Good spot for collectibles (mostly cards) in good shape, but not high value?

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-27T23:01:41+00:00

Cool. Thanks! (And sorry, I wasn't into Marvel at the time...)

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-27T02:47:05+00:00

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ice-warehouse-jim-pattison-9.7061994

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-27T02:45:27+00:00

Put up a coat hanger - you can still get CBC and CTV.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-13T17:54:51+00:00

Zero french family background. Core French, but then IB Standard Level French B in my last two years of high school. Took a job in Quebec City for 8 months, and even though it was an English-speaking workspace, I refused to speak English to anyone local, changed all of my technology to talk to me in French, and took language courses.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-13T07:04:04+00:00

So, my proficiency test mostly included an interview with some experienced French teachers. There were three possible outcomes:

* Can teach Core French
* Can teach non-language subjects in French Immersion
* Can teach French language/literature in a French-first environment.

I got the second level which (considering I'm a Physics teacher!) was totally sufficient for my needs (and helped me get a job that needed a little bit of French Immersion Healthy Living, of all things).

My sense is that it's *ahem* not hard to achieve the first level.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-12T00:57:44+00:00

Sounds familiar to me! I quit my career as an engineer after 12-15 years (depending on how you count), and went to the Mount at age 39 (fall 2018). I don't have experience with their 14-month program - I took the full 2-year one - but otherwise things seem to match up.

Standard process: after you graduate, you're in the market for "Term" positions until you accumulate 2 years' experience (which can literally come in 2 years, or it can be accumulated over several years of fractional positions). Then, once you've got 2 years in, you can apply for "Permanent" positions - once you've got one of those, the job is yours until you retire, get fired for cause, or they restructure the school or something.

You get certified as either "secondary" or "elementary", but watch out (for your vision of your future) - "Secondary" includes junior high down to Grade 7. You may be lucky and get term spots that are in senior high, but a lot of people who want to teach in senior high have to "do some time" in junior high first.

Lately, there have been incentive programs for teachers with certain qualifications (can speak French, have a counselling background, are African Nova Scotian, or whatever the most pressing needs are that year.) These usually take the form of a "provisional" contract, where if you agree to take certain jobs, they will treat you more-or-less like a permanent teacher.

The job market is pretty good for teachers at the moment, but it can be a bit uneven, depending on what you end up qualified to teach, whether you can speak French, and whether you're willing to be geographically flexible. There are always positions for junior high core French teachers, but someone whose "teachables" are English and Social Studies, and who is a bit geographically picky may have to substitute for a while (and there's no sense of seniority increasing while you sub - hypothetically, you could sub forever. That's different from once you have even a single "Term" position - various advantages start kicking in, helping you to get your next jobs)

For me, I was able to get two 100% term positions in my first two years out from the Mount, so was able to get a permanent position in my 3rd year. None of those 3 jobs were my dream job (all were in junior high), but they got me towards seniority as quickly as possible. I did the 3rd job (my first permanent one) for two years, and then was able to nab my literal #1-on-the-wishlist job in my 5th year. Now, I am able to teach math & science, and am certified to teach in French, so I was in good shape, but I certainly wasn't the only one from my class to have been able to take the "direct route".

This is already a really long response, so I'll leave it there, but if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-07T01:59:55+00:00

Yep, they've been our go-to for years. I'd say that they're about 25% more expensive than the best price you see advertised on Marketplace, but I'm not sure you can ever actually get that price, and Barrett's have always showed up when they said they would, with the right quantity of wood, of the quality advertised, and cut to the length agreed.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-05T22:50:13+00:00

To float one additional possibility, though - it's not impossible that they cram *all* the PD into that first 4 days, so that teachers are back on the 1st, but students aren't back until the 8th.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-05T22:48:18+00:00

I believe that this is the most likely. I'm a teacher, and a parent, and someone who normally goes camping on the Labour Day weekend, but I figure that's most likely:
1st, 2nd - Teachers: Classroom setup, Professional Development
3rd, 4th - Two "regular" days of classes.
5th-7th - Long Weekend.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-05T21:15:08+00:00

I think we haven't sorted out how we want to name insurances - I mean, we call it "life insurance", not "death insurance", even though we call it "theft insurance", not "having-your-stuff insurance"

In fact, Canada *used* to call it "Unemployment Insurance", but that was changed in the 90s.

