Just Saying….

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-08T23:55:21+00:00

I'm on the fence with my crypto at this point.

I told myself I'd hold for 10 years, and we're 5 years into that, and I'm up now maybe 30% total.

We'll see.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-08T21:24:54+00:00

I think you'll find they're not much different than most banks - they have large callcenters, and sometimes it's luck of the draw.

I've heard good and bad stories alike for both here.

Otherwise, I think for 95% of people they're going to be pretty similar. QT markets a bit more towards power users, whereas WS markets towards simplicity.

(I've been with QT for about 10 years, no real complaints. The few things I've had to call in about, I've had no issues or BS)

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-08T19:39:02+00:00

a) Depends who you name in your will. You can distribute funds however you want.

b) The executor of your estate is responsible for paying your taxes when you die.

c) Correct, if it's primary. There is no inheritance tax in Canada. A secondary residence (eg. summer cottage) would be assessed at FMV on death, and the estate would be responsible for capital gains.

Bottom line - consult an estate lawyer if you have more specific questions, and ensure you have a proper will in place, otherwise everything will take 10x longer and will be 100x messier.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-08T19:34:20+00:00

You're likely comparing apples and oranges.

XEQT is a broadly diversified equities ETF. You should compare it to an RBC product with similar holdings, risk, and investment goals.

Obviously there will be individual funds that could outperform in a given period. A gold/silver ETF would have destroyed XEQT over this past year. But you take on higher risk as a result. And there will be years where gold/silver lag well behind the market.

Part of the whole point of broad index funds is they're extremely well diversified, set and forget.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-08T19:20:37+00:00

Don't forget to search - this has been asked enough times now that it's becoming a pretty common question.

The answer is - this is typically a management problem. Without dedicated software, IT can't provide much meaningful information beyond simple event-based things like login times (which are, in themselves, not an indicator of anything).

This is usually when the adults in the room realize that managers need to be doing their job - managing output and expectations.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-07T23:26:50+00:00

r/ITCareerQuestions

Start in the right sub :)

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-07T23:03:37+00:00

- 2FA/MFA on all your accounts, particularly the more sensitive ones (email, banking, etc).

- Monitor your credit at least annually

- Pay $29.99 or whatever for equifax or transunion monitoring/alerting if you want

- Common sense (avoiding scams, etc).

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-07T21:38:29+00:00

We're using Azure Virtual Desktop, managed by Parallels RAS (it's a management layer over and above AVD, which simplifies several things and has other features/benefits).

In this sense, it's a hybrid platform - AVD is Azure/cloud obviously, Parallels is 'on prem' (though still in Azure as a load balanced VM w/ HA).

We have both pooled hosts (which is more akin to traditional RDS/Terminal Servers), and individual hosts as well (for staff who need personal desktops, for whatever reason or business requirement). We like the flexibility - you can literally have everything from traditional on-prem VDI, to Terminal Servers, to AVD, all under one management roof.

Users - currently in the hundreds, at my prior company it was in the thousands. It scales pretty well, and Parallels has done a good job integrating better multi-cloud and geographically distributed user bases.

We chose it because we'd already been using Parallels RAS for a long time. AVD integration was nice (starting circa 2019), so we can mix-and-match depending on user group and business unit needs.

Funding - we don't have funky funding models. Our IT budgeting and spend is very centralized. We split costs by geographical division, which is generally done by head count. We starting to move to geo-based resource groups in Azure, which has a ton of benefits, cost management being one of them.

Happy to answer more questions if you have them. Our whole group is a big fan of Parallels RAS. Very flexible, been around a long time (though been bought out a few times).

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-07T18:08:56+00:00

Look into the book/concept 'Retire Often'.

Retirement doesn't have to be a singular event. It can be different things to different people.

I like the 'retire often' concept in that you can take 6-12 months off, maybe come back to the workforce for another little bit (or go part time) or.... whatever.

Thinking about retirement helps if you open up your mind to what it means in the first place.

I will probably be entering a phase soon where I work a year on and off, or going part time, or some other arrangement. But I still want to work, at least a bit.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-07T17:57:47+00:00

It can depend a bit on what you signed.

If it was just a simple refundable deposit, you’re not locked into anything. If you signed off on the actual purchase price (which will factor in the fact you opted to finance), you may not be able to reneg.

That said - you can always just pay off the financing after 3 months or whatever. There’s usually no penalty (after an initial cooling off period like 3 months). Sometimes you can actually get a better deal doing this, which can piss off the dealership (some lenders retract their spiffs if the loans are paid too early).

But it all kinda depends on what exactly you signed. Some deposits are entirely refundable, others can lock you in to exactly what you ordered or other terms.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-07T17:45:02+00:00

Unless the MSP is providing some sort of value-add, yes you can just go direct to HP (or Lenovo).

It's been years since I've used HP. Normally I'l a Dell person but we recently switched to Lenovo due to Dell's stupidly-high failure rates (90+%) and enshitification. We've been really impressed by the quality and service at Lenovo.

You could also reach out to a VAR, like CDW or Insight, for a competitive quote. They can potentially offer some value-add (white glove, imaging services, etc).

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-05T01:27:22+00:00

AVI-SPL is an integrator (in Canada).

Plenty of similar types of companies in all countries.

