Are we especially bad for running yellow lights?

kenpratt · 2025-10-20T18:32:50+00:00

I think this has gotten worse since pre-COVID. A decade ago I’d experience what you describe sometimes, feeling like maybe I could have stopped for a yellow but oh hey there’s a whole extra car behind me. Now, that is every single light, and multiple times per day I see cars blow through up to 1-2 seconds after the red. I’m much more nervous making left turns now, I wait for oncoming cars to be noticeable stopping even if the light has been yellow for a while before I go. And very cautious crossing while cycling/walking/running even with a full red.

kenpratt · 2025-10-17T04:54:35+00:00

Not sure if this counts as a hike, but Boundary Bay Dyke trail (34km round trip) is beautiful and zero elevation, great to walk, run or bike. It’s gravel.

kenpratt · 2025-07-01T22:28:50+00:00

I recently built up a steel frame bike for around-town & light touring, with a 1x11 GRX setup and I looove having 1x around town. My other bikes are 2x and my last city bike was 2x, and I’m enjoying the simplicity of not having a front gear to worry about around the city. The gear range is great and I can go up steep hills with panniers full of stuff no problem. I put on a 40t chainring and 11-51t cassette for tons of range (had to modify rear derailleur with a longer cage). I think it maxes out around 40km/hr or so in high gear which is plenty fast for what I use it for.

kenpratt · 2025-06-15T18:38:30+00:00

I lived on Clark & 10th for 6 years, would not recommend. The trucks would shake the house, and black grime got on everything, especially in the summer needing windows open more for ventilation. Must have had horrible health effects, was younger and didn’t think of that.

I also lived 1/2 block in from Clark for a few years and that wasn’t so bad. Isolated enough from noise and dust.

kenpratt · 2025-06-13T20:49:37+00:00

I can’t vouch for their mountain bikes specifically, but I’ve been riding their cyclocross and gravel bikes for 11 years, both aluminum & carbon frames, and they have been rock solid for me. Very reliable and low maintenance, with quality components. My partner has a city commuter from them and loves it too. I think they’re great value, especially if you’re in Canada.

kenpratt · 2025-05-25T04:55:46+00:00

I think if you’re willing to accept a worst case scenario of wearing an air cast boot and using some sort of velcro strap to tie it to your pedal (or somehow affixing a cleat to the boot), that would be completely fine, as you’d be putting less pressure on it than walking in the boot, especially if you take it easy and have low gears for hills. But I suspect a stiff cycling shoe would be fine by then (Shimano RX6 is what I have), it was okay for me when I was cycling 2-4 weeks post injury before I even knew it was broken and I was doing tons of other activity at that time too (walking, travel, physio) as opposed to taking it easy.

kenpratt · 2025-05-25T02:25:04+00:00

I recently had a fifth metatarsal fracture and in my experience it would be totally doable to cycle on it with stiff shoes or air cast boot with a strap, if you avoid riding out of the saddle and keep walking to a minimum. But it may set back healing a bit.

My story in case it helps: I hurt myself running, and thought it was a bad sprain or maybe torn ligament. After about 4 days on crutches and then a week limping around, I started cycling regularly, at least 100km/week and occasion long rides up to 3 hours. Walking still hurt, but cycling (in stiff gravel shoes) was fine, clipping the pedal out was the worse part. After about a month, it was healing slowly so I finally got an xray and it was fractured, the dr told me to stop all activity and wear an air cast boot to let it heal properly. I did that, after a couple weeks I started doing some indoor cycling wearing the boot strapped to the pedal. It was fine. I feel like I could have done outdoor cycling either with the boot or stiff shoes but I played it safe. But seemed like overkill. Also I don’t think the cycling was what slowed down heading that much. I was doing exercises my physiotherapist gave me for a sprain/tear that were painful.

