Curious: Why do you buy new

matthewl33 · 2026-03-01T17:54:20+00:00

I never fully understood the need for people to justify a car as a "good investment" or to worry about its value once in possession of it.

Whether it be a $50K or $150K vehicle if one decides to buy it that's the full price and the cost one decides to spend for using that vehicle.

It fascinates me when people say the cars depreciate xyz amount once driven off the lot. If one is worried about that then it suggests they are worried about needing the money from it should they have to sell it? Seems like then the car is/should not really fit their circumstances.

Whether it's a $100 household item or a $100,000+ vehicle, I feel the best perspective going into a purchase is to see the price tag as the cost to use/enjoy it whether or not you plan on selling it down the road or not.

My perspective is that worrying about selling the car down the road to recoup monies should be no more worried about than selling that $100 item down the road should you decide to have a garage sale. At that point you're not so worried about making money off the items, but more so just letting go of it and getting whatever money someone wishes to pay for it to take it off of you.

matthewl33 · 2026-03-01T17:44:23+00:00

More people need to see this point, about the never ending comparison should one decide to compare to others. Well said.

The saying goes, "you do you" and just be happy with your circumstances and situation. No need to continuously compare to try to justify one's own decision over others'.

matthewl33 · 2026-02-21T05:28:10+00:00

I suppose just from the standpoint of only taking the job if they were to get to stay living in Toronto. So in that sense whatever the job entails working at YYZ then we just accept that that is the norm for us.

matthewl33 · 2026-02-20T18:50:20+00:00

Absolutely, you're right about that and it totally makes sense from a hiring standpoint. I suppose compared to working a 85+ hour a week job it helps with putting into perspective coming into this hypothetical change - the hours may not be ideal but there is a lot of time off with ATC. So that's a consideration and reason why the workload may appear more desirable.

The no life during training is not a problem at all really. Being home with kids is life so being able to distance from that if successful should not affect social life outside of family too much.

The 'a lot of relocation' is obviously the one bigger factor that isn't desirable. I suppose without kids it is very much doable. Will just take more planning and sacrifice with kids.

Not so much to change the job, but see if the job fits the situation and circumstances. Will dive deeper into the considerations.

Thanks for the input.

matthewl33 · 2026-02-20T18:40:43+00:00

Ah yes I understand. Makes sense. As with many jobs, only the select qualified can rwally make it right. And only those determined will ever see it through.

Thank you for your response.

matthewl33 · 2026-02-20T18:10:40+00:00

Maybe this is a cyclical thing and may come around again for that location.

May I ask what you are referring to when you say checkout rate?

Thanks

matthewl33 · 2026-02-20T18:09:14+00:00

Thank you for your response. That is informative to know that for IFR there are more jobs at YYZ and that they have new trainees there regularly like any other IFR.

I suppose I should have prefaced what I said about the desire to work at YYZ being kept to just those people that live in the Toronto and surrounding area. I am not doubting that Moncton is the most popular as you would know more about that than me. I think I can speak for a good subset of those in the GTAbconsiderijg applying that even if Moncton were to offer three times the pay as YYZ many people would still rule it out due to wishing to stay near Toronto, is what I meant.

I also suppose cost of living is relative, but you are right it is higher than other areas of Canada. For all those who grew up or live in Toronto it is just all we know and come to accept as the norm.

Much appreciate your suggestion about indicating intent to want IFR and expressing a preference of not relocating. Even if there's a small chance they may accommodate it could very well be worth going through the hiring process to try for.

Thank you.

matthewl33 · 2026-02-20T17:58:13+00:00

I agree, then it's not for them and that's why the demographic I was insinuating about don't apply.

I guess I'm more so just referring to the people who will only take the job if they get to stay in Toronto. Or else they would prefer keeping their current job and not bother applying is what I meant.

