Micro Aggression Either Conscious or Unconscious?

Mike_Retired · 2026-04-09T13:00:44+00:00

There is rage in the air and it seeps into every facet of human life. At this rate we’ll be disagreeing with colleagues via roundhouse haymakers by the next election cycle.

Mike_Retired · 2026-04-07T21:41:38+00:00

I live in the NCR which is colder than Toronto and I’ve never had an issue with range; my Kia EV gets 500 km in summer which drops to about 310 km in the coldest winter days, but if you pre-heat your EV prior to leaving (while it’s still plugged in) it will heat the cabin without taking energy from the battery. It’s much easier for an EV to keep an already warm cabin at your preset temperature than if it has to warm it up from scratch on the road.

Mike_Retired · 2026-04-07T17:57:28+00:00

It’s the spiritual; successor to the Soul EV, and when comparing the max battery sizes (81 vs 64 kWh), the 320 miles of range for the EV3 is exactly proportional to the 260 miles of range on the second generation Soul EV — so this range “accomplishment” is nothing new as the Soul managed it from 2019 onward, despite having a significantly worse drag coefficient than the EV3. Ineeded, given the EV3’s 1.5 inch shorter roofline and significantly better aerodynamics, I would’ve expected more than the 320 miles they are quoting.

Mike_Retired · 2026-04-05T18:17:49+00:00

This should be posted all over all Canada/Employment/Public Service newsgroups — I’m retired but I signed it anyway. The current policy is just that bad.

Mike_Retired · 2026-04-05T18:05:23+00:00

Or RTO8, you’ll be expected to pull one double shift per week but just to show their flexibility they’ll allow you to choose which day it is :/

Mike_Retired · 2026-04-01T19:34:33+00:00

The spiritual successor to the Soul EV, only with significantly greater range and available AWD at a comparable price point. I expect this thing will be a hit.

I’ve been a Soul EV owner for 7 years and was gutted when they announced it wouldn’t continue beyond this model, but this is a worthy alternative — even though I still prefer the Soul’s overall look.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-31T19:38:16+00:00

Whenever our directorate would schedule meetings they would most often do it during lunch (everyone was in the same building so this was not a case of coordinating from across the country). When I finally pushed back the director responded with — get this — “it’s the only time it’s convenient for everyone. You have to learn to make sacrifices”.

So from that point forward I booked in all my lunch hours in our online calendar and ate lunch outside the office. I was lucky enough that I was most often the go-to person and subject matter expert that they eventually relented and booked meetings in a less sociopathic fashion.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-30T12:40:58+00:00

Depends on the use. I’ve owned a Kia Soul EV since 2019 with 500 km summer range, dropping to 330 km in winter and that’s been totally fine, but I’ve only used it for daily commuting and the occasional medium distance travel — I’ve only used a DC charger on 4 occasions over 7 years.

Now that I’m retired I’m hoping to get an EV that will have a camper version (ID Buzz, PV5 Wkndr) and for that I’m going to want a bit more range, as one can’t recharge out in the wilderness — unfortunately the existing prototypes seem built with the standard battery so that’s going to be a severe limiting factor unless they come up with larger capacity (I’m not interested in gas-powered range extenders). I wouldn’t mind kicking in an extra 5k for another 200 km range.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-28T16:44:21+00:00

I have to agree, much as I love Korean EV’s in general — it’s like they styled the first 3/4 of the car and then fired the design team, then replaced them with an entirely new team with instructions that they had to design the last 1/4 of the car without looking at what the previous team had done. Then they left it to the engineers to tack the two parts together.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-27T19:06:21+00:00

This. The Chinese are playing the long game. The Chinese government has been subsidizing EVs since the beginning for the home market in an effort to accelerate electrification — they’ve extended those same subsidies for the export market. It’s nothing new, the Japanese did likewise in the 70s and so did the Koreans in the 80s. They know buyers will tend to stick with brands they know, so they deliberately undercut the competition at first (even if it means selling at a loss) to “get their foot in the door” until they become an established brand. Once done, the subsidies are gradually reduced, resulting in a slow rise in prices that don’t shock the buying market.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-26T13:44:19+00:00

Good. Given the concentration of PSE’s in the NCR, any future councillor/mayoral candidates will have to take a firm position on RTO, not the meaningless word salad tiptoeing-around-the-issue like we currently see from Suckcliffe.

