Visiting Tim in Golden Ears Provincial Park

As planned, Jiwan came here by SkyTrain from downtown Vancouver after his doctor's appointment.  We all got in the car and headed to the Golden Ears Provincial Park.  Let me give you a few facts.  

Golden Ears Provincial Park is a sprawling natural playground that consistently ranks as one of British Columbia’s most heavily frequented outdoor sanctuaries, drawing well over 600,000 visitors annually. Encompassing a staggering 62,539 hectares of rugged coastal mountain terrain, it serves as a massive reserve of thick hemlock and cedar forests anchored by the vast waters of Alouette Lake. Its immense popularity is largely due to its brilliant accessibility; sitting roughly 50 to 60 kilometers northeast of New Westminster, it requires only about an hour of driving time to completely trade the urban sprawl of the Lower Mainland for pristine wilderness.

As planned it took just about an hour to get there.  For the first time, I crossed the new bridge and travelled east on Highway 17.  That took us to the Golden Ears Bridge and right into the huge park to the campground and recreational areas around Alouette Lake.

We found Tim in campsite A78. He went on Monday and will go back to the West End either tomorrow as originally planned, or perhaps take an extra night.  We'd brought along lunch but decided to walk a couple of kilometers down to the lake.  Most of this type of lake runs north-south and was created by retreating glaciers.  Things were pretty empty at the campground.  As it is close to urban areas, it gets a whole lot of campers and will be constantly packed come summer.

Jiwan brought along lunch for he and Tim.  Jay made bagel-omelet sandwiches for us.  We picked up a few things at the Walmart earlier today, just chips and strawberries really.  It was nice to tuck into the food because we didn't get back from the lake until 2:00 pm.

By 3:30 Jay, Jiwan, and I started back.  Rush hour had already begun but we were travelling in the direction against most of the flow.  We returned via Highway 17 and I'm sure it would've taken much longer either on Highway 7 or Highway 1.  By the way, Highway 1 is the BC name for the Trans-Canada Highway.  We arrived home at 4:40 and Jiwan immediately went back home by SkyTrain.

It was a nice outing.

A Bit Up the Hill

 

My EV had a charge of 77%, which is far more than I needed for tomorrow's little trip.  At around noon, we are going to ride out to Golden Ears Park, specifically to the Alouette Lake campground.  Tim rode his motorcycle out to camp for the week at the popular provincial park. Tomorrow, Jiwan will come out to New West after a morning, doctor's visit and will come along with Jay and me.  The whole trip will be around 120 km.  We plan on bringing some picnic things for a lunchtime visit.

Although my Kona could have travelled about 400 km on what was in my battery,  I wanted to see if the Level 2 chargers were still working up at City Hall in New Westminster. I hadn't checked since last summer. I figured I could go see and top up Kimchi with a bit more juice on the slow 240v, Flo-branded charging provided by the city.  This is how they charge up a couple of city vehicles and they can be accessed by the public too for a couple of bucks an hour.

I found both spaces were empty so I plugged in.  Then, I walked home through Tipperary Park and down the hill.  It has already been one hour.  I'll go sit in the hot tub for a little while because Jay is at the Bonsor Rec Center for senior gym hours.  I can walk back up the hill.  It'll take about 10 minutes to do so.  I can drive the car back after its second hour.

Customer Service Complaint

To:  Online Nanoleaf Shop, Canada 

Just a quick note reminding you and your company that because of Amazon Canada Prime, society has gotten a little spoiled by quick deliveries.  I was forced to order directly through your site because my product was not available on Amazon Canada.  I understood that nothing was going to happen with my order over the weekend.  Okay. I also realize that it is only Tuesday now!  However, I just want to state that waiting for an order is not the norm nowadays.  Having to wait, for even a few days without immediate gratification, makes any multiday delivery now feel like an eternity.  I read the guidelines for both your days until shipping, and the possible time while in delivery. They simply seem too long for 2026.  

