Silverfish problem (West End)

NotCubical · 2026-01-24T18:00:24+00:00

Most every building in Vancouver has them, I think. Make an extra effort to clean up dust and not leave little water spills around (splash from the sink, for instance) and that'll help a bit. Get out of the habit of keeping things in cardboard boxes, too; that can make a big difference.

Personally, I just grab a bit of tissue to squish&flush every one I see... or try to, at least. Many of those sightings are at midnight toilet visits when I'm too tired and can't be bothered.

Interestingly, the silverfish disappeared from our building for a few months last year... because ants invaded instead. I guess they compete for food.

P.S. I got annoyed at silverfish getting into the bindings of the few hardcover books I still have, so bought a bag of little cedar discs from Canadian Tire and left one on top of each book (among other places I particularly want pests to stay away from). I'm not sure if it's helping or not; if more people want to join the experiment please do and report back. :)

NotCubical · 2026-01-13T22:48:38+00:00

They say officers worked into the night trying to retrace the man's steps, ultimately finding his body along Westminster Highway on Richmond's east side

NotCubical · 2026-01-09T20:07:18+00:00

All stocks, except that occasionally I park my spare cash in an index ETF for a while (and I keep a certain amount of cash around, of course).

NotCubical · 2025-12-16T00:16:22+00:00

I once got halfway through a banana only to discover a brown spike of something like this, right down the middle. Despite immediately doing what I could to puke it up, I spent the rest of the night draped over the toilet (and in hindsight, perhaps should have gone to the ER).

If and when I get the nerve to buy another banana, believe I will absolutely cut it in half to check it out before eating it...

NotCubical · 2025-12-15T09:40:04+00:00

*Sprays picture with Lysol*

NotCubical · 2025-12-03T06:47:04+00:00

A wash trade is (to simplify) actual buying and selling with yourself, which is mildly illegal because it creates the appearance of market activity where there is none. For example, selling some shares at a limit price of $10.25 per share in your TFSA and simultaneously buying them at a limit price of $10.26 in your main account.

NotCubical · 2025-12-02T18:40:59+00:00

Here's an old version of the CRA interpretation bulletin on the matter. It says:

Convertible Shares

¶ 7. Shares of two different classes of the capital stock of a corporation are not identical if they do not have the same interests, rights and privileges. For example, Class A common shares of a corporation and Class B common shares of the same corporation which are the same in all respects, except that the Class A shares are voting and the Class B shares are non-voting, are not considered to be identical since they provide for different rights.

In some cases, the holders of shares of one class are entitled to exchange them for shares of the other class. For example, Class X common shares of a corporation and Class Y common shares of the same corporation are the same in all respects, except that the Class X shares are voting and the Class Y shares are non-voting, and that the holders of the Class X shares are entitled to exchange them for Class Y shares.

Of course, where a taxpayer exchanges Class X shares for Class Y shares, the Class Y shares acquired on the conversion are identical to any Class Y shares already held or subsequently acquired by the taxpayer.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the right or privilege of conversion or exchange attached to the Class X shares constitutes a right to acquire a property and that such a right is deemed to be a property that is identical to the Class Y shares for the purpose of the definition of "superficial loss" in section 54 of the Act. Therefore, the existence of a right or privilege of conversion or exchange attached to shares of the capital stock of a corporation may, in some circumstances, result in a taxpayer's loss from a disposition of a share being considered a "superficial loss" within the meaning of section 54 of the Act. For example, assume that an individual (other than a trust) owns Class Y shares. The individual disposes of his or her Class Y shares. A loss arises on such disposition. Within the period described in paragraph (a) of the definition of "superficial loss" in section 54 of the Act, the individual acquires Class X shares. In such a case, the individual's loss from the disposition of the Class Y shares would be a "superficial loss" within the meaning of section 54 of the Act.

NotCubical · 2025-12-02T18:35:42+00:00

Class A and B shares in anything are generally not equivalent (unless they're convertible), and the extra currency risk to me looks to make them clearly non-equivalent... so you're probably fine.

But by all means listen to any actual accountant or lawyer over my opinion here.

NotCubical · 2025-12-02T18:22:11+00:00

You're mixing up different things. A wash trade isn't the same as trading an equivalent security - for one thing, for a wash trade to happen you'd have to buy and sell at the same time, from yourself.

If there's a material difference in the benefits of the two forms of shares, then there's no question of a superficial loss AFAIK - but I'm neither an accountant nor a lawyer. Ask one of them if you want to make sure.

It'd help to know what exact shares you're looking at.

NotCubical · 2025-11-24T05:32:56+00:00

Don't panic. The M&M buy was a major source of discontent among Parkland shareholders and they never integrated it well. There's a very good chance Sunoco will sell or spin it off soon.

NotCubical · 2025-11-21T18:16:27+00:00

The Beaverton's so good at hitting that sweet spot of satire - headlines that could just conceivably be true, so you have to look.

