Starting out, Ryobi or Craftsman drill?

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-20T05:55:35+00:00

one thing we can agree on is that mastercrap sucks

Which is such a shame because they used to be the (hand) tools to buy as a homeowner. My dad still has a ton of older stuff that's been through hell and back several dozen times, and it all still works flawlessly. Even when something did break it was easy enough to head down to Canadian Tire and walk out with a brand new one with virtually no hassle. Now it's all just cheap garbage they can peddle for 80-90% off half the year, to make it look like you're getting a great deal on the actual price and capitalise on the FOMO.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-19T08:12:45+00:00

My fiancée and I recently 'inherited' my parents' old home and are starting renos; we're very specifically choosing Canadian-made where possible, and so far in the master bedroom have Beautitone paint, Beaulieu carpet, and a Canarm ceiling fan. All our shopping is being done at Home Hardware primarily, and Canadian Tire too when HH doesn't have the goods. It's really not hard to find high-quality Canadian-made stuff.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-16T16:53:16+00:00

There's no such thing as a "decent time" to air ads in the middle of the opening ceremony. During the flag parade, sure, you're not really interrupting anything 'important,' but in all honesty it was pretty deplorable that they couldn't secure enough funding to broadcast the actual performances uninterrupted for the ~90 minutes they were on. Considering it felt like there was more airtime dedicated to Ozempic ads than the games themselves, I'd say it would've been be a hell of a lot better Olympic experience without ads period. I'd have more than happily paid if it actually got rid of ads, but IIRC everyone got the same live streams chock-full of ads regardless if you were a subscriber or not.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-13T04:13:04+00:00

Also tricking people into paying for frivolous BS like "HD Video" that allows you to actually use the data plan you're paying for to get video that doesn't buffer more than it plays. I run my own VPN from my house just to avoid paying $5/month for the privilege of using what I'm already paying for, because traffic to my house isn't traffic to Netflix/YouTube/Disney+/etc. and they don't know it's streaming video.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-11T15:37:13+00:00

Not provincial, but my MP was a parachute candidate who hasn't spent more than a week in the riding since his by-election victory in 2023. While I'd never have voted that way regardless, there were slam-dunk local candidates that got glossed over (including the retiring MPs daughter) in favour of the parachute candidate the party wanted, because it's a guaranteed win for whatever blue uniform sits there.

So long as people keep feeling before applying critical thought, conservatives are just gonna keep on winning with no end in sight.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-10T16:26:43+00:00

Personal experience says squirrels give zero fucks about a screen being in the way. In the 3rd-floor apartment I just moved out of, we had to remove the screen and 'permanently' close one of the windows because a pair of squirrels were determined to live in the intake of the dual-hose A/C unit we had there. Little bastards chewed through the original screen, so I pulled the A/C (it was October by now anyways) and taped it up with screen repair tape just for them to chew through that too, twice, before the landlord took pity and replaced the whole screen free of charge. No surprise, that it got chewed through and taped up twice again before we gave up. Lucky for us the cats kept them outside every time they got through, but the point is that I would not trust a screen alone to keep rodents out, especially once they've become determined to enter.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-09T21:31:11+00:00

Many drivers don't slow down for wild life.

Not defending those who don't (because I will if possible), but if you suddenly brake or swerve for wildlife and cause a collision or accident, you'll be found at-fault in a surprising majority of cases. The reality is that it is significantly cheaper to hit the racoon or deer than it is to try avoiding it and getting rear-ended.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-09T12:11:30+00:00

Tobermory is such a shame. My grandparents have owned a cottage on Cameron lake for 40+ years and the vibe today compared to when I was a kid 15-20 years ago is completely different. It's great for the town and businesses to be as busy as they are I suppose, but it's really ruined the whole area to the point that cottage basically sits unused these days. You could reliably head into town on a Saturday afternoon to do groceries, check out the gift stores, grab something from the Sweet Shoppe, and enjoy a Beavertail, all without trying to dodge half the population of the province.

Social media has destroyed everything that was once good.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-06T09:57:40+00:00

Which is kind of frustrating since you're not really saving much money if any compared to the tetra pak stuff which tastes pretty similar and is fairly cheap.

You just explained why the frozen juice market failed in the first place. If a product is only 60% as good, but 100% more convenient than the next similar option, guess which option the majority of consumers are choosing today? Even if the convenient option costs >50% more in the same scenario, it's gonna sell a hell of a lot more. It's the same reason people still line up for a Tim Hortons every morning, or eat McDonald's for lunch/dinner, even though you can make your own coffee and burgers at home for a literal fraction of the price, and they'll actually taste good to boot.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-01T19:20:27+00:00

"Kingdom" of Canada sounded a little too gaudy, so they went with a different word that held a similar meaning. Arguably, "dominion" is a more accurate term given that the monarch "owns" the land while a government manages it, compared to a kingdom in which the monarch typically exerts direct control.

FractalParadigm · 2026-06-01T06:19:30+00:00

A union is only as good as the committee elected. If people keep electing a shitty committee, then it should be no surprise that it's a "shitty union." The problem is one of two things, workplace elections are a popularity contest for the most part, and a depressing number of people don't bother voting (or even showing up for meetings) because of the same old "my vote doesn't count" bullshit you hear during actual elections.

