? I am not a dragonflyologist.
A red dragonfly.
A large dragonfly of species [future Wikipedia link here].
House sparrow near seed.
Mallard looking content.
One of several killdeer spotted near the East Dyke trail.
Bird condo amidst the very lush green marshland.
And enjoy.
A marsh wren dating around for a few moments in the open.
House sparrow snacking. I kind of like the angle, it's a bit different from the usual profile shot.
Barn swallow chicks waiting to be fed. And one that, uh, already ate.
Seaplane at Terra Nova, coastal mountains in the background.
Marshland at Terra Nova.
Cowbird stretch.
Ruffled crow at Piper Spit.
"Who are you calling scruffy?"
A pitiful blackbird teen begging to be fed.
Mom provides seed while thinking, "Kid, you're bigger than me."
A wood duck sitting pretty with proto-mullet slicked back.
Another Air Canada jet passing overhead.
Rock pigeon: "I can haz seed?"
Ring-billed gull sporting the classic "I am so done with everything" look.
Greater yellowlegs strutting around an unperturbed mallard.
Greater yellowlegs not actually on the back of a mallard.
Mmm, pollen.
Greater yellowlegs, cropped very tight and square, just to be whacky.
Prev
Next
Also, I should note a weird and whacky workflow for this batch of shots in terms of post-processing:
I started with Affinity Photo 2, editing RAW images, then exporting them as WebP files. Yes, WebP!
I then switched to Luminar AI (it had the name before AI became associated with everything terrible in the world) and used that the rest of the way. This program lets you aggressively alter specific aspects of a photo using very simple sliders. I used the sliders a lot. I was actually impressed at how it “saved” a few iffy photos.
Anyway, I may use Luminar more in the future, especially if I want to add random giraffes, which it totally lets you do.
