OT: Sens Lounge CVII - The Summer (of Dorion) Edition

[branch]

I’ve hit the gym 34 straight days since they’ve opened back up

Sounds awful dude

 

[BoardsofCanada]

Denis Villeneuve doesn't make bad movies. Dude has a fantastic track record.

As a country we should be doing more to celebrate this Canadian's role as one of the best talents working in Hollywood today.

I'm a huge fan of Denis.

My first viewing of Blade Runner 2049 I was actually disappointed. The visuals were spectacular but I found the story slow and not engaging. Then I saw it again and appreciated it a lot more. Then a third viewing and reversed my opinion 180 degrees. Absolutely loved it and now think it's severely under rated.

I have gigantic expectations for Dune and would be very surprised if it doesn't live up to it.

 

[Icelevel]

Is Matthews really on the cover again?
Wtf is up with that?

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Is Matthews really on the cover again?
Wtf is up with that?

Bieber paid for it.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Anyone tried the new zip line yet, how was it?

 

[Caeldan]

Been up here for the weekend to take the four year old to the nature museum and stock up on some Sens merch...

What the heck is with these Escooters everywhere.

 

[DrEasy]

Been up here for the weekend to take the four year old to the nature museum and stock up on some Sens merch...

What the heck is with these Escooters everywhere.

Every city that has allowed e-scooter rentals has turned into this mess . It's not necessarily a bad thing if it reduces the amount of car traffic, and they're kind of fun to use (but not cheap). But yeah, the city doesn't look tidy and watch out for guys riding them where they shouldn't.

 

[JD1]

Anyone tried the new zip line yet, how was it?

I tried it. It was pretty cool. Kind of the perfect descent speed to take it all in.

 

[maclean]

Been up here for the weekend to take the four year old to the nature museum and stock up on some Sens merch...

What the heck is with these Escooters everywhere.

They are a serious pet peeve of mine. Aside from taking up precious public space for a private business, I get really irked by the claims they are somehow "ecological". There are trucks that go around at night and pick up the ones with low batteries and cart them to a charging station, where they are charged and then distributed again. Add to that having to produce the masses of them everywhere (the world over) and I don't doubt the carbon footprint is actually rather substantial. Especially when you take into account the fact that these are not competition for cars - they are competition for the clearly more ecological modes of walking, biking or taking public transit.

Unless you mean the road-type scooters. Those I have more understanding for as long as they're not parked on the sidewalk.

 

[Caeldan]

They are a serious pet peeve of mine. Aside from taking up precious public space for a private business, I get really irked by the claims they are somehow "ecological". There are trucks that go around at night and pick up the ones with low batteries and cart them to a charging station, where they are charged and then distributed again. Add to that having to produce the masses of them everywhere (the world over) and I don't doubt the carbon footprint is actually rather substantial. Especially when you take into account the fact that these are not competition for cars - they are competition for the clearly more ecological modes of walking, biking or taking public transit.

Unless you mean the road-type scooters. Those I have more understanding for as long as they're not parked on the sidewalk.

Yeah. Definitely the ones that compete with walking /public transit and look like the little kick scooters.

I feel like I want to re-watch that South Park episode now...

And I have learned that a vacation with a four year old is not really much of a vacation

 

[maclean]

And I have learned that a vacation with a four year old is not really much of a vacation

Sorry to hear that. Me and my eldest took a trip to Canada just the two of us when he was four after his little brother was born and I found it to be a great experience. He was very agreeable and awed by the whole thing, though I couldn't get him to fall asleep on the plane until half an hour before landing.
That was 12 years ago, travelling with a 16 year old presents vastly different challenges

 

[Caeldan]

Sorry to hear that. Me and my eldest took a trip to Canada just the two of us when he was four after his little brother was born and I found it to be a great experience. He was very agreeable and awed by the whole thing, though I couldn't get him to fall asleep on the plane until half an hour before landing.
That was 12 years ago, travelling with a 16 year old presents vastly different challenges

I mean, it's not been terrible at all. Just you know, more of the lack of a way to wind down in the evening since you're trying to convince a kiddo to stay in bed and go to sleep while you're across the room still awake and just wanting to wind down with a book before going to bed yourself...

That and somehow a four year old manages to somehow take up 95% of the space in a king size bed

 

[coladin]

I mean, it's not been terrible at all. Just you know, more of the lack of a way to wind down in the evening since you're trying to convince a kiddo to stay in bed and go to sleep while you're across the room still awake and just wanting to wind down with a book before going to bed yourself...

That and somehow a four year old manages to somehow take up 95% of the space in a king size bed

Man, with two now at university, I can't believe how much I miss those days. Try and enjoy it, slow that clock down, because , before you know it, they are all grown up and you go from being the center of their universe to a general annoyance

 

[Caeldan]

I will say though, the restaurant situation is definitely a bit ooof.

Had just one place we stopped at, Blue Cactus (always been a place I've enjoyed when visiting Ottawa to be honest), where service was actually at what you might expect.

