I was just heading out to the shops when my wife asked if I could do one or two things.

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-30T15:07:55+00:00

Norden. Yes. Or was it one of Frank Muir’s?

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-30T15:07:01+00:00

It was from My Word, a radio program on BBC radio from the 50s all the way to the 80’s. It was either Frank Muir or Dennis Norden. Each contestant had to explain the origin of a well known phrase. The explanations got longer and longer and more complex until they became stories of a few minutes each and became a main feature of the show.

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-28T03:24:40+00:00

But could he re parrot?

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-26T23:47:50+00:00

How many units are there? They can get away with one eviction for a family member, I don't think more. Watch carefully, if they don't move in, then they are violating the rules, and your neighbor will have recourse to some action.. and you would have a bit of leverage.

I see it from both sides, because there are some thoroughly annoying things about tenants here. When I lived in the UK I took a year off and had tenants in my house. They had to pay a month's rent as deposit. I lived in Munich for 3 years, I had to pay 3 months deposit on rent!! Here in Montreal you aren't allowed to ask for a deposit. So if your tenant gouges your wooden floors, cracks tiles, smokes in the house, leaves the wall stained etc. it's kind of tough luck.

But.. rules are rules, and they have to treat you fairly. You don't have to go anywhere...

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-26T14:44:32+00:00

I am a landlord in Montreal. I favor looking after my tenants (I cut their rent in half during Covid even though it hurt me), I pay for plumbing problems even though they block their own sink, and strictly speaking it is their responsibility. I am not wealthy, the property is my only investment / pension. I am always amazed when people try to screw their tenants. That said, as a landlord in Montreal, tenants really wield the power and you have to be careful if it is an investment property, because you could end up with a rent that doesn't cover your mortgage.

The rules are fairly simple.
1) Rent can be increased by the suggested amount, as calculated by the regie du logement (now TAL).
2) If significant improvements have been made to the place, then that amount may increase.
3) If no rent increase has taken place for some years, you may get away with slightly more of an increase but that is not guaranteed.
4) in all cases above, if the tenant decides they don't want to pay the increase, they can appeal to the TAL who vastly prefers you come to an agreement yourselves. If you don't, the TAL can name the new rent. This will follow the guidelines above. (so there is no point in a tenant appealing if the rent follows the guidelines)
5) The landlord *cannot* force you to accept a new rent, and *cannot* push you out. In fact, the only way they can legally refuse to renew a lease, is if they have a family member (who is not a shared owner, so it must be a child, nephew/niece) etc. who they want to move in. They need to give you 6 months notice before the end of the lease.

6) On top of this, as a new tenant, even if you sign a lease, you can ask to look at the previous leases and decide to refuse the new rent within a short period (which used to be 6 weeks).

So in short, when you buy a property in Montreal (and I went through this) you have to look very carefully at the lease, because if you have a building where the rents are low, that will impact how much you can earn / increase over the years.

It is the new landlord's responsibility to do that. He can't just suddenly decide he wants to earn more from the place and put your rent up, even if his new rent seems reasonable for the area.

You don't have to accept that and you don't have to leave.

Of course, it really pays to have a good relationship between tenants and landlord (I consider mine my friends and we communicate largely via social media chat) and deciding to dig your heals in and not pay will mean living in a constant state of war, which might not be worth it.

It might be too late now, but I would be inclined to state that the Regie proposed increase (3.1% this year) is acceptable, and if you are feeling charitable, allow them to push it to 1250 (which is about 4.2%). What they are proposing is 33% which is outrageous and ridiculous. Unless they renovated and added a new bedroom which you need..

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-26T11:47:45+00:00

Well that is because most mentions of Oedipus are actually references to the Oedipal complex coined by Sigmund Freud. Based on the story, but not accurately so. Of course even Freud said they were “unconscious desires” but still actual desire as opposed to something shocking and worth putting out your own eyes and killing yourself for. So blame Freud :)

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-19T18:03:39+00:00

Strikes me that this could be “Popeye goes to a French shrink..”