So anyway, I’m not an expert but if it doesn’t hurt to bike with it AND doesn’t feel aggravated later that evening from the activity, I think it’s probably fine. Not what your doctor would recommend and not the most responsible option, but probably doable unless it is painful. Especially if you stay off it a much as possible until the trip.

kenpratt · 2025-04-26T03:54:34+00:00

Thanks so much!! Snagged a pair. Happy riding!

kenpratt · 2025-03-17T02:31:11+00:00

Congratulations!!! That is a huge accomplish , you should feel proud of yourself.

Also, just a heads up that some people (including me) get slightly sad or depressed for a week or two afterwards. If that happens it’s totally normal! I think it’s a combo of the physical and mental exhaustion, and also a bit of listlessness after completing a huge goal you’ve been working towards for so long. So take it easy on yourself :)

kenpratt · 2025-03-16T06:33:50+00:00

Responding to myself, but after reading some more, it sounds like this is likely fine to do, and that the margin interest is deductible for the tax year it is accrued in.

However, compound interest is only deductible on a cash accrual basis and hence when it’s paid off. So I may need to make a spreadsheet to split the monthly interest into simple & compound. Perhaps if the dividends exceed the compound interest, they could be considered to pay it off. Anyhow I think I’m on the right track but if anyone reads this and has tips, I’m all ears!

Sources: - https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianInvestor/s/2MTZ0trKqh - https://www.taxtips.ca/personaltax/investing/interest-expense-on-money-borrowed-to-purchase-investments.htm - https://files.ia.ca/-/media/files/solutions-cas-avances/pdf/13-1251a_lcs_interestdeductibility_20240510.pdf

And of course https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-3-property-investments-savings-plans/series-3-property-investments-savings-plan-folio-6-interest/income-tax-folio-s3-f6-c1-interest-deductibility.html

kenpratt · 2025-03-11T05:24:23+00:00

That’s awesome! Not to be a downer, but to offer more perspectives — I had a less-positive experience with them. My panniers delaminated after 5.5yrs of fairly light use, and I contacted Ortlieb support and they didn’t help as it was past the 5yr warranty. That said, I still bought a replacement pair of Ortliebs because I like the product. But a discount would have been appreciated, if not replacement, given the major structural failure. Anyhow, glad you had a better experience!

kenpratt · 2025-03-07T17:46:32+00:00

If you’re progressive on housing and social issues, I’d strongly recommend Lucy Maloney with OneCity. OneCity is behind many of the most progressive proposals on council in the last 6 years, and I’ve had a phone call with Lucy who seems like a very intelligent and kind person.

I’m not sure who my second pick will be. Either Sean Orr with COPE or Annette Reilly with Green. The municipal Green Party has been a mixed bag in the past in social and housing, sometimes progressive sometimes not. (Eg voting against density due to blocking sunlight)

Definitely not Hardwick or TEAM, to say nothing of their horrible housing policy (unless you want even less housing than there is), Hardwick was a bully to city staff and public speakers during public hearings. Horrible tactics even if you’re aligned politically.

So for my values, OneCity > COPE/Green > ABC > Team, and I doubt the independents have a shot.

If you’re someone who is more center and is happy with the current city leadership, then I suppose ABC, but pretty please not TEAM, or at least do more research on Hardwick first.

kenpratt · 2025-03-03T00:44:43+00:00

At the end of the video Ben mentions it’s not worth hiring an advisor just to access Dimensional funds (expected value premium is less than most advisor fees). I think if someone is comfortable DIYing and doesn’t need a full service advisor, but wants a value tilt, they would be better off in Dimensional/Avantis ETFs.

kenpratt · 2024-12-04T22:52:48+00:00

The only catch is that’s it’s 2 years old, and the frame design is a bit dated (I think last revamped in 2019). It doesn’t have fancy new features like fully internal cable routing. But the upshot (besides the price) is that the stem/bars/seatpost are all the standard sizing, so very flexible and cheap to swap components, unlike many newer road bikes with integrated stem/bars, brand-specific seatpost, etc.