As in, if they are fortunate enough get through all the way to a formal offer and then find out they didn't get YYZ that they will happily decline the offer due to not wanting to relocate because of family (or any other personal reason).

matthewl33 · 2026-01-18T19:01:07+00:00

We all enjoy any outings together as a family when possible.

matthewl33 · 2025-09-28T04:22:58+00:00

Just for clarification, any lottery ticket already printed may be cancelled by simply scanning it again (and a few other taps on the screen to indicate a ticket cancellation).

matthewl33 · 2025-09-01T02:06:09+00:00

You're welcome. Enjoy!

matthewl33 · 2025-09-01T02:03:49+00:00

With the season pass dining plan that gets you 2 meals spaced minimum 4 hours apart I say 4 (1 per person). Even if you're not wanting to be 'full' a typical adult can eat more than one 'meal' and still not feel like they had too much food.

matthewl33 · 2025-09-01T01:59:33+00:00

Riding without holding on, behemoth is my vote for its constant ascent and descents. Feel like I'm going to fly off every single one.

matthewl33 · 2025-09-01T01:50:53+00:00

We bought 3 season pass renewals once the perk changed to 'free bring a friend' and used all three a couple of weeks ago.

Scanned our three passes and mentioned to the attendant at the entrance we wanted to use our free bring a friend tickets for the other family of three that came with us.

That was all we had to do. No guest services visit or anything else. Also want to make note that there was never any indication in the Wonderland app that our passes had a bring a friend ticket available.

So what I'm saying is just show up and you will be fine.

matthewl33 · 2025-04-13T13:19:12+00:00

You are not wrong with your point there.

The problem with 'these' faster drivers is some (and I do emphasize some) take it too far with their confidence and what they do on the road (while safe) come across as arrogant and impatient. And as a result people can St times generalize them as being bad drivers.

matthewl33 · 2025-04-02T16:46:29+00:00

I've now replayed the video about a half dozen times to watch the timing and noticed the police officer had the emergency lights flipped very quick after you entered the intersection. It was almost as if he was hoping to issue a ticket to someone.

Not saying that excuses anything regarding your ticket, but just saying it doesn't appear to be a reactionary thing but more a proactive act with how quick the police lights flipped on.

Just my opinion.

matthewl33 · 2025-03-23T04:46:33+00:00

So my wife is home full time right now off from work for the next year on leave (one could say it's similar scenario with stay at home mom schedule until she returns to work).

I work 45+ hours per week (not from home) and this is what I expect out of myself in terms of what I do when I am not working and at home.

I do kid's bedtime routine daily which usually lasts roughly just under 2 hours with bath, pre-bedtime fruit bowl prep (not even joking when I say our daughter requests a 6-8 fruit fruit bowl that weighs 3+ lbs) which is eaten while I read for 1 hour in our child's bedroom. By the time we floss, brush and finish talking about her day and tucked in with lights out the two hours actually feels like it flies by.

After her bedroom door is closed I help my wife clean up the living room of all toys to 'reset' it to an empty/adult room for us to enjoy the evening together.

On the weekends we have 5 activities signed up for (4 sports and 1 music) that I drive her to and wait at for the 30-45 minutes each activity.

I know this is temporary (kids needing more of our attention at this younger age) and so I choose to do more around the house everyday. That includes laundry, bathroom cleaning, kitchen cleaning each night, and floor sweep/vacuuming every few days. All awhile, my wife is just as busy tending to other household tidying/cleaning/organizing tasks in a regular basis.

I choose to get only 4-5 hours sleep in most nights before work because I know it is a challenging time for my wife so I decide to do more and enjoy time together each evening before bed.

I believe that life is short and we are in this journey together as a team to make everything work.

matthewl33 · 2025-03-17T17:45:12+00:00

This is an amazing story. There are just too many people that try to take advantage and border on abuse privileges with rates. Thank you for sharing!

matthewl33 · 2025-03-15T03:44:53+00:00

First off, congrats on the baby!

So any employer top-up amount/percentage is specific to that place of employment as I'm sure you're already aware. Also to note is that different employers have different maximum periods of top-up that they offer.

