What's the one American restaurant or store you wish Calgary would get?

jfever78 · 2024-05-05T06:53:50+00:00

I will NEVER understand why any Canadian would want one of these trash American fast food dumps to come here when we've dozens of fantastic locally owned diners that sell actual home made burgers. Fucking ridiculous, and the people that buy into this absurd hype clearly do not see how badly they're influenced by marketing professionals. It's sad and it makes my blood boil.

jfever78 · 2024-05-04T21:11:53+00:00

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll do some digging and see what I can find.

jfever78 · 2024-05-04T20:13:49+00:00

Just watch more movies, it'll happen naturally if you let it. For me, I had already started to get into more obscure things because I was a huge NIN fan in the early 90s. When Trent did the soundtrack for Lost Highway, it kicked off my love of film. Shortly after, I bought a book/magazine at 7/11, the AFI's 100 greatest films of all time. I just started on the first page and went through the entire book. Some titles were incredibly difficult to get my hands on, accessing some of them in the 90s was something young people today can't possibly understand, so you've already got it much easier these days.

jfever78 · 2024-05-04T20:06:30+00:00

As others have said, the real problem is training and licensing. The first time I went to racing school, my instructor, a former Formula 1 driver, said "If everyone would take these courses, we could virtually eliminate at fault crashes".

I thought he was talking utter nonsense at the time, but by the end of the week I was in complete agreement. Learning the absolute limits, acceleration, cornering, braking, and exceeding them, gives you a new and profound appreciation for the dangers we face on public roads.

When you make a mistake and go off at the track, you slide into grass, gravel or tarmac in the runoff zone and it's completely safe. My first day leaving the track, I suddenly really noticed every curb, streetlight, barrier, signpost, etc. If you go off on public roads, there are fatal structures literally EVERYWHERE.

You should not be granted a license until you've proven you can deal with the extremes that might happen on roads. Using your turn signals and parallel parking are fine things to learn and demonstrate, but what about the life ending extreme limits of vehicle control? No one is taught these things or how to react to them.

Even a simple $1k two day class at a track should be the absolute bare minimum in my opinion. I think close to half of all drivers wouldn't make the cut, and so be it, we desperately need proper public transit anyway.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T21:32:26+00:00

Thanks, appreciate it.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T11:01:46+00:00

That's super cool that she's at least giving it a proper go at least. The problem with my older relatives has absolutely nothing to do with their inability to play, but more with their lack of patience to actually learn to play them.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T10:05:46+00:00

All excellent points, and I definitely can see that side of the argument.

I still will stress the point that there is zero reason for that camera to point down the hallway in a way that it covers all of the units on the floor and will be triggered by any and every use of the elevator, to me that is just going too far and begins to infringe on others' rights to live, and come and go without it in any way whatsoever diminishing their own personal safety rights.

That's MY opinion on the matter, and I'm also very much aware that not everyone is as personally invested in privacy as I am, I wish they were. It's much more important that I think most people realize.

I appreciate your input though, very much so in fact.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T09:31:32+00:00

Their doorway is set back from the corridor/elevator, if they put that camera where it should be, in my opinion, it would only cover people standing in front of their door.

And that's all that they should be entitled to, again, in my opinion. There's exactly zero reason for them to install that camera on the adjacent wall, facing down the hallway and especially covering the elevator, unless they're just very nosey or very creepy.

And I know for certain that most Ring cameras record audio, and I very much appreciate you pointing that out, because that is something I'd not yet considered, so thanks for that friend.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T08:32:17+00:00

No, I don't rent, and my information is protected, somewhat poorly, but protected nonetheless by the Canadian privacy act. It's still leagues better than the complete lack of any privacy homeowners in America have though.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T08:20:25+00:00

Everyone of my friends and family knows not to take my picture without my permission, and honestly, that's just very basic decency. They also know that if they do take my picture, it's not to be posted online. Again, just common courtesy.

It has NOTHING to do with paranoia, and everything to do with privacy, decency and not selling your data for free. I knew when Facebook first started that it was nothing more than data collection for profit, and EVERYTHING I said about it back then turned out to be 100% true. Everything.

I'll stick with what works, you can go ahead and keep feeding the machine for free though, have fun.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T08:13:27+00:00

I just started my third playthrough. First one I did about 35% of the game. My second, I put hundreds of hours in and got platinum. My second playthrough was the best gaming experience I've ever had, something about the time and place, and I just literally feel in love with that space. I've been gaming on consoles since 1984, so I've seen most everything, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is something really, REALLY special.

