Rene Astle 🇨🇦🌻

If you're looking to (temporarily) escape to the great big sea of stars, book 1 in The Lyra Cycle is free at your favourite online retailers. Follow the ragtag crew of the cargo ship Lyra as the reluctantly get embroil in adventures they didn't ask for. books2read.com/lyracycle1

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This is brutal. Why did we have free park passes again? I didn't realize it was an "enjoy it before it's gone" scenario.

I might be giving away how old I am but I remember going to the Pop Shoppe as a kid. It was an experience. You got to mix and match your crate of flavours. I wish we had something like that today ... though I guess I don't drink much pop.

Hey #yyj, just a reminder - after you vote (if you haven't already), swing by Tillicum Centre for BOOKS!

I saw this posted without the source ... but I think there needs to be more wobbly overloaded bits at the bottom. But also there are times I feel the 2026 internet should just collapse in on itself. Saw a quote recently about how it used to be a library and now it's a store 💯 xkcd.com/2347/

I love this! I want one. I have nowhere to put one or any idea how to weave.

Hey #yyj, I know you might be busy Saturday, but after you're finished voting, why not stop by Tillicum Centre? Local authors (including yours truly) are setting up shop from 10:00 to 5:30. You'll find us upstairs.

I'm somewhat discouraged with the state of things today - maybe you are too. But life goes on. Did you know that my Armchair Alien co-conspirator and I have a bunch of free fiction available? Here's a recent example: armchairalien.substack.com/p/when-there...

Another interesting story. I love these bits of history.

Turns out the pizza place near me also sells dough. And the new T-Fal air fryer has a pizza mode. I will be making use of this combo again.

I find these stories fascinating. One thing that stood out to me in this one is the heading "Newfoundland-Canada Ferry Torpedoed". It's easy to forget that Newfoundland didn't join Canada until 1949, seven years after these events.

Are you looking to escape into a good book? Do you prefer to listen to books? I enjoyed On Impulse - and now there's a audiobook version! shop.heathertexle.com/en-cad/produ...

Hey #yyj, did you know Potters furniture by Hillside Mall has solar panels on their roof?

So hear me out ... we need dragon helmets for adult cyclists too. Saw a couple of kids with them, and I felt envy.

I listened to the Hyaenidology episode of @ologies.bsky.social on my lunchtime run and I think it at least doubled the WHAT?! count of it's nearest competitor. Hyenas wonderfully weird. Listen to it and I bet you'll agree. www.alieward.com/ologies/hyae...

Space is bananapants! And awesome! This is so cool, and just in time for spooky season.

From my outing with visiting family today. Can you spot the lizard in the one with the yellow and magenta leaves?

Visited the Royal BC Museum yesterday with family. I really like what they're doing with Old Town, telling a more diverse version of BC's history. The video about the Hayashi photography studio in Cumberland is well worth the time.

This is an interesting documentary. One of the points it makes is that crypto preys off of our sense that our systems are broken. Who knew that guy from the OC had an economics degree. www.cbc.ca/radio/thecur...

I love these old machines. I makes me think of my old Singer sewing machine and its fabulous attachments.

The way he runs up that log - I'd be hugging it as I slowly made my way up.

Before my morning brain caught up, I thought it was a tree in the middle of the road. Nope, just the bus people.

I've been in training all week for Day Job - I am so tired I forgot we have a new story running at Armchair Alien. The art is from the artist listed as grandfailure on Depositphotos. I use their art a lot - I like the style. armchairalien.substack.com/p/the-collec...

I can't imagine being a caver but I'm glad there are people studying these spaces.

Why is BC Hydro spending money buying gas-fired plants instead of investing that in renewables? 🤦‍♂️

It's a great time to stock up your digital TBR shelf.

Supper tonight was largely from the allotment garden), not counting the biscuits. I made stew with onion, carrots, celery, tomato, and cabbage plus some of last year's dried beans. Store-bought additions were black beans, tomato paste, soy crumbs and spices. It was tasty. Too bad I freestyled it.

This is a great opportunity to stock up your ereader. I've read and enjoyed both Hope is the Thing with Feathers and On Impulse.

I wonder if I'd have a great sleep or if I'd get nightmares from the wedged walls if this were my bedroom.

Ooh, shiny things! I'm with Dragon and Crow.

The beaning has begun! I'm not sure how many dried beans I'll get this year, but at least I'll get some.

This is a fascinating and tantalizing glimpse into history.

Sometimes the problem with the big computer is not that I switched it to Linux. It's that it's unplugged and trying to save power by not running the fans. Or I assumed the problem was Linux rather than that I haven't tried the keyboard shortcut to turn on the backlight on the keyboard. I ... PEBKAC.

And people used to eat bits of mummies as medicine. Probably not a good idea. www.cbc.ca/news/science...

"Items under tariff threat, most notably wood and paper, represent more than 13 % of [British Columbia's] total exports to the US." We really need to try to diversify our economy, esp since these sectors are quite literally going up in smoke. I don't know how but damn. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

685 words written. I took today off from Day Job, and headed over to the university library for a bit to write without chores calling. I love libraries!

Wow, the number of media outlets in Canada that are owned by Postmedia. I realize this is in part a bed of our own making. I do not subscribe to a newspaper or online news atm. I feel I should. But I also want to be careful where my money is going. futureofmedia.hsites.harvard.edu/canadian-med...

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This is great work.

And across the border, we're slowly destroying our single-payer system by a thousand cuts, just so we as a society can pay more while some companies make more money out of it 😔

A great interview. "In 2017 it’s like somebody flipped the switch. It was record-breaking. Followed by 2018, which was record-breaking. Then came along 2023, which said, ‘Oh, I’m going to almost double you’ and broke a record." "Building another pipeline is like adding a nail in our coffin."

I had no idea about this. Sharing in case others didn't either.

Is Microsoft just labelling all updates "Security"? I swear they pushed other random changes out in the latest security update.

Wow. The linked page has a table that, if I'm reading it right, says that the 10 warmest years in the last 175-ish years have been since 2015 based on global surface temperature.

I am so cool that I get this 😂 Right, that means I'm cool?

I appreciate the passing mention of residential bike storage. In the CRD, which has a decent bike mode share, one ongoing limiting factor for apartment dwellers is secure storage at home. I'd like to see clear guidance that additional bike storage DOES NOT count towards FSR. #yyj