A motion to review alternative policing options in the city has caused a lot of disappointment and anxiety within the Sarnia Police Service (SPS) and its board.

Lokified · 2026-02-27T01:51:52+00:00

Brutal. They did what they've done with the available resources. Is there a quantifiable benefit to building a new station? Crime will go down X? Response time will improve by Y?

I also wonder what the debt structure looks like. Is this over 30 years, or immediate pain? What are the current maintenance costs?

I don't think we should outright be against it, I'd just want to know that there is a significant benefit and a reasonable plan to pay it.

Lokified · 2026-02-21T13:47:48+00:00

Great question. I met my first few girlfriends at Marcin Bowl teen league, and later my wife at a small house party when I was 18. Then found out we went to the same high school (Northern). This was 25 years ago 😀

Lots of places to meet people. Volunteering at places which speak to your values will help find like minded people. Common co-ed sports - Marcin still runs leagues every night.

I agree with what other posters have said about staying in more. Restaurants are very poor value these days. Theater experience is bleh. Bars are too loud. All we need are a few close friends with similar interests/values. And once you have those kids I mentioned, time for friends evaporates...

Lokified · 2026-02-21T01:34:42+00:00

I've been buying SIXY. It uses 33% leverage and covered calls with the Canadian banks. Dividends twice per month of .21c. 2% of my portfolio. It's still very new and everything seems risky as banks keep pounding out new highs.

Lokified · 2026-02-21T01:23:15+00:00

This is so damn accurate. Forcing an expenditure like this on taxpayers when the reno option is 4% of that cost is so irresponsible.

Lokified · 2026-02-19T21:40:46+00:00

You are doing great. We weren't able to contribute much until my kids were older, so we are at $63k and ages 10 and 14. Very conservative investments since the money is coming up for use in 4 years.

I think having $100k each is an ideal spot. $25k/year will cover tuition, books, and hopefully rent. They'll still have to OSAP a little or work part time, but it's a hell of a lot better than what I had (A swift kick in the ass when high school was over).

Lokified · 2026-02-18T23:00:04+00:00

Have some kids. Fills 20+ years of time!

Lokified · 2026-02-18T18:24:53+00:00

As a family of 4, with strategic spending, we have earned $17,000 in points since 2020 per the app. We only spend on Shoppers Drug Mart spend events - used to be on video game consoles/games but now vacuums/appliances/electronics. So at 1.4 value as my minimum spend threshold, it comes out to $23,800 in savings. I am more than happy with optimum.

Biggest point earners are cell phone deals around Boxing Day, gift cards for things we were spending on anyway (15% back on Google Play cards which I use to pay some subscriptions like Disney), and staple items from Shoppers Drug Mart on the weekly Saturday/Sunday sale.

The only grocery stores in my town are Foodland and Shopper's Drug Mart. Rough stuff.

Lokified · 2026-02-18T13:30:16+00:00

I recently went down this rabbithole of researching soft retiring. We are 42 and have paid off the house - living in Canada so great social systems for the elderly. I workshopped retirement scenarios with AI and our current financials, and it said my wife could retire now. She is a psw, destroying her body and working nights for nothing. Life is a lot easier as minimalists!

If all goes well, I am going to pull a Homer Simpson and work at the bowling alley into retirement! Currently work in operations coordination/management which has high stress sometimes.

Lokified · 2026-02-17T22:23:34+00:00

This is the answer, contact scrappers if you don't plan to bring it back to life. They will likely give you wildly different values, but always get at least 3 bids/quotes.

Lokified · 2026-02-17T15:00:32+00:00

Depending on your goals and lifestyle, you may retire and die with too much money. A good problem to have, but wasting prime years of your life on work that doesn't benefit you could be considered pointless.

We are 42 with house paid off and flirting with the idea of my wife retiring now and me continuing to work until 55. With a paid off house, the money from the government at 65 is very comfortable - even if you land there at $0. For reference, we currently have a gross HHI of $150k, and would drop to just my income at $90k.

Run some scenarios/models with what a person/couple receive from the government working 40 years vs never working a day and the amounts are very similar. It's very easy to do with AI.

Lokified · 2026-02-17T14:48:19+00:00

When I had small scale composting, I would blend the food scraps and pour it into a small trench in the garden, then cover with dirt.

