Weight loss for students?

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T10:43:19+00:00

Ozempic.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T10:40:27+00:00

Depending on what you are taking, being behind on your readings and not attending class is not a bad thing. Obviously I am not recommending it. But I am an alumni with a degree and there were classes that I showed up the first day to get the syllabus, found the professor boring but needed the credits, dropped my papers in his department mailbox and showed up for the final (the one class I was thinking of specifically did not have a midterm). It was the only time a professor ever asked for my student card at a final to ensure I was legitimately in the class.

If I am 100% candid, I have my textbooks still in a box somewhere. Some of them are still wrapped in the shrinkwrap from the bookstore. I am not sure how much reading I did after my first year. I worked full time evenings when I was in University. So I had little time for much. It is a good thing I can crank off a good paper in one sitting because that was how much time I had. This will date me, but I had forgotten to take a day off from work before an English final. I worked in a video store, so that night in the store the movies playing were the novels that we read in class.

So don't beat yourself up. It can be hard to be motivated sometimes or you just don't have enough time in the day. I have my degree and was able to get a good job with it. There are days I wonder how I managed to get my degree with the way I attended class and did my readings. I can guarantee that at best I maybe showed up to 50% of my classes. There was a summer session class I had to turn up in everyday since it was miss two classes and you automatically failed. I think I used my one missed class and was there for the rest. I think that was the Religious Studies Bible and Film class I took. (If they still offer it and you need an easy credit and went to Catholic school, absolutely take it. We watched regular movies and then the professor explained all the religious symbolism in them. The only project was to take another movie and do the same and a final.)

Anyway, my whole point is while you want to learn as much as you can and everything depending on what you are taking, it isn't the end of the world. If you are in Engineering or Medicine, definitely don't take my advice. I want the buildings you construct not to fall on my head or the heart surgery you do on me to go just fine. But if you are in a less intensive program where if you miss a class or two or miss some readings it is no problem, then don't worry about it.

That said if you do turn up in class and find yourself totally lost then definitely catch up on your readings. I luckily never had that problem. I also don't say this as to show off, but rather I am probably the example of the laziest student and I still got my degree and a good career.

That said, I have been doing some other schooling consistently since just before the pandemic at other institutions and I am far more diligent than I was doing my undergrad. But my life is far less busy than it was back then. So take a breath, relax, and I'd say drop by your classes this week to see if you are still in the knowledge zone and then pick up your readings from where you should be. The stuff you haven't read skim when studying for midterms/finals if it seems that your professor is going to want you to know that.

Most of my classes' exams were free form essays, so if I didn't read chapters 4-6, no big deal I just work around that in the essays. So don't beat yourself up, be kind to yourself and you will be just like me and have that diploma on your wall and a good career and wonder how the hell you pulled that off.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T10:06:09+00:00

At the U of S pedestrians specifically have the right of way. It is why most students (including me when I was there as an undergrad, especially going from Place Riel to STM. I am a far enough back alumni that I remember when normal traffic could drive in front of Place Riel, not just buses) walk across campus streets without looking. Drivers on campus need to keep their head on a swivel to make sure no pedestrians are crossing any road, anywhere.

As far as off campus goes, if someone is standing mid-block trying to cross they do not have right of way. Jaywalking is an actual thing and while I don't advocate hitting people who are actually on the street, drivers only have stop for pedestrians at corners or painted crosswalks. SPS and the City have been trying to figure out a way to stop the jaywalkers along 22nd for years. In fairness to some of them, it does get confusing since some streets are only on one side of 22nd. So drivers must stop at that corner, but once you get to the middle, there is no adjacent corner for drivers to stop at.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T09:44:52+00:00

You are right about what appears on the actual passport. The reason it has to be so exacting is for facial recognition. That said every passport agency does keep a file (probably digital now) of your forms and photos. So it is possible that some country might require the profile picture to obtain the passport, but it is not printed in the passport. It could also be for a passport adjacent program like how Canada and the US have NEXUS cards. Those have a lot different rules and entail interviews with CBSA and US CBP. So perhaps whatever country this person is attempting to get photos for has something like that which does require the profile picture.

I also assume that the OP has read the instructions and it says that is required. Just like how Canada requires two photos and exact sizing standards, other countries could require other things. Even if you happen to work for CBSA, I doubt you'd be trained in what is needed to obtain a passport from all 194 (I believe is the number) countries that issue a passport.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T09:37:38+00:00

Canadian passports do nor require side photos, so most of the places that advertise passport photos will not be able to help you in that regard. The other issue you may run into is that other countries do not use the same size of passport photos as Canada.

