Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Tequila, sweat of the sun, tears of virgins. As mandated in the new Canada's Food Guide.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...ebe752091.jpeg

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

be careful you don't get too cross faded on that shit.

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Good thing most bus drivers in Vancouver are reasonable.

Wife gets a monthly bus pass from the ministry as part of disability benefits, she got a job and first day, silly bus pass isn't working for some reason (have to call the government later and inquire) but the nice bus driver let her ride anyhow, otherwise she would not have been able to get to work and missing a first day isn't good...

Hopefully a driver on her return will be nice and let her ride.

The pass should be working, but government did accidentally cancel some, maybe her's were part of that accidental cancellation of passes.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

A friend and I drank nearly a whole bottle of tequila and smoked a bunch of Mexican pot back in mmmmmm.. 1978? That's the night I got kicked out of the folk guild. Happy days, actually. :lol:
In Old Mexico I shared a small bottle of Cuervo with an old American man in a wheelchair (he had the sensemilla) and a young American psychology professor in a campground in Oaxaca, and when we finished the professor said "I can see where the Mexicans get some of their machismo from now; I just had the urge to jump over that wall right there!"
This heel of Hornitos is just something the bartenders shouldn't have put in with the empties, so not enough to hurt. It's a Sauza product, and pretty darned good, so I'm going to have to investigate and see what it sells for.
Ouch! Looked it up and nearly $40 for 750ml, no wonder it's good.

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No kidding! The number of abusive and/or intoxicated passengers in Vancouver seems to be high and it's surprising more drivers don't become callous. I like the skytrain more than the bus, for the view and the speed and convenience. I hope they got her card sorted out.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I get very envious of people in my online groups who get to see a therapist 3 times a week.

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She is calling the government to try and get it sorted out.

We don't live along a sky train route so its not something we use often, but I prefer the train over the bus and wish we had a more comprehensive train network and less buses.

We also get to take some of the least fun routes in Vancouver the #14, #16, #20 going west, all go through the heart of the DTES so these buses can get interesting, very interesting especially between between Campbell Ave and Granville Street.

The # 20 is better as they use larger bendy buses so tends to be less crowded, the #14 seems to attract the most weirdness followed by the # 16.

If just going downtown the #20 is best, but if near the SFU express its way better, limited stops as its an express so skips over a good chunk of the worst area, and a lot of students going to/from SFU campuses.

Drivers are compensated well though, $22.83 first 30 days, then $24.46 for first 8 months, $26.09 2nd 8 months, $29.35 3rd 8 mos, then $32.61.

If I could drive a bus I would consider it, but driving is too stressful, no way I can drive a huge vehicle in Vancouver, I get stressed enough in a small sub compact.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

When I drive to Vancouver I generally park it and take transit or walk until it's time to leave; taking everything out so the junkies aren't tempted. Regina is small and doesn't have heavy traffic, so I'm not used to the pace of Vancouver. In the past I've even rolled in at 4 in the morning to avoid traffic. Montreal on Easter Sunday in a big slow Ryder truck wasn't too good either.

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When we drove to California we timed our departure from Vancouver so we hit no traffic in Vancouver, Seattle or Portland, worked pretty well, got through Seattle early enough, and go to Portland early enough to avoid the PM rush hour. 2nd timed it to avoid LA during the day, so only part we couldn't avoid traffic was Sacramento, which wasn't horrible as we got there around 12 noon.

Vancouver traffic is bad and on top of it the drivers are aggressive, and lack of left turn lanes and signals just make driving here a miserable experience.

When I was working at the airport going into work for 4am was easy, no traffic, a nice 20 minute drive, coming home was an average of 35 minutes, but sometimes as long as 45-50 minutes to go the same distance.

We overlook a busy street so now I just sit inside and watch the traffic.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

The problem with Vancouver traffic isn't the volume (it's lower then most American cities) but rather the quality of the driving as you mention. You have to really drive defensively to avoid getting side-swiped by someone changing into your lane without looking, and people don't leave a safe gap between them and the car in front, meaning you frequently have to hit the brakes. It's ridiculous how many crashes we have on a daily basis too just from poor driving.

I wish the government would start a big campaign to turn all this around - reform the laws, improve driver training, safer road design, better public safety commercials on TV, etc.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

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Bummer, I really liked this show.

https://deadline.com/2019/05/the-kid...ge-6/#comments

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We're having a new roof done today. One of those metal ones that are sprouting up all over.

Beats me how they keep going up that ladder one handed with stuff balanced on the other shoulder. I just hope none of them falls and breaks the deck rails. :demon:

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We're having the house painted. The painter has his own mobile scaffolding and ladders & MrBEVS can access more mobile scaffolding through the company he works for and at no charge but now the painter wants us to have pole scaffolding erected so he can reach the last metre or so. * really fed up sigh*

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Scaffolding is rarely seen in Canada. I've seen it on a hospital and a federal government building. Not even seen it on new builds.

I saw something set up along the roofline when a roof was being finished on a new build across the street. However they did it, it looked like side by side planks running along the length of the house but no safety rail. :ohmy:

Of course most of the houses here go up like this
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...cf27861fd6.jpg
and scaffolding would get in the way.
But scaffolding seems to be the law in the UK and put up in a specified way.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I wish Vancity (and other banks/credit unions that don't) would break the balance down by what is available for use, and total. They only show the total which is a pain when some funds are on hold. (deposit a cheque they hold a certain amount for 1 to 5 business days.) Pain as they just show total balance but the entire balance isn't actually available for use.

