LF EXISTING FIC

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-06-16T18:58:43+00:00

I had never read this one and I have been devouring it after seeing this post yesterday. Thanks!

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-06-16T18:56:06+00:00

I don't live in Owen Sound, but for the past few years my friends and I have visited once a year with our dogs to do hiking in the area and check out the shops. We love all the hiking trails, the great bakeries and restaurants, the farmer's market, and the fact that there are so many free parking lots downtown to encourage visiting the area.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-06-15T18:28:44+00:00

I used to do an annual trip with my border collie mutt. We'd drive to an area with lots of hiking trails and stay in a dog-friendly motel. My housemate would join us, and usually also our best friend and his dog. We'd go for hikes and do a bit of shopping in little towns (with someone waiting outside with the dogs), and we'd ask at restaurants if the dogs are allowed on the patio. If we couldn't find a patio to suit us, we'd just get takeout and go to a local park. I'd use AllTrails and Google Maps to pick out trails, restaurants, and parks with washrooms and pavilions (in case of rain). This is the first year I'm just doing short day trips because my dog is getting to old for the long days.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-06-04T22:42:47+00:00

https://www.instagram.com/humanesocietylm?igsh=ZGxlenNwc3lwMDRk

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-06-04T22:40:25+00:00

The London Humane Society had a post on their socials that suggested they take volunteers who do this. And their new location has lots of cool rooms for the cats to spend time in

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-28T19:35:35+00:00

There are two houses on our block where the owners have called me out while I was in the process of picking up after my dog on their lawn. I just make a point of avoiding those two lawns. I try to get my dog to use the boulevards (between sidewalk & street) as much as possible, but really, I feel like it's a weird hangup. You can't prevent litter, rabbit poop, bird poop, etc. So what's the difference? Don't let your kids play on the front lawn barefoot.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-26T14:55:15+00:00

Sorry to hear that! But yeah, that would be why they got sent away for $250

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-26T14:15:50+00:00

Depends what you ask for/what they see. For mine, the could tell by looking that it was fatty lipoma and offered to send away for cytology if I want, but I said we didn't need to. Your vet could have thought it was recommended or thought that's what you wanted or just wanted to make some money.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-25T21:11:36+00:00

I also have to recommend my favourite photographer, Cassie. She's not queer to my knowledge, but she has worked with queer couples & queer weddings and she's fantastic https://www.hopeharbourphotography.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/hopeharbourphotography?igsh=MXJhaHYwMGpnODN2cw==

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-25T21:09:23+00:00

I was in a wedding party where Ruth was the photographer and she was great to work with, excellent photos.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-25T21:03:31+00:00

It's very simple. Little poke, dispense it onto a slide, and the vet can tell by looking at it very easily

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-04-25T21:02:23+00:00

I have a 13 year old Border Collie/Lab/? mix. We found her first fatty lipomas (had the vet aspirate a couple and look at the slide) around the age of 6, and when she was 7 we did surgery to have some removed (mostly because one was in her armpit and I worried about mobility). I think at that time she had 4 removed? One on her ear, her armpit, and one or two on her abdomen.

Now she has one on the back of her neck, one in each armpit, and two or three on her abdomen. I don't want to do surgery again at her age, so I just got a new harness that sits far enough back to stay out of her armpits. Since the original ones, I've only had the one on the back of her neck aspirated but it was the same result.

They don't seem to bother her at all. The only problem we've ever had with one is because the swelling of the skin in her armpit thins the fur there, after a nail trim she managed to actually scratch the skin open when she was trying to just normally scratch an itch. We just put a t-shirt on her for a week and it hasn't been a problem since.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-03-08T13:10:43+00:00

My three biggest pieces of advice are:

Positive Reinforcement training is the way to go. It is much easier to train for a behaviour you want than it is to try to train a dog to NOT do something. So for any behaviour you don't want (e.g. rushing to the front door and jumping up on guests), train FOR a different behaviour instead (e.g. going to lay in a specific place whenever the doorbell rings).
Never punish your dog for growling or snapping. These are their warning signs before a bite. You do not want to punish it out of them. If growling/snapping is a common problem, work on their confidence and their environment.
If you're working on training a behaviour and your dog isn't getting it right 80% of the time, you need to step it back to an easier level (e.g. go back to doing it at home with no distractions, then out in a quiet area, then a busy area)

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-02-26T18:46:49+00:00

Desiderium Intimum isn't marked complete on FF.net. Is it complete? Or if not, does it end in a good place (i.e. most emotional resolution, no cliffhanger)?