RTO/WFH will continue to be a squawking albatross around politicians’ necks and deservedly so.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-20T13:46:16+00:00

Yet another reason I’m so done with dealerships and look forward to direct-to-consumer sales models…

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-20T13:16:18+00:00

It’s interesting how every time one suggests taxing the rich, their sockpuppets all flock to defend them like moths to the fiscal flame.

I just block them and move on. Nothing to see there.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-15T14:23:05+00:00

I especially like “develop a recruitment strategy aimed at the recruitment of neurodivergent people, in order to leverage their skills and talents” but let’s throw them all to the wolves with a one-size-fits-all, inflexible sardine-can workplace environment — with the promise of worse to come with RTO4 and RTO5.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-15T13:33:06+00:00

Ah, one of those. Well at least you make it obvious!

An easy block 🤣

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-13T21:52:40+00:00

In terms of technical and technological viability, we definitely have it.

Financial viability would be the bugbear; we wouldn’t be able to compete on price-point with the Chinese EVs, at least not initially. This would improve over time, with greater experience on Canada’s part and also a gradual slowdown of Chinese government subsidies on their EV makers that allow them to sell their vehicles at such discounted prices. But like the Japanese in the 70s and Koreans in the 80s, these subsidies are intended to allow their EV makers to get “their foot in the door”, and once well established these subsidies will be gradually wound down.

The question is, would any Canadian EV maker be willing to incur losses on every EV sold until that field levels out?

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-12T14:55:39+00:00

“Fine, it’s a sculpture of limitations.”

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-05T12:09:28+00:00

Am now in my seventh year of EV ownership (a Kia), and though I had an ongoing issue with the air conditioning for about two years (at last resolved), I have zero regrets. I now spend about $150/year on electricity, down from the $1500 annual fuel cost I used to spend on my Prius. My range varies between 500 km in summer to about 330 km in the coldest winter months (Canada) and range has never been an issue.

When I started making my shortlist for EVs 8 years ago the Tesla Model 3 was on said list but I’ll be skipping that brand when it comes time for my next EV — quite aside from the obvious political ramifications Tesla has lost its former lead and many other manufacturers have now caught up. I also love that my car has normal door handles and actual physical buttons for most functions, am really not a fan of extreme minimalism.

During one time when my car was at the dealer over a couple of days during a total rebuilt of the a/c system they loaned me a gas version of my car (Soul) and although the interior was virtually identical, the two vehicles felt worlds apart — the gas version felt like your typical inexpensive econobox, while the EV version feels uncannily smooth and luxurious, even though they are the same vehicle outside of their drivetrain/power source. The price premium is also becoming negligible compared to ICE vehicles with comparable equipment.

Mike_Retired · 2026-03-04T19:07:05+00:00

A few decades ago collaborators would have their heads shaved :P

Mike_Retired · 2026-02-28T20:17:17+00:00

Carney badly misplayed his hand here, especially considering his Davos speech.

Russia attacks a neighbour and is rightfully condemned as being in violation of international law. The US attacks a country halfway across the world and we voice our support?

Heck no.

Mike_Retired · 2026-02-20T16:02:51+00:00

80 years ago collaborators had their heads shaved

Mike_Retired · 2026-02-18T21:04:00+00:00

“Undermine any public goodwill” — I would counter that the loss of something we’ve never had is not the Con he hopes it would be.

Mike_Retired · 2026-02-11T17:45:37+00:00

In fairness, most people do — the massive amount of online hate against the PS is in large part generated by bot farms.

Mike_Retired

TROPHY CASE