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Tell the bugger to stop being an arse and get an extension handle for his paint brush.
Best if you make it sound like that suggestion comes from you, not me :cool:

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Whenever there's a stranger in the house - repairman, whatever - the cat is all over his toolbox, briefcase, whatever and not in the least bit bothered.

But have him out on the deck with the outside work going on - even when it's not noisy, just someone carrying something to the ladder - and he's straining at the leash to come back in.

Scaredy cat?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

He's given you a quote to paint the house and that includes all material needed to complete the job. If he needs pole scaffolding then it is his responsibility to obtain, erect it and all at no cost to you.

I was engaged to a roofer in the US many moons ago, may he RIP, and that is how he did business. He rented the scaffolding, they delivered and set it up and broke it down and removed it when finished, but the cost was already calculated into the proposed contract.

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https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...08acdbddfc.jpg

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Pea Hens are nasty. I would be a scaredy cat myself.

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+1

He knew the height of the house when he submitted his quote and should have anticipated that he would require scaffolding or additional equipment to complete the job and included the cost. His problem if he didn't!

If it's only 3 feet or so why on earth doesn't he get a pole extension for his brush/roller/applicator? I painted 12ft high walls in a stairwell using one (and I'm only 5'1!)
https://besttradetools.co.nz/collect...xtension-poles
:D

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I've painted quite a few multi-story houses using ladders alone, and roofed quite a few more using ladders and ladder jacks and I don't quite understand the problem; how tall is your house? Some friends hired me once to paint the top half of their house; they made a deal with the landlord to do it, painted the bottom half then rented a 40' extension ladder, climbed up there and came down saying Nope. Scary part is when the houses are close together and the high peak means going up all the way on a nearly vertical ladder to paint fascia and eaves. I nail a couple of big spikes into the siding and wire the ladder right onto the house, then plug the holes with butyl caulking on the way out. If you've got access to free scaffolding and outriggers so it can't fall over maybe tell the guy to get up there and tie himself off to the roof and get the finger out.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Would be so cool....People living the fish dream.

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Seven metres and a bit more maybe, on a sloping section. Yes. Himself can access free scaffolding and the like. Out here this is really expensive so a huge bonus.
We're sorting something out tomorrow hopefully so that will do it.

This is NZ where everyone knows everyone so things work a bit differently perhaps to other places .

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I do almost all our banking online ........ but I NEVER ever trust the balance shown on any of our accounts online!

I keep a transaction record in my cheque book, and deduct cheque amounts there as soon as written, as well as recording Standing Orders for payments when our pension payments go into the bank, even if those SOs will not be paid for another week or two later.

The balance in that transaction record is what I follow .................. transaction records are available from your bank, just ask one of the tellers.

I have a transaction record for each account that we have, so I'm always up to date ................ and have to keep telling OH to ignore the balance shown on the transaction slip when he takes cash out from the bank. He comes home saying how much money is in that account ......... and I have to say "Oh no, we don't!" :nod:


You do have to be VERY careful, one of our friends got herself into terrible trouble about 15 years ago by not keeping careful record of money in and money out .......... to the extent that the financial manager took control of her money because she ended up with such a large overdraft, put a lock on how much she was actually allowed to take out in cash. At one point, she was limited to $5 a day. :(

This is a wonderful lady, now in her mid-70s, worked and supported herself from the age of 17 to just over 60 with reasonably well paid jobs, but she did not graduate from high school because she was not capable of it. She got her high school graduation in her mid-30s by taking postal courses, but has trouble with numbers and math. Hence the problem.

She took my advice and that of another friend who used the same technique, and has kept herself out of money trouble since then.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Lord Linley tried to fix the light,
it killed him dead and serves him right,
for it is the duty of every wealthy man
to give employment to the artisan.

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Other then rent we don't write cheques and rent cheque comes out of a dedicated account not used for anything but rent.

The main account is used for bill payment all electronic, all done manually.

Records are kept electronically, no need for paper records.

No overdraft/No line of credit so no worry about the account being negative, but since no cheques are written on the account, and no payment comes out automatically, there is no way it would ever overdraft, if the funds are not there the debit transaction will decline.

The annoyance is with deposits, sometimes they hold none of the cheque, sometimes they hold some, no consistency in it, so deposit a $500 cheque from my wifes work, they add the entire $500 to the balance even though not all of it may be available for use, and keeping a paper ledger won't solve that problem.

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Imagine being at work when a jet plunges through he roof.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1...nCVJ2CzBHf9O-Q

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On the news they showed the detonation of the weapons retrieved from the plane, and it looked substantial. Minor injuries from this is a minor miracle.

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For sure, everyone got very lucky in this case.

Happens from time to time, about 10 years ago a Marine fighter jet crashed in the San Diego area short of the runway, 3 houses and 4 people were killed, the pilot survived though. That accident was a huge fireball.

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New roof was completed beginning to end in two days.

I keep going out to have a look.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...840a554f82.png

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Don't steal from the mouse.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5292715/p...Repz15WtPtJPXU

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Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

James Holzhauer is returning to Jeopardy today, and here's what some past champions have to say about him:
https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/strea...nt=Story_1_CTA

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

same here ....... it's been warm enough to wear summer clothes. Today ........... raining, we've turned the heating on, and I will need a fleecy and rain jacket when we go out!

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tbh, I can't see the point anymore. https://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/sad.gif

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This kid is smart.

He has been doing Harvard extension classes since 11, while also doing his normal schooling, graduating high school and Harvard within a couple weeks of each other,

https://globalnews.ca/news/5297866/t...PVHwo1ihysktWc

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Ruth Lawrence.Bloody hell. I remember when she was a precocious brat who everyone wanted to strangle and now she's 47 :ohmy: