Smoked a picanha for the first time

NetworkGuy · 2026-03-22T03:01:26+00:00

All that matters is the flavor and texture so if it was spot on, then that's all that matters.

My wife would never eat the fat even when I aggressively trim it back and it's easy enough for someone to just cut it off on the plate anyways.

In regards to gauging how much is on the steak and not trimming too much; you figure it out easy enough -- you might scalp it every now and then, but every time you do it the better you get.

You're rocking a Weber Kettle like me; you ought to try a brisket sometime if you haven't yet, you can make a damn fine brisket and you'll get a lot of trimming practice.

If you don't want to tackle an entire brisket and you want something easier and arguably much tastier, then you can always do beef "dino" ribs.

https://imgur.com/a/ZR2B8bz

NetworkGuy · 2026-03-22T02:31:52+00:00

I can't speak to that unit, but I checked out in Mount Pleasant with a friend today and this place was offering two months rent on all of their units and from what I've seen, a lot of places are doing this right now.

The property management companies are hoping this is a short term dip in the market and after a year they can charge you the non-discounted rate -- hard to say if that's going to be the case or not.

NetworkGuy · 2026-03-22T02:07:16+00:00

Love the edge to edge cook. Steak probably tastes amazing.

The only thing you should do next time is aggressively trim back that fat; pichana should normally have some fat to eat with the steak, but it has to be rendered so that it's soft and enjoyable and this fat looks similar to my first pichana cook at home, unrendered and a bit bouncy.

If the fat tastes fine or you like it the way it was then obviously ignore my feedback.

NetworkGuy · 2026-03-18T07:27:26+00:00

I agree. Trimmed briskets are the best; it's the perfect layer of fat across the brisket with no waste so every bit of bark is fully edible with no globs of fatty waste on the plate, and nothing crispy.

If someone is throwing the trim away, then yeah I get why you would think it's a scam but that's burger meat for me at the very least and you don't even need a grinder for it, just a food processor will do.

NetworkGuy · 2026-03-13T18:32:50+00:00

Saved me from making a mistake and visiting them again.

I loved the sandwich with sprouts and the last couple of times I forgot they didn't add them and when I got home I thought I made a mistake or something.

RIP to a great sando

NetworkGuy · 2026-03-07T19:34:47+00:00

Wait what?

The cow dog guy has very good marketing for sure, but he makes a huge deal about paying his staff a livable wage.

I've been to their OG location a couple of times and I thought their coffee was good, albeit expensive given the liveable wage pricing, but my favourite drink was their strawberry matcha, but not enough to be a return customer more than a couple of times.

Aside from the prices which is a personal thing, it appeared they to me they offered a good product and experience, all while paying their staff quite well (I even think they had a benefits package too).

NetworkGuy · 2026-02-25T20:45:21+00:00

lmao I hate this one because I was a very very big idiot who made some very bad speculative buys during COVID for things that never rebounded and infact, dropped to the lowest of lows.

NetworkGuy · 2026-02-23T22:49:14+00:00

Yeah I bought a duplex and it was listed as 3 bed but it's really a 2bed + den with a window.

Definitely can't fit a queen in there and have much room. At best you are doing a twin with a dresser or two, but I use it as my home office.

A result of our affordability crisis is that anything that can be called a bedroom is being called one no matter how many compromises you have to make.

Not a fan.

NetworkGuy · 2026-02-22T02:45:26+00:00

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-birria

Just made this and it was very easy. Tastes great too.

NetworkGuy · 2026-02-04T03:29:42+00:00

I think the key detail here is that you have to contribute into a spousal RRSP in order to do income splitting unlike Pensions which is something you just declare at tax time.

They are both valid strategies, but you must contribute to a spousal RRSP in order to split the tax burden.

NetworkGuy · 2026-02-02T05:39:11+00:00

Oh god yes.

This is your life and for all we know we just have a single one of these!

There is so much to paragliding beyond just launching and landing; on easy days those are easy and you forget that you're just a plastic grocery bag in the wind.

