We attended the 2015 Powell Street Festival in Vancouver today. Super sunny day. Great events and food!
My Flickr album here.
We attended the 2015 Powell Street Festival in Vancouver today. Super sunny day. Great events and food!
My Flickr album here.
Our local MP Peter Julian and MLA Raj Chouhan hosted their annual summer BBQ in Ron McLean Park in southeast Burnaby today. It was great fun, with local band Rainshadow providing entertainment.
Here’s my Flickr album of the event.
I was happy to see that water temperatures have eased in Byrne Creek in southeast Burnaby.
Today I got readings of 10/11 C in the ravine, and a high of 13 C at the downstream end of the sediment pond. That’s off from 17+ a few weeks ago, which was getting high for the health of salmon and trout.
It was also interesting to note that the air temperature in the thick, tall woods of the ravine was 15 C, while the air temperature standing on the median of Southridge Drive, a four-lane road running past the ravine, was 24 C.
Another example of the natural services provided by woods and forests!
Wondering if I should upgrade my Samsung SIII phone to an S5 model, while the S5 is still available.
The reason I’m thinking about this is because I hear Samsung has gone Apple — as in “bad Apple” in the sense of constraining user access — on us, and made the S6 a sealed unit with non-user-replaceable battery, a la iPhone.
I have a second battery for my SIII, and it takes just seconds to pop the back off and switch batteries, or, for that matter, swap memory cards.
I like that.
And no, I’m not a knee-jerk Apple fumigator. I’ve had Macs since the mid-80s. I just don’t like Apple’s steadily increasing drive to shut out hardware hobbyists.
Or Samsung’s moves in that direction.
I heard a light thud on the roof, or perhaps a window, and looked out to see a rodent on the walk in front of our door.
Dropped by a raptor?
I put on a pair of disposable medical gloves (rodents can carry parasites) and put it in a box. I know a biologist who uses desiccated beasties for teaching, so it’s double bagged and in the freezer.
Here in BC’s lower mainland the ongoing drought has required water-use restrictions. Some folks are having trouble remembering this and adjusting to it.
In our home we’ve barely changed our behaviour. Why? Because over the years we’ve taught ourselves to always be aware of water use.
Why can’t we all use water mindfully all the time?
We’ve changed our behaviour in our home so that using the least amount of water, capturing water, and reusing grey water comes naturally. It feels strange not to do it!
People are creatures of habit. Once you change your habits, conserving water is easy.
First, we’ve taken the obvious step of installing water-saving fixtures. We didn’t do it all at once, that would have been a daunting financial hit, but over the last ten years, when we renovated a bathroom, or the kitchen, or the utility room, we installed low-flow fixtures and water-thrifty appliances.
Now everything in our home is low flow or low use — all the shower heads, washer, dishwasher, etc. All of the toilets are dual flush.
Second, we’ve changed our behaviour. We’ve had a “new normal” in our home for decades now.
Here are a few examples of our “normal” water use:
Since the water restrictions went into effect, we have modified two behaviours:
I’m sure we can all come up with great ideas for using water efficiently, and incorporate them into our daily lives so they become habitual.
It was a sunny, hot, blue-sky morning for a nature tour of Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby. Thanks to Pamela Zevit of the South Coast Conservation Program who led the informative tour, and who brought along a show-and-tell kit of cool animal stuff!