Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

If you're going to take a cab there and back, why not treat yourself to a big slap up meal and a piss up after the exam and make a day of it?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Good excuse to visit though.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Do a streetview 'drive' along Queen St from City Hall, past the justice building and then turn left into officers square.
Canadian version of Bath :nod:
The shops have a bit of a Bath feel too - even a pottery shop.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

This is a good time to have two credit cards. Firstly so you can get it done and not pay $45 taxi every time there's no bus (I assume no hotel shuttle to get?) and pay off as and when.

The advantage of two is a balance transfer on one to the other to get a much lower interest rate and you can pay it off over about 6 months without seeing high amounts added back for an outstanding balance each month.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

8.15am :rofl:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

An early lunch, 10ish. After a couple of bottles of beaujolais nouveau it’ll all seem like a good idea.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

We were planning a trip east this summer anyway so now we have a place to stay. Actually we planned it for this summer but my husband was ill so we had to cancel.
I'm not feeling it but it does look like a nice place. Way better than scabby Peterborough!

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

What's with the catapult seats on Little Lake?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.29283...2!8i6656?dcr=0

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Sculpture innit. They are fun. Little Lake is pretty as the river and there are some good houses but downtown is so shabby. Look at George Street especially near Charlotte. And then the other main drag of Lansdowne.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Sculpture...can you sit in them? Could be a tourist attraction for contrived photos :lol:

I had already done those streets on the way to the lake. I thought they were better than the roads that partiallydischarged posts with fastfood joints and big pet shops and clinics and things.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Hey I take offense to my name being taken in vain. I show the true Canadiana not some hipster infused faux Canada.

A Peterborough landmark although I'm hearing it may be closed permanently.
https://goo.gl/maps/AzpKDh6dP5m

Not the kind of place to ask for a drink with a piece of fruit in it.

I do recall a night in Peterborough where we started at the Pig's Ear, then the Red Dog Tavern and then the Montreal House and it was non descript draft swill all night. My head was pounding in the morning.

Left Toronto in the afternoon by car with no snow on the ground, got to Peterborough and there was tons of snow and snowmobiles on some of the main streets and the Pigs Ear seemed to be full of couples in matching snowmobile suits.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

True. I had a hard enough time getting 1 let alone 2...lol.. The one I do have has such a small limit is mostly useless except for paying bills that require auto pay.

I can't find much online about the scooter I have (Scarabeo 49cc 2005) but seems the tires themselves are not too bad, 100-150 or so online, which is around what the shop quoted.

I am going to need to find a new shop as the one down the street from us is closing for a month for Christmas holidays, so no way to get it in before Friday and fixed and ready by end of Friday.

So on Friday my next day off I will call around to motorcycle places and see if any of them work on scooters, Kal-Tire I called and Canadian Tire don't, so they are out.

Seems on the scooter I have the exhaust needs to be removed in order to pull the tire, and seems a bit complicated and beyond my abilities, so I will see about renting a U-haul truck to transport the scooter as that will be cheaper.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

You can buy sports-bike tires for $150 - that's way too much for a scooter tire. Look to pay $50 (or less if you want a cheaper brand): https://fortnine.ca/en/shinko-sr714-...hoCR6wQAvD_BwE
https://www.bikebandit.com/tires-tub...tires/t113em25

Removing an exhaust and rear wheel is a basic DIY job - see if you can find a friend that's handy with a wrench to help.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Over the last fortnight I've had an emergency visit to my dentist and they saw me immediately, an x-ray, inspection, spot cleaning,5 injections of antibiotics and something else and it only cost me 40 eoros! How brilliant is that

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

What was the something else? Reminds me of the old "something for the weekend, sir?" at the barber's that one used to hear about. :lol:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

It would have been a great time to have a CAA+ card, might have paid for itself a couple of times over.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Yep you can sit in them. People do and they take photos.

That sounds like Lansdown, which us indeed a very ugly potholed street of strip malls, big box stores and fast food.

