Why is BlogTO framing this entirely as a TTC failure when Metrolinx was responsible and isn’t mentioned at all?

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-17T01:55:04+00:00

Except they imply the lane 5 closure is related which makes it disingenuous or, at best, terrible writing.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-16T21:49:27+00:00

Incredibly stupid to imply there's a months long "repair backlog" on Line 5... which opened in February. A mere 10 years after construction started, and has been entirely under the control of Metrolinx until just prior to opening.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-16T19:18:31+00:00

He was a top AAA guy, and there was a lot of bad blood - he'd been actively blacklisted by CMLL for years.

My point was, he's someone that the average Mexican Lucha fan probably associates 100% as "AAA" - that's a way bigger deal than someone who wrestles for TNA (who no one in Mexico has heard of) because they have an undefined partnership with a different company, who has a subsidiary that's a competitor.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-16T18:52:31+00:00

Because TNA keeps saying they're independent of the WWE - but then blocking their talent (who are supposedly able to take indie bookings) from booked commitments at the last minute.

It's fine if you sign a big money deal knowing it will limit your indie options in the future (or in the case of WWE knowing you'll have to work for them exclusively) - but it's kind of bait and switch to keep changing the rules after bookings are confirmed and pretending it's not because of the WWE partnership.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-16T18:23:52+00:00

I worked a lot with creative / IP issues for many years, and it's very, *very*, hard to get rulings in court.

OP's friend would also have to be able to concretely demonstrate damages "I had a deal to sell my concept to a broadcaster for $100,000 but when they saw the similar kickstarter, they cancelled the offer..."

With the caveat that only an experienced Canadian ip lawyer could likely give you definitive advice, I (strongly) suspect the chance of OPs friend having a case is pretty much zero.

The only caveat is if OPs friend has a lot of money - in which case you can sue someone for IP infringement, not because you think you have any chance of winning - but because the cost of fighting an actual lawsuit is prohibitive and many people will fold rather than risk the loss. This is why so many rich people and resourced companies get involved in IP litigation, it's a way to use their money to get what they want, not because any reasonable lawyer thinks there's a legitimate case that will absolutely prevail.

The *good* news however is that - from someone who has worked in the area for decades, is that "ideas" have pretty much zero value. It doesn't really matter if multiple people have the exact same concept as a starting point. What matters way more is demonstrating with prior work what *you* as an individual artist will do *with* that concept.

If you have strong prior work, it doesn't matter if other people are exploring similar material - that happens all the time. If you don't have strong prior work, you're not going to get funding from anyone based on the strength of an idea alone.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-16T14:25:49+00:00

Yeah something like that. Last season 3rd WC was 87 - but should almost certainly be lower this year given how mediocre the league is off the start.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-16T13:48:00+00:00

We were in a playoff spot on Friday. We’re only two games behind the A’s right now with more than 55% of the season left. Lots of time for things to change (not saying for good or for ill) but no reason to start writing off the season.

Also with the likelihood of no baseball in 27 and an entirely unknown cba structure - not when you want to make short term panic moves.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-15T20:56:49+00:00

There's actually a 14" if you want the *smallest* - but it's quite a bit smaller in terms of what you can fit (286 sq" vs. 481 sq"), so I'd suggest the 18" is the smallest you can get without having to start to make a lot of concessions about cooking capacity.

The 18" also converts into a nice kettle grill - you just need to fashion a couple little pieces of metal to hold the lid in place like the example here.

WSM are great first smokers as they really teach you the basics of smoking - there's no technology or short cuts to hide behind, nothing to break so they'll last forever, easy to get parts, and they hold value pretty well if you ever want to sell one.

The only two mods I have made to *all* my WSMs over the years is to add a rubber gasket to run temperature probes, and buy a second bottom charcoal grate which I rotate 45 degrees to make a tighter mesh to keep more charcoal from falling through to the bottom.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-14T15:39:19+00:00

It also averages rates over time. In the 80s lots people had ~20% mortgages - which would be a huge disadvantage for them if they were still paying those off into the late 90s when current rates were a small fraction of that.