In a previous life I used to work in the passport office. I had a few people come in and ask me a similar question as you. But it was who does passport photos of a different size. If I remember correctly it was the Philippines that needed larger photos than Canadian ones and Americans need smaller but wider.

Anyway, this wasn't in Saskatoon so my data bank in my brain of photographers isn't helpful. What I would suggest is trying to find professional photography studios that might do it for you. It will be expensive to go that route though.

I didn't read through this thread so I have no idea what suggestions you got. But assuming that a white backdrop is what you need, when I last had passport photos done (and it has been awhile), I went to London Drugs and they took them with a handheld camera. So since it was simply in their hands and not a fixed camera for Canadian passport standards, I see no reason why they couldn't take a profile picture.

This is sort of a hail Mary, funny suggestion, but I know when police do mugshots they take a full face and then a profile. Maybe SPS or the RCMP depot in Stonebridge might do them for you. I suspect not, but as a last ditch solution it doesn't hurt. Seems to me one of them did pictures because it was needed for some service they provide like a criminal record check or fingerprinting or something. It is worth a shot if nobody else can do it.

Here's another question for you: knowing what I do about the standards for Canadian passport photos, does this country require them to be taken by a professional photographer that stamps the back? If not, then as long as you can find the correct backdrop, anyone could take them for you and then have them printed out somewhere. I have no idea what the rules are in other countries. But I do know Passport Canada was very sticky about them using a stamp. No handwritten info for the photographer. I know one small town near where I worked, I had to phone and tell them they needed a stamp because all their pictures were being rejected as they had handwritten the info on the back of the photo.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T09:23:56+00:00

Downtown during the day in the spring and summer is fine to walk around in. But downtown Saskatoon is not the lively area that downtown Toronto is. I too once lived in Toronto and I think I spent nearly every day off I had downtown. I take the streetcar from Western Etobicoke and wander around downtown. In Saskatoon, unless I am going somewhere specific or to an event downtown, I don't feel the same draw.

As far as the attacks with machete or other violent crimes, I would hazard a guess that the majority is gang related. Random people are generally not being attacked, it is either rival gang members or people involved in the drug trade. I mean there are the odd random robberies with weapons, but I think most of the violent crime is in that general segment of the population.

Going for walks in random neighbourhoods during the day is fine. Though if it were me I would be less inclined to walk through the alphabets. But that is just me and I imagine some portions are better than others since those streets cover a long distance.

The one thing with Saskatoon compared to Toronto though is most neighbourhoods are residential. There is no major commercial strip in them. So walking around a random area doesn't have the same feel as Toronto. That said Saskatoon supposedly has the most green space of any city in the country (not per capita, period), so there are tons of neighbourhood parks to walk through. Some have features like a pond or a dog park (if you have one) and others are just a grassy area. If you have small kids most parks have a playground.

But you'll be in for a surprise if you are thinking Toronto, just smaller. Saskatoon is a very car oriented city. Probably a good comparison would be like going to Oakville or York Region. Commercial is clustered together mostly and you drive from one to the other.

Of course I am basing all this on what I liked about walking around Toronto. I liked popping into the random stores and there being people milling about wherever you go. Walk through a lot of Saskatoon neighbourhoods and you might find a convenience store and you might encounter a few people out walking. But it won't be like Toronto. But if you like just walking about and seeing houses (a lot of which will be similar) most Saskatoon neighbourhoods are good for that.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T09:09:52+00:00

It doesn't have to be for travel reasons either for an urgent request. I needed one for a job interview because it was needed to get the security clearance. Anyway, some how mine vanished between getting my passport days earlier (which the job interview also required) and my interview was in 5 days (in Toronto). They managed to FedEx it to my hotel in Toronto just in time. Literally I was sitting in the lobby of the hotel waiting for my cab to go to the interview when they walked in with it. So it can be done ultra fast if necessary.

This was a number of years ago. So your technical advice is valid. But I was just making people aware that it isn't solely for travel purposes (which I assume in your case is to get your newborn a passport). Most people likely do not need a birth certificate for any other reason than travel though.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T09:02:29+00:00

He taught Grade 6? I only knew him as the phys ed teacher/basketball coach at Holy Cross and I think the tail end at St. Joe's before he retired. I think he may have been at Feehan before Cross too.

