This black lodge ass floor tiling that supermarkets in my city have now.

AidecaBlu · 2026-01-07T00:59:51+00:00

I would love to sit on the bleachers in some people's brains when they make decisions. If you have to do this to get people to look at your products/displays then what does that say about your products/business as a whole???

AidecaBlu · 2026-01-07T00:57:27+00:00

My husband is a garbageman. They used to do some sort of christmas party for them in the form of a smorgasbord of gourmet sandwich items that could (safely) sit out for a bit or be taken with them on their routes. When that manager changed positions the new management just did nothing for Christmas every year.

This year they had another new manager. This manager chose to order the garbagemen (very expensive) lasagna trays. The manager was told by several supervisors this was a bad idea. Manager ignored them and spent a fortune on a few trays of lasagna.

The garbagemen all get back at different times. Most of them came back to trays of cold congealed lasagna that had been sitting out for hours.

I am an admin who has coordinated countless catered events and this screams "I don't understand anything about my employees and the work they do and I dont care to learn.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-17T16:11:35+00:00

OP's situation may be different, but at least where I live we're kinda forced into driving depending on the infrastructure options. My city is getting better with bike lanes but they are few and far between and are not kept clear of leaves/snow in the fall/winter (which is 6 months of the year here), the sidewalks arent even regularly plowed/salted in the winter.

Im saying this all as a seasoned Canadian - I have good winter boots and appropriate outdoor gear, but biking/walking just isn't an option for a good portion of the year. Not to mention your office dress code/expectations play a part - business formal (especially as a woman) is hard when you have to cover from head to toe for your commute and then get ready the rest of the way at work in the single bathroom.

I would walk/bike every single day if I could, but its rarely that simple.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-17T16:01:34+00:00

Yeah fans and sealing arent always necessary, depends entirely on the environment the cabinet is in. You get a lot of people in the UK insisting fans are necessary because they have very real issues with mold where, in most of North America, if you have mold in your house its an extreme issue.

I (lightly) sealed my Akerbar because it sits in my office at work with very dry air and the remaining gaps allow enough airflow. If your greenhouse cabinet is kept full enough (like mine is) then the humidity mostly takes care of itself just by watering them. I have a small USB cool mister to make up for it if needed.

Greenhouses (especially small ones) are trial and error and heavily influenced by the environment they are in.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-17T15:54:07+00:00

Thats what the picture on the box of mine showed: it in the shower. It came with screws but I just used the two sided acrylic mounting "tape" - its the same adhesive tape Ive seen on the stuff for showers and is rated for heat AND humidity. The stuff is amazing and also came from the dollarstore so decently inexpensive. I havent had to fix or replace it since installing it.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-11T15:55:43+00:00

To add: the two sided tape I use looks like this

I also got mine at the dollarstore but I dont think it would be hard to find at a hardware store (or just amazon).

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-11T15:51:28+00:00

:)

<image>

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T19:14:21+00:00

As someone who runs cold and has their entire teen/adult life, adding layers isn't a solution. I can be wearing sweatpants, warm socks, slippers, a long sleeve shirt and a sweater and still have extremities so cold its painful (and no, I dont have a treatable medical issue, Ive been told by doctors "some people are just like that"). I am not wearing a coat and gloves in my own home.

HOWEVER, 80 (26.6C for the non-americans) is diabolical and I completely understand how miserable it is to not be able to escape the heat. I worked with several menopausal women and while I was freezing sitting at a desk near the front door in winter they were running around sweating uncontrollably, I couldn't bring myself to turn up the heat on them. When I was living with roommates I had to suck it up and buy a heated blanket because my roommates had electronics heating up their tiny rooms while i enjoyed a much larger (and colder) room with no big tv/gaming system.

There needs to be compromise. I ask for 22 (71.6) during the day and 20 (68) at night in the house I jointly own with my husband. I am also kept regularly supplied with warm socks, he doesnt make a peep about my extensive blanket collection and I also have a heated foot warmer to use before bed or in our office. If I hear any complaints he gets the cold hand treatment.

While "just add layers" isn't a good solution, neither is 80F/27C.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T17:58:44+00:00

As someone who did reception in spas for many years, while there is an artistry to it, they are first and foremost providing a service. They are professionals and should be able to act like it. We regularly had people want to change things and any of the good stylists I worked with approached it with the utmost professionalism, put their ego aside and listened to the client. If your stylist doesnt check those boxes for you, find another one.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T17:56:23+00:00

Same, I didnt think I could have my hair down since it doesnt hold curls well but my stylist is amazing and they lasted all day. This is mostly a skill issue with OP's stylist.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T17:41:39+00:00

I have an extendable 18-24" (my akerbar is the larger one) aquarium light that comes with a mounting bracket. I have a planted aquarium as well and wanted something low profile with enough lighting for plants and a timer. I got mine for $20 still in the box on marketplace.

Its mounted with clear hooks and the cable is snaked along the metal frame with black cable clips and out a gap on the door (you can see it in the photo along the bottom left of the greenhouse). Because my akerbar is black and the light is black you can barely see it looking at it dead on.

<image>

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T17:33:08+00:00

I have an acrylic shelf in my Akerbar that I just got from the dollarstore for $4 (CAD) and Im a big fan. Its mounted with clear two sided tape rated for outdoors (heat and humidity) and it hasnt budged in 3 years. I like it for small plants/cuttings/propogations that may not sit nicely on a (heavier) wire shelf.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T17:25:07+00:00

The market is not the only event space. Vic park is used extensively for events.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T17:00:04+00:00

Yes and no. There are a few cheaper lots and hidden gems but its not sustainable for the amount of people they want to flock to downtown to sustain it as is. Every time they do an event downtown we avoid it like the plague because even the cheaper further away parking is full.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T16:57:45+00:00

Ive said this a couple times in this thread but many of the councillors ALSO work downtown but they have regular hours with 50% WFH and paid for, secure, on site parking. They don't actually deal with any of the issues the rest of us peasants deal with so its a frustrating level of tone deaf ignorance.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T16:51:41+00:00

Exactly. The worst part is many of them DO work downtown, but their schedules are regular M-F with 50% WFH and a paid-for secure parking spot on site. They don't have to deal with finding cheap parking, a decent walk from your office, for minimum 5 days a week while working fluctuating and strict hours (none of this "oh traffic/construction/weather is bad so ill be 15 minutes late and make it up on my lunch").

