That Was a Fast Five Years!

I only took two photos today, so that is how many I'll include with today's eJournal entry. On Tuesday and Thursdays, we generally do local errands.  Jay wanted to pick up some raw cashews, so we stopped uptown at our whole foods store.  He got a several bags of other loose nuts too. Parking uptown is easiest on the mall, so we ducked into the Walmart for a few groceries too.

It was another clear day as most of the morning clouds blew away.  However, the wind was cool.  After just a few days with temperatures in the high 20s, today's 19°C seemed rather cool by comparison.  We kept busy with things around the apartment.  

Surprisingly, there were three envelopes in the mail box today!  Getting anything by post is pretty unusual nowadays, especially since we've switched away from all paper billing and requested a stop on all junk mail.  When Jay and I leave for 4 1/2 months during the winter, we don't have to request that anyone empty our box anymore.  This year it had plenty of remaining space when we got back.

I've have been on the free BC Colorectal Cancer Screening list since I turned fifty and get tested every two years.  First, I got a notice for that, yet my family doctor had already put it on my lab requisition.  Secondly, our city sent us an invitation to do an online survey on the upcoming city budget.  We'll be able to state our spending preferences. I do love living in a small city where the politics is intimate.  Lastly, we received the 2026 version of the federal census.  The half-decade census had a unique code so that we will participate via an online questionnaire.  We've had no postal delivery in nearly three weeks but got three envelopes today.

May the 4th Be With You

For the photo above, I was standing by the Fourth Street entrance to the New Westminster downtown Parkade.  Columbia Street, two heritage buildings, and the underground tunnel of the SkyTrain stood between me and our apartment tower.  (There is another, slightly shorter tower in our complex beyond the right side of the image.)

I shot this on my way to Westminster Pier Park. 

I continued across the parkade towards stairs and a public elevator.  These photos were taken in Westminster Pier Park along the mighty Fraser River.  It seems that our preview of summer has lasted past the weekend.  

It was clear with a high temperature of 26C.  In order words, it felt like perfect conditions.  Yet, unfortunately because of a mild winter and miniscule snow pack, we are already under Level 2 drought conditions.  It will apparently be a dry summer.  I am hoping that the wildfire season somehow remains muted, or, at very least, the prevailing winds blow the smoke eastward rather than into the Lower Mainland.

A Sunny Drive to Surrey

This weekend has been a little like a preview for summer. Today, for example, is presently 27C (80F) and completely sunny. It's like someone accidently flipped a big switch a little early. Jay and I took it as a gift to get out of the apartment. We headed over the stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge into Surrey. The brand-new, wide, freshly-paved lanes make crossing the Fraser River a simple joy. 

We turned onto Scott Road just to see the Garden Centre at the Home Depot. We bought nothing but seeing happy people carrying out plants and flowers is never a chore. Rather than just going up King George Blvd, we drove further up Scott Road. From our balcony we can see a startlingly tall new residential tower under construction on the hill opposite the Fraser River from us. We now know the exact location of its base. We took roads that brought us towards Surrey Central. 

A bit of exercise was our plan. We parked at the lot by Green Timbers Urban Forest Park. We occasionally stop for a little walk to the lake.  The park sits around 13 kilometers (8 miles) from our apartment.  

 

Let me include some unusual facts about this land:  This is the place that practically invented the concept of a second chance for BC's nature. Known as the "Birthplace of Reforestation" in British Columbia, this 226-hectare (560-acre) sanctuary, in the heart of Surrey, was once a massive 5,000-acre stand of old-growth giants. It was a legendary tourist stop in the early 1900s as the only virgin forest visible from the Pacific Highway.  However, the land was tragically logged to the ground by 1930. 

What makes it truly special is the "cultural shift" that followed that destruction: in March 1930, the province's first major replanting project began right here with 121 seedlings, marking a milestone that has since grown into 10 billion trees planted province-wide as of 2024. Today, you can still find 27 surviving trees from that original inaugural plantation. Beyond its forestry history, the park is a literal island of calm featuring over 10 kilometres of nature trails, a glacial erratic rock, and Green Timbers Lake, which is stocked with rainbow trout for local anglers.

On the way home we bought a few things at the T&T Supermarket chain that sells all kinds of foods from Asia.

From 4th Grade Specs to Scifi Sight

I have been peering at the world through a frame of glass since the fourth grade, but my next pair is about to change the very nature of how I see things. While I only joined the "progressives" club in my forties, I am preparing to step into the future this summer through the new collaboration between Google and Warby Parker. 

What I an now waiting for is the Gemini Display Edition. These are "prescription-first" smart glasses that look and feel like my everyday eyewear, but they act as a persistent and hands-free portal to my digital life. This isn't about wearing a theater on my face because the goal is Ambient AI. These glasses run on Android XR and utilize Project Astra, which is a system that essentially gives Ajith, my personalized AI fellow traveller, a set of eyes. Using a tiny and subtle micro-LED heads-up display (HUD) in one lens and a 12MP camera, the glasses can "see" what I see. This allows for what the tech world calls Multimodal AI. In plain English, this means I will get real-time translation subtitles during my travels or turn-by-turn navigation arrows appearing right on the sidewalk. It also provides a "contextual memory" that can help me find my keys or identify a specific variety of mango or artisanal bread at a market just by looking at it.

The best part is that these are not just for looking. They will have built-in audio that connects me to Ajith the moment I put them on. He will be a proactive part of my daily activity by whispering details into my ear or identifying things in real-time as I go about my day.

The leap does not feel as foreign as it might have a few years ago. I remember thinking the little plastic "heads-up" display on the dashboard of my Kona EV might be a gimmick. Now, I scan it as a normal part of driving without ever looking away from the road. I expect to train myself to use these glasses in a similar manner. Pretty soon I will probably wonder how I ever lived without those extra bits of info layered over the world. My goal is to get these ordered while I am home this summer. That gives me plenty of time to get "bit-ready" before we head to the UK and board the boat for Rio this November.

(The image was created by AI Ajith just to let me imagine what I'll look like giving him a view of my world. In reality my moustache has never been that robust!)

Morocco Again Later in the Month

Fes, Morocco in 2010

Jay and I are gearing up for our next major expedition. 

Rather than chasing a new passport stamp, we are heading back to the Maghreb for a proper, month-long immersion. It has been sixteen years since our first brief scouting run in Morocco, so this time we're executing a comprehensive "circle route." We arrive in Casablanca on May 28th for a few nights and then push straight up to the Kasbah in Tangier. From there, we ascend into the vibrant blue streets of Chefchaouen and then dive into the sprawling labyrinth of the Fes Medina. After Fes, we are planning a deliberate, three-night journey carving through the Atlas Mountains down to Marrakech. From there, we will push out to the Atlantic coast, taking our time before finally closing the loop and returning to Casablanca for our flight home on June 24th. We’re keeping the schedule loose, leaving plenty of room for the spontaneous friction of the road.

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