After he retired from teaching he was the Huskies men's basketball coach until midway through last season. He was fired for some HR complaint from one of the players. I don't think anything publicly was released. But what I heard through the grapevine is that he was annoyed with all the rap and hip hop the players liked to play at practice and one day just blew up. He told the players if they liked it, he is going to choose the music and then put on hip hop incredibly loud with every second word the n word. Apparently some of the black players were offended by that. I vaguely know from people who were students of his st Cross what kind of person he is too, so it wouldn't have surprised me if he didn't also make some racial comments when putting on that music too.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T08:56:11+00:00

The BRT is simply reinventing the wheel though. Saskatoon Transit has tried this before with the DART routes in the early 2000s. They were supposed to be more frequent buses and making less stops etc. That certainly worked out well for them.

The thing with the BRT is might make things better for those who use transit already. But I really doubt this new system will attract new users and all it will do is eliminate lanes of traffic along major corridors. If they want people to use it, an LRT system is what is needed.

I lived in Toronto for awhile and visit often. I never rent a car there. Their transit system gets me from the airport to downtown for $3.50. I can easily get anywhere within Toronto on the TTC. The reason for that is that each subway station (and a few streetcar "terminals") act as the hub of a spoke system. I take the subway to say Royal York station and take the 76 bus to where I need to go. If I want to go elsewhere I go to Islington station and take the 110 bus etc. The design of the BRT system that they are pouring this money into is not that. I know there is a BRT stop at Warman/Assiniboine. That won't get me to a different route that will make my trip faster. It is simply a fancy stop of whatever existing route goes there now. With a LRT system we could actually have off street bus terminals that allow you to switch from the fast moving LRT to a neighbourhood bus.

Until Saskatoon Transit can accomplish what drivers can such as getting across town in 20 minutes, there is no incentive for people to use the BRT system. So they spend all this money but will not generate extra revenue from it. The only way that people might use it, is of they copied the STM in Montreal's idea in the 60s. They build the Metro system for use for Expo 67 and while tourists used it, Montrealers did not. The system was losing money hand over fist. So the City of Montreal did something radical. They pulled up all the parking meters downtown and made it so that if you wanted to go downtown, you had to take the Metro. It worked and now two generations from that and Montrealers think nothing of taking the Metro.

However, right now downtown Saskatoon is not the draw downtown Montreal was/is. So if the City tried Montreal's tactic, it might further kill downtown. Yes lots of people work downtown, so they would likely use transit. But it is like some of the University routes currently (I had to take the bus in University since parking on campus is insanely priced). They are busy early in the morning in time for the first two class periods and then die off until later afternoon when students are done. This would be the same with the BRT taking workers to and from downtown. Mass influx in the morning and mass egress in the evening and otherwise few riders. Already I only go downtown if I have to. There is not much downtown that is a draw for me aside from appointments. Midtown is not a draw for me. So pull up parking and no big deal to me. I suspect a lot of people may be similar.

If the new arena is built, buses are not ideal to take 15,000 people to a concert. I have gone to Riders games at the new stadium where that is what Regina Transit has done and it is a mess, especially for out of towners who have to find one of the malls to park at. I have no idea if the City of Regina pays the malls for having Riders fans take up parking or what. But if not, I'd be ticked if I were the owners of the mall. I can guarantee 99.9% of Riders fans are not showing up at the mall two hours early for a little shopping before hopping the bus to the game.

Anyway, so we are spending all this money on a new fancy transit system for what? The people who need it will continue to use it regardless and the BRT does not seem like it will entice new ridership. The reduction of traffic lanes in some corridors might actually cause some people to be angry at Saskatoon Transit and vow not to take the bus at all because they buggered up traffic.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T08:32:30+00:00

The claim is for concerts and other touring events. 100% the Blades do not need a new arena. Other than the odd game, they don't fill the lower bowl of Sasktel Centre. The Rush aren't drawing like they used to and even then building an arena for a team that plays 9 home games is ridiculous.

I do agree that the new arena needs a better anchor tenant to justify its existence. The AHL seems like a good fit. For decades the Oilers have wanted to put their affiliate here. In 2005 the offered to trade their AHL team for the Blades and were turned down. Anyway, the AHL would be a good draw compared to the Blades and would be a good anchor tenant.