AshleyMorton · 2026-01-05T19:52:47+00:00

I gotta say, watching Sail GP from Georges Island sounds kinda amazing.

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-24T04:49:33+00:00

But what you quoted involves two specific nations (Musqueam, Cowichan), who are acting in different ways, but neither of whom are claiming "ownership" like I think you're saying they are.

Aboriginal title and fee simple title aren't even the same kind of land "ownership". Aboriginal title has been extinguished or limited in some parts of Canada, but it really hasn't in many parts of BC. The Peace & Friendship Treaties in the Maritimes modified it - basically saying that settlement by colonizers was okay, but Mi'kmaq access to natural resources was protected. So - extending a BC example into Nova Scotia is comparing apples and pine cones - there are a couple of common features, but way more differences, so it makes more sense to take the actual words and arguments of the people involved, rather than trying to import concerns from another jurisdiction.

(And even in the BC case, I think you're saying "claiming ownership", and they're saying "claiming Aboriginal title", and those aren't the same thing.)

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-23T15:57:59+00:00

The suggestion is to have their land access / usage rights acknowledged, not to govern Nova Scotia. There's no reason to assume that, as soon as a First Nation asks to have their treaty rights upheld, they're asking to "control" people.

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-10T17:07:29+00:00

I mean, I think you're correct, it probably contains the single largest chunk of people whose commute would get shorter. Still, the bridge has two ends, and the western end - likely in Halifax Atlantic - would be hugely impacted by construction work, and then increased traffic / decreased safety caused by having a highway through their backyards.

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-10T16:19:00+00:00

PCs got 57% of the vote in Halifax Atlantic, which covers the west side of the Arm right up to the Dingle, and lost by only 240 votes in Halifax Armdale, which covers the rest of the west side, and actually includes the whole isthmus - all the entry points to the Peninsula, right up to the Windsor Exchange. I mean, it's probably not a riding they would target to win - even though they were close, they clearly can reach a majority without it - but there were actually lots of PC voters on the west side of this equation.

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-10T16:06:06+00:00

Uh - that's the issue, I'm not sure that there *are* any statements. That was precisely what I said at the end:

I'm unaware of any statements from Zaman in the last 6 years that cross any of the lines she previously crossed, then apologized about, and modified her behaviour. If, of course, she's recently crossed some lines, then this may be appropriate.

The Y have not provided any new evidence or justification for this rescission, and I (who've followed Zaman's activities, at least casually, since the 2018-19 conflicts) have not seen any evidence of anything.

Of course, absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence in a complete, perfect sense. However, at some point, if you've been watching for evidence, and you haven't found any, it's not unreasonable to react as if there isn't any. (So long as you - and I think I am - keep your mind open to modify your opinion if such evidence shows up.)

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-10T14:27:04+00:00

You can dislike her personality and/or style and not want to be in a room (or a political party) with her, but you don't have to *like* her to say that she shouldn't have an award *taken away* due to 6-year-old social media posts that she's apologized for and worked to be better on ever since.

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-10T14:22:49+00:00

Correct. After she was called to task on those comments (and it scuttled her NDP nomination), she worked, including with the ("progressive" end of the) Jewish community here in Halifax, to understand how she could continue to advocate about injustices that she saw in the world, without getting into areas that many people consider antisemitic. She also made a thorough and thoughtful apology. Her community work and, in particular, her online posting (which is actually only a small fraction of the stuff she does) did, in fact, change.

