Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Now I want to go to Germany one day just to see this place, it looks amazing.

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Just think, there's a miniature version of you working the ramp!

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Only a fraction of the size and complexity but an accurate reconstruction of the areas they chose to model, Miniversum Budapest -

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It's sunblock time again. Went out for a 30 minute walk yesterday with the dog, look like a lobster today. :rofl:

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Fire season has arrived. This one near Merritt but looks like 12 or so were reported around the province on Sunday.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...lert-1.5993366

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This time in Langley, under construction condo building went up in flames last night, possible damage to occupied building next door.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/c.../langley_fire/

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

BC will invest 500 million over 3 years into the mental health system, 330 million of that will go towards addiction treatment.

Kids under 12 will be able to ride transit free.

3.25 billion going to pandemic and recovery contingencies.

83 million investment into BC Parks, including adding 100 new campsites year year starting in 2022.

No renters rebate, a campaign promise from like 2017.

Tobacco taxes will increase July 1

Childcare spaces in BC's $10 a day program will double to 3,750 spaces over the next 3 years, and ECE will see an enhancement in pay with a $2 per hour increase.

Free birth control was not included in the budget, but may be in next years budget.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/10-highlights-...dget-1.5395200


BC Psychologists call on government to provide some coverage to their services which are not currently covered at all under healthcare system despite being a core profession for mental health treatment.

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I was reminded about this series and remember watching it in 1975 - (full series all episodes on youtube) - talk about prophetic! A virus that came out of China and spread around the world.... :)

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Me want

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Elon Musk is going to host Saturday Night Live.
https://torontosun.com/entertainment...st-miley-cyrus

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Government employees need to be less mean.

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I could not agree with you more. Government agencies need to hire people with empathy and kindness.

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I honestly thought the interview I had last week went well. I guess it didn't in the end.

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Bollocks they need to hire people who want to do their jobs and feel good about doing it and providing a service to the public who pay our wages. Now in saying that some Agencies need to have clear mandates about what they do and how they do it without masses of grey. Why should I have empathy or kindness to someone who cheats on their taxes or smuggles narcotics/weapons into Canada? :yield:

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Moving into the BC Housing unit today. We got the keys Tuesday and it was 30c inside as the heaters are stuck on and wont shut off. We told them this when we viewed it a month ago, but it never got fixed.

They dont know when they can fix it. They only had a month to deal with it.

But that level of heat is simply too hot for me. May need to sleep in the car. Lol

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Anyone know how to get rid of ants? That wont also kill a dog.

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I've found a liquid ant killer like Terro or Raid is the best thing for killing ants, as the workers take it back to the nest and so it kills the workers and the queen. The liquid contains borax and a sweetener attractant.

I've never had to worry about a pet, but I understand that you can buy Terro either as the bottle that I use, or as a packet containing 7 "stations", which are sealed and not accessible by pets.

You put either drops of the liquid or one of the "stations" (that's what the company calls them!) along regular pathways used by the ants ....... so you need to work that out first.

I understand that you can also buy ant killer that contains diatomaceous earth, which is considered safe for pets.

Check out Canadian Tire or Home Hardware.

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Yep, these things have worked for us.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...b41b48338.jpegAnything bigger than an ant can't get in to access it.
I note the label says not to let pets play with them but our curious cat didn't play. This might be because they have a peel off thing (the bait, not the cat) so you can stick them and as they don't move they're no fun.

But you should be able to fix them where they can't be got at, like between something and a wall.

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Thanks. I wasn't sure if the bait traps worked or not so wanted opinions.

Went with the Terro brand simply because it was an 8 pack for same price the Raid 4 pack cost

But I imagine they all work on the same concept.


Haven't had ants before really so wasn't sure what works.

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Note that you will see an increase in ants along the trail(s) where you put the bait traps ........ the first workers take the information back to the nest that there is this yummy food, and so more and more go to get it.

Don't worry, they all take it back to the nest where they gradually all die .... you won't get lots of dead ants to clean up!!

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I would be worried about a dog chewing it.

Salt is supposed to stop them…ants that is, not dogs. :D Ants will not walk across a line of salt.

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They came with sticky pads and I put it under the little overhang for the patio door, and put a box in front so Charlee wont get to it, she probably wouldn't have, but not hard to take a couple extra steps to keep the dog extra safe.


Hopefully they will get the heat fixed, its a wee bit hot inside, windows are open, but 28-32 inside is too warm for me. :rofl:

First floor so can't keep all the windows open when we have to go out, so that is when it is the worst, a few hours with the windows closed.

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Does it have to be pentacle shaped? ;)


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...cb2bfccb2d.jpg

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Yes, because you want them to be trapped and unable to get out. If it has 5 sides and confines them, it's a pentaprison.