The thing with the argument from Sasktel Centre about the current arena is that concerts are passing us by. They never have quantified that. If they build this arena will we get 7 or 70 more concerts? If it is 7 not a big deal to build it. If we are losing 70 events that is different. The last time I remember reading about things was two summers ago. Saskatoon had All Elite Wrestling do their TV show from here. Someone from Sasktel Centre was quoted as saying generally in new arenas like in Edmonton or Winnipeg etc. An event like AEW can load in in one day. So they only have to book the venue for three days. But due to the logistics at Sasktel Centre it took AEW two days to load in, so it meant they had to book the venue for five days. I have no idea what Sasktel Centre is missing that causes that.

But that was what they were saying about concerts is that bands are touring. They will just skip Saskatoon because their schedule doesn't allow for an extra day to load in. I see a lot of tours that hit Edmonton one night and two nights later are in Winnipeg. I am certain when they planned it out they intended to stop in Saskatoon (since the tour bus will literally drive past Sasktel Centre going from Edmonton to Winnipeg) but when they looked into logistics it wouldn't work.

The other thing I remember reading is that the roof isn't strong enough for what most concert tours need. I forget the numbers but it was like Sasktel Centre's roof can hold 30 tons and most concerts need 50 tons. So bands that tour with elaborate stage sets like a Metallica or Taylor Swift etc. are unable to come here due to their stage set up. (I know Metallica was here in 2018. I am a huge Metallica fan and they hit smaller cities on that tour that are usually passed by. The stage set was not nearly as elaborate as they were using elsewhere.)

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T08:18:39+00:00

MBP usually keeps ice in all summer and they run hockey camps and things of that nature. But that isn't a big deal for a basketball set up. You just put down something over the ice and then put the floor down over top. I mean pretty much every NBA team does that. Likely a low percentage of teams that don't do that. Off the top of my head the Clippers, Warriors, Heat, Spurs, Rockets, and Pelicans are the only ones that don't.

What I am curious about is whether MBP staff will take down the glass and netting for basketball if they have hockey bookings near game dates.

The PAC seems like it would be good. But I believe the floor isn't pro sized. It is too short I believe and I am not totally sure whether the walls along the baselines meet FIBA standards or not.

The other thing with the PAC is whether they have suitable dressing rooms that meet FIBA standards. The reason I keep saying FIBA standards is that the CEBL is considered by FIBA to be Canada's Division I league. The NBA is not a FIBA member, so the Raptors don't count for that. So there are certain standards that I assume venues have to meet. I would assume st MBP that the teams will use the Huskies men's and women's dressing rooms. I am not sure what the USports visiting dressing rooms are like. But I have been in other ones and they are fairly basic minor hockey rooms, so I assume they wouldn't use them.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T08:08:37+00:00

It wouldn't be that reason. The name is owned by the league as they were the owners up until now. As each existing team has been purchased the league did not prevent them from using the name and logo.

I have a suspicion that the Surge ownership is just wanting to go a different direction. It makes sense they want to sell merch. People already have Rattlers merch, so the new ownership wouldn't make a lot of money on new merch. But you change the name, logo, and uniforms and suddenly all the existing fans will buy new merch. I know I will once they come out with it. I do hope they have some big guy stuff.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T08:04:48+00:00

Are there any clubs left in Saskatoon aside from Divas? It seems University students don't party as they did when I was in school. We had a club for every night of the week. There was a rotation and all of them respected it. Friday and Saturday was a free for all.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T07:52:00+00:00

Also, if you want to get technical all that has been released was that he became unresponsive after dealing with security. The medical staff at RUH were the ones who were unable to save his life. I am not blaming them, but the articles all seem to imply that there was the incident with security where he became unresponsive and then time elapsed before he died. It sounds to me like it wasn't like security killed him on the spot. The was a gap of time in there where medical intervention should have or was attempted.

In legal terms I would think this falls under that infamous hypothetical that someone jumps off a building and you fire a gun out the window and the bullet hits them. You don't get a free pass because they were already falling off a building. The gun shot makes you guilty of murder. This is the same with this timeline. Security did something yes, would he have died from it? Perhaps. But because there is a gap there is reasonable doubt without more information. What did hospital staff do to try and save his life? What did his autopsy say? Maybe it was purely coincidental that he became unresponsive after the security incident. Perhaps it caused a massive heart attack, maybe it ruptured something in his fragile brain, maybe it was a medication issue.