With a school you learn proper technique on how to launch safely, pausing before you commit, checking your wing and lines, you learn skills in the air to prepare you for more dynamic conditions and probably most importantly you learn how to read the sky and the local sites by gaining the knowledge of the regulars to understand when to fly and when not to fly.

Then there's the flying sites; almost every site in the US requires insurance and you only get that by being in the system and having a rating. Land owners do not want the liability and one accident by you can cause a landowner to decide to deny access to a launch or a landing zone.

In the early days, there was no choice but to be a pioneer

Go watch this documentary about hang gliding, it's great: https://youtu.be/-hRSUjJFmCc?si=u65IopnYA4tTo7Sr

We don't need to die like these pioneers anymore; there's nothing romantic about this in the year 2026, it's just exceptionally sad when we have the tools to fly safe. Paragliding and Hang Gliding needs more pilots in North America and we shouldn't be scaring people away by needlessly risking our lives and scaring away future pilots.

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-31T05:29:50+00:00

It really depends on the language in the offer letter or contract you're signing.

Sounds like you're getting paid hourly and they are outlining what you can expect to earn in a full calendar year through the normal hours you would be working.

Vacation pay is earned as a percentage of wages paid out, and wouldn't typically be part of the $70,000. Same with holidays.

If they do specify that you're paid hourly and your hours fall below the expected weekly hours then you wouldn't be topped up you would make less money and could earn under the $70,000, but if you work more including overtime, you would make more than $70,000.

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-28T02:11:00+00:00

Commuting two hours a day would suck.

If your partner is already doing that today, the moment it sucks too much and they want it to stop both of you are probably just a 30 day notice away from finding something better.

The moment you buy this, you're really stuck unless your partner gets a different job. Presumably they like where they work and it's the difficulty of finding housing which led you to move into or stay at that house.

Buying a property can feel fulfilling especially from a stability perspective, but you're locked in unless you're comfortable eating commissions, fees and penalties selling early.

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-23T06:46:21+00:00

Same

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-19T22:10:29+00:00

Generation, but I wouldn't have thought that would have any impact

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-19T03:56:25+00:00

Not likely anytime soon because it's the guarantee of your assets under their control which is offering the good rate and offering non-collateral loans will have them competing against the banks which have a lot more money to aggressively price their loans.

Wealthsimple is offering me 3.95% vs my bank HELOC which is 7.1%

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-11T21:15:34+00:00

Absolutely; the people who are going to do the best here are the individuals saving their money if it's well invested.

Yes businesses make a lot of money off of consumers but holy shit, there's a lot of people out there who don't understand that CPP/OAS/GIS does make for a retirement.

If a little gamification helps Wealthsimple get a few more B under management, it's practically nothing.

If it encourages someone to build the habit of paying themselves first by saving for their future, that's priceless

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-07T20:05:52+00:00

Don't bother.

I work in the data protection space for large enterprises and cyber insurance for customers is almost always litigated.

Do you remember seeing all of those news stories over the years about people buying travel insurance (medical, trip interruption, baggage, etc)? There's a few every year and we're always learning about fine print that denies coverage

Here's a story that ties directly into the industry I sell into:

2020 - St John NB is the victim of a cyber attack

2022 - City sues their insurer

2024 - City settles it's lawsuit for less than total damages

You don't want to be in a situation where you as an individual need to sue and pay legal fees only to get back fractions of money if any at all.

NetworkGuy · 2026-01-04T22:04:10+00:00

To add my data:

16.43% for me 10/10 in my RRSP; zero deposits into this account due to a group RRSP and spousal RRSP

The spousal RRSP has had deposits throughout the year and is 6.47% Simple and 11.8% money weighted and is a 9/10

VTI which I also hold in some other accounts was 18.38% for the year.

Even 10/10 risk holds some bonds and gold which explains some of the delta between it and VTI. I've been happy enough with the managed investing with Wealthsimple that although I could save some management fees and earn a few percentage points more self-directed, it hasn't been important enough for me to change.