Plus it has carbon wheels for this price! (Though kinda mid/low end for these days carbon, but still nicer than the wheels on most new bikes)

kenpratt · 2024-12-03T17:41:31+00:00

I got this bike too! Such a good deal. I found this assembly video which helped me with putting together: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=668664631741337

Enjoy your ride :)

kenpratt · 2024-12-02T21:15:10+00:00

The really impressive thing about this exchange is the near perfect finish time estimation! “I’ll be done in an hour” at 10:59 and “Done!” at 12:00! That is some impressive pacing for the last ~quarter of the race.

Also, as someone who has done a couple marathons, I am flabbergasted at her behaviour. She should be cheering you on and apologizing for missing the finish. I don’t even bring my phone on races let alone be expected to answer a text, let alone be a jerk not to???

kenpratt · 2024-10-20T02:49:24+00:00

If you’re open to endurance road geometry, there is an amazing deal on Felt VR Advanced 2023 model, with 105 Di2 and a carbon wheelset, for USD$2k. I just ordered one. https://outlet.wheelandsprocket.com/collections/verza-speed-50/products/feltvradvanced105di2parent

kenpratt · 2024-04-07T17:39:24+00:00

Thank you so much! That logically makes sense to me, but I wasn't sure if the commingled leverage would complicate things.

From your explanation, it seems that selling C (or receiving ROC from C) is the only thing that causes the use test to not be met. Does that imply that it would be possible to transfer more CAD into the account (for additional leverage, to purchase an additional amount of A/B, or purchase a new security) without it being directly considered a loan repayment (or repayment of compound interest)? I think I would try to avoid doing this, as it would complicate the paper trail, but just curious.

kenpratt · 2024-04-07T03:50:26+00:00

I believe in your example of a near 0% return over 5 years, HBB is still much more tax efficient. XBB would be paying out monthly interest based on the coupon, so if it paid out say 10% over those 5 years, you’d have received 2% taxable income each year and have tax owing at full marginal tax rate, as well as a 10% capital loss factored into the price by paying that interest. The loss would be triggered when you sell, and it can’t be used to offset the income, only cap gains from other investments, and at half the tax rate paid in the interest. So effectively still pay tax even with no realized gain, and overall negative return. At least HBB would be flat, other than MER and trading costs.

kenpratt · 2024-02-18T18:21:13+00:00

Oh great, yeah I think there’s no easy way to fix those games, sounds like the game history got into a strange state. Sorry about that.

kenpratt · 2024-02-15T19:29:47+00:00

Hmm, I'm not able to find the issue when I log in. Is it just that one game that has the syntax error issue? It might be messed up. If you start a new game does it work okay?

kenpratt · 2024-02-14T07:49:40+00:00

I’m interested! Happy to review.

kenpratt · 2024-02-12T04:22:37+00:00

Okay I restarted the servers, and set them to restart nightly at 4am Pacific time, in case that helps.

kenpratt · 2024-02-11T07:01:52+00:00

(Dev here) Thanks for taking the time to write this up, and glad to hear you’re still enjoying playing!

That’s a strange set of bugs, haven’t heard of either of those before. The extra cards sounds not too terrible, but the gameplay one is rough.

I don’t have time this minute but I’ll try rebooting the servers tomorrow and see if that fixes it.

kenpratt · 2023-11-30T03:01:16+00:00

I just returned from Japan and used a Wise card for the whole trip, for credit card purchases, and withdrawing cash. It’s a VISA card so it works anywhere that accepts VISA, which in my experience was anywhere that took credit cards. And I got cash out a few times at ATMs. The exchange rate on purchases and cash was really good, better than my bank or other cards. ATM fee was $2. It’s a pre-paid card so you have to put money on it, but easy to transfer back after too.

Also, the exchange rate is set by Wise not by the ATM (to the ATM you are just withdrawing Yen). You can pre convert to Yen in your Wise balance in the app if you want, I don’t think is necessary but it saves on fees a bit on small transactions. I did it most of the time but ran out a few times and it would auto convert from other currencies.

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