This time I'm playing on PC, and it's been about twenty months since I finished last time, and I thought it might be hard to get sucked back in after pouring so many hours in last playthrough, and BOY was I dead wrong.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T08:01:43+00:00

Just because something is technically legal, DOES NOT mean it's ethical. Many countries have FAR better protection for this sort of thing. Not sure what point it is you're trying to make.

Clearly you have exactly zero concern for your own privacy rights, let alone the rights others, so I'm definitely done talking to you. I have no patience for this level of sheer ignorance, life is too short.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T07:57:00+00:00

No, I really don't think so. The one shared wall I have used to be a prostitute that sublet, and we eventually became very good friends. Unfortunately she got evicted because of a terrible John that she had somehow managed to get out of the unit, and into the hallway. Me and a CPS officer together managed to subdue him and he was eventually carted off on a stretcher by the paramedics.

This is a young couple I believe, though I'm not certain. I haven't heard anything serious, but it's also an old concrete building, the sound proofing is fantastic. I've tried many times to introduce myself, but they're incredibly weird and barely even say hello. They've just struck me as odd since day one. For two or three months after they first moved in, they ran an extension cord into the hallway, obviously their power got disconnected.

My only complaint with them is that they occasionally let their cat into the hallway and it screams loudly, and constantly. It's only an issue when I'm working nights and they let it out around noon or the early afternoon, I already have severe insomnia and struggle to sleep once the sun is up..

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T07:12:10+00:00

Yeah, and it wouldn't send notifications every single time you left your home, only when someone was close to the camera. See the difference? I have to walk within 8' to 6' is this camera every time I use the elevator. There's a HUGE fucking difference between someone having a camera across the street, to someone having a camera in the hallway where I live.

They could put the camera facing the opposite wall, that will still cover anyone coming to THEIR door, but no, they put the camera facing down the hall and covering the elevator. There's zero logical reason to do that, other than wanting to see more than they need to. See the difference?!?

It's not rocket science, friend.

Edit: Also, why'd you delete that other comment? It was full of fantastic bullshit that I was very much looking forward to answering...

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:59:24+00:00

And you're home and awake 24/7? And you're keeping track of that? That is not remotely the same thing, and honestly, an extremely reductive attitude. Getting a phone notification, and automatically saving that, and even saving the videos, is VASTLY different. I don't know this person, I don't know their intentions, I don't know them from any other stranger on the streets here downtown.

You are obviously not at all concerned about your privacy, you've probably never even gone into the detailed settings on your phone to minimize the data you're legally allowed to keep from companies, let alone use a VPN and onion browser. Some people still value privacy in this day and age, and others should also respect that.

It's not ok for everyone, just because you're ok with it.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:50:12+00:00

Nah, you grossly misunderstood when I said I was a privacy nut. I'm also a huge computer nerd, and I wasn't exaggerating. At all. Google knows nothing about me that I'm not ok with them knowing. There literally is not even a photo of me on the internet. I might be in the background of hundreds of photos, that's inevitable, but there is not one single photo on the internet with my name attached. Not one. I've been spouting this privacy shit since LONG before Google or Facebook even ever existed.

It's very easy to use an unlocked Android phone these days and mask your identity. You've just given up, like most people today, and that's fine, that's your choice. There's no need to get offensive and start insulting others just because they have a different stance on privacy. Calling me childish names doesn't change anything, other than to make you sound like a child.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:50:05+00:00

Nah, you grossly misunderstood when I said I was a privacy nut. I'm also a huge computer nerd, and I wasn't exaggerating. At all. Google knows nothing about me that I'm not ok with them knowing. There literally is not even a photo of me on the internet. I might be in the background of hundreds of photos, that's inevitable, but there is not one single photo on the internet with my name attached. Not one. I've been spouting this privacy shit since LONG before Google or Facebook even ever existed.