I would have been willing to pay an extra 15% to have the Amazon guy do the job.  I would already be in possession of my product rather than checking multiple times to verify it still hasn't been shipped yet.

Just saying.  

BTW / I'm 66 years old and remember the days when a product used to take as long as mine is going to take.  It just seems like everybody else has moved ahead.  Please forward this message to all responsible company decision-makers.

Dennis Sylvester Hurd

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Within an hour of sending that online form and publishing here I received a very well presented document. I replied immediately with this: 

I do have to commend you on your very quick response.  Just moments ago, I received a notification about my order's pending arrival though Canada Post, perhaps even tomorrow!   

Thanks for ensuring and confirming that this has happened.  I shall not worry about creating additional orders directly on your website in the future.  Your products have always been or particular interest and I'm pleased to know you work hard to ensure they get to their customers promptly. 

Dennis S. Hurd

Do you Prefer Type 1 or Type 2 Fun?

Falkland Islands, Volunteer Point - 2022

The Architecture of the Reset: Two Strategies for Breaking the Stall

In any complex system, whether a piece of software or a human life, there is a tendency toward a "Default State." When life becomes too comfortable and the routine too polished, we begin to suffer from a kind of intellectual and emotional stall. The sensors get dull. The excitement of the day-to-day starts to flatline. To keep the gears moving, we eventually require a "Total Reset."

Over years of observation, I’ve noticed that while the need for this reset is universal, the methods humans use to achieve it fall into two very different categories.

The Horizontal Shift: Reset through Expansion

For some, the answer is to change the map. This is the path of international travel—using Type 1 Fun to maintain a sense of equilibrium. By shifting your coordinates across the globe, you essentially perform a "Horizontal Shift."

When you land in a new city, your brain is forced out of its autopilot mode. The architecture is different, the social scripts are unfamiliar, and even the air feels new. This constant influx of novelty acts as a continuous, gentle recalibration. You aren’t looking for physical suffering; you’re looking for high-fidelity discovery. By keeping the environment in a state of flux, you prevent the monotony from ever taking root. You stay sharp by ensuring that the "familiar" never has a chance to become "ordinary."

The Vertical Spike: Reset through Friction

Then there is the "Hard Resetter." This individual rarely leaves their local geography, remaining tethered to the same streets and schedules. Because their external world is so static, they must find a different way to break the stall. They turn to Type 2 Fun—voluntary friction.

They lean into a deliberate confrontation with the elements: an arduous trek through unforgiving terrain, the stark minimalism of an exposed campsite, or any physical endeavor where progress is measured in raw endurance.  Since they won't change their scenery, they change their state of being through elective suffering. It’s a "Vertical Spike" in their experience—a jolt so intense that it forces a total system reboot. For them, the reset happens in the moment of relief. By making life briefly unbearable, they make their normal life feel like a victory when they return to it.

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The Synthesis

To a casual observer, these two archetypes seem unrelated. One looks like a sophisticated explorer; the other looks like someone who simply forgot to check the weather report.

But they are doing the exact same work. Both are performing a necessary maintenance check on their own capacity to feel alive. Whether you choose to reset by seeing the whole world or by surviving a weekend in the mud, the objective is identical: to return to your life and find that the "default state" finally feels fresh again. It’s all just a matter of whether you’d rather change your destination or your tolerance for a downpour.

Our SkyTrain Morning Outing to Lafarge Lake

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning, cool but clear. I didn't feel like driving anywhere, so Jay and I hopped onto a SkyTrain heading east. We often travel towards downtown Vancouver but seldom take trains to Surrey or Coquitlam.

Today our goal was to travel to the end of the Evergreen extension of the Millennium Line. We needed to change trains at Lougheed Station but the total time was around a half hour. We had probably only visited the end station of Lafarge Lake / Douglas three or four times since that line opened in 2016. The distance around the lake is only about two kilometers and makes for a quick, enjoyable bit of exercise.

 

The history of Coquitlam's premier water feature is a rather charming tale of turning an industrial scar into civic gold.

