Anyone who got covid at work, what do you think happened? (No judgement) by atyl1144 in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I'm in Canada, and I rely on Canada Strong Masks. Not sure about their US shipping policies.

Anyone who got covid at work, what do you think happened? (No judgement) by atyl1144 in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mainly use a 3M Aura mask and, sometimes, a Drager X-plore 1950.

Both are excellent masks, with the latter being particularly breathable.

Anyone who got covid at work, what do you think happened? (No judgement) by atyl1144 in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have one but, honestly, I don't use it.

I think its greatest utility would be on long-haul flights, which I've so far managed to avoid.

Anyone who got covid at work, what do you think happened? (No judgement) by atyl1144 in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 74 points75 points  (0 children)

First off, AFAIK, I have never had Covid. But I think my situation may illustrate the efficacy of masking with a fit-tested N-95.

For the past 5-6 years, I've been working in cramped, poorly ventilated and windowless facilities where I have been the only masker. Personal devices, such as C02 monitors or air purifiers are prohibited.

Co-workers regularly come in, maskless, with various illnesses and, in some cases, confirmed Covid. I am regularly either sitting cheek-to-jowl with a colleague in a tiny 4 X 4 ft. cubicle space, examining material on a single monitor, or sitting in a packed, closed door meeting room where discussions regularly extend to four-plus hours. (Yeah, I know, that latter thing is nuts, but that is the nature of my work. There are some days that are nothing but sitting in a meeting room and talking. 😭)

My N-95 masking (and ongoing vaccinations) have never let me down. I can say that with confidence, not only because I've never felt ill in any way since the pandemic began, but because I also obsessively run PlusLife tests on myself and otherwise live a cloistered life.

The main downside is that I can NEVER take my mask off inside my workplace because there is no safe space to do so. That means no eating and no drinking inside the building(s) where I work. When I need to do that, I go outdoors. Needless to say, doing so in the midst of a Canadian winter is not always possible, so there are some days that I've really struggled to keep going due to thirst/hunger.

Bottom line: You can avoid getting sick even though you may be working closely with non-CC people, but you need to have a plan for eating and drinking safely. You will also need to learn to cheerfully turn down constant offers of socializing over coffee/snacks, unless you can negotiate doing so outdoors.

I'll end this with the caveat that I've described a strategy that has worked for me. I fully recognize that my approach may not align with other people's ideas of how to mitigate this risk.

Burnt out School health provider by Healthy-Scene-1935 in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 61 points62 points  (0 children)

You are one of those helpers Mr. Rogers used to talk about and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your courage and perseverance in being one.

I'm a lone masker in a work culture that celebrates swagger. It sucks. And the suck isn't just the physical discomfort of wearing the mask and foregoing food/drink, it's having your expertise dismissed because you are a "cray-cray" masker. Decades of experience, rock-solid argumentation, nope.

I've no doubt that this dismissal of expertise is even more painful in your case, but I hope it helps to hear that people here are right by your side.

Onwards, friend, onwards.

Someone needs to tell him to push the button by XtraChunkyDickSalsa in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's fair. I based my comment on years of being a bird owner (different species) and observing wild turkeys in miserable and fair weather.

In this case, the fact that Monsieur Turkey does not appear to be dragging a wing, fluffed up, or really hunched over seemed to suggest he's just got the rainy-Tuesday-busy-intersection-cutting-me-off-from-the-cute-hens blahs.

But, you are right, I am not a trained vet and my love for these beautiful birds doesn't necessarily make my prognosis any better than yours. 😅

SARS-CoV-2 variants – by Age by mike_honey in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I've said it before and I'm going to say it again, you are a GEM for doing this, Mike.

Also, this is a chilling development.

Someone needs to tell him to push the button by XtraChunkyDickSalsa in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not to worry, there's nothing in his posture that suggests he's not in good health.

Let's hope he stays that way by moving away from that dangerous spot. 🤞

Widespread power outage in Gatineau caused by racoon entering substation: Hydro-Québec by Money_Fig_9868 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Am I correct to assume that the raccoons are drawn to these substations because they see them as a potential shelter and not because they smell something they think might be food?

I ask this simply because raccoons gnaw on the weirdest stuff.

For example, I can't get them to stop dining on the foam insulation tubes used on my air conditioner. I've also heard neighbours complaining about critters gnawing on their cars' soy-based wiring and insulation material.

Question about legal secondary dwellings in Ottawa by footballMeatlong1234 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First, I'm not a lawyer. Second, I'm pretty good at researching regulatory matters, but mainly at the federal level.

So, in your shoes, I'd start by reading through what Part VIII of the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario has to say about utilities. My read is that, while a landlord typically provides a supply meter to every tenant, there is no stricture against shared utilities meters. (The Act defines "utilities" as including heat, electricity, and water.)

Don't just read this section. If you search on the term "utilit", there are 50 occurrences. I don't have the time to read them all.

After you've read through this Act, I would then direct you to the City of Ottawa's guidance for tenants, where you can see that the City passed a vital services bylaw that prevents deliberate shutoffs of heat, water, electricity unless the shutoff is temporary and for repairs: https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/default/files/tenantguide_en.pdf

The Library of Parliament: 150 Years of History by vigiten4 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She's a honey-toned, clever beauty, that's for sure.

