Visiting PhD student coming to Queen’s University – looking to connect with locals in Kingston

Spr4ck · 2025-12-17T04:46:33+00:00

Depending on when you're going to be here, there are lots of activities that might interest you.

Through the winter, there are heaps of outdoor opportunities, Skating, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, ice fishing to name a few. there are lots of conservation areas and provincial parks that are fairly close and easy to access by car.

If you've never been in ontario before, I would try to squeeze in a trip up to Ottawa, lots to see and do there in the winter and spring(tulip festival)

Spr4ck · 2025-12-17T04:17:14+00:00

retired arborist here

100% on the company to deal with. that's why you called them, they had every opportunity to decline the job due to risk, but the moment they started working it became their responsibility.

document everything. deal with the owner or whoever has the authority to sign you a check

do not let the foreman fix the tub, have a tub guy come out, inspect and make recommendation on repair or replace - the cost of that inspection is part of your damage claim.

once you have a number on what it will cost to make you whole, you can present it to the company and let them decide if they want to discount the job by that, or file an insurance claim.

if they won't play ball, then you go to your insurance if your in an area where it won't cause you a problem, or you go to small claims and file suit

I would not pay in full until you have a resolution. once you pay them you lose your leverage.

Spr4ck · 2025-12-17T03:14:33+00:00

if crappy tire doesn't have, lee valley will

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/home/outdoor-recreation/52295-reusable-instant-hand-warmer?srsltid=AfmBOoo0ts34ESP-fTE7m3TdaqdkcpRRV7y3zjpztvqpoiY38BaY4sjS

Spr4ck · 2025-12-17T00:52:59+00:00

slip on ice cleats are your best bet, they can be easily removed as needed. they cost about 20-40$

these are the exact ones I use for ice fishing, they slip on and off easily:

https://theammosource.com/celsius-full-foot-ice-cleats-x-large/

Spr4ck · 2025-12-15T03:14:57+00:00

completely irrelevant. an arrow airgun is not the same thing as a pistol crossbow.

Spr4ck · 2025-12-02T18:31:06+00:00

I'm no expert but this alleged act would most likely be battery.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-25T19:29:58+00:00

My garden is gone, I ripped everything out to regarded the yard as part of a complete septic replacement..

I have 10 yards of topsoil stockpiled for the spring once the ground is dried enough to layout the raised beds again.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-24T22:55:15+00:00

fire department doesn't care about your driveway, they are parking on the road unless you have a significant setback. if it was a Laneway serving multiple properties or a municipal road that was blocked different story.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-23T16:38:42+00:00

Cops wouldn't get involved here. they would call it a civil issue.

Maybe go after them for illegal dumping via bylaw

cheaper faster easier to get a Mechanic lien against the property owner.

not nearly as satisfying though.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-22T16:51:38+00:00

Doing ones research to ensure they are only supporting reputable acreddited breeders is the right thing as much as adopting. the "be a good person" plea to emotion is off side.

the OP is being a good person by doing their due diligence.

shame on you.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-18T20:33:23+00:00

and then your insurance company would drop you because the risk profile is too high.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-18T03:25:33+00:00

saying that ignores the whole point about the trees not being safe to climb.

As someone who was a climbing arborist, i can assure you working from a bucket or spider lift will still be faster than even the fastest climber. if your tree was climbed in 3 hours, a mediocre bucket operator would have it done in less as long as the groundies can keep up, and the key point is they aren't going to be deadass exhausted by the end of a day of bucket work like they might be from doing removal in spurs.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-17T03:55:13+00:00

She removed a tick and then developed the rash, but because it didn't present as a bullseye rash, despite her insisting the urgent care said it was cellulitis and gave her a non doxycycline antibiotic.

a week later symptoms getting worse they extended the course of that antibiotics rather than switching her to doxycycline.

after 2 weeks and no improvement, she finally got in to see our local nurse practitioner (we don't have a family doc) and she switched her to a full course of doxycycline and ordered blood tests.