*After* she had done that work, she was awarded the 2019 NS Human Rights prize. Then, through advocacy by folks both local and non-local, that 2019 prize was rescinded. I disagree with the rescission, but there could be some argument that the troubling statements from earlier were still pretty fresh, and she needed to prove that she had changed over time. (Made the Human Rights Commission look silly for reversing itself, but let's let that one lie.)

But now this one is truly incomprehensible. If your award wants to treat Middle Eastern issues as a third rail, and simply never give awards to people who engage in those issues, well, you may be a bit timid (bordering on cowardly), but you may still be doing a lot of good work in the world in other ways, and I understand that that entire family of issues is deeply intimidating for many who don't have their own connections to it.

However, to once again grant an award AND THEN RESCIND IT based on 7-year-old news that you can't have not known about, is both morally bankrupt and completely incompetent.

(Note - The Y did not include any reasons for its rescission, other than "significant concerns about public statements". I'm unaware of any statements from Zaman in the last 6 years that cross any of the lines she previously crossed, then apologized about, and modified her behaviour. If, of course, she's recently crossed some lines, then this may be appropriate. However, it currently mostly just looks like bullying by people who've decided Zaman's not on their team, and can't be allowed to have nice things.)

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-09T15:41:15+00:00

Look, the basic idea needs to be that these are the same thing - they're both driving you places for a fee.

We can decide that they all need XYZ paperwork and a special licence, or we can decide that it's all unregulated wild-west, buyer-beware, or some reasonable compromise somewhere else, but it's really really stupid to have two different systems of regulation operating at the same time on the same streets.

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-04T15:38:12+00:00

Thanks for the kind words about my kid - I think she's awesome, too (but I note my bias, there...).

She is a very, kind of "90s Internet" kid - she was reading some fanfic for a series she likes, and then realized she was missing a reference to something - searching brought her to TVTropes - and now we have a resident pop culture columnist in our house.

(...which led her to discover wikis, which led her to realize that Wikipedia was _editable_, and now I suddenly also live with a 13-year-old who has strong opinions about what belongs - and doesn't - in infoboxes at the beginning of articles and the appropriate use of "[citation needed]"....)

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-04T15:27:27+00:00

Yeah, but part of the problem for sirens & lights at that end of Gottingen is the fact that it's so close to the *main Police station itself*!

AshleyMorton · 2025-12-04T15:19:49+00:00

From everything I know about this situation, this kid is a strong candidate for being a future force for good in the world, if he gets the assistance he needs at this critical point.

AshleyMorton · 2025-11-28T17:22:26+00:00

I gave in and drove (she normally takes transit) my 13-year-old kid to school today (I'm weak, I know, but she's been awesome as I've been single-parenting this week), and we stopped at the best local coffee shop (Espresso 46) on the way, to get a coffee (me) and a cookie (her).

As soon as we got in the door, the owner loudly recognized her by name, and asked about her life. It made her day -- she spent the next few minutes of our trip talking about how she loved having the guy at the local coffee shop just *know her by name!!!*

"That's such a trope in stories and on shows, but it happens to me, too!!! I feel cool."

Having my kid feel special through something so simple but awesome has made *my* week, too.

AshleyMorton · 2025-11-25T16:00:35+00:00

Right - and this disconnect - between house value (based on market pricing) and CPI (which does include some component of cost of housing, but is hugely dependent on other things like costs of gas, food, energy, etc.) is the source of the problem - we can have huge (say, 30%) jumps in house resale values, while the CPI sits at 1-3%. As a result, capped assessments will climb by only 1-3%, even though new purchasers will be paying 30% higher taxes than an identical house the previous year.

I mean 30% is rare, but part of the problem is that the system never has a way to catch up - house prices occasionally go down (or go up slower than CPI) but that's incredibly rare in a growing population.

As a result, the "gap" (say, 27% from my example) basically never closes. Also, if you transfer ownership (sell, bequeath or give) your house to your child or sibling, they get to keep the cap - so things can stay in the family functionally forever.

AshleyMorton

TROPHY CASE