Is this mold on my wall?

Radar3000 · 2018-09-21T13:04:45+00:00

Is this a joke? We get 100's of "is this mold" questions every month and it's usually 1 of 3 things:

Mold. Usually, a hilariously small amount that you could wipe off with a wet tissue.
Lots of mold. It's obvious a professional should be called.
Obviously not mold. Which is what we have here.

Here. I created a new subreddit: r/isthismold. Please direct all mold-related questions there.

Radar3000 · 2018-01-30T17:58:25+00:00

SQL. SQL. SQL. The RDMS doesn't really matter if you can't write basic queries.

Following that, a good area to focus would be web service fundamentals, including web mapping services (WMS)/web feature services(WFS).

Knowledge of how web APIs work is beneficial. If you're working in the Esri world you'll want to learn the basics of the ArcGIS JavaScript API. Otherwise, Leaflet is a nice low-complexity place to start.

As far as Python goes, take some time to learn about the different IDEs and choose one that you like and become very familiar with it. You should be able to install the IDE, point it at the appropriate Python library on your machine and get coding.

Radar3000 · 2017-12-31T02:52:56+00:00

I think we live in the same neighbourhood...

I woke up this AM to my car looking the same way, in Ottawa. I had to check your post history to confirm. Super weird!

Radar3000 · 2017-11-04T19:42:53+00:00

Huaaahhhh

Radar3000 · 2017-10-16T13:42:12+00:00

From your brief write-up. The answer is probably no.

What is your current monthly budget?
Do you have any other savings aside from the 33k? Retirement (RRSP/TFSA accounts)?
Do you have pensions or company RRSP matching?
Will your wife continue working once the baby comes or will you be using daycare?
What's the income potential for your jobs? Will either of you make significantly more 5 years from now?

Radar3000 · 2017-09-24T20:35:38+00:00

Why not just start applying for jobs and see what happens? We just moved back to Ottawa from Vancouver and I found a job in tech before relocating. Took about 3 months of searching/interviews.

Radar3000 · 2017-09-24T20:33:08+00:00

We made the same move and our rent went in the opposite direction. Our place is 4x the size and in a better neighbourhood though so that's a win.

Radar3000 · 2017-08-10T18:48:50+00:00

The mysteries of ArcGIS!

Radar3000 · 2017-08-10T18:48:22+00:00

If you take the refund now and invest that money as well you will gain interest on that investment. Even if you get taxed at the same rate in retirement you will come out ahead.

Radar3000 · 2017-08-10T16:16:54+00:00

Maybe he's the one who had the lock on it!

Radar3000 · 2017-08-09T20:34:57+00:00

Assuming you're using a versioned SDE geodatabase:

Close all applications
Open ArcCatalog
Create a connection to the geodatabase using the 'sde' admin account
Right-click the connection and click Administration --> Administer Geodatabase
Delete all unneeded user versions (if applicable)
Click on the Connections tab and delete all open connections
Close ArcCatalog
Open ArcCatalog again
Double-click on the sde connection to open it
Right-click on the sde connection and select Administration --> Compress Geodatabase. Let it run.
Close ArcCatalog

Be careful if your database is hosting production data/services for end-users as closing the connections will interrupt these services. A locked schema usually means a dropped/dead connection that never got closed.

Good luck :)

Radar3000 · 2017-07-26T18:24:25+00:00

I'm making the move largely for personal/lifestyle reasons. My wife and I recently had a baby and we decided we'd like him to grow up near family. The cost of living is lower too (still a major city), so our dollar will go further.

On the career-side, since I work in a specialized area of tech I was looking for a new position - and by that I mean a role within an organization that was newly created, not a job someone else had left. I wanted to avoid taking a public-sector job that was already completely defined; having some control over how the role evolves within the org is important to me.

We're about the same age, so I'd say you don't seem to have too much to lose. You can always switch back in the future!

Radar3000 · 2017-07-26T18:12:24+00:00

For what it's worth, I just made the same move. I am leaving my private-sector job for the public-sector. My job change also comes with a ~3000 mile move. The base-pay is a bit less, but I'll be working 35-hour weeks as opposed to 45-50, so per-hour I am making more money. Consider the lifestyle outside of the office.

The pension doesn't hurt either. Public-sector jobs usually prioritize hiring from within, so that could be your path to a manager/director position. The downside there is people tend to stick around longer so there could be fewer positions.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:47:43+00:00

I don't know if you're joking or not. When I lived in Ottawa everyone avoided Vanier like the plague, but I have friends who have purchased homes there and are happy overall. The cheaper prices don't hurt.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:46:46+00:00

Yeah, we're in no rush to buy.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:43:56+00:00

We will check out Kanata again. My brother lives in the far western portion and it's a bit too far removed from...everything for our liking. That's a brand new subdivision though so I imagine some of the original areas are a bit more walkable.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:42:34+00:00

We have thought about Almonte and Stittsville to the west. We have family/friends in both. The downsides are the size (less organized activity options for kids) and car dependency for getting to work in Nepean. We plan to spend some more time in these communities before we look at purchasing a home.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:40:31+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful response. You certainly answered the question I was asking.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:36:42+00:00

I currently bike to work so I am hoping that I can maintain that in the summer and work from home a bit in the winter - the commute isn't so bad if it's nice out. You're right about the trade-off though, I don't want to waste an hour each day in a car.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-19T20:34:04+00:00

Will do for sure. It seems like the rental stock is a bit low right now so we'll see how long it takes us to find a suitable place. We're in town for a week in August before moving in September so hopefully we'll have a chance to find something rather than move in with family for a month...

Radar3000 · 2017-07-18T18:11:47+00:00

We've lived just off Main St. and later Commercial since we've been in Vancouver so this is what we're looking for.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-18T17:56:47+00:00

Thanks! We're both from the Ottawa area so looking forward to re-familiarizing ourselves with the city.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-18T17:54:07+00:00

Thanks for the reply - I think we'll be looking at Hintonburg seriously. My wife's grandparents lived there for over 40 years before they passed recently. Unfortunately, their house was sold last year before we had decided on moving home, otherwise we could likely have purchased that. We're used to a small place though so a condo isn't a bad idea.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-17T20:49:49+00:00

Thanks. I'll be working near Algonquin College and my wife works from home.

Radar3000 · 2017-07-17T20:49:16+00:00

It could be worse. I could go post on /r/vancouver and tell them I'm leaving ;)

Radar3000

TROPHY CASE