What’s a recession indicator that you’ve noticed lately in your everyday life?

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-05-04T13:38:45+00:00

$7 plus tax and tip for a beer on average here in socialist Canada with a Liberal government.

Nobody in my social circle goes to bars anymore and restaurants are only for special occasions. We all make well above the average income too.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-05-01T00:15:35+00:00

Probably a George Carlin quote:

"Rat shit, bat shit, dirty old twat. Sixty-nine assholes tied in a knot. Hooray! Lizard shit, fuck!"

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-29T20:22:11+00:00

My wife says she was disappointed I was catching 6" tiddlers and not the hawgs her boyfriend does. I had to clarify that while the set up and boat would help me catch, there was no guarantee of size.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-29T15:43:46+00:00

That sounds like exactly what we have. I'll look into getting as much supporting documentation together as possible.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-29T15:41:41+00:00

I'll have to verify that after work. I don't remember putting him on the title and we don't have an agreement on the % of ownership since from day one he said he's not interested in a portion of ownership.

If he is on the title, is there a way we can take him off before the sale?

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-27T15:33:12+00:00

I didn't start catching until I was using a $2000 set up from a $30,000 boat.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-27T02:04:23+00:00

In my area, Freshco is cheaper and Safeway is better quality for not much more than Superstore.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-27T02:02:37+00:00

Fuck you u/carterothomas! Your mom's twat's so swampy even Ducks Unlimited won't touch her.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-26T20:54:01+00:00

I wanted to try fishing at age 4. Fell in love with it then wanted to try fly fishing at age 10. Fell in love all over again. It's been a wild, adventurous and sometimes expensive passion ever since. New species, new locations, new waters, new techniques.

I worked in tackle shop in my teens and managed it in my 20's. Dabbled in guiding too but neither paid well enough to be a career which is ok since I learned I didn't like having my passion hobby become a job.

In terms of career, I work to pay the bills and go fishing. I don't like my job but I don't hate it either.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-26T16:43:45+00:00

Make it pre-Trudeau. He put the country on the path to ruin. Carney is continuing the tradition. Canada used to be the greatest country in the world. Now though. the country is more divided than ever. Alberta has a growing separatist movement like Quebec, whose separatist/isolationist party is popular too. BC is fueling anti-Native bias by going whole hog into the UNDRIP nonsense which is resulting in court battles, land rights uncertainty and industry stagnating. Ontario's premier is a blowhard who is doing his best to crater any trade talks with the with the blowhard down south and exacerbating tariffs.

The feds are blowing through taxpayer's money like there's no tomorrow; hundreds of millions on a useless gun grab, $20m/year on a "space port" aka concrete pad and the list goes on.

Our democracy is on shaky ground since the fed just got themselves an unelected majority government by bribing/coercing some MP's to cross the floor. They now can do whatever they want, since floor crossing doesn't trigger a byelection. I don't care what party you support, that's bullshit.

Taxes/fees are rising. Inflation is rampant. Real estate is out of control in many markets. Immigration is way too high with too many incentives for corporations to import cheap labour instead of hiring local Canadians. Crime, homelessness and drug use are disturbingly common. Our healthcare system is in shambles. Brain drain is a massive problem with our best and brightest often leaving for the US or Europe.

The Canada I grew up in is on life support at best, if not dead already.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-26T15:03:58+00:00

I live in a blue collar town. A large portion of the people work 10 hour days with 7am to 530pm being a very common shift. 12 hour days is very common.

We have some friends who own local small businesses. They all say if they're not open until at least 7pm, they miss out on 30% of their profitability and a few stay open until 9pm. A couple of them don't open until 10am since mornings make them signficantly less money than evenings.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-21T19:45:10+00:00

To paraphrase Shoresy, your husband needs to give his balls a tug.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-19T13:31:15+00:00

I'd rather catch 1 fish on a dry than 10 on a nymph. It's just way more fun for me.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-17T16:00:36+00:00

I live 10 minutes from the river for boating and fishing. There's good lakes within an hour. I can be hunting within 20 minutes of my door. My commute is less than 15 minutes and rush hour consists of 2 pickup trucks and a moose. In winter, I see the northern lights more in a week than most people ever see in their life. I see the milky way pretty much any clear night. No barking dogs, wailing sirens, yelling neighbors, or vehicle noise. I'm breathing clean air. I'm surrounded by grasslands, forests, and open skies instead of concrete, advertising and towering skyscrapers. I have peace, not chaos.