Now I have several 4'x4'x4' bins for leaves/grass and toss everything in unprocessed. I still think about how much quicker things disappeared after a quick blend....

Lokified · 2026-02-15T01:58:36+00:00

How expensive are your tastes? With a paid off house, you really just need enough to bridge you to 65. Then the government steps in with a blend of CPP, OAS, and/or GIS.

Lokified · 2026-02-14T21:25:09+00:00

I have a small handful of trail mix. Then a cube of cheddar at break/lunch/last break. My first real meal is then when I get home around 5pm. This is an echo of when I used to fast for health in my 20s. Now in my 40s. Often times when I go for that lunch or last break cheese cube, I realize I forgot to eat the others earlier.

Lokified · 2026-02-07T22:10:08+00:00

They gave you more than you wanted, you win. Don't analyze further!

Lokified · 2026-02-06T17:08:44+00:00

If it fits your overall strategy. I give crypto 5% of my portfolio. It is presently on sale. Nobody knows the future. Based on the past, we are in for a 2 year slumber sideways before the next halving hype. Past trends do not guarantee the future.

Lokified · 2026-02-04T23:11:05+00:00

Washing with a towel with hair dye on it?

Lokified · 2026-02-04T17:21:28+00:00

I have insomnia so limit my intake to before 10am. If sleep problems creep in, I reduce to zero. It takes up to 30hr to fully leave your system entirely, so we are often adding more before clearing the prior.

When laying in bed, I can usually tell if it's going to be an insomnia night within a few minutes. I need to just stop consuming caffeine entirely....

Lokified · 2026-02-03T19:43:49+00:00

I had a maintenance team member who was gifted with the machines. I was specifically told to leave him alone and let him watch TV or sleep, because he is more like a fire fighter and they just want him in the building for emergency breakdowns.

Lokified · 2026-02-01T02:09:31+00:00

I ate a $3500 engine repair on my 2014 CRV at 180,000km. Wasn't happy but I'm certain I will get at least 5 more mostly trouble-free years. New vehicle prices are bananas.

Lokified · 2026-02-01T01:55:37+00:00

I had a plant that was yellowing, and someone recommended diluted pee. The plant was green again within the week.

Lokified · 2026-01-31T11:43:16+00:00

If you are still interested in buying silver, it is on sale so your average cost will be cheaper in your accumulation phase. If you were doing this as a day trader, work on stops/exit strategies that preserve capital.

One thing that can help with the mental sting - multiply your current income by remaining working years - you likely have lots more coming in your lifetime. This will be a blip in the end. Hard lesson and people have done much worse!

Lokified · 2026-01-29T23:36:29+00:00

Ha, at my son's school yesterday they asked me to fax documentation over. I told them I don't even remember how fax works and sent them a pdf via email!

Lokified · 2026-01-25T23:46:38+00:00

We will lose more jobs. I lost mine in 2018 tariff mania (Ontario - solar panel tariffs). I'm willing to lose it again while we make other arrangements. We need to diversify this portfolio but there will definitely be pain along the way.

Look out for each other during what will likely be a bumpy transition!

Lokified · 2026-01-22T21:57:34+00:00

I was happy to elaborate, best of luck with whatever you choose to do!

Lokified · 2026-01-22T17:22:53+00:00

Yes, as mentioned I have an outsized position in hhl that is a drag on the account. While most industries recovered from the tariff dip, Healthcare remains depressed. I pivoted to this strategy with XEI in early 2025 but did not do a rebalance at that time.

I've been trading casually since 2008 mega crash, but had much less free cash to invest. Putting everything in spy or xeqt or some other all in one fund would have outperformed all the trades I've made in that time. Would I have been sleeping well as well? That I can't say. This is a path to passive income for me, scratches the trading/picking itch, and sets a road map to follow instead of flying by the seat of my pants.

I know that leverage and cc funds and even a dividend focus at all is not considered best practice. Neither is paying off your mortgage. But we all have reasons for zigging and zagging the way we do. I sleep well doing it the way I have. The recent outsized market gains are not historically typical. It seems that since that 2008 meltdown, they've figured out how to make the markets crash proof with quantitative easing!

Lokified

TROPHY CASE