OT: Sens Lounge -The four seasons edition

[jbeck5]

Lol. What about my stance gave you the impression I want to invest in those kinds of companies?! I tend not to agree with their business models and practices (offshore manufacturing for cheap labour, using tax law loopholes, being "too big to fail", stock buy backs, bloated bonus programs for c-suite execs... Shall I go on?), so I think I'd feel pretty gross about making profit off the back of that kind of investment.

Congrats on buying a house though.

Im a small business owner. Everything goes back into the business right now. But thanks for the investment tips.

I would figure you want to make your money make you money. That's all. It's passive income.

 

[Relapsing]

Wow, that must have been something else!

Man... One of those dream projects.... The wood was dredged out of the river by logs end, and was from the owners private stash. It was all originally destined for Britains ship building yards, but never made it. It's now overlooking the river where those logs would have floated by.

That wood sat on the river bed for around 200 years, and the white oak went completely grey from minerals picked up from the river sediment. Absolutely pristine condition. Apparently there are hew logs down there that still have sharp 90 degree corners... Go anaerobic environments!

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Man... One of those dream projects.... The wood was dredged out of the river by logs end, and was from the owners private stash. It was all originally destined for Britains ship building yards, but never made it. It's now overlooking the river where those logs would have floated by.

That wood sat on the river bed for around 200 years, and the white oak went completely grey from minerals picked up from the river sediment. Absolutely pristine condition. Apparently there are hew logs down there that still have sharp 90 degree corners... Go anaerobic environments!

Dude...post up some pictures of your finished works. I'd love to see them.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

https://www.motor1.com/news/724788/half-ev-owners-american-switch-gas/

10 reasons not to buy an electric car | Blaze Media

Align: Vroom editors Paul Brian and Lauren Fix kill the buzz around EVs.

www.theblaze.com

 

[Golden_Jet]

View attachment 901369

https://www.motor1.com/news/724788/half-ev-owners-american-switch-gas/

10 reasons not to buy an electric car | Blaze Media

Align: Vroom editors Paul Brian and Lauren Fix kill the buzz around EVs.

www.theblaze.com

Some countries are very low and some are high. The low ones likely have better infrastructure.

 

[Relapsing]

Dude...post up some pictures of your finished works. I'd love to see them.

Thanks Nac! A friend of mine brings me in sometimes as a ringer to help wrap up projects, by far the coolest pieces I've been working on this year. A lot of fitting, sanding and finishing, and I've lost track of the number of drawers I've made for him.

Here's a black walnut dining table we made for a client downtown:

Here's the conference table, desk and set of drawers for the High Commissioner. We were in the shop until 2am the morning of the delivery wrapping this one up:

These planters were a recent project with a private student they wanted to build. Not as refined, but still fun. I'll run a version of these as a class in the spring:

And for good measure, a pair of earrings I've designed that I want to put into production later this year:

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

CHARLEBOIS: How Costco masters the economics of exclusivity

Scanners, positioned at store entrances, mandate that shoppers authenticate their membership before entry

torontosun.com

 

[Cosmix]

Loyalty is the best policy. I am very loyal myself to things, people and places.

It has to be the Kona N though.

$38K + taxes. Too much for him and his budget.

 

[Cosmix]

People just see them setting up cameras everywhere. Cops hiding behind trees or pillars. They're everywhere when it comes to handing out tickets.

But then when your car gets stolen or some crime is committed and they're called, seem to do very little investigation other than taking a report and filing it away.

I'm not saying that's how it is, but I'm saying that's how it appears to the public. Then there are other things like how they get these fancy 100k cars every few years while the firetruck is from 1992.

I think a lot of people wish they would put more of their time and effort policing real crime rather than road pirates catching people going 10 over or rolling a stop sign at 2am when no one is around.

It's the look of it that makes it seem like their priorities are out of wack.

As for the roads and how they're designed, I agree that the city needs to alter the set up to make it less normal to speed. Add roundabouts or intersections. Add trees in the island. Add trees on the side. Have street parking. Have crosswalks.


Having a wide open multi lane straight road that a blind person could safely drive 80 down, and then having a 50 limit is stupid.

Alter the road set up. Make it dangerous for anyone to go over 50, and then everyone will slow down.


No one flies down bank street or Preston going 80 when there's no traffic because cars are parked up and down and there's signs and poles and benches a foot off the curb.