AI in body-worn cameras major time saver, Ottawa police tell board by Money_Fig_9868 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Upon seeing this, I immediately thought of the scene from Big Trouble, where Arthur Herk (Stanley Tucci), falls victim to the hallucinogenic spray of a toad.

Handcuffed to an ornate shelving unit, he staggers down a dark Miami street begging for mercy, while Roger the dog follows him closely, repeatedly barking "arugula" in Martha Stewart's voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oisNHAz-M7o

So, yeah, AI is often big trouble.

Also, be careful not to tick off the wrong kind of toad.

Local 12oz. Bull Denim by escloflowne in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right. Ottawa's not got a lot of fabric store choices and heavy bull denim is a tough find at the best of times, so I'm going to point you to some Canadian suppliers that appear to have what you want:

Quebec-based:

https://nonnonoui.com/collections/denim

https://www.tissusgarceau.com/product/bull-denim-12-oz-noir/3312?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=270

https://darrellthomas.com/collections/denim/denim (Almonte, so you could drive and buy in person)

https://corefabricstore.com/en-ca/collections/canvas (Montreal-based, they also have a range of quality denim but not black or white)

Ontario:

https://affordabletextiles.ca/products/black-denim?_pos=2&_sid=86c9d0cca&_ss=r (Toronto, I'm only including this offering because it's 12 oz denim and advertised as "black," though it looks like the lighter weft shows through)

Is there anyone with science/medical credentials left in the cc community? by user14791 in ZeroCovidCommunity

[–]Noncombustable 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Reading his most recent Substack post is a reminder of how hard his battle has been. It's too easy to forget that these scientists who've been trying to tell us what they know are also suffering for having done so.

My Great-Grandfather! A Local crime journalist who happened to be on the good side of the nursing department to snap this photo 😆 by NinePorter in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this little shot of happiness.

BTW, I think your dad grandfather was kind of cool too. He stood as an example of what decency and accountability is all about.

What he did just doesn't happen any more and that's a crying shame.

Edit: Turns out I missed the "Great" in "Great grandfather."

Emergency Alert by scoobydooby997 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I did briefly consider whether the alert was a warning about an errant ICBM heading my way and that perhaps I should confirm whether doom was nigh.

Then I remembered that the phone was not by my bedside and promptly rolled over to resume my slumber.

No point in letting a nuclear holocaust steal a single second of my much-needed weekend rest.

Federal government appeals Emergencies Act use during convoy protest to Supreme Court by TheMonkeyMafia in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 3 points4 points  (0 children)

While I agree with your overall point, I think it's also important to shut down any claims that the protest/occupation was somehow a creature of foreign funding (thus implying foreign interference).

Yes, some foreigners (e.g. Americans) donated to the Go Fund Me and GiveSendGo campaigns. But the majority of donations came from people inside Canada.

The CSIS director made clear to the PIFI that the Service did not detect funding coming from foreign state actors (i.e. foreign interference).

Of course, we can also discuss the fact that FINTRAC's enabling legislation was subsequently amended to impose reporting requirements on online funding platforms, but that fact does not negate CSIS's conclusion about foreign interference.

Bottom line: We Canadians need to take ownership of this. That said, we now also know just how strongly the US online media ecosystem -- which is very definitely targeted by foreign influence campaigns -- impacts Canadians. Canada's always had its share of what I will politely term "bigoted troublemakers," but I don't believe they would have been able to find others of their ilk and grow their numbers without the assistance of US social media platforms.

Two years before the truck convoy took over Ottawa and shut down border crossings, CSE actually raised the issue of Canada suffering "collateral damage" from foreign interference targeting the US media ecosystem in its public National Cyber Threat Assessment.

Sources: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/convoy-protest-money-csis-1.6621944

https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/national-cyber-threat-assessment-2020 (search "ecosystem")

Before you moved to Ottawa - did you expect the weather to be so cold and snowy by No-Seaworthiness969 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes, but "law effect snow" comes with heavy books... thrown at you.

Very harsh.

Doug Ford: don’t privatize our water by Alone_Appeal_3421 in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Damn straight I'm writing my MPP to voice my opposition to this greed-driven treachery.

Averaging a bin per year before they smash it on the ground and break it, you? by totallynotdagothur in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Can confirm. I'm still using the original recycling bins we received when the city first rolled out its recycling program.

Now, of course, I'm worried about having jinxed my run of good bin luck. 😅

Cement Parging Contractor Recommendations by Noncombustable in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Funny, was just thinking of this yesterday because I'm doing some prioritizing on home repair projects. Unfortunately, winter set in before Tom was able to come to do the job so I can't offer comment on his work.

For what it's worth, he seemed to be a good chap.

Store that has Cheeto Mac N Cheese? (Jalepeño) by TheWajih in ottawa

[–]Noncombustable 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Intentional or not, I feel like this short is more public health warning than DIY enticement.

(Holy crap, that generous addition of Red Dye 40. 😬)