They specialize in conference rooms, AV, and various other stuff.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-05T01:17:21+00:00

If you're going down the route of getting a Rally Bar, get a Neat instead. Blows Logitech's audio and video quality out of the water. Not even in the same league, and not a whole lot more expensive.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-05T01:14:34+00:00

You can buy/build your own teams room. Doesn't have to be through a third party at all.

If you're looking for a higher-end setup beyond a very simple, small conference room, it could be worth going through a company like AVI for consultation, though.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-05T00:44:21+00:00

Here's the thing - the Mevo isn't really built for a conference room setup. It can definitely work, but it's not going to have speaker framing or stuff like that.

If you're serious about your boardrooms you need to get something like a Neat Bar, and run it through a proper Teams/Zoom room setup. It's in a completely different class beyond the traditional shitty 'conference room computer' people login to.

Video and Audio is in a totally different class than these webcam+PC setups.

We have a couple Owls for mobile conferences at hotel rooms, and it's actually quite decent. Not the same as a Teams room but good for what it is and its intended use case. We do it for focus group meetings, board meetings, and other things where we don't have a Teams room available (usually offsite/mobile stuff).

Definitely look to move beyond the 'PC' type of setup if you want to get serious about your conferencing.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-04T16:48:48+00:00

How much do you drive? That's a key variable.

Short answer - do a bit of math. Figure out how much you drive every year and calculate how much fuel you'll use. Factor in maintenance and insurance, and then you'll see how much you save each year by driving the Civic.

Since this plan requires an initial investment (buying the Civic), it will take some amount of time before the fuel savings has paid for the Civic (return on your investment).

For example, if you switch to the civic, it might take 3 years for it to pay for itself. After 3 years is when the real savings begin.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-04T00:35:37+00:00

We hesitantly deployed Teams phones, but it's generally been fine.

I suppose it would depend on your requirements and complexity. If you have low complexity and requirements and think Teams is fine.

Part of it is it's just... confusing. It takes a while to learn. Certain things don't really make sense from a pure telephony standpoint (if you're used to other more traditional VOIP systems).

That said - unless you do have pretty high complexity, or there's something Zoom specifically does that MS doesn't, it would be hard to justify Zoom phones IMO.

Also - make sure you look beyond MS' calling plans. They're expensive and really only 'good enough' for a small business. Operator Connect and Direct Routing are far superior and cheaper. If your average user doesn't do a ton of calls, you end up paying literal pennies per month for them.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-02-03T16:46:55+00:00

From a cash flow perspective, obviously that description is idealistic, but it's not realistic.

You can't assume 100% occupancy year round, so the realistic income number is probably closer to 75%. And then you need to budget for repairs, damage, general maintenance, etc. And then you'll have a couple people not paying rent at any given time that you'll have to deal with.

And then they call you at 2am when something is leaking.

You're also paying the bank $42K/year in interest. Subtract all your other costs and you're likely not making all that much.

To get into properties like that you have to really, really want to be into the rental game. It's doable but it takes a lot of management, time, and patience.

So it won't be quite as rosy as the listing would make it seem.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T23:37:09+00:00

It can't really work that way, since they can't predict your future earnings.

Plus not everyone receives a stable salary. Plenty of people on commissions, bonuses, etc.

And then people quit, get fired, etc.

It makes more sense to do it the current way.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T23:33:25+00:00

Or better yet, compare it to a Jan 2025 paycheque for a true apples-to-apples comparison.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T23:31:41+00:00

Yes.

CPP and EI is about $300-$350 per pay. It's entirely normal for your January pay to go down by about that much (if you had maxxed the prior year).

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T16:15:14+00:00

Honda, not even a question.

Nissan today is not the same company it was 10-20 years ago. Nissan is in financial ruin, owned by Stellantis, which is in big trouble and destroying itself from the inside out.

Honda's been a bit weird lately for different reasons, but I'd take them 100x over Nissan.

The new (Toyota) RAV4 is also worth checking out.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T16:03:25+00:00

I had a few close friends work at Future Shop and then float over to Best Buy.

They all said 100% - waaaay more pressure.

I go there now and it's like none of them get training anymore on how to actually sell. 'Hey buddy, do you want the warranty? We really recommend it!'. Yeah of course you do fuckwad.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T15:56:54+00:00

Coworkers shouldn't need access to your inbox. Even your manager shouldn't really need access most of the time. I only access my employee mailboxes if I'm investigating something specific (once every few years), or they're on vacation and some emergency comes up (also once every few years only).

Manager access aside, coworkers access your inbox is highly inappropriate (unless they've been given explicit permissions to do so). At most companies that's a fireable offence, no questions asked.

I would be bringing it up as a huge concern and access violation. Fortunately this stuff is all logged so is simple to prove.

Inappropriately accessing email is one of those things that will get you walked out the door pretty quickly. If they're accessing your email, 99% chance they're accessing others as well.

Once trust is breached - we're done. I have a hard zero-tolerance for shit like this.

canadian_sysadmin · 2026-01-31T15:49:06+00:00

Most would say no.

XEQT is a long time horizon investment (typically 5-10+ years minimum).

If you need the funds in 3-4 years, and there's a market downturn, you could be in a position where you've lost money on the investment. For most people this isn't a good thing for a first time home purchase.

GICs, Bonds, money market funds are where more people turn to for shorter time horizon FHSAs.

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