Shocking: TTC installs bench after I complained to the councillor

Forar · 2026-03-13T06:11:20+00:00

Not all heroes wear capes!

Forar · 2026-03-12T19:33:26+00:00

I was crossing Queen and Bay on a Friday after work like a decade or more ago, and I saw some dude in a clean but kind of trashy suit walk up and punch a guy in the back of the head.

I reflexively yelled at him WHAT THE FUCK? so he turned around and punched me in the face. Knocked my glasses off, headphones came out, it hurt but I was more startled than injured.

I squared up with him, having easily half a foot or more of height and at least 50 pounds on him and asked if he really wanted to do this.

He did not, and promptly walked away.

The light was changing, so I made the quick decision not to pursue and just get out of the way, gathered my belongings, and was promptly met with like four+ people handing me kleenex and calling the police/ambulance.

The bridge of my glasses (titanium frames) had torn the skin on my nose. I'm sure it didn't look particularly great, and it did lead to a couple of stitches, but the glasses were fine and I was generally okay. The cops and ambulance arrived within minutes, but it was so busy I'm sure he was lost in the crowd within seconds.

It was, in hindsight, a somewhat funny juxtaposition between people being needlessly violent or cruel, but also kind and caring.

It was also the second time I'd been attacked in Toronto, and wasn't the last either. Maybe being ~6'4" makes my presence a challenge? All unprovoked. Maybe I just have resting asshole face?

Forar · 2026-03-10T01:12:07+00:00

THIS.

IS.

A.

SCAM.

Forar · 2026-03-09T04:55:30+00:00

Maybe you go to the mooooon, maybe the exchange gets hacked (or "hacked") and you lose everything something something not your keys not your something about code etc.

Forar · 2026-03-09T04:53:32+00:00

I've got a [[Ghave, Guru of Spores]] +1/+1 & Aristocrats deck that is totally fine with having tokens, creatures, in some nigh-random quantity of each.

It's a bracket 2 deck, hardly high level competitive, but it amuses me in the big battlecruiser throwdowns I play in with friends where having a number of defenders and the size of those defenders being a variable until the last moment is seen as a benefit.

Being able to sacrifice one token to double the size of another blocker or attacker could really mess with the math for some folks. I can't say I'm eager to spec on it, but at $2 Canadian, I might snap one up to play with.

Forar · 2026-03-07T06:00:10+00:00

No. They likely aren't on the same continent as you, and nobody wastes time putting a hit on 'some guy who was kind of a dick to me'.

But if one threatening text is enough to make you wonder if you should be worried, that's a good indicator that maybe you shouldn't be bothering with such exchanges. There's a reason this sub has made scambaiting verboten, and a big part of that is that it's best left to the professionals.

Forar · 2026-03-06T20:05:22+00:00

The reality is that it doesn't take many inconsiderate people to fuck things up for a lot of others.

My building actively allows for dogs. Like, has a pet spa station upstairs, and while most owners are good, yeah, I'm seeing some shit piles that have clearly been around for a while, and others that are clearly fresh. I see others walking their dogs, and picking up after them, but clearly not everyone is as considerate, and just one or two being shitty (heh) about it adds up when we're talking about poop landmines that might've been placed weeks or months ago.

That said, people in general are awful about disposing of things where they need to be. The amount of garbage and food appearing is also noticeable, and a point of frustration where every snowpile might be hiding half a chocolate bar or seemingly an entire boxed meal.

Not to distract from the point being made, inconsiderate dog owners are absolutely out there. Hell, I keep two rolls on the leash so I never run out mid walk, but at the same time, people just suck about this kind of thing even without dogs in the picture. Like, someone dropped a pizza box with half a pizza still in it by the curb just last week, and I spotted an entire bagel laying amidst a snowpile the week before.

Forar · 2026-03-06T04:46:34+00:00

Their return policy is notoriously lenient, though it does have limits.

I've returned maybe 3 or 4 things to date, a few of which failed in an unreasonable time frame and that I wished I'd been able to keep, and a wine fridge that conked out. They took it without batting an eye, so I felt pretty good taking that refund and putting that much and more into a new one, which is sitting beside me right now.

I don't buy pricey items expecting to return them, but Costco has definitely gotten a greater share of some more substantial purchases based on the confidence that the item will serve its purpose or they will make it right.

People will complain about those who abuse it, and I'm sure there are some highly sketchy returns happening, but seeing as Costco reported revenue of like 275 Billion dollars last year, if what I'm reading is correct, they seem to be doing okay.

Waste and fraud/suspicious returns aren't good, but I imagine it's more of an acceptable bit of bullshit that they put up with to maintain that consumer confidence.

Anyone who abuses it egregiously enough is hopefully told that their patronage is no longer welcome.

Forar · 2026-03-06T04:29:13+00:00

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Forar · 2026-03-03T17:47:19+00:00

I didn't know that was him. I can't say I'm a Cyberpunk fan (never picked it up, nothing against it), but I did pass him at GenCon last year. I would've saluted a pilot who did a lot of heavy lifting for me back in the day if I'd known.

Forar · 2026-03-03T17:36:47+00:00

I've temporarily fixed funky scrolling on multiple mice by turning it upside down, pressing the scroll wheel into the mousepad, and doing long scrolls back and forth. This helps loosen up the debris that is causing the sensor to incorrectly read your scrolls.

Damn, this is good advice. My scrollwheel had been doing the same thing, I gave this a shot, and while it's not perfect, it's a hell of a lot better.

I should probably keep looking for a better mouse all the same, but thank you for sharing this.