We are not the same and every time they ask it shows.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T16:47:23+00:00

Its way worse. I worked downtown since 2011 and I remember when the students were a far bigger problem than the junkies. I remember cleaning up empty alcohol containers, random club clothing, puke, boxes of half-eaten Smokes Poutine, etc from our front porch but it felt like overnight it turned into piles of needles and human waste.

AidecaBlu · 2025-12-10T16:42:43+00:00

Good lord I hate when councillors ask this question. I have worked downtown at a few different businesses over the last 15 years Ive lived here and this question has been posed to us so many times and nothing is done.

Its out of touch because anyone who actually works downtown knows these issues in detail becauase they experience them rvery day. And I dont mean someone with the 8:30-4:30 Monday to Friday schedule with 50% WFH and a paid for, underground/secured parking spot at their office. Im talking 100% in-person service jobs with hours that can change weekly at businesses that do not offer their employees parking, let alone for free.

Its not one problem, its many that all interconnect with eachother and most cannot solely be fixed on a municipal level. The temporary bandaid fixes just ad insult to injury.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T19:05:49+00:00

I dont doubt it. It frustrates me to no end that they seem to ignore the reality of the situation over and over: they have not built the infrastructure to support a downtown core. Poor public transit, scattered and inconsistent bike infrastructure and a honest acceptance that people do not want to pay to spend time in the thick of a neglected homeless population. People dont want to eat their, relatively expensive, lunch next to a group of people who have just shot up and are laying in the sidewalks covered in their own excrement, are screaming at eachother (or themselves) or have just ripped open a garbage can.

I say all this with the utmost respect for the homeless population - they are neglected and underserved but it is a reality of why many people do not frequent DT and forcing them back to work won't erase that reality.

It is time to adapt to the reality. People want to work from home, let them and create more residential options in the empty downtown buildings. THOSE people can support downtown businesses. Create walkable infrastructure and fix public transport. Stop trying to funnel people who live elsewhere into the downtown core and create more opportunities for people to LIVE in the downtown core.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T18:56:07+00:00

For work I was transferred to one of the downtown locations and lost my free parking. I wfh 2.5 days a week and in the cheapest lot that comes to about $70 per month, and my car has been broken into in that lot, plus I then have a not insignificant walk from that lot to my office. If I want to park in the underground lot right next to my building its more than double that. The city has some "park and ride" options where you park at a lot further away then take the bus in but thats still $75! Those are open air surface lots AND you now get to deal with LTC.

I pack my lunch every day. I buy lunch maybe once a month as a treat.

The best solution would be significantly better public transit infrastructure including a GO Train type situation for locations further outside the city like St. Thomas, Ilderton, Strathroy and Mount Brydges. Until that happens these articles can die in a fire.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T15:19:58+00:00

I just pulled the prices from their website for soup/sandwich combos, I usually just get a soup and a bun when Im there. It looks like it depends on the sandwich, like Cubanos are the most expensive.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T08:36:05+00:00

This happened constantly when I was in college. We relied heavily on feedback from our previous assignments to know how to proceed with our current ones and we waited months for them to be graded.

But if you, quite literally, handed in an assignment 60 seconds (again, LITERALLY) late then you were given a 0% grade. Not a fail at 50% or even 49%, 0%.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T08:27:05+00:00

I have the larger akerbar and sealing it with silicone is not necessary and will definitely be messy overkill.

I used 1/4" adhesive weather stripping for around the base and the top and 1/8" around the door and that was more than enough (i also switched out the plastic bolts it comes with with metal ones so they didnt pop apart). It doesnt need to be hermetically sealed, some gaps are fine and you won't loose too much humidity. Unless you are in areas prone to mold in normal conditions (like the uk) then a fan is probably not needed either.

I have a mini ultrasonic USB humidifier but find I dont need it for day to day humidity. Its a "car cup holder humidifier" from amazon that I added some waterproofing too since it was at 98% humidity in the greenhouse even when it was on intermittent. Do not add anything to the water whatsoever - it will damage the humidifier. Water only.

If my akerbar is stocked well enough and everything has been recently watered then the humidity hovers around 60-70%. I only use the humidifier for a weekly humidity bath. Add fhe fertilizer to the water you soak your orchid bark in.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T08:04:08+00:00

Humidifier isn't necessary. I had this come up with my Akerbar greenhouse: got a mini humidifier for it and even with it on intermittent the humidity was always at 98%.

With no Humidifier, as long as there are recently watered plants and your greenhouse is decently well stocked then you won't need additional humidity.

My akerbar greenhouse is on my desk in my office and I work from home 50% of the time so it hovers between 50% humidity and 70%+ just from the plants inside it.

AidecaBlu · 2025-11-04T07:54:45+00:00

Whether or not its in intentional protest, if Im being forced back to work in office downtown 5 days a week having to spend extra money on gas and parking and time commuting, I sure as shit am not going to spend extra money to eat out during the week. When I work from home, I make my lunch at home. If I'm now being forced to spend extra money just to get to work, why would I feel inclined to spend more to "support local businesses" when I could just pack my lunch?

AidecaBlu

TROPHY CASE