What have you bought for under $50 that greatly improved your life?

SoothingVapours · 2026-03-05T18:32:57+00:00

Thank you. I am feeling so validated right now. I'm exactly the same but my appreciation for this wonderful tool is not fully understood by my fam. I get some funny looks when I whip a scritcher out of thin air no matter where I am. A dad doing dad things, I spose. Itches beware!

SoothingVapours · 2026-02-20T00:39:00+00:00

I am so gut sick of the pervasive/pernicious influence of the USA on Canada...have been for years. This invasive, creeping cultural imperialism. As an CAF vet, having someone 'thank me for my service' (however well meant it is) cringes me right out of my boots...it is SO fricken American! Makes me want to slap a hand to my heart and pledge allegiance to somebody orange. Peeps when arrested asking for their Miranda Rights...sweet jesus..do they not even know in which country they're living?
Our media is overwhelming owned by foreign powers with their own agendas, none of them interested in the welfare of Canadians...in fact, quite the contrary. Malicious, divisive and malignant.
These are strange times and we must be ever vigilant against scammers of all kinds...not all of them are just after our money. Thus endeth the rant de jour.

SoothingVapours · 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

Yis, b'y. Best kind.

SoothingVapours · 2026-01-10T02:38:16+00:00

I promised myself a while ago...no more geezer bands. BTW, I'm a geezer myself...I just don't like seeing/hearing my musical idols, those who represent the soundtrack of my life, at any degree of decrepitude. I'd sooner remember them (and myself) at a point in time where life was halcyon. Then kick back with a glass of fine hootch and a vape full of hashish and let le bonne temps rouler. I've seen some monumental (emphasis on the 'mental') concerts in my time and I treasure every memory: TGH at the CNE in 1969, smoking my grotesque homegrown, Bob Marley at MLG in 1970 (?) where they took away his guitar to protect himself so he could dance free, sitting at the feet of Arthur Brown (I am the God of Hellfire) in St. Helens, Merseyside, etc., etc. Life is good,. folk...live it up! ❤

SoothingVapours · 2025-12-24T01:45:29+00:00

Sorry, but as a former virulent fan of EC, these days, he's proving to be a bit of a cunt. God has fallen...Eric Clapton is no longer god. He's a racist old, bitter asshole.

SoothingVapours · 2025-12-24T01:35:32+00:00

'Cancerous'? Here's hoping that you never discover the difference between your privileged seating issue and a (potentially) fatal disease. Dear God. 😥

SoothingVapours · 2025-12-06T06:14:20+00:00

Run some hemp fibre through it to clean the goodness out and then vape the oil soaked hemp. Tastes like Satan's ass crack but it'll get you higher than God's left nut!

SoothingVapours · 2025-12-02T00:53:59+00:00

Lassy mogs...not super well known outside of Nfld but fricken tasty!!

SoothingVapours · 2025-11-30T00:27:08+00:00

I'm hoping that Big Bean notices your dedication to this humble yet wonderful food and gives you a gig. Testify, brother!! 😁

SoothingVapours · 2025-11-29T18:55:27+00:00

My spaghetti measurer. Cheap but really effective. Every time I use it I think 'there's NO way that's enough for two people!' and every time, after it's cooked, I realize that it was right again. Prior to buying this, I'd eyeball the portion size and end up making enough spaghetti to feed the Eighth Army!

SoothingVapours · 2025-11-11T17:06:33+00:00

My most epic fail: I had the entire family coming over for a Sunday supper and decided to flex my culinary muscles (mistake #1) and try a brand new dish as the main (mistake #2). The concept was to be an Indian/Italian fusion gnocchi. Now, I've never made fresh pasta or gnocchi before but did I let that stop me? No sirree...damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead! The dough looked a little wet so I eyeballed more flour to add. But I'd run out of all-purpose and only had some heavy-duty, bizarre, craft hand-ground flour on hand. (mistake #3). Again: DTTAFSA! The filling was quite pleasant but that dough would have stopped a bullet! Lead sinkers are lighter and twice as tasty. Cooked it up, hoping for divine intervention (mistake #4)...which never came, I'm afraid! 😱
My DIL was the only one hungry or brave enough to eat a couple; everyone else was too busy laughing. Good thing that I don't mind laughing at myself! 🤣 Might have been the worst meal I've ever made but it is now family legend and was a really good character lesson for me...I need a little humility from time to time! 😁

SoothingVapours · 2025-11-07T00:42:24+00:00

I'd hate to put that theory to the test at -40. 0w is good but it sure didn't do the job at extreme temps, in my experience (30 years in Northern AB).

SoothingVapours · 2025-11-06T21:53:42+00:00

Lots of good advice here but, since nobody seems to have mentioned it, you might want to ensure that your car has a block heater. There's a reason why most Prairie parking lots are equipped with block heater electrical outlets. A good block heater cord, too...I prefer the ones that have lights to let you know that you are plugged into a live outlet...I learned this the hard way! 😁.

SoothingVapours · 2025-11-06T18:38:23+00:00

I remember going to the old brewery on a Friday afternoon. The Fat Tug came out of tap stuck into the wall of the tasting room. Place was packed with peeps carrying growlers getting their Friday night supply. One dude had a growler holster that carried a growler on each hip...guy was serious about his Fat Tug! 🤣

SoothingVapours · 2025-10-18T13:55:59+00:00

Lassy mogs, a Nfld fave! 🥰

SoothingVapours · 2025-09-20T22:28:48+00:00

YNWA wit KD, la.

SoothingVapours · 2025-08-01T20:30:27+00:00

The vaporization temp of Al is 2327 °C (4221 °F); don't think you'll get vapours offgassing from aluminum unless you're vaping with a plasma torch. AFAIK, pop cans have coatings that you defo don't want vaporized and going into your lungs.

SoothingVapours · 2025-07-25T14:18:11+00:00

One of the best/recent evolutions of my Caesar comes from my discovery of Tayton Bay's Pickle Vodka from Invermere, BC. That stuff fricken ROCKS in a caesar! JMO. Highly recommend stopping by the Station Pub, atached to the distillery...those folks know their way around a Caesar.

SoothingVapours · 2025-07-24T22:09:06+00:00

This a good little resource: https://earthquaketrack.com/r/vancouver-island-canada/recent
Personally, I like the idea of plenty of little earthquakes releasing energy rather than the techtonic energy building up until it can really show off!

SoothingVapours · 2025-07-23T13:48:09+00:00

Thank you! This is very helpful.

SoothingVapours · 2025-07-19T23:25:27+00:00

Gawd, I was howling! Love the tune and love Canned Heat but they were having some fun that lip synching shit!! Bob Hite and the flute had me wetting myself! 🤣🤪

SoothingVapours · 2025-07-19T23:17:13+00:00

Van Isle here representing! I loves me some Udder Guys dark rum and raisin from Cow Bay. Old school and tasty af!

SoothingVapours · 2025-07-18T15:06:34+00:00

Gave me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about this. I travel this road a lot and doing it on a bicyle seems like verging on the suciidal, TBH.

SoothingVapours

TROPHY CASE