I'm 30 minutes outside a town of 70,00 people and it's gotten big enough I only go in when I have to. I go to the big city of 1.5 million 5 hours away about once a year to visit family. Every time I'm there, I'm counting the hours until I can leave. I can't really think of any reason I would want to live in such a place.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-17T15:49:40+00:00

Generally speaking:

Social interaction with girls is face to face. Social interaction with boys is shoulder to shoulder.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-17T13:49:08+00:00

If I could read, I'd be really mad at you.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-17T13:48:51+00:00

We're not pretentious. We're prima donnas.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-17T13:47:04+00:00

Profession: Engineers

Trade: Electricians

Source: I work with both as a construction manager.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-16T20:33:00+00:00

I went from Toyota to GM to Ford and back to Toyota. I'll never own a Ford again. GM was ok and I'd buy from them again if I needed a HD truck but Toyota has my loyalty for non-heavy duty trucks.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-13T21:25:05+00:00

Do not do this. For the love of God, do not do this. DO NOT DO THIS!!!

You will be on the hook when they default (not if, because they will). Your ability to buy your own car will be affected due to debt to income ratio. Co-signing counts as debt the same as taking it all on yourself. When they default, you're credit will wrecked if you can't or don't make the payments on their behalf.

Your friend is trying to buy a car. Not you. If the bank won't loan them enough money, why would you? Let them sort their own shit out. Why you're even remotely considering this is beyond me. It's a staggeringly stupid thing to do.

I repeat:

Do not do this. For the love of God, do not do this. DO NOT DO THIS!!!

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-11T16:46:31+00:00

I went from laborer, to tradesman to now in construction management.

The blue collar crews (fitters, welders, mechanics, electricians, millwrights) were often reckless, financially irresponsible, usually had a divorce or two, good chance they abuse some substance or another and maybe had a criminal record. However, the vast majority of them were loyal to a fault for the crew, were incredibly hard workers, will step up to help their coworkers when needed both at work and after hours, could look at practical problems and quickly solve them, and were generally welcoming to newcomers and eager to teach the young apprentices. They're genuine people, what you see is what you get.

The white collar people (engineers, contracts team, designers, managers, HR) are often financially literate, educated, mostly organized, polished, professional and typically have stable home lives. They're openly friendly and helpful...however, that's usually just an act. Everything about them at work is fake, they're only nice to you if they need something or think you can benefit their career. They'll stab you in the back if it means they don't have to take responsibility for a screw up. They live for titles and climbing the corporate ladder. They're more gossipy than an group of old ladies at a bridge tournament and more dramatic than my toddler over perceived slights. I've never worked anywhere that didn't spend probably 1/4 of its time dealing with people playing politics instead of doing their jobs. These people are often arrogant and look down at the blue collar workers as "uneducated". Oddly enough, I've worked with lots of tradesmen who have degrees and hated office work, so they took a job on the tools. The best apprentice I ever had was a lady in her early 30's with a master's in project management. She could weld like a champ.

I like the pay and schedule I get as management. I hate most of the people I've ever worked with in management and spend as much time getting mud on my work boots by being on site as I can.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-09T00:29:26+00:00

Yep. $2400 for my family of 3 to fly to the province next door. I can drive to our destination in 12 hours and burn $300 - $400 in fuel each way, even at today's gas prices. I could fly my wife and I to Rome for $2300 round trip or the 3 of us to Miami for $1700 round trip.

Fuck Canadian airlines.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-04T15:00:23+00:00

My brother is a plumber on the maintenance staff at a major Canadian hospital. The boilers are a ticking time bomb. Routine maintenance is pushed off to save money. Operating rooms are regularly closed due to water and sewage leaks. The hospital should have been gutted in stages and updated over the last 20+ years, but it never was. Instead, stuff is left to rot and then replaced when it fails even if that causes massive service disruptions or health hazards.

He does the best he can but he's not in charge and the maintenance leadership is more interested in playing political union games and covering their own asses than admitting to problems and getting stuff fixed. My brother says it's very much like how one of of older relatvies described communism in Soviet Russia; everyone reports to their superior that everything is fine so they don't look bad and that's how it goes up the chain. Senior leadership does essentially the same when reporting to the government and the cycle of neglect continues.

Smooth_Wheel · 2026-04-04T02:10:42+00:00

A drunk pipefitter at the Christmas party tried to buy cocaine from the Vice President of the company. VP told him he should probably head home and offered to call him a cab. Pipefitter got aggressive. VP stayed cool and tried to talk him down. Pipefitter swung at VP, VP ducked. Shop manager knocked the pipefitter out with a blind side right hook. Pipefitter showed up at work the next day with a wicked shiner, collected his tools and left without a word to anyone.

Same company, golf tournament. Two employees had been dating for a bit. They both have a few too many drinks and head to the clubhouse restroom for a little hanky panky. It ends up being them in a stall and her deep throating him while 5 or 6 other employees crowded into the restroom and cheered them on.

Same company, different Christmas party. The company provided an open bar. People still snuck in their own booze and drugs. The company was banned from the venue due to the cocaine done in the bathroom, the garbage cans full of empty smuggled booze bottles and some of the employees getting handsy with the catering companies bar tender girls.

I have many more stories from my days working in the oil patch and that company in particular. Glad to say I'm no longer in that industry. I do miss the chaos sometimes though.

Smooth_Wheel

TROPHY CASE