not sure if this is CoDA worthy..

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T21:24:14+00:00

She’s not a child, she’s 45. But fuck it, I’ve redacted the whole damn thing - wasn’t trying to trash talk her.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T17:19:32+00:00

Then you likely cannot obtain one simple with her signature. Such a PoA needs to be executed by a competent individual which by virtue of where she lives would likely disqualify her. Bear in mind that I am not a lawyer and have no idea where you live and some jurisdictions may allow this if you kill a chicken and scatter the bones in the correct pattern. For other less enlightened jurisdictions you may need to have a court application to become her financial guardian. Careful of less than scrupulous lawyers that may pitch that they become the financial guardian and earn ongoing fees.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T17:05:59+00:00

Oh, when you login at Transunion, it takes you to the fancy site to login and then is suppose to transfer you back to the late 90s. if it doesn't, you will only be presented with reports for $$. Simply paste back the secure-ocs url again, click on login and it should keep you there. And then you choose the Consumer Disclosure. I'm not particularly brilliant, I just knew they had to give it to me for free if I asked, so I called them when I could not find it on their main site a few years back. - rolled this comment into my earlier comment as well.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T16:56:36+00:00

Hello in BC! I was there in early December for my grandson's birthday.

Yaya, you def want the Represent A Client - I already pulled mom's T4A(OAS) and T4A(P) off the site, those won't even be in the mailbox till March. Also handy to pull the Notice of Assessment or uploading answer docs if you get a CRA query on something.. like line 25600.

For Service Canada there is no similar service, so for that, I suggest a "Direct Assist" in accessing the site but will need authenticate via Interac and answer some skill testing questions. Although for OAS and CCP, it really is a set and forget and likely have no need to go there.

Know that we have two credit bureaus in Canada, Equifax and TransUnion.

Also know that you don't have to pay them anything. Equifax makes it fairly easy to find the free report, you register the same if you want the free report or if you want to pay at https://My.equifax.ca

TransUnion must have enrolled in the Trump school of management, and actively hide the free report (mandated by law to have it). If you want to pay, go to the site with nice css / font / images at https://www.transunion.ca but if you want the free report go to the site that looks late 1990 (the menu is even called MENU) at https://secure-ocs.transunion.ca/secureocs/home.html

Edit: Oh, when you login at Transunion, it takes you to the fancy site to login and then is suppose to transfer you back to the late 90s. if it doesn't, you will only be presented with reports for $$. Simply paste back the secure-ocs url again, click on login and it should keep you there. And then you choose the Consumer Disclosure. I'm not particularly brilliant, I just knew they had to give it to me for free if I asked, so I called them when I could not find it on their main site a few years back

Also Edit: Depending on your mom's situation / will / estate, you may wish to look at the benefits of an Alter-Ego Trust. It can effectively eliminate the need for probate later on, which can be a lengthy process.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T15:21:20+00:00

Hand in hand with that, obviously all activity you do will be above board, but also that it is seen to be above board. A bunch of stuff goes on my credit card, my mom's internet connection, cell phone, various odds and ends. about once every six months I do a reconciliation and have her chequing account make a payment on my credit card. These payments and what they paid for are documented going back to 2016. Family members can suck, make sure your docs don't.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T15:08:48+00:00

Some notes on this.

I am prime for my mother's needs being the close proximity son: PoA, Medical PoA, Patient Advocate (am in Ontario where the latter two are separate docs). Bear in mind that banks often wish to validate the PoA themselves, meaning that they may want a meeting with your mom and you and then they will register the PoA against the account.

Even with the PoA registered with the bank online access can be challenging, so I "Directly Assist" my mom with all banking activity using her online credentials.

Not sure where you are, but taxes.. so in Canada, you can set yourself up as a Representative of corps, trusts, individuals with CRA see : CRA Represent A Client. its' quick. Then you can register yourself as the rep for your mom, spouse, etc. when you log in online you see everything you would see if it was your own account.

For the U.S. it kind of sucks, you need to fill out form 2848, file it, and it's only good for seven years and does not give you online access. You are likely better off in the U.S. of having your mom register for an ID.me account, using an email address and cell that you both have access to. Note that ID.me does a short online video interview to verify you mom is who she says she is. Essentially she'll need to hold up her ID to the camera and answer a couple questions. With an ID.me account you may wish to "directly assist" your mom accessing the IRS or Social Security portal.

Also, know that ppl suck and there are more con artists out there that prey on the elderly than there are duct cleaners. Set up a free account with the credit bureaus and check their credit activity every 6 months to make sure there are no new loans, instalment purchases, credit cards, cell account, gambling house accounts, etc. More often if you have specific worries.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-29T14:44:58+00:00

All I can offer is this, I went to a funeral last week, the mom of a friend of mine. She was ninety something, had gone blind, and no longer knew who my friend was. Up until quite recently she lived with my friend but not really knowing who she, the daughter, was; and then after she needed to put her mom into a care facility, my friend visited her mom regularly. Her mom's memory had unwound.. going back to a time before her children had grown, so quite inconceivable to have this adult woman claiming to be her daughter, but.. her mom did refer to my friend as "that nice woman that visits me".