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And it's there the repentants endure their penants.

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Baffling sometimes how Amazon US ships things. Packaged originated in Seattle, Washington, now its currently in Rockford IL, next stop will almost certainly be Wisconsin, onto Toronto, then to BC as Amazon ships this method every time I order from the US.

From Toronto it comes generally by Canada Post or Purolator typically.

Would save time just shipping from Seattle up to Vancouver to get to BC destinations.

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So far looks like not having a dishwasher, washer, dryer and no electric heat makes for some nice savings on electricity consumption, we averaged 15 to 20 kWh per day in the last place, and so far in the new place its been between 4 to 5 kWh used per day.

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Sometimes we wish we had been able to have kids.

Charlee is going bonkers in the new place, we are ground level and exterior halls and the bedroom window faces the open hallway so there are always people walking by with their dogs all day and through the night, Charlee isn't used to all the noise yet.

Can't close the window due to the heat being broken and stuck on.

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Back when Vancouver had a zoo, it's too bad they didn't modernize over the years and focus on research and conservation so it could have remained open. One thing I miss about San Diego is the zoo, such a lovely place to stroll, but its 100 some acres and a massive botanical garden as well.

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Heartbreaking. I've heard of a few zoos in Canada that don't have the best reputation.have you watched this? https://www.cbc.ca/documentarychanne...-whistleblower

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What was great about the Vancouver Zoo and Aquarium, as that is what it used to be called, was the Aquarium section.

Back in the 60s, even the zoo wasn't too bad, but the animals got old, and they started to specialize on the aquarium section, with belugas, orcas, etc.

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The enclosures were norm for many decades, and believe it or not were considered an improvement as previous to concrete moat enclosures it was cages. But by the late 80's more forward thinking zoo's started to build naturalistic enclosures that mimics the animals natural habitat, and turned focus on education, conservation, research and protecting and breeding endangered species to keep species from going extinct.

One example is the California Condor, and while its still critically endangered, it is at least not extinct. In 1987 the population of the condor in the wild dropped to just 27 animals, at this point the US Government created a conservation plan, and with the help of the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoo, the remaining 27 birds were captured. These birds bred in captivity and in 1991, they began to reintroduce birds to the wild. As of 2019 there is estimated to be 518 California Condors living. (total population wild + captive)

Their natural life span is quite long up to 60 years, the primary causes of their decline was due to poaching, habitat destruction and lead poisoning from shot gun pellets, which have since banned in California Condor habitat, electric lines were also a cause of a fair amount of condor deaths, the chicks raised in captivity have been taught to avoid flying into power lines before being released into the wild as well as taught to avoid humans, and it worked, deaths involving condors and power lines have dropped, how they teach the birds, I haven't a clue.

The conservation plan was controversial at the time, many groups were opposed to it, but reality was without some protection of captivity, and increasing survival of chicks, the species would have gone extinct.

From 1981 to 2003 there were no wild condors hatched, that changed in 2003 when a wild pair mated and had some success.

In 2006 a pair of condors was spotted in Northern California, first time in 100 years any were spotted in Northern California.

Some zoo's are still awful of course such as the one in Aldergrove, how its allowed to stay open, I have never understood, its not a good place and should have been shut down a long time ago.

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I remember the zoo from about '67 or '68. There was 1 polar bear out in the enclosure and because it was a hot day he was spending a lot of time staying cool in the pool. I remember the penguins. The monkey house was a big hit with the smaller kids but didn't impress me much. The aquarium section had a beluga and the Orca show, which I suppose it was good to see once. My favourite was the otters. I remember looking at the Beluga, and it looked back at me, then I moved closer to the pool skirting and it moved closer, never breaking eye contact. I thought "Gosh, these animals are super intelligent, this whale is attempting to communicate with me!" When the show started I discovered that I'd been standing where the trainer stands with the fish, but for awhile I thought I'd had an epiphany.

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I have noticed people in this complex are very friendly compared to everywhere else we have lived. I guess it comes with longevity, many have been here for years, so I guess that plays a role, turn over of tenants is a lot lower vs market rentals so build more of a community I suppose.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

This website is kind of cool, man did we clutter up space as a species.

https://maps.esri.com/rc/sat2/index.html

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https://imgur.com/EIpRLn8
What's your dream job?

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I'm going to take up kiteboarding. I'm quite excited.

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I would have thought that you would prefer water boarding!

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A friend of mine from the beach does it, and it looks like great fun. If the wind is right they go as far up the lake as they want, and in the winter they do it on snow covered fields within sight of the highway just north of Regina, jumping over the barbed wire fences at speed. When this first started getting popular here about 20 years ago they wanted to have a big event over Christmas holidays and use our bar for a few meals and a get-together, but they had to cancel as no insurer would touch them.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Mattress is too soft.