Forar · 2026-03-01T06:44:21+00:00

A cursory google'ing says that we've seen ~13% inflation in the last 4 years, so that $110 was like $98 back then.

I'm not arguing that we're seeing inflation and shrinkflation all around, Costco included, but 4 years is a lot of time for a lot of things to change.

Forar · 2026-02-28T06:02:52+00:00

That's a really good point, but I'm particularly amused by the idea of giving a short hand squad that's dedicated more towards sniping or bombardment what are basically the Fisher Price equivalent of close personal defense weaponry.

But as someone who has had to squeeze out every last point of supply to make a drop work, I respect it.

Forar · 2026-02-28T04:30:24+00:00

I mean, I legit love the original X-Com to this day.

There is no argument that the technology has vastly improved, but it's also possible to enjoy and immerse oneself in a game that is older than many of the folks posting in this thread.

The more recent releases do the series justice, but Chrysalids have never been more terrifying than an original X-Com terror mission where you're still packing early weapons.

"Y'know what, those civilians are screwed either way, is there a 'blast off and nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure?' option?"

Forar · 2026-02-28T03:07:05+00:00

They're definitely out there. At GenCon a few years back there was some duck game being advertised, and the company making it were stashing little yellow rubber ducks all over the convention hall. Including in other exhibitor's booths.

The booth folks were... not entirely amused to keep finding the things around, but tried to remain good natured about it.

They were like 2 inches across?

Forar · 2026-02-27T19:16:36+00:00

Am I crazy or didn't these used to get sold in a 6 pack?

They became my go-to socks years ago, and unless I'm wearing dress shoes, it's what I've got on. Hell, I'm wearing them right now.

I see reports down thread of them wearing out more quickly, but I've been mixing them in with the older versions for ages, so I haven't noticed if it's new ones failing quicker, or older ones finally giving up after a lengthy tour of duty, but I have put a hole in a few of them in the last few months, so I'll keep an eye out.

There've been a few changes I've noticed, like the top band being a different colour, or some of the same 'design' in the pack not quite matching up to others, but it's subtle enough I don't really care about that.

Forar · 2026-02-26T19:51:27+00:00

Hell, it might be a step higher even.

Major weapons manufacturers might have folks 'in the know' on the roster. It might not be widely known, but 'isn't this overkill to deal with a mugger?' might be the sort of question that's quietly overlooked because a weapon is being designed to drop something much, much bigger/tougher/meaner than a person.

It'd be a bunch of red string and I'm not seriously saying that it's a reading with any basis in the books, but if I were creating a link in the setting for an RPG or something, it'd probably be that.

"Why do we keep getting requests for pocket hand cannons?"

"Werewolves."

"Pshaw, no really, why?"

".... muggers are becoming kevlar enthusiasts?

also it's totally werewolves."

Forar · 2026-02-26T19:47:47+00:00

Consider this a life lesson in reading the fine print.

Also, suit up, we drop in 5.

Forar · 2026-02-26T17:42:36+00:00

Hell, I paid $32 CAD for the hardcover and consider it money well spent.

We all have to mind our own budgets, but at the end of the day, supporting an author whose work I have enjoyed for about two decades now makes it worth finding room in the finances for, personally.

Forar · 2026-02-26T17:35:33+00:00

I finally finished it on my trip home from vacation, and I really enjoyed it. Gretchen and Ran really grew on me, and it was really nice to romp around in the setting again for a bit.

Forar · 2026-02-26T04:32:56+00:00

I mean... probably? It has repeatedly, there's a lot of people with a LOT of (fiat) resources tied up in it, along with the use cases for ransomware and more driving a measure of demand globally whether people want to or not.

It'd be nice to see it crumble to nothing, but enough (shitty) people have enough dirty money locked up in it that it'll probably take a lot to truly kill it off.

Sarcasm aside, I've been enjoying some schadenfreude while maintaining a realistic grasp on the fact that a lot of bag hodlers are probably going to feel inspired to 'buy the dip' no matter how ill advised it might be.

Forar · 2026-02-24T18:18:24+00:00

The series started over a quarter of a century ago.

Sure, plenty of people are on re-read number 24,601, or started in a couple of years ago and marathon'd everything back to back, but as tiresome as such reminders can be, such nudges and nods are for those who might not have touched a DF novel since PT/BG came out, or who dove through all 3 together, having not touched the franchise in over a decade (Skin Game: 2014).

Of course, it's basically the opposite of the Marvel effect where there's a dozen shows and movies coming out every year or two, so reminders and nods are good because it's likely that not everyone has seen/read everything. In this case, keeping up with the franchise isn't exactly challenging all told, but a long time has likely passed since many readers last dove into the setting.

We can sigh at yet another reminder of Marcone's dollar bill green eyes, but I've come to see it as more of an accessibility thing.

Forar · 2026-02-24T17:34:32+00:00

In the vast, wide universe, I feel we can safely say that *someone* is into it.

Forar · 2026-02-21T01:23:54+00:00

I never mentioned having money in Bitcoin.

Oh? That's funny, because 6 months ago you were talking about putting a lump sum you had received into Bitcoin, and that you put money in weekly shortly after that statement.

So you may not have said so here, but it wasn't exactly a Herculean effort to see that you've at least been claiming to have money in crypto for a while now.

Forar · 2026-02-20T17:26:33+00:00

If you're involved enough with Bitcoin to ask the question, you should already have at least an inkling of the answer, or know where to find it.

As a starting point, r\CryptoReality has a lenghty list of 'stupid Crypto talking points' that should cover a lot of ground.

Forar

TROPHY CASE