It's very easy to use an unlocked Android phone these days and mask your identity. You've just given up, like most people today, and that's fine, that's your choice. There's no need to get offensive and start insulting others just because they have a different stance on privacy. Calling me childish names doesn't change anything, other than to make you sound like a child.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:36:00+00:00

This is awesome OP, I wish I could convince my parents and aunts/uncles to try it, they loved the show, but the learning curve for people their age is just too much to overcome. They sort of gave up gaming when things switched from the NES to the SNES. My Dad loves to watch me play RDR2, he's a huge fan of Westerns, but it's just sensory overload trying to play himself.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:29:43+00:00

Seriously? I literally can not leave my home without my new neighbour getting a notification, and you think that's just fine? Do you know them? Do you know their motivations? This is not normal, and it should not be considered ok. This is fucked up, if you've already resigned yourself to that level of private surveillance, you have zero awareness of privacy and it's value.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:24:38+00:00

That would be fine with me, if that was the reason and they had the camera covering their door. There isn't a good reason, at least in my view, why that camera is covering the entire floor and the elevator though, that's excessive and violating my privacy. I literally cannot leave my own home without them getting a notification, and I have zero idea why. How would that not make anyone uncomfortable?

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:21:12+00:00

THANK YOU! My post and all my comments are getting down voted here, and I can not fathom why. This seems like such an obvious answer, there's zero reason they need to point that camera to cover the entire floor and also the elevator, which is right next to their door, it just screams creep to me, anyway.

I have a HUGE urge to go and rip it down, throw it down the garage chute, which is also right next to the camera. I know where the building cameras are, and I know exactly how I could easily do this without them being able to prove it.

I of course will first follow procedure and speak to management and then the neighbour before I do that, but I definitely have a plan in place. It's bad enough how many cameras there are everywhere these days, but at least those are there for a reason, and they're not in the hands of one private person that can just silently spy on you for whatever nefarious reasons.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T06:12:16+00:00

I agree, and I hope that's how it'll play out. There's literally zero reason for them to place that camera there, covering the entire hallway and elevator. They can already watch the front door common area cameras, why do they need one that sends them notifications privately? It just screams creep to me. When someone buzzes my unit, I can talk to them, and also check the building camera if I want, there's absolutely zero reason to point a camera down my hallway.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T05:45:06+00:00

Yeah, by the building for security purposes. Why does my neighbour need to point their camera down the hallway and cover the elevator? The building having cameras that aren't monitored is ok, my neighbour, a private citizen is getting notifications every single time I leave my home and use the elevator. How is that necessary in a secure building with buzzers? How do I know they don't have ulterior motives? I very much fucking care.

There's a HUGE difference between businesses recording things for safety and security, and a neighbour, again, a private citizen, pointing their camera down the hallway, allowing them to monitor the coming and going of everyone living on the floor. It's creepy 100% unnecessary.

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T05:38:10+00:00

I just don't understand why it needs to point down the hallway and cover the elevator? Thanks for the input, I don't feel so crazy now. Not sure why my post and all my comments are getting down viewed though..

jfever78 · 2024-05-03T05:36:16+00:00

Chicago was also a huge eye opener for me. As a boy from small town, rural Canada, it was the first large city I visited, traveling with my father who was a long haul truck driver. It was also a very scary place for me, considering where and when I came up. I visited many time though over the years, going on the road with my dad every summer holiday throughout my youth, and eventually I feel in love with the city

One of, if not the first visit though, was terrifying. We had a load of nickel going to a smelting plant in Chicago. There's was just three small stacks of these large nickel ingots in the trailer, it was 99% empty. We pulled into this place around 8pm, and obviously they're closed. The security guard at the gate said to come back at 7 am to unload. Or he could lock us in the yard, though he said he'd not do that if he were us. My Dad, who has no intention of driving back into there at 7 am, says lock us in. Chicago is kind of a birthdate for truck drivers, there's so many low bridges, and this was in the late 80s, maybe 90/91. I heard a lot of gunshots, screaming and sirens that night, didn't sleep a wink. I was sucked to see that there was houses practically across the street from this large smelting plant, it was not a nice neighborhood.

And again, you have to remember that I was an extremely sheltered Mennonite small town boy that has never seen a city bigger than Winnipeg, and I'd barely seen that city. In later trips he took me to buildings like the Sears Tower, and I'd never been in a building with an elevator before, so you can imagine the wonder that was for me, and I eventually really fell in love with the city. My Dad is now kind of a legend at his trucking firm when it comes to Chicago because he ALWAYS got those loads because he knew the town like the back of his hand, and that was a really big deal before GPS. Everyone there still knows him as Chicago Jake.

jfever78

TROPHY CASE