George and Charlotte are the old part of the city. Some good individual stores but with very badly maintained buildings, dirty sidewalks, junkies and beggars.

Yep it's closed with much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I've never seen snowmobiles in town, there must be a bylaw against it now. Maybe on the trails.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

The snowmobile sighting was in about 1987 and I'd been in Canada 6 years but having being sheltered from such things in built up Toronto it was quite the vision to see snowmobiles flying down the streets near the Pigs Ear. Please don't tell me the Pigs Ear has become a Starbucks.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

nothing yet. It's been bought by condo/home developers. It might get knocked down but there's talk if it being a national treasure.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

The passage of the first snowmobile down our street is a sign that winter has arrived;) We don't get a lot, but after a big snowfall there are always some neighbours accessing the trails via the street. Same thing happens with ATV/UTV's. In that case, I'm an offender.;)

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

These are the 2 that come back as fitting a 2005 Scarabeo


https://fortnine.ca/en/shinko-sr714-scooter-tire

https://fortnine.ca/en/pirelli-mandr...oped-rear-tire

Is one better then the other you think or either would be fine?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

The Pirelli is a better quality of tire, and the one I'd buy. Likely to be a stronger construction and give you better mileage. Don't forget that you should take your first few commutes carefully, until the release agent on the tire has been scrubbed off.

I've used Fort Nine to order parts and tires before and had great service.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

:goodpost:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I watched three xmas episodes of MASH tonight. Dear Dad, Dear Sis and Death Takes A Holiday.

Splendid stuff. I'd completely forgotten about the tannoy announcements.
"The following men have volunteered for this afternoon's ten mile physical fitness hike." Hawkeye pauses to listen. Silence. :rofl:

They're on dailymotion. Ignore that the titles/credits/signs and clock are backwards, everything else is perfect...especially the absence of laughter track. :thumbup:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I feel like I just went back in time.

My stepdaughter went to bed early because she has to be up early for work. About half an hour later my stepson - who keeps very strange hours - got up :blink: - but I was hearing them talking upstairs.

Half an hour later they were still talking and I went to the foot of the stairs. "This reminds me of a view years ago" I say.

"What does?" they respond.

"Me calling up the stairs because you're talking when you should be sleeping." :rofl:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

50 years ago it snowed in San Diego.



For the record it snows in San Diego mountains almost every year but 50 years ago it snowed on the coast in the city which is unusual.

The day it snowed in San Diego | The San Diego Union-Tribune

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I thought that this might slot into this thread rather than start a new one as an example of unacceptable bank behaviour.

UPS loses family's $846,000 inheritance - Toronto - CBC News

On the face of it TD has a point. It has sold a product and that's the end of the matter. The draft is considered 'cash' and there's no way the bank can stop it being used as such.

But it owns up to having procedures in place to replace lost bank drafts.

Presumably technology exists that would enable the bank to check a bank draft, at the point of cashing, against a central database to ensure that it's not a forgery etc. Application of technology in this instance is quite simple and I don't understand the bank's reluctance, especially after a lapse of ten months... unless this is inconvenient, not trained up for or simply such technology doesn't exist.

The problem the bank has is that a bank draft may have been used as collateral to acquire funds from an innocent third party, but if the draft is cancelled and the draft no longer has any monetary value and the draft is being used by those who have questionable ownership should it be honoured by the bank, I think not.

Since bank drafts are considered 'cash', I assume they can be presented anywhere, to another bank for example who may not be able to check validity, but in this case I would assume that the one bank would contact the other as a matter of course.

But what is a bank for? It exists to maximise profits for it's shareholders and hanging onto you cash for as long as possible does this very nicely, especially if you can squeeze a few GIC's out of the customer as well as having them offer to stand any losses on whatever arrangement can be thought up.

Technology should be able to rationalise this problem or is it, or lack of it, simply being used by a bloody minded bank to boost it's profits?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Would you issue cash to someone to replace cash that you have already given to them?