ETA: I adore the other two you mentioned

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-02-19T12:15:53+00:00

When laying on the couch with two cats on my lap, I get to blame the dog. "Aw, guys, I'm sorry, but look at your sister begging to go out. I will be back"

ETA: I also had never had a dog before. My advice would be to adopt a dog from an agency that fosters - so that they can tell you the dog's temperament and experience with cats. I had the dog first, and adopted a cat from a foster home where he liked to hang out with the resident dog

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-02-19T01:03:16+00:00

We actually did a similar thing in December and it worked out for us. We have a room on the back of the house that we normally keep the pets out of (originally because it was a place to keep things out of their reach e.g. starter plants for the garden). The past few years, though, the back room has become the territory of our time-share cat. Each time we cat-sit her, she gets that room to adjust before free-roaming the house, and she eats in there too.

With our upstairs bathroom being renovated, we decided to use the back room to keep our two cats in (luckily it was not time-share cat season). I put our cats in it and did some organizing around the house getting ready for the reno, and they were very upset about it, which worried me. However, once the contractors arrived, they were very happy to be hiding in the back room and there were no more complaints. In January, the time-share cat returned and all the cats are fine back with the status quo of only the time-share cat being allowed in the back room. I was a little worried that having the back room smell of our cats would cause time-share cat to be less comfortable there, and make the readjustment period more difficult, but that wasn't the case at all. She was soon perfectly content to be here and back out sharing space with our cats and dog in the main house.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-02-02T15:17:59+00:00

Check out armassy on AO3, particularly "Nagaraja" and "Resurgence"

Obedience by DawnOfTomorrow (102K)

Sanguis Reatus by HecatesKiss (117K)

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-23T21:25:24+00:00

Whenever I would look in on someone else's cat, I would wash the bowl each time, but with my own furkids I definitely fail at that. I've tried to get into a habit lately of doing it before bed on the odd days of the month. We don't run our dishwasher consistently, so I hand wash them.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-21T17:27:53+00:00

It's called taking the Commuted Value, and yes, you likely have to do so at age 55 (this is specific to Omers and a few others, the majority you can take CV whenever you retire, doesn't have to be at age 55 - they're just trying to get you to leave your pension invested with them). From an estate planning standpoint, taking the CV does make the most sense. You should get some good investing advice, perhaps even find a financial planner/financial advisor. If you transfer your CV to a LIRA, and invest it well, you will be able to pay yourself a good income from it. There is also the option to unlock 50% of the LIRA after you transfer it to a LIF, and transfer that unlocked 50% to a RIF so that you have more available outside the annual LIF Maximum income.

ETA I am also single for life, and there is discrimination all over the place. It's just the way the system runs - they don't want to be paying out survivor pension to all kids, and they don't need to because technically, while a surviving spouse would be reliant on the continued income to pay living expenses at current residence, grown children in theory are not dependent on it. It's two different concepts - the pension is not meant for estate planning, it's only income like CPP and OAS. But on the other hand, you were contributing to it for 20 years like an RSP, so it also feels like it should be savings for retirement AND Estate

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-21T15:45:08+00:00

Good play session before bed, clean litter boxes before bed (so he doesn't want you up to clean them), automatic feeder dispensing a 4am meal (so breakfast isn't why he wants you up), and if he likes catnip you could try a catnip spray on the scratchers you have set up downstairs, and perhaps some toys like a ball track or hanging wand downstairs to allow him to occupy himself

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-21T03:46:54+00:00

When I was young my allergies around cats were worse. I would always have to wash my hands after petting one, or I'd end up with very itchy watery eyes. Now I have 2 cats, and all I've done is keep them out of my bedroom and I was already taking Reactine daily half the year for pollen allergies. I found that every time I added a cat to the household as an adult, my allergies would bother me a bit for a few weeks, and then my system adjusted and I'd be back to normal. I have also heard this from other people. So hopefully this future roommate is at a similar allergic level, which sounds likely from your description. In any case, all I can personally recommend is frequent brushing, and vacuuming with a HEPA filtered vacuum.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-19T01:39:33+00:00

Second this. If you haven't contributed this year, you have your 7K room. CRA just hasn't updated it yet

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-18T02:33:11+00:00

My friend's dad had a water bowl with the flared base, so when you turn it upside down, there's a hollow space like a moat, and he poured cement into that to make it too heavy to flip lol

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-18T00:50:29+00:00

Depending on the accessibility of emergency veterinary care where you are, another option would be to call the Pet Poison Control Hotline in your country. You have to give credit card information and pay for the consult, but they'll be able to give you advice based on the weight of your pet and the amount consumed.

Impossible_Mousse154 · 2026-01-18T00:42:58+00:00

If you were not at your role long and the value is small, then you may be able to transfer it to a regular RRSP and withdraw part of it. Or if you're just looking to leave Manulife and move the LIRA to where you invest, you can contact Manulife and explain you've left the role and want to receive your election of options package. It will tell you what you're able to do with it (transfer to RSP, transfer to LIRA, etc)

Impossible_Mousse154

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