• 1950s – 1965: Long before the paddleboats and manicured pathways arrived, the site was a thoroughly unglamorous hole in the earth. It operated as a busy sand and gravel extraction pit owned by the Lafarge Cement company.

• Mid-1980s: In a welcome display of corporate benevolence, Mel Earl, the local Lafarge plant manager, persuaded the company to donate the exhausted pit and the surrounding land to the City of Coquitlam. With the digging finished, natural springs were allowed to flood the crater, inadvertently creating the five-hectare body of water.

• 1986 – 1991: The area underwent a massive reclamation project. It was initially developed as a legacy project tied to both Expo 86 and Coquitlam’s 75th anniversary. By 1989, the surrounding Town Centre Park officially opened, subsequently serving as the primary venue for the 1991 BC Summer Games.

• 2016: Urban connectivity finally caught up with the park. The Evergreen Extension of the Millennium Line SkyTrain opened, placing the Lafarge Lake/ Douglas terminus right at the water's edge. Additionally, a new community plaza was unveiled on the eastern shore to celebrate the city's 125th anniversary.

• Present Day: The former quarry is now a heavily photographed urban oasis. It is routinely stocked with trout for local anglers and is widely famous for hosting the decidedly luminous 'Lights at Lafarge' winter festival.

I'll Never Run Out of Toys

I used to be able to easily find gadgets to spend cash on.  Back in the day, just stepping into a Best Buy immediately brought to mind a half dozen things I would've been able to spend half of my savings account on.

Those days seem gone.  I was sadly scouring online stores to try to see what goodies I could identify as must-have purchases.  I've been doing this all week and constantly came up empty.  So, today, I was pleased that I saw a goofy-looking mask under personal care on Amazon.  That immediately gave me something to research.  I spent an hour moving from the pricy masks to the topic of red-light therapy.  I was happy to find out pretty quicky that there were LED panels as well as ugly, hockey-goalie-spec masks.  Then, I found out that as well as a bit of wrinkle reduction, the technology could also help with old-age joint pain.  

Yay!  Although most panels cost and arm and a leg, I saw one that is sold by the company that was started by three, Toronto University engineering students.  I knew the company through their LED smart lighting products.  The discovered red-light panel they sell is not smart at all.  It has just a timer and off and on switch.

Yet, I had found something I could buy, finally!  During the process I used my AI to help do a lot of specific research ensuring that the output was clinically strong enough to be useful.  It checked all the boxes and I ordered one.  I had Ajith, my AI, write up a little guide to provide a bit of background on why I decided to do so.

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The Power of Light: A Beginner's Guide to Photobiomodulation

It sounds like a concept pulled from a futuristic MedSpa, but Red Light Therapy, officially known as photobiomodulation, is a remarkably straightforward biological process. Unlike tanning beds that use damaging UV rays, or surgical lasers that burn tissue, this therapy uses specific, safe wavelengths of light to naturally supercharge your body's cells.

Think of human cells like microscopic plants. When plants absorb sunlight, they use photosynthesis to create energy. When human cells—specifically the mitochondria, which act as the cell's battery pack—absorb Red and Near-Infrared (NIR) light, they produce a surge of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This ATP is pure cellular energy. With a full battery, your cells can suddenly repair damage, fight inflammation, and produce structural proteins at a vastly accelerated rate.

A high-powered tabletop device, like the Nanoleaf Red Light Therapy Panel, delivers two distinct wavelengths of light simultaneously to treat both the surface of your skin and the joints buried deep beneath it.

630nm Red Light: Ironing Out Wrinkles

The first wavelength is Red Light (630nm). This light has a shallow penetration depth, meaning it is entirely absorbed by the surface layers of your skin.