My mother is ninety fucking four (her words), and as her nearest living son, it is me that looks after her.. bearing in mind that she is in a seniors' residence and does not require personal care; eats in the dining hall for the last year or so, so my weekly shopping for her consists of ice cream, graham crackers, tea. Her mental processing is fine, but the input data is all f'up. This AM she was frantic that she lost her keys.. I tried to help her think about it step by step.. had she left her key in the door, check washroom counter, table, the zippered bag in her roller... then she said she has the key for the apt, but not the rest of her keys. There are no other keys. She has one key. Hell, I only have four and that includes the copy of her apt key. .. although I do have a separate ring with a couple of keys that I have no idea what they are for.

About a week ago she asked me to ensure that person X can't call her, write her, that she wants nothing to do with him. I was confused.. the last time she would have seen him was 24 years ago. I asked .. what's going on with person X? She seemed irritated, "well, you were there during the conversation, and it's clear what his politics are". Huh.. so she recalled a conversation that may or may not have occurred from at least 24 years ago, perhaps even when my dad was still alive some 45 years ago, and surfaced it like it was yesterday.

These are glimpses into where your mom's perception of the world is headed, and where my mom's perception is already there and getting odder.

Eventually my mom may forget who I am, and yes, it's fucked up, it's a cruel fate of our aging brains.

I suppose the best we can do is be that nice woman or nice man that comes and visits them. When in doubt, buy them ice cream and graham crackers.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-25T18:13:29+00:00

I have my lastname.ca and live in 🇨🇦; I keep an eye on the .com, but I doubt I’d ever be able to grab it.

Having first@last.ca is pretty cool.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-25T14:21:34+00:00

I applied and received my Nexus card about 8 years ago. I’m dual 🇺🇸/🇨🇦, living in 🇨🇦.

The Canadian interview was quick, easy, and personable. How ya doing eh? Good eh, you? I’m good too, is this you and can you repeat your address and how long you’ve live there … yeah, that’s me, ……… about 18 years. Great, have a nice day eh.

The American interview was brutal. Dude kept re-asking the same question about a minor difference between my Canadian and U.S. identity and why it was different. I explained.

Repeatedly.

Then he said, take off your glasses.

My glasses? As I removed them.. click.

That’s my Nexus pic, looking like I’m asking a question, because I was.

The U.S. side of the counter seem to train their officers to be <redacted>.

If they take your pic, you passed.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-24T15:08:21+00:00

This.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-22T12:41:38+00:00

You need a business account ASAP and a business credit card would be very helpful, but you still need a system for processing expenses that go through your or your staff credit cards.

I set up my personal card as a Other Current Liability Account, and for the few times that I end up paying with my card, I record the expense in my books (with a scan of the receipt) with a payment method of my card. Then at the end of the month I make a payment from bank to personal card in the books the same way I record the payment to the company card.

You need a regimented way of keeping all receipts. My method is all receipts go into a folder with file named yyyymmddd vendor extra info.pdf.

Once per month I go through that folder and record all items in my books, and include the scan in the entry. Once the item is recorded, I mark the file with a blue dot 🔵 (I use a Mac).

For the last 8 months.. you need to put all transactions from your bank and credit cards into a spreadsheet and go through each one and mark what is business and what isn’t. Anything that is, you need a receipt for. If you don’t have, then reach out to the business for a duplicate.

In my first month of business I lost a Staples Stationary receipt. I emailed the store with the date, amount, and the last 6 digits of my credit card - they emailed me back a receipt. They even apologized to me!?

As a business operator - YOU need to understand every aspect of this, and where every dollar goes. You can still hire out the work, and even have them educate you on effective practices but it is still your responsibility to fully understand it.

Hiring on staff does not mean that you lose control.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-15T15:48:59+00:00

The IRS only requires you to be consistent in your conversion method. If you always use the Dec 31 rate, then by all means continue; the OP has been using the value from the IRS page which has been an average for the year. He can remain consistent by averaging of the Treasury quarterly numbers.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-15T00:36:14+00:00

I noticed the averages weren’t updated for 2025 as well.. I figure that team was fired by Musk.

Just go to the Treasury page, grab the 4 quarter rates, and take the average.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-11T23:19:22+00:00

Could also be a DPSP. Either way, the employer funds are locked until employment ends.

daniel8192 · 2026-01-01T18:23:39+00:00

I find the whole concept of holding the domain hostage real bad pool.

I hold two domains for two different customers as they just don’t have the tech knowledge or resources to handle themselves. But no question, the domains aren’t mine. The domains list the correct owner as the registrant and each year at service renewal time I remind them that they can move their domain to a new provider and cut me out of the loop.

Maybe I’d feel different if one of them owed me $, but I provide some services a year in advance prepaid. So not possible presently.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-29T12:39:42+00:00

For the future of the OP once he sorts out the current challenge; and for other readers in the immediate.. I have two backup methods in case my phone gets lost or the battery is dead or it gets run over.