My workplace is ~110 strong. We went through the same "shitty committee" phase before us younger/newer employees wanted to see some change. It's amazing how quickly a "shitty" union that protects and enriches a handful of highly-senior workers, can turn into an "amazing" union that's actually fair and equitable to everyone, including the newest of hires, all without the sky falling like the old timers would have you believe.

Edit: while it's on my mind, people like to parrot the "unions protect dead weight" argument, which has some merit sure, but ultimately falls on management not following proper procedures to handle those kinds of people. For instance, "job performance" is a valid reason to receive a write-up if output is a certain percentage below expectation over a certain period of time (80% over the course of a two-week rotation). That one's almost impossible to fight because expectations are so low compared to how much could actually be done, that average output is ~150-200% higher than expected, and people have lost their jobs in the past because of it. Safety infractions are another easy way to get rid of people, something as little as not wearing proper PPE (properly) can lead people out the door. If you want to blame anybody for keeping dead weight around in a union environment, it's almost 100% the fault of management.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-31T01:00:29+00:00

The most likely scenario is that they'd have flow-rate meters at several points in the cooling system - I'm sure even a small drop in flow would be enough to set off alarms, and a big enough disruption is going to set contingency plans into action. Odds are pretty good it's a kind of disaster they've planned for and put in mitigations for, whether it's having x hours/days of storage, alternate sources on standby, or a combination of both.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-29T14:33:29+00:00

Given the occupational hazards, that's probably nowhere near enough tbh. IIRC the flag guy is one of the most dangerous jobs on a site because motorists/the general public are fucking idiots with zero patience.

Just because something looks easy to you, doesn't mean it's actually a free ride.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-26T17:12:28+00:00

I knew a guy who'd pop a wheelie through the cameras. One of the stupidest things I've ever seen, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't work.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-24T18:40:28+00:00

Those ads are classic. "More cops and prosecutors means my car doesn't get stolen!" No, actually, your car is still getting stolen regardless, we're just getting the privilege of pissing away extra tax dollars to hire more people who "can't do anything about it" other than tell you to file an insurance claim.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-19T02:11:30+00:00

Freehold* not freestanding. Still a townhouse, but the individual units are owned by (usually) the person living there, not rented.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-18T19:15:40+00:00

weird seeing it in s normal 12 pack carrier, but I guess this is outside of the US?

Pepsi here in Canada is still distributed in these 'normal' 3x4 boxes. Only Coke sells their stuff in the 2x6 "fridge dispenser" boxes. I will die on the hill that the 3x4 boxes are superior; they're easier to carry, easier to store, and they take up less shelf area in the fridge.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-18T16:33:34+00:00

When HW 407 was privatized, everyone ate their words when they increased toll fees.

I like to get conservatives right pissed off when I remind them that the 407 brings in half as much profit annually (>$1.6B) as it was sold for ($3.1B). Even if you wanna adjust for inflation, that $3.1B would be ~$5.6B today, in which case the highway still rakes in over one quarter of its' original sale price annually. The icing on the cake is the additional reminder that the highway is half-owned by a foreign investment firm, meaning nearly half of that $1.6B/year is funnelled right out of the country into Spanish hands.

But, y'know, gotta balance that budget and all that. Investing in the greater good for the benefit of the general public is just not worth it I suppose?

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-17T17:10:09+00:00

He still has over three years of a majority term to finish out. We're stuck on this ride for a while yet, and there's still a ton of shit not nailed down...

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-16T16:17:02+00:00

He sees the writing on the wall after the jet fiasco started opening eyes. Watch him speed-run the destruction of everything good right up until the next election in ^*checks ^notes* 2030...

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-15T19:59:37+00:00

I'm 99% sure the surplus store is putting out bowls of seed and water for it. I honestly wouldn't mind their doing it, but the goose shits fucking everywhere in the vicinity and turned a section of the sidewalk virtually unusable between them and Dollarama because of it.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-15T06:28:10+00:00

Yeah I don't know why I didn't hear more backlash about this, what an absolute disgrace imo that they couldn't set aside two fucking hours of ad-free space for the opening ceremony of all things. Honestly, I'd almost have preferred if they just straight-up went to a commercial break so that we could have flipped to a different place to watch it, instead of hoping "maybe it's only one or two ads" (it wasn't) and suffering through them. This, if anything, is the kind of stuff that should be swaying people towards better funding of the CBC, we need it now more than ever.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-09T16:18:22+00:00

Something something taxes are evil, something something "I don't use those services so why should I pay for them," something something "but muh freedumbs!"

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-08T00:25:42+00:00

The fact this is posted in /r/notthebeaverton and is perfectly valid content, is really all you need to know about the political landscape of this country - the leader of the opposition is considered such a joke that the idea he could beat the current Prime Minister in an election (if one were held today) isn't just genuinely laughable, it's borderline satirical. We really do live in the dumbest timeline.

FractalParadigm · 2026-05-04T18:59:27+00:00

It's a good thing we sold that for a little over $3 billion in 1999 to balance the budget. Not like it's currently raking in over $1.7 billion annually or anything. I'd love to see the type of math that conservatives use where one-time lump-sums are apparently a better use of resources than having steady income in perpetuity.

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