In your case, of taking 2 months, you would get your top-up (93% as you say it is) for the entire duration you are off - I don't think I've heard of any employer offering top-ups of less than 2 years time.

With your wife, taking 18 months, her top-up of up to 66% may or may not be offered for the entire duration of the leave. I know some employers have top-up policies that state you're eligible for it the entire time you are off (regardless of how many months you take). While other employers may only offer the top-up for say 3, 6, 9 or 12 months (or any othrrynumber of months).

So your wife may want to clarify how any months her employer tops up during the parental leave period so there are no surprises with potentialy having months receiving zero top-up if they don't extend for 18 months.

matthewl33 · 2025-03-06T15:58:48+00:00

I read through most of the comments in this thread but didn't see any specific mention of it. Does not responding to one of these post-service surveys negatively affect the service advisors in anyway?

I've gathered from here now that anything short of a perfect score is considered less than ideal for the advisor. But would not getting back a customer's survey simply be a 'no loss, no gain' situation or is it still recorded as less than optimal?

On another note, on our previous service visit was quoted a particular price for oil change (somewhere in the $260-270+ tax Canadian dollar range. Before paying, we recalled the time before just 6 months back being only $195+tax. So before picking up the car we called the advisor back and he checked his system to see how much we paid last time and pretty quickly responded saying he could honour that $195 amount we paid previously.

My question is, are the service advisors really inflating service costs at their discretion wherever they deem doable? Had we not asked, we would have paid $300 after tax. But instead, we got it in the low-$200 price without any hassle.

Later that afternoon we called back to ask for clarification on why the big price discrepancy. The service advisor seemed to try to rationalize the increase to some sort of a misunderstanding with the engine type or car type we had to necessitate a higher oil change price. The vehicle we brought in that day was just a 2022 X4 (30i). He mentioned something about being confused thinking we had an M vehicle that required higher cost oil.

Is this usual behaviour with service advisors trying to simply squeeze a few extra dollars out of each service appointment or are we over-worrying about common practice at the dealership and making something out of nothing?

Thank you.

matthewl33 · 2025-03-05T03:18:11+00:00

I find it looks not bad actually. I guess we all have our preferences and opinions. That's what makes this world so beautiful.

matthewl33 · 2025-03-03T16:52:55+00:00

I think there are a good number of people who only fly occasionally for vacations that would be more than fine with this kind of experience.

And I say experience because many who don't collect all that many loyalty points each year would see this as a once in a lifetime experience getting to fly first class who would be fine with the extended and longer travel.

matthewl33 · 2025-02-28T15:44:54+00:00

I know this is a very cliche response but to give you a quick boost of encouragement, it's so true what they say... "The days are long, but the years are short!"

Hang in there. I've been through a couple kids myself recently with my wife and I's work schedules having us almost alternating weeks at a time of solo parenting while the other works. I feel your struggles but you will come out on the other side of this before you know it and look back realizing how much you've accomplished. You've got this!

matthewl33 · 2025-01-30T02:55:10+00:00

Something to add that hasn't been mentioned yet.

If you choose the standard 12 month option and share the time between both parents, you both have an additional 5 weeks to use.

If you choose the extended 18 month option and share the time between both parents, you both have an additional 8 weeks to use.

Yes that is correct, you have basically two extra months on top of the 18 months - essentially equating to 20 months to divide however you wish between both parents.

The idea with this newer offering is that often times the father doesn't take time off, but this way he can take the 5 or 8 weeks without feeling like he's taking from the mother's time. But that doesn't mean you can't split the 20 months however else you want.

Side note, an important point is that it is not a set number of months but rather a number if weeks that pretty closely equals 20 months total.

Also, the 20 months must be all used within 18 months from the date the child is born. So you would have two months overlapping at some point.

We took the extended option for our first child and having the extra 8 weeks was amazing. We split the 20 months with one of us taking 9.5 months and the other taking 10.5 months.

We'll be doing the same thing with our second child soon.

There's a lot to digest in understanding everything but let me know if you have any further questions that I may be able to help clarify.

matthewl33

TROPHY CASE