If they increase their price, they lose their advantage and will be less successful.

The reason Walmart is more successful is because they still offer the cheapest price for most things.


As soon as they become the same price as everyone else, the mom and pop shops get a chance again.

Because if it's the same price, people will choose to go where the service is better. If it's way cheaper, then they'll go self checkout and not care about customer service.

I have no problem with more roundabouts. I do have a problem with the city staff who do not maintain the roundabouts by ensuring the lane lines are marked well and not worn off, and do not provide overhead signage to guide the inexperienced. Some of the designs suck too, whereby a driver may take the right turn lane but then cut back after turning and cause a muckup! The Jeanne D"Arc/Montreal Road/St Joseph roundabout is the one I am complaining about!

Is he interested in a 2010 Hyundai genesis coupe 3.8? RWD and manual.

Has a short shifter and cat back exhaust, but you'd also get the stock shifter and stock exhaust. Comes with winter tires on nice rims, winter matts, extra genesis emblems I have yet to put on...all the goodies lol I'm about to post the car this week.



I believe those are all dinky cars. They don't sell well here.

Also, I think they have diesels which are better on gas.

No, I advised him not to buy an older vehicle. He needs reliable transportation without the maintenance costs for older vehicles.

 

[Stylizer1]

Some of the designs suck too, whereby a driver may take the right turn lane but then cut back after turning and cause a muckup! The Jeanne D"Arc/Montreal Road/St Joseph roundabout is the one I am complaining about!

That can happen in any roundabout.

This is brutal but satisfying also.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Thanks Nac! A friend of mine brings me in sometimes as a ringer to help wrap up projects, by far the coolest pieces I've been working on this year. A lot of fitting, sanding and finishing, and I've lost track of the number of drawers I've made for him.

Here's a black walnut dining table we made for a client downtown:
View attachment 901403

Here's the conference table, desk and set of drawers for the High Commissioner. We were in the shop until 2am the morning of the delivery wrapping this one up:
View attachment 901405
View attachment 901407

These planters were a recent project with a private student they wanted to build. Not as refined, but still fun. I'll run a version of these as a class in the spring:

View attachment 901410

And for good measure, a pair of earrings I've designed that I want to put into production later this year:

View attachment 901408

That is some gorgeous work!

 

[Relapsing]

That is some gorgeous work!

Thanks!

 

[OD99]

This bus is parked across from where I live in Newton, Mass.


View attachment 900683

I took that bus from Ottawa to Toronto for a golf trip.

I think they must lease it a lot, outside of hockey season.

 

[coladin]

This is nuts. It's like saying that we should compensate and retrain business owners who were destroyed by Amazon in the past decade.

Running a business does not entitle you to anything. You do that knowing there are risks involved. Having technology advance so that the local office space becomes obsolete is one of those risks.

...and public service employess are not entitled to WFH. They can also find another line of work.

Lol dude, what? I'm guessing you're one of those business owners?

Opening a business involves risk, the government can't just prop up every single bad business venture. Times change and taking advantage of x market during y time period doesn't entitle you to a lifetime of benefit.

I agree with point two, we need to accelerate the affordable housing market and this is a no-brainer way of doing it. Sorry to the business owners, but you win some and lose some.

I am thankfully not one of those business owners. But I run a business. The business ventures are not bad. They lasted generations before a pandemic changed the way people HAD to work. Well, that shit is over and the government workers can get our of their pjs, brush their teeth, and go downtown until otherwise. Because that is how the business model is. That is how society's business model is. If lazy, entitled PSW want to fight this they can find WFH positions with their skillset. I look forward to the three days a week in September and hopefully back at 5.

 

[coladin]

But it wasnt just a temporary thing. Companies and the government were switching to laptops so you can work from home if need be before the pandemic. Some departments even started letting people work from home regularly before the pandemic.

So a lot of people thought it only made sense that the pandemic sped up the process of making it feasible to work from home.


Because let's face it. Anyone who works at a computer can generally work from home. Video calls. Spread sheets. Word. Excel. SharePoint. Teams. All this stuff can be done infront of your computer at home. It only makes sense.


1) they just need to change their locations. The coffee shop that doesn't succeed downtown anymore, all of a sudden can succeed in Kanata or Nepean or Gloucester or Orleans or Barrhaven... So much more demand for food and beverage in the suburbs where there's plenty of retired boomers, and plenty of work from home people running errands on their lunch break who would love to pick up a nice cup of coffee while doing so.