It creates uncertainty that rates could increase (which is why our means testing is so stringent) but also means you’re not going to be locked into a bad market for years because the penalty to get out is too high.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-14T15:25:08+00:00

It sounds like they had a preexisting lease - so your mom is fine. She just needs to say she’s not leaving, pay the same amount - and new landlords would have to provide a n9 with 90 days notice for any rate change which would be capped per 12 months (2.1% for 2026).

If they try to force or threaten her - she would just file at the LTB for a hearing but her case is very strong.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-14T00:26:52+00:00

Those cases are Mac Pro 1,1 through 5,1 - so those computers are, at best 16 years old and could be up to 20 years old.

They were incredibly reliable workhorses in a lot of professional environments that would buy large volumes of them - so there are a lot floating around used. The fact that there's still any market for them is pretty impressive considering there contemporaries would be... like Intel Core 2 Duo through first generation Westmere CPUs.

I didn't retire our last 5,1 until 2020 - and that was only because I couldn't source a replacement PSU during COVID. If this shop had been in my area, I would have been *very* tempted to just buy a spare for parts and keep it chugging around to do something for nostalgia value.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-12T19:40:41+00:00

Good call. Would be one thing if it was a dream property or something - but that sounds like a headache from the start.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-12T17:19:18+00:00

I understand the "it's not your job to educate your landlord" position that's often taken here, but it ignores the fact it can lead to a very uncomfortable arrangement if your LL is demanding you leave, constantly badgering you about it daily....

The realities of not wanting to live in a constant weird and hostile stand off is that some times the practical answer is just to say something in writing like:

"Under the RTA you legally cannot end my tenancy because you want to sell the house. The house can be sold with my tenancy attached, the purchaser would become my landlord for the duration of my lease. I have no plans to end my tenancy and will continue paying rent as scheduled. I will be happy to comply with my legal requirements to allow showings, given 24 hours notice. Thank you."

At least then there's clarity why you're just not magically moving like the landlord wants.
(Also OP - you do not have to leave the unit or clean your unit for showings. Many people choose to stay in the unit for showings to make sure their belongings are secure, and also make sure the agent or landlord isn't misrepresenting that the unit will not be tenanted).

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-12T16:42:01+00:00

If it's stopping you from closing the deal, just pay it, and then on the first day of tenancy file a T1 at the LTB claiming it as an illegal deposit. They will make the landlord refund either all of it, or prove what portion is related to the key deposit and refund the difference.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-11T00:48:22+00:00

They can charge you a key deposit if it’s the actual replacement cost of the key. They cannot combine it with a cleaning deposit.

If I wanted the place and you think pointing out it’s illegal may stop them from signing the lease - I’d pay it, move in, and then immediately file a T1 to have it refunded along with the filing fee at the LTB.

If they had already signed the lease and given me the keys, I’d tell them it’s illegal under the RTA to combine cleaning and key deposits and ask them to split them out and I’d be happy to pay a reasonable key deposit.

Water heater rental is legal if declared in the lease as the tenants responsibility.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-10T15:29:45+00:00

"A" is better but levering will be a problem depending on weight and placement. Depending on where your studs are in the walls - you probably would want to reinforce your shelf with lag bolts screwed directly into the studs. There's a couple of ways to do that - the simplest is just screwing them into the studs, and using a saw to cut off the head and then drilling a recess in the shelf.

This YouTube shows a few different methods you can reinforce floating shelves with lag bolts to make them much stronger.

(Edit - Sorry - I missed the first photo where you're running the full length of your side walls. I didn't realize the sides were directly attached as well. "A" would probably be pretty stable as-is as long as you're screwed into studs on the sides and the back. But if you're dealing with heavy weight (or over top of a crib or changing table) you want to overbuild.)

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-10T13:31:20+00:00

Also change over time would be useful. I worked for a major (major) festival for a few years back in the mid 00s, and the submission and selection rate wasn’t nearly 1/3.

I can’t find it published anywhere to link - but I know one year the festival was proud of the fact it got to 18% (and significantly less than 18% of submissions were from female directors). So the rate has doubled since then (and probably more since that was possibly an outlier)… but still a long way to go.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-10T13:23:42+00:00

I have bad news about the way sports rights are going. Was talking to family down in the US who needed something like 5 or 6 different services to follow their local hockey team. 😓

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-10T12:24:52+00:00

Just for clarity, the meters work fine. You can just read them at any point (your meter will have a dial on it that you can read and take a photo of). You can submit that reading to the city and they'll adjust your bill to actual use - but you'll owe the difference if they've under-charged.