I see TD's issue here, without the guarantees they have requested, they could have to pay out the money twice. That is the whole point of bank drafts - they are as good as cash and they can only be cancelled if the draft is returned to them.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I've been googling to see the difference between draft and certified expecting to find, easily, that it's because certified has a limit and that's what makes the draft version, according to the bank, more appropriate.

But I can't find it. Is that because there is no limit for either?

I did see something about the fees being lower for a draft as if there's a greater risk in a case like this. But that doesn't seem right. :confused:

I see from an electronic transfer over $10k that it has to go through FINTRACK which is presumably money laundering or other illegal aspect related.

Why cannot a draft/certified cheque be subject to the same conditions?

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

The difference between writing and drinking: In drinking, the last draft is the rough one.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I recall a story in London around 1989 when a man found a bank draft for GBP 4 million on the pavement in the City. Not being clued up about what they were, he handed them into a bank where they told him it was as good as untraceable cash. Eventually the issuing bank gave him a reward of a bottle of champagne.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/a...g-distant-star

Artificial Intelligence, NASA Data Used to Discover Eighth Planet Circling Distant Star

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I've been mulling this one over and whilst I initially thought the bank was being bloody minded, I'm minded to question why the bank draft was sent in such a cheap and idiotic manner.

When I sold my daughter's house I drove 100km to personally collect the cheque from the solicitors and then personally handed the cheque into the bank. As I've said before, you can't trust anyone to do anything properly and the downside of losing a large sum of money by entrusting it to someone else easily became an unwelcome answer to the question 'What if it gets lost?'.

'WHAT IF?'.........

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I dunno, it sounds to me someone like UPS would be (should be) more secure than you. You say you did 100k. Was that each way or 200 total. I believe the distance in the article was 440 so 880 there and back. This cheque had to go 4 or 8 times as far.

Wouldn't one expect a courier company to be well versed in this? Better trained drivers, security procedures, vehicle safer than yours in the event something bad happens....

Much depends on what form the money is but if this cheque is as good cash, what if the secretary tips off some villains that you have a large sum of money and you're followed and deprived of it? :sneaky:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

It wouldn't benefit them as it is made payable to you so all they would be doing is preventing you from depositing it. While I accept that someone would do that, I can't imagine there are many around that would risk a prosecution for robbery for such a thing.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Well I did say it would depend on what form the money was in my hypothetical example, but isn't the whole point of this story that the cheque is as good as cash? That the wrong person could get hold of it and benefit from the money?

So if it's not going to benefit the wrong person then it isn't actually as good as cash and the payee is the only one who could get the money on the cheque.

If it's impossible to be of benefit to the wrong person then surely it should be the payee in the reported case signing whatever agreement is needed by the bank since he's the one benefiting from it.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

The bank draft is payable to the holder, not a named payee.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

That's the impression I was getting with the "as good as cash" reference.

I should clarify that my use of the word payee was meant as the intended recipient.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I'm a bit puzzled over the whole bank draft/UPS affair as well. My initial thought was "well if you have $846k to transfer surely there is some way of doing this securely and electronically?". But then, this is the Canadian banking system which is, well, not exactly in the 21st century is it? I recently extended my mortgage which is with one bank although my current account is with another. I was anxiously awaiting funds as I had a builder chasing a stage payment & was told "Oh yes it's all approved, you'll see it online". After a lot of back and forward I came to the realisation that my belief that they would seemlessly transfer it electronically to the other institution was wrong. What I had to do was to go into the branch and collect a draft and take it to the other institution to pay it in.

What's puzzling about the $846k story is that I had the draft made out to me, so had I lost it, no-one else would be able to cash it. It seems baffling that TD would produce a draft payable to bearer? Or at the very least, advise that there are some risks with that approach, especially if you are using a courier! I would have thought that a draft to a named recipient could be cancelled if lost.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

^^^ this. The story makes no sense to me as even the sometimes odd & antiquated Cdn banking system does allow electronic transfers of large sums of money.