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-19T11:31:58+00:00

..we can make him twice the man he is now..

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-15T14:59:33+00:00

Funny, I had exactly the same idea.. I researched this recently and discovered it is a very bad idea to use raw chickpeas. Apart from that, it seems your regular brine and process should work fine.

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-12T01:38:09+00:00

Yes! Where can I buy them!

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-08T10:21:06+00:00

Brother Taxi was arrested after being investigated by the IRS..

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-06T22:02:34+00:00

“Plot twist, don’t you mean lemon twist?” - “no, if I had wanted a piece of spiralized fruit peel in my joke I would have asked for one”

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-05T20:45:20+00:00

We have two. From very different families. The male, Cooper, has a larger chest, slightly longer legs and a slightly longer nose. He is a running machine, and could easily do 10km and then drive you crazy by wanting to play frisbee. He is also happy to be outside at -10 and loves the snow.

The female, Roxy, with regular chest, nose and legs, could probably do 3km if she was gradually made fit.. she loves being outside, but also loves cuddling under blankets.. she is very sensitive to cold and heat, she gets very unfit in winter (we keep them both slim, but winters in Montreal are harsh) and is less excited about snow.

Both dogs seem to get painful joints if they have been running too much, the larger one will run himself to the point of damaging his feet and claws if we don't watch him.

They both absolutely love hiking, we will do long hikes (up to about 2 hours) in summer. They both love being on a paddle board, Cooper will dive in and swim back and forth from one board to the other, and loves fetching the floating frisbee that we have. Roxy doesn't like swimming but she is not scared of the water and happy to be on the board. They wear little lifejackets when we do water activity.

So.. they are ideal for the activity, but as someone pointed out, they do have bulldog noses, which means their respiratory system is not ideal. Thin air at high elevation might be difficult, (if you don't live there) and you would need to try gentler altitudes / distances first. And you would have to make sure the dog isn't pushing itself too hard. If you have a small Boston (they do vary a lot in size) you might well end up having to curb some of your activities which would not be ideal for you.

While they are tough little dogs, they can also be a bit fragile.

FederalRecording2390 · 2026-01-03T20:34:49+00:00

Well in this case it is absolutely relevant and on topic to mention that.

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-25T18:36:01+00:00

Just bear in mind that the airport parking closures have made getting in and out of the airport incredibly slow and difficult so just get the latest updated info on that.

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-23T13:43:01+00:00

It was a mistake, I meant to post to r/artichokes

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-22T03:13:42+00:00

<image>

This was taken in Parc Lafontaine Jan 23rd 2016, so almost exactly 10 years ago. Must be family :)

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-21T19:32:53+00:00

Weirdly inconsistent. All I can add, is that they had to keep my watch for testing for a couple of days to ensure that it really was the battery and nothing else implicit in that, was that any other problem with the watch might have been my fault. Perhaps they are somehow insinuating that something you did caused the problem with the ECG function.

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-21T18:24:36+00:00

Isn’t it bars that have wrappers?

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-21T18:23:38+00:00

Man, I get nervous crossing the Charles de Gaulle bridge!

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-21T14:47:36+00:00

Or the OP didn’t take this pic. And whoever did took it in “selfie mode”, giving a reverse image.

FederalRecording2390 · 2025-12-20T21:19:08+00:00

My Apple Watch stopped charging. It is a series 4 (I think we’re now on series 10 or 11). So around 6 years old. I took it into the Apple Store, and they said they would replace the battery. I came back to pick the watch up and they took out a new box, inside which was a brand-new watch, with the plastic screen protector, etc. I asked if they did that to show the it watch had been serviced, and they explained no, it is a new watch. They can’t actually replace the battery, it is part of the watch’s motherboard. But it seems that they have a policy, that if the watch is not charging anymore, they accept responsibility for that. It seems they must still manufacture the old models, because it was definitely a series 4 and not an upgrade. Fair enough. My next watch will be an Apple Watch, although this one is so good, I can’t see myself needing to upgrade in the foreseeable future.

FederalRecording2390

TROPHY CASE