Had one place we left because it was nearly twenty minutes and no server had actually approached us for waters/drink order... Another place where they let a party of 4 with drinks sit there with empty beers until we had to flag someone down for a bill.

Even a breakfast place where the coffee went dry and they screwed up the order somehow.

 

[JD1]

I will say though, the restaurant situation is definitely a bit ooof.

Had just one place we stopped at, Blue Cactus (always been a place I've enjoyed when visiting Ottawa to be honest), where service was actually at what you might expect.

Had one place we left because it was nearly twenty minutes and no server had actually approached us for waters/drink order... Another place where they let a party of 4 with drinks sit there with empty beers until we had to flag someone down for a bill.

Even a breakfast place where the coffee went dry and they screwed up the order somehow.

The restaurant industry is short staffed all over. They're having a real hard time attracting people back to that industry

 

[Caeldan]

The restaurant industry is short staffed all over. They're having a real hard time attracting people back to that industry

Yeah, I mean I can understand that.
Just even when the staffing level looks to meet the number of people inside it still seems like no one has much of a clue.

Even my favourite place locally is still all over the place when I've had a chance to sit down and they retained like all of their longtime staff.

But that's why I didn't name any of the places I had a bad time with and highlighted the one that I did have a good experience with instead.

 

[trentmccleary]

What's a reasonable price for home insurance? Or how much do you pay?
This is something we usually keep to ourselves and are never entirely sure if we're getting screwed or not.
PS, I'm reasonably sure that I'm getting screwed but just want to confirm.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

What's a reasonable price for home insurance? Or how much do you pay?
This is something we usually keep to ourselves and are never entirely sure if we're getting screwed or not.
PS, I'm reasonably sure that I'm getting screwed but just want to confirm.

$1000 per annum

 

[StoicSensFan]

What's a reasonable price for home insurance? Or how much do you pay?
This is something we usually keep to ourselves and are never entirely sure if we're getting screwed or not.
PS, I'm reasonably sure that I'm getting screwed but just want to confirm.

Getting annual amounts for house insurance and our mortgage, the house insurance is about 10.8% of the cost of the mortgage.

 

[trentmccleary]

Getting annual amounts for house insurance and our mortgage, the house insurance is about 10.8% of the cost of the mortgage.

My insurance was high last year and increased by 31% this year. If I were still on the 25yr / 20% down track, insurance alone would be 84.5%. That's not a typo. There are some reasons for that (older, larger, 2 units), but it still really seems excessive.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Ontario homeowners pay an average of $1250/year for insurance | Ratehub.ca

 

[StoicSensFan]

My insurance was high last year and increased by 31% this year. If I were still on the 25yr / 20% down track, insurance alone would be 84.5%. That's not a typo. There are some reasons for that (older, larger, 2 units), but it still really seems excessive.

Dear god that's wild. Are you in a flood zone by chance? A lot of houses off the Ottawa river, on the Quebec side as far as I know, are almost uninsurable because of the flooding that happened several years ago. So knowing that, I'm sure the people that were able to get insurance are paying insane amounts.

 

[trentmccleary]

Dear god that's wild. Are you in a flood zone by chance? A lot of houses off the Ottawa river, on the Quebec side as far as I know, are almost uninsurable because of the flooding that happened several years ago. So knowing that, I'm sure the people that were able to get insurance are paying insane amounts.

Not even close. I'm not even in the 100 year floodplain for the region.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

What's a reasonable price for home insurance? Or how much do you pay?
This is something we usually keep to ourselves and are never entirely sure if we're getting screwed or not.
PS, I'm reasonably sure that I'm getting screwed but just want to confirm.

It's hard to answer. Cost of the home, amount of risk, how extensive is the coverage, and how much will they repay if it's a total loss. You can pay $50-60 a month like me, but you're not going to be made whole if the home is a total loss. As a matter of fact, with housing prices skyrocketing, a lot of folks are going to find out they're not covered anywhere as well as they think going forward. (Iirc, my max coverage is $230k, which won't be enough at todays prices to rebuild).

Edit: just to note, my auto insurance is bundled with the home insurance, so that also affects the rates.

Yeah, I mean I can understand that.
Just even when the staffing level looks to meet the number of people inside it still seems like no one has much of a clue.

Even my favourite place locally is still all over the place when I've had a chance to sit down and they retained like all of their longtime staff.

But that's why I didn't name any of the places I had a bad time with and highlighted the one that I did have a good experience with instead.

Anyone who has been serving the public through the last (almost) two years is exhausted. Wiped out. Fed up. At the end of their rope. There's a few industries where it's nearly impossible to get new workers and current workers are leaving. And those that are still around are just drained to give that high quality service people expect. It's going to take a long time for many places to recover.

 

[coladin]

I guess it depends on the house, but I pay 2300$, and have umbrella insurance as well. I have Earthquake insurance, as Ottawa has some fault lines that can be problematic. That alone is hundreds of dollars on my premium. I have high deductibles as well, personal belongings, jewelry, etc... but my house insurance has always been on the high side. It balances out because my cars are on the cheaper end ( I look at what I pay total). In then end, I pay about 5600 for the house and three cars.