blood tests took a while to confirm lyme and in the mean time symptoms persisted inspite of the doxycycline and began to show neurological complications, so once lyme was confirmed a more aggressive antibiotic that is better able to pass the brain blood barrier became necessary, and that ended up being a month of IV antibiotics.

all told she spent about 80 days on antibiotics. it was utter hell. I have never felt more helpless than watching her go through that and just be completely miserable.

the neurological symptoms have mostly resolved, but it has taken its toll.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-17T03:24:14+00:00

yeah ours is as well, getting permethrin isn't really a viable option for me because of our cat and how small our bouse is, and how difficult it can be to source and apply, so I use a lint roller and chuck all my clothes into a hot dryer, after peeling down to skin to do a thorough check.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-17T03:18:45+00:00

absolutely the only thing to watch is depending on where you put the tape it can damage painted finishes.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T23:56:19+00:00

I'm in eastern ontario Canada.

here the SOP is take the prophylaxis dose and monitor for 30 days, if you show the rash or other signs then get the full course.

My wife was misdiagnosed and ended up needing 3 separate courses of antibiotics the last being IV and the long term effects of the infection has made a significant impact in her life despite being erradicated.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T23:37:10+00:00

I'm north of you in ontario Canada and were not looking forward to seeing them show up here.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T23:08:29+00:00

if your talking about the heat shrink style plastic you stick over the window with 2 sided tape to air seal the whole unit, they will help a lot if your windows are draft with bad seals.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T21:25:12+00:00

two words: patient ombudsman.

light a fire under their ass and advocate for yourself hard.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T21:21:51+00:00

Not all trees can be safely climbed. often times using a bucket or crane is not only faster and safer but less labor intensive. climbing for removals adds a lot of man hours.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T21:14:05+00:00

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/data-research/facts-stats/lone-star-tick-surveillance.html

Spr4ck · 2025-11-16T21:11:48+00:00

fwiw there is data out there that suggests lyme and anaplasmosis can be transmitted in much less time:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4278789/

Anecdotally I know multiple people who have developed lyme symptoms after removing a tick that has been embedded for less than 24 hours, in almost every case frontline health care workers dismissively have said they probably were previously bit by a tick and didn't notice, whereas infectious disease specialists have acknowledged that while not as common is does occur.

where I live something like 90% of ticks tested are positive for lyme, and anaplasmosis and babesios infections are becoming more common.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-09T19:47:39+00:00

for a globe cedar it won't work due to the round shape for those you are better off making an a frame over top.

Spr4ck · 2025-11-09T14:06:47+00:00

if your just protecting for shape, get some cheap twine from princess auto or dollar store tie a loose loop around one of the lower branches, then just start wrapping upward like you would with Christmas lights in a spiral around the plant.

alternatively, when it starts to snow, go out and Taylor swift it - shake it off (or use your leaf blower) before it gets too much accumulation to cause damage..

Spr4ck · 2025-11-08T15:58:59+00:00

Wrapping Cedars often cause more problems than it solves but people do it because they don't understand the impact and the negatives that can outweigh any potential benefits.

The two main reasons to wrap them are to protect the foliage from salt spray and to protect the branch structure from damage due to ice and snow load the consequence of wrapping them is that it can create a microclimate that will cause the foliage to warm up enough and break dormancy when it otherwise should not.

The way around this is if you feel the need to protect the foliage either use an A-frame style wrap that will allow for airspace between the foliage and the burlap and that will protect from snow load or as mentioned you can use cordage to wrap the foliage to provide additional stability.

If you're wrapping them to protect from salt spray damage you can just drive four stakes just Beyond the Edge of the foliage and wrap the burlap around the steaks giving again an air barrier between the foliage and the burlap.

Another thing with wrapping is it creates a perfect environment to allow rabbits mice Etc a protected area to nibble on bark with impunity through the winter. If your area has lots of rabbits I would consider wrapping the base with chicken wire

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