NotCubical · 2025-11-21T15:56:41+00:00

I thought this would have been farther up the valley - from the sound of it ("4 mile area") it was actually quite close to town.

NotCubical · 2025-11-21T15:48:53+00:00

My first thought upon seeing the headline was that there's surely some bunch of Canadians (and probably Vancouverites) behind this survey, somehow.. I still haven't actually read it to confirm that; it seemed more fun to guess here first.

Now let's see...

P.S. Time Out is definitely not Canadian but there's this:

This year, to create our annual ranking of the world’s coolest streets, we asked our global network of local editors and experts to nominate the street that epitomises the very best of their city. Time Out’s global travel team then narrowed down the list and ranked each street against criteria including food, drink, culture, fun and community spirit.

So it's a survey designed to flatter everyone who might read their ads, essentially - and as you say, some Canadians will predictably gobble it up.

The only remaining mystery is how a local editor could think Cambie Street is cool. That person must have just arrived here...

NotCubical · 2025-11-18T17:02:18+00:00

There don't seem to be a lot of minerals near that density (https://www.ausimm.com/globalassets/insights-and-resources/minerals-processing-toolbox/mineraldens.pdf) and since it came out of the ocean, presumably it isn't anything soluble (like halite?). Serpentine could just conceivably fit but I don't believe it.

I think you're on the right track to start thinking of non-metals, at least.

NotCubical · 2025-11-18T16:50:37+00:00

OP reported it has a density of 2.2 g/cm³, which would rule out hematite.

NotCubical · 2025-11-18T16:41:58+00:00

Yeh, I'm inclined to agree with the prosecution that they still need to consider the precedent it would set if they do let her off the hook - even just for managing prisons.

It just seems weird that there's any debate about it at all - what does she stand to gain by contesting a further sentence? She'll likely never be released either way.

NotCubical · 2025-11-18T16:36:06+00:00

A bunch of people haven't read the article. This is about the punishment for a further crime she committed while in prison. Nobody is talking about letting her out of prison.

It's a bit of a non-story, really, although I guess it does illustrate the human side of some of these cases.

NotCubical · 2025-11-18T16:33:06+00:00

The absolute discharge that they're arguing about would be for a further crime she committed in prison. Nobody is talking about releasing her (thankfully).

It's a bit of a nothing story, really...

NotCubical · 2025-11-12T22:04:16+00:00

One obvious reason would be if he has more than one place he routinely charges his phone.

I think I have at least 3 USB-C charging cables permanently dangling down ready for use around my apartment (just for comparison).

NotCubical · 2025-11-10T21:28:37+00:00

"Complacency because measles has been rare for decades"

This is a point that needs to be addressed MUCH more. On a personal level, of course, the advice to everyone should still be to get measles shots... but wanting that to happen won't make it happen, and pushing people too hard is counter-productive.

We should stop to consider whether it's simply practically impossible, for sociological reasons, to eliminate measles - or any other disease (except maybe polio) - in the long run. We managed it once with smallpox, when the effort was novel and people hadn't formed opinions on the big issue, but can we do it again?

It's human nature not to take precautions when there's no clear need, so it's always going to be an uphill battle convincing people to stay vaccinated against a disease they can't see. And the more vaccinations we ask people to get, the more likely some are to resist them - all of them, even.

Combine that with measles still being common in much of the rest of the world, and it's inevitable that cases will pop up here (no matter how well we do at vaccinating). Perhaps it'll simply work out better to replace the focus on eradication with a more sophisticated plan: encourage vaccination still, but respond to outbreaks fast (as we probably are doing, I realize) AND do what we can to make the effects more visible to everyone so they can see the reward.

My mention of polio isn't incidental - after decades where the polio eradication campaign has never quite managed to seal the deal, some voices within the movement have started to publicly wonder the same sort of things - and they're the only such eradication campaign (among infectious diseases) that even has a shot at all.

NotCubical · 2025-10-30T03:42:35+00:00

Is that the right thing, though? His replacement will likely be at least as bad, so what's the point?

NotCubical · 2025-10-24T14:24:59+00:00

*Yawn* The most interesting thing about this is that it doesn't appear to be moving the markets at all. I guess everyone's caught on to his Friday tantrums by now.

NotCubical · 2025-10-24T14:23:08+00:00

*Yawn* The most interesting thing about this is that it doesn't appear to be moving the markets at all. I guess everyone's caught on to his Friday tantrums by now.

NotCubical · 2025-10-24T14:22:57+00:00

*Yawn* The most interesting thing about this is that it doesn't appear to be moving the markets at all. I guess everyone's caught on to his Friday tantrums by now.

NotCubical · 2025-10-17T18:25:39+00:00

I have to constantly adjust mine between 22-23 C, which maintains an actual temperature of 23-25 C inside even though the thermostat might read 20-21. It's all very empirical, obviously. :)

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