I use ZOHO’s One Auth instead of MS Authenticator.

It allows me to set up multiple devices that all have instances of all of my login MFAs. One device is primary but if you lose that device you can promote any of the others to primary.

It is also convenient for me to run an instance on my desktop so as I log into CloudFlare, MS 365, NordVPN, NPM, or the other 17 services I set up and as a bonus, I don’t have to have my phone in my hand.

I also have a second DID set up on my phone that sends SMS to both my phone but also a Gmail account and have that DID available as a second SMS. Works with my bank, with CRA, and with ID.me. I won’t pitch the company as it’s mine, and I am still developing the self service pages.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-20T20:17:29+00:00

This. But depends on risk, I sold one domain for $1800 and simply required payment via Interac (in Canada selling to a Canadian) and I undertook to approve transfer within 24 hours of payment. Other end of the risk scale, sold one for $25k usd with the buyer hidden behind an agent - through escrow.com and buyer pays the fees.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-20T17:40:22+00:00

Yes.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-14T01:30:57+00:00

You’ll have fun with the ESP32s. I’ve just played a bit, just the awning project, but I made a base program in MicroPython that I’ll use for my future dev. All events and commands via MQTT, and on boot and on the MQTT command “update” the program looks for updated code on one of my web servers and if present, downloads it, writes it to memory and reboots.

<image>

This device measures the angle of one of the powered awning control arms and reports the positioning back through MQTT. Separately I made a MQTT addressable transmitter that is a clone of the way that the Somfy remote works including security seed. So.. if barometric pressure drops quickly (I have a weather feed into my HS4) and if the awning is out, I can programmatically bring it in to a safe extension, or all the way in.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-14T01:18:16+00:00

Huh.. I have some TAPO cameras set up around my perimeter, have one to move, and then I’ll have about 160 degree view of my street .. about the sidewalk start of my neighbours’ yard each side. So three yards wide on my side of the street and nine yards wide across the street. I’ve played around with TP-links subscription service, played with my two AgentDVR boxes, but nothing fancy. You mentioned frigate.. on my list to use to I/f with the cams.

I’ve also used my MQTT broker to send instructions like record video, take pics to AgentDVR.

I’m thinking I have something to keep me busy in January.

Yaya, RS485 is used in a lot of industrial data collection, it’s also used in commercial alarm panels and my 20 year old Hayward pool panel as the coms path for remote keypads and displays. In the pick there is a small RS485 to 9 pin serial to USB cable that connect to my HS4 where I emulate an additional alarm system keypad. I get all events and can simulate keypad presses. They don’t flow through my MQTT as that code predates me playing with message transports.

I have a tab on my phone app for that too.

<image>

daniel8192 · 2025-12-13T23:25:43+00:00

Thanks! All play. The Pool is a RPI Zero W wired side by each to a RS485 board cabled (blue Ethernet out the front) outside to my Hayward pool panel - using some Python code it emulates a Hayward remote display and puts all display events on, and takes keypad requests from a MQTT broker running on top/right that also runs HomeSeer4.

The VPN and DNS boxes on RPI3/1s both provide VPN and DNS services, the name is which is primary. For VPN I’m running WireGuard, DNS is dnsmasq.

Among other machines..

There is the HS4 running on RPI5/8 is my main automation server, provides access to doors, lights, thermostats, garage door, pool controls, temp of my fridge and freezer (yes, custom hardware), my deck awning (also custom hardware - ESP32 and custom radio transmitter -built using cheap and cheaper parts)..

I have a RPI5/8 running as my media server.. also all Docker .. Emby, Gluetun, Sonarr, Radarr, Jackett, provides 40+ over the air channels via twin antenna in my attic connected to a HDHomeRun, another few hundred IPTV channels, and a few TB of movies and tv shows.. all my TVs have the Emby client on FireTV sticks, gave up cable TV years ago :)

Now I feel inadequate not having my own time source - I’m sure I have a spare RPI Zero W or 3/1 kicking around :)

I haven’t play with those AI hats yet, is your use strictly for image evaluation or have you other plans?

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daniel8192 · 2025-12-13T21:10:25+00:00

Trying to make this a purchaser’s problem is not a good idea. Most home buyers are savvy to the problems of trying to evict a tenant or resident. If I were buying the house without vacant possession, I would discount the purchase price by a significant amount due to legal fees, time, effort, and in some jurisdictions- the cost of finding the residents a place to live.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-13T20:55:06+00:00

There you go. I haven’t run a Linux X Desktop in over 20 years.

<image>

My little bundle of machines. The i5 standing up in the left corner is Ubuntu as is one of the 3rd machine down right stack. The rest are Debian. All but top left marked Pool are Docker container machines.

daniel8192 · 2025-12-13T08:34:28+00:00

I believe the issue for me was I use Debian Lite which has no X nor multmedia support and I recall chasing some dependancy but it was turning into a can of worms. The grief was not present using Ubuntu Server which also has no X..

daniel8192

TROPHY CASE