Just using Orleans which I know best, in the last 20 years as many have been retiring, or working from home, Orleans is busy all hours of the day. Innes is full of traffic. 10th line is full of traffic. Orleans Boulevard is full of traffic. Jeanne Darc is full of traffic. The amount of food options in Orleans has skyrocketed. There's everything on Innes. There used to be nothing in Orleans but st Joseph Boulevard for restaurants and shops.

So it's not that shops are struggling. It's that shops in a specific area of the city are struggling. All they have to do is not renew their lease and then sign a new lease in a booming neighbourhood. That's what plenty of restaurants and service industry has had to do all over the glove throughout history. Adapt. Don't need to overhaul and pick a hole new industry. Just adapt with the times.

2) I've been suggesting converting buildings to residential with the bottom two floors being like malls (like they used to be) and then you've got your 15 min city downtown.

You talk about waste though, and selling them for a dollar or whatever would be waste.


I did hear it would cost a lot to convert these buildings though...for plumbing and electric. Going from one area with a bathrooms per floor to every unit having their own bathrooms and showers and sinks...it would be costly, but if they can make profit on their rent, would make it back.

I think we generally agree on 2. Sell all the buildings or renovate them and get revenue from renting them...and let the workers who can work from home do so.

Yeah this is reasonable. What I am saying if they want to change the bunsiness model for these coffe shops, lunch places etc...then if I were PM I would be assisting them to do that switch

 

[Masked]

I look forward to the three days a week in September and hopefully back at 5.

Considering the lack of office space the feds have in the NCR, you shouldn't be getting your hopes up about three days a week, much less 5.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Considering the lack of office space the feds have in the NCR, you shouldn't be getting your hopes up about three days a week, much less 5.

I think they’ll be fine with all the empty office buildings, otherwise they wouldn’t be talking of selling a bunch off.

 

[coladin]

Considering the lack of office space the feds have in the NCR, you shouldn't be getting your hopes up about three days a week, much less 5.

I don't think they have cut as much as tried to physically cut. But the offices are still available if need be.

 

[Masked]

I think they’ll be fine with all the empty office buildings, otherwise they wouldn’t be talking of selling a bunch off.

Some departments are telling employees they can't return for 5 days a week.

While believing that they wouldn't sell off office space if they're lacking seems logical, you're assuming the public service is being led by logical people.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Some departments are telling employees they can't return for 5 days a week.

While believing that they wouldn't sell off office space if they're lacking seems logical, you're assuming the public service is being led by logical people.

I thought it was 3 days a week

 

[Masked]

I thought it was 3 days a week

Minimum three days.

Public servants don't have to agree to work from home. They should be entitled to an office and some prefer to not work at home. But not all departments have space for everyone five days a week.

The whole thing is a shitshow from everything I've read and people I've talked to. It's all being pushed by a government who implemented a carbon tax to fight greenhouse emissions but they want public servants' cars on the road more often.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Minimum three days.

Public servants don't have to agree to work from home. They should be entitled to an office and some prefer to not work at home. But not all departments have space for everyone five days a week.

The whole thing is a shitshow from everything I've read and people I've talked to. It's all being pushed by a government who implemented a carbon tax to fight greenhouse emissions but they want public servants' cars on the road more often.

Great (political) point.

 

[Stylizer1]

Ottawa's speeding, red light cameras raked in $26.6 million last year

There were 22,914 speeders caught by last year's top ticketer, the camera at St. Laurent Boulevard opposite Rideau High School.

ottawacitizen.com

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

 

[Tuna99]

Ottawa's speeding, red light cameras raked in $26.6 million last year

There were 22,914 speeders caught by last year's top ticketer, the camera at St. Laurent Boulevard opposite Rideau High School.

ottawacitizen.com

The f***ing road should be 60km/h and there are speed traps all along the road - completely safe road with sidewalks to travel down and traffic lights and of course it’s just a money grab and training people to think they should be monitored and their every single move they make is caught and judged by a camera

Photo radar is anti human and anti social. Training for Canadians to be monitored like they are in England 24/7 when they are outside and sent tickets from a computer.

It’s technology controlling the masses in an instance when they Don’t need controlling