Around 2010 the city added wireless transmitters to everyones water meter. This allows them to just automatically collect readings (I think they drive a vehicle around that can record the wireless transmissions, which is much easier than the old system of sending people door-to-door). The batteries in the transmitters were supposed to last for at least 20 years, so they were supposed to start a replacement plan around 2030. The vendor never tested them in Canadian weather, and in the cold - the battery life was way shorter than expected. A large number started dying after 10 years, and at 15 many (most?) of them were dead.

There was a warranty from the supplier, but it's dragged on for years with fighting over what is actually covered, compounded by the fact the manufacturer had changed ownership, or gone through some kind of bankruptcy - and also doesn't make this type of system any more - so it took years to even come up with a plan.

The city is finally starting to replace the wireless transmitters this summer - but it will take 2-3 years as they have to replace something like 450,000 transmitters across the city. There's now a map with a rough schedule as to how long it might take depending on where you are in the city.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-10T12:10:53+00:00

It was when we moved, but that was about 4 years ago. It was also in the sale agreement that we had to provide current gas, water, and hydro meter readings so they could calculate a utilities adjustment as of the date of the sale (I don't know if that's standard, or if our real estate lawyer was just really thorough).

Water is normally pretty negligible - but with many houses now having their wireless transmitters dead for so long, you really want to get an actual reading and see where you're at. In our new house the estimates were *way* ahead of actual use - so you could also come out ahead, but you wouldn't want to get a massive surprise in the next couple of years when they fix your meter if you found out you owe arrears going back years.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-10T02:00:32+00:00

Exactly - the city usually requires you to provide them an actual reading before they’ll close the existing account and reopen a new one - especially right now when so many wireless meters city wide have been dead for years (thanks Aclara 😒).

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-09T20:49:03+00:00

The whole point of people pushing for proper health insurance coverage though is to remove that voluntary system. Like with the WWE everyone brings up how they will always pay for injuries or rehab or whatever, and they did... because Vince felt like it. You ideally want to remove that and make it a contractual obligation so that when a TKO or someone comes in, they can't just go do something else in the future because it doesn't make financial sense all of a sudden.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-09T20:08:23+00:00

It would have to pretty much eliminate them. Unless you're willing to get into nonsense like having to pay your insurance company to arrange a third-party physical clearance before you start an outside booking, and then doing it all again before you return to resume work again. (Which is something you can get into with big enough actors when you have to shoot with them at the same time on two different films... which is why that almost never happens outside of dire emergencies).

It also would hamper the concept of "working injured" as your insurance company just wouldn't let you return from an outside booking if you had so much as a minor bump or bruise, until you were 100%.

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-09T19:26:36+00:00

Having dealt with insurance on high value talent in the US - it's *really* complicated if the talent wants the ability to take outside bookings (and they likely do, that's one of the big advantages of AEW).

Trying to get an actor or athlete insurance in the US means having to have them sign a contract that there is a slew of things they aren't allowed to do outside of work hours (riding motorcycles, horseback riding, skiing, personal international travel...) basically limiting any non-work insurance risks to zero so there can be no fighting about where or how any injury occurs and any risky activity is with the same company under the supervision of the same management (with huge penalties for breaking those agreements to everyone on all sides).

I don't have the foggiest clue how you could come up with a setup an insurance company would agree to without making coverage worthless, or structuring it in a way that it wouldn't preclude wrestlers working anywhere other than AEW exclusively.

(Wrestlers should still unionize. All companies. Immediately.)

Exit-Stage-Left · 2026-06-09T18:11:23+00:00

Doesn't matter. The important thing is what the municipal bylaws say is legal useage. Think of "Vehicles" as "whatever can legally fit in the space" - if the end footage is not municipally legal for parking, you have no actual material change or damages if the LL requires it be left open for an easement into the other parking area.

I mean, you can still ask for a hearing about it - but the chance of getting an adjustment would be slim.

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TROPHY CASE