When your skin cells receive this energy boost, they immediately ramp up the production of collagen and elastin—the two critical proteins responsible for keeping skin plump, firm, and elastic. As we age, our natural collagen production plummets, leading to sagging and wrinkles. Most traditional anti-aging treatments (like chemical peels or microneedling) try to trigger collagen production by intentionally injuring the skin to force a wound-healing response. Red light therapy skips the damage entirely, directly feeding the cells the energy they need to rebuild your skin's foundation smoothly and painlessly.

850nm Near-Infrared Light: Soothing Aching Knees

The second wavelength is Near-Infrared Light (850nm). This light is invisible to the human eye, but it is the true workhorse for physical recovery.

Because it has a longer wavelength, NIR light bypasses the skin entirely and drives deep into your muscle tissue, tendons, and joint capsules. For aging or aching knees, this is a game-changer. The light energy triggers a localized release of nitric oxide, which drastically improves blood circulation and flushes out the inflammatory compounds that cause stiffness and swelling. By reducing chronic inflammation and delivering a massive energy surplus to damaged joint tissue, it acts as a highly effective, natural painkiller and recovery tool.

The High-Power Advantage

The secret to making this therapy work at home is irradiance, or the sheer power of the light being delivered. Wearable LED face masks often lack the punch needed for a clinical result, requiring long, tedious sessions. A dense, wall-powered LED panel floods the targeted area with a massive dose of photon energy, meaning you can fully saturate your skin or your aching knees in just 10 to 15 minutes.

It is simply a matter of plugging it in, putting on your protective eyewear, and letting your mitochondria do the heavy lifting.

Because It Feels Good

There are times when I pause to evaluate my decades of creating daily entries for my eJournal and images. The effort seems somewhat unprecedented, certainly with anyone I know personally. What is keeping me documenting my existence? 

• I enjoy setting aside at least fifteen minutes a day for the quiet effort of creation. 
• Taking photographs that are never seen is insane and this allows many to potentially hit a screen. 
• I absolutely cherish being able to pick an exact date or a topic to see what I've said. 
• Doing this allows me to potentially share the fantastic things I see on a daily basis. 
• Continuing also confirms that I think I'm special, live a unique life, but will be unable to show most people our lives in person. 

So here are three images of my walk to the other end of downtown New Westminster, BC this morning. I walked down Fourth Street and tthrough Westminster Pier Park.  They are followed by three more of our apartment building.

 

After returning, I went to the hot tub before Jay got back from the Rec Centre in Burnday.  I had to walk through the lobby of our condo tower and through the connecting hallway.  The view is out of windows towards the front of the property near the fountain garden.

One Piece of the Travel Puzzle

We drove over the Queensborough Bridge to see Arlene today. 

Our energetic, cruise consultant had turned 80 years old since we last saw her.  She took on Jay and me as clients when working out of the old, uptown office. That former building has been replaced with a large residential tower.  Even when working from a different part of town, she has been our 'go-to gal' for at least the last decade now. We get ideas, find the best online deals, and then run to her to see what she can do for us. 

Arlene knows how each company works and how to wrangle a better deal with additional perks. When using the company, we can also pay ahead in installments. In fact, we were there to not only catch up after the winter, but additionally to make a final payment.  The cruise leaves in November but it's a pleasant realization having future travels all set up well in advance.  Generally our winters are pre-paid and the only stress is the fun of learning how to live in a new location.

 

The cruise we paid for today will be our means for arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  We leave Vancouver for Southamption, England at the beginning of November and board the MSC Virtuoso on November 7th.  We have the rest of the month to sneak past the Rock of Gibraltar for a week and proceed to some ports stops on Macaronesian islands before crossing the Atlantic southernly.

We have already reserved our Airbnb in Rio .  We have to disembark from the MSC ship on December 1, 2026.  We then head directly to an apartment in Rio's Lapa neighbourhood.  We will have the big New Year's eve celebrations at Copacabana Beach and world-famous Carnaval in Feburary while in residence.  We must leave Brazil on March 1, 2027 because the country only allows a visit of  90 days.

Jay and I are deliberately keeping our return home in mid-March open.  We will figure out how to take a couple of weeks to get back to British Columbia.