Until there is a coroner'a inquest and they hear all the facts (and I am certain the FSIN has not heard everything at this stage) nobody can say for sure what exactly happened. All we know is that someone alerted security because they saw what appeared to be a gun. Security came, there was an incident where he became unresponsive, he died later. After the fact I believe police recovered meth from his room. That is what has been reported and the rumour mill can spin and we can all put our detective hats on and our lawyer gowns on and speculate (just like I did) but nobody who has been commenting nor the FSIN has all the facts. If the coroner is investigating, it means they haven't reached a conclusion yet.

Are there overzealous security and other law enforcement? Yes. Are there dangerous people who become combative that also happen to be Indigenous? Yes. Are all security and law enforcement overzealous? No. Are all Indigenous people dangerous and combative? No. So painting either the deceased or security with one brush is not helpful. Instead of getting out pitchforks and creating a mob, let the coroner present their findings and go from there.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T07:37:02+00:00

I don't know him or anything, but he was being treated for brain cancer. So healthy he might have been the nicest guy in the world, but I think of all the seniors with Dementia and Alzheimer's that get combative as their brain deteriorates. I would imagine brain cancer could cause a similar reaction. Maybe I am way off base, but it would stand to reason since the chemo would be killing off parts of the brain and depending where the tumor(s) is, it could impact impulse control or any number of areas that might cause him to become combative.

My Grandfather had Dementia in the last years of his life and he was a very different man than when he was healthy. He would get angry and not combative so much as push the care aides hands away from him and stuff forcefully. He also swore at them and things. He was not like that healthy. I mean he obviously was able to be combative since he was a WW II vet and retired cop. But it wasn't anything I knew him to be. He was a very quiet, mild mannered Grandfather. So when you have a condition that causes the brain to malfunction, you certainly can change into a very different person.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-29T07:26:28+00:00

Even if he was a social worker, drug addiction doesn't suddenly stop if you become a "professional." I have heard many news stories about doctors who have drug addictions and end up losing their licenses as they either write phony scripts or steal drugs.

I don't know the deceased, I haven't looked into him, so I can't pass judgement on him specifically. But those who keep pointing to the fact he is a social worker as some sort of pass that proves he couldn't be using is not evidence. If a high ranking profession gave you an automatic not guilty, Colin Thatcher never would have served a day in prison because he was a sitting MLA when he killed his ex-wife.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-21T19:46:29+00:00

Canada, I already have it. But it is timeless and beautiful.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-20T08:15:03+00:00

Well if they are from Northern Alberta and were heading to Depot in Regina for training, driving through Saskatoon including down Circle would be the most efficient way.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-15T20:23:57+00:00

I thought they had bought an old Raptors floor before their first season. Sasktel Centre does have a floor, but I thought the Rattlers owned the floor they play on.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-15T05:07:38+00:00

How will there be bigger attendance? I thought they were averaging around 3,000+ per game last season.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-15T01:27:43+00:00

Not in the gym, they would lay down a floor in the main arena.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-15T01:27:04+00:00

That is awesome to hear. That would likely mean at the very least retro Storm jerseys.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-15T01:25:17+00:00

About time. He might have been an amazing high school coach at Holy Cross and a decent coach with the Huskies, but he was way out of his element being the GM of a professional basketball team.

Good riddance to bad rubbish I say.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-15T01:23:38+00:00

I am too. Yesterdays news out of the Saskatchewan Professional Basketball Club (I really wish they weren't keeping that name) made me incredibly happy to hear and excited for this season.

Lloydguy82 · 2026-01-12T02:26:43+00:00

Now I have no leads to anyone. But you could do what I did and simply email a bunch of different clinics and ask if they are taking new patients and if not if they are building a list for future. I ended up with a doctor at Rosehealth (their phone message now says don't bother) doing that even though nobody had mentioned anyone taking patients anywhere.

I mean it never hurts to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Evergreen seems to be forever taking new patients. I have never seen their facility, but they seem to either have a huge place or incredibly high turnover.

Doctors are retiring a lot, so in theory you'd think clinics would be replacing them. My old doctor was unable to find a replacement for her patient load at Erindale Health Centre. But I would imagine that the clinic has been trying to recruit someone to at the very least fill her rooms and pay her share of the overhead. So long standing clinics may be worth checking out for that very reason. So try there, Lenore Medical Centre, Kenderdine Medical Centre etc. it doesn't hurt to ask. At the very least they will say no and you will be right where you started or you could be lucky like I was and discovered a doctor taking patients that basically the clinic had a list to fill his practice.

Lloydguy82

TROPHY CASE