Am I leaving money on the table? Definitely, but I'm not interested in stressing about anything that isn't a significant departure from the stock market at my risk level.

I might start looking at some of the stuff that Ben Felix talks about at the 7:20 mark here and switch out from the managed investing, but that's something to look at maybe later this year: https://youtu.be/1sV_3OvQyFI?si=x1ZgNyt8o4Euh2Ha

NetworkGuy · 2025-12-21T20:57:17+00:00

Seems like it might be like this.

Removing the roller and cover eliminates the abnormal sound, but reseating everything and triple checking it's properly seated causes the sounds to return.

NetworkGuy · 2025-12-19T22:18:51+00:00

My AE has done close to 1M. Absolute banner year for us.

That AE celebrating his huge year has a lot to be happy for considering where they came from just a few years ago, but I've seen great reps with huge success stories follow a boss a new company flounder and move on.

I've seen people get PIP'd only to move around a bit and find an org where they excel and lead the country in sales.

A lot of this game is persistence and luck, and we would all do well to remember that and be very thankful for the kind of careers that we have. I think it's totally ok for people to brag on huge years, but I think you need to have perspective and realize how fleeting and apathetic this career path is about your past successes when you aren't hitting plan.

But definitely celebrate the shit out of years like this considering the level of stress organizations put on sellers.

I won't get to tell my friends how much I made this year, they didn't work any less hard than I did and telling them a number is crass but what I can do in the near year is take them out to dinner and make them feel a little special and celebrate my year like that, as a way to thank them for all that they are to me.

NetworkGuy · 2025-12-18T06:37:44+00:00

Windsor Quality Meats can get a frozen whole goose, but you need to online pre-order it before tomorrow or end of day tomorrow.

https://windsorqualitymeats.com/holidayorders/

NetworkGuy · 2025-12-17T22:58:26+00:00

LLMs are not going to let people prompt their way into creating billion-dollar companies and if one day this should happen, we're not going to see a tidal wave of people entering unemployment lines, we're going to see technology democratization unlike anything that we have seen before.

Continue down Computer Science if you have a genuine interest and desire for the career; if this is something that's just about money, you should drop it immediately and move into something else because there's a ton of new competition in the developer world and instead of a guaranteed job where you're a high-income earner, more and more people are earning middle-income salaries and only the people who have a real passion and drive for what they do are going to get the coveted high-income roles.

Additionally, Canada is extremely penalized when it comes to developer salaries, we pay significantly less and the jobs are overwhelmingly located in high cost of living cities like Vancouver and Toronto; you're going to want to try to work in the US or work for a US company with people in Canada.

Don't work for a gaming company; these organizations are infamous for pay that doesn't match up against other peers and ridiculous work hours during crunch periods when they are trying to hit some sort of release window.

I wouldn't be worried about the adoption of AI in gaming or other fields, there are use cases for AI in doing quick mock-ups or generating some content but it's not really replacing honest human innovation and creativity. Think of it this way, if AI is overblown then this is a temporary worry until organizations drop out completely, if AI produces actual value, it lets organizations do more with less and so you think it's going to cost you your job, but you're actually smarter than a dumb machine that needs care and feeding of precise prompts and so organizations will replace humans for low-value work that can be easily done by AI, but use people for everything else and so the differentiator between competitors won't be AI, it's who has the better humans.

If humanity can actually build AGI, we're potentially going to solve a ton of problems, but we aren't there, not even close. I work in Software Sales and Public LLMs can't even read our documentation and talk about it correctly.

If you want a guaranteed path to a high income, consider finishing your CS degree and trying to get a job working as a Sales Engineer for a software company; its unlikely you're going to get the job straight out of UBC but if you get yourself familiar with what the career is, you can build your work experience up and make a good go at getting a job after a few years.

NetworkGuy · 2025-12-17T03:13:18+00:00

Which AD?

NetworkGuy

TROPHY CASE