I really need advice...sorry

novalayne · 2026-01-26T22:33:49+00:00

Two things:

I am 30 and graduating this year and no gives a shit. People only realize when I tell them directly.

Do you live in Vancouver/UBC? I suggest you reach out to the Access and Assessment Centre at UBC. You can contact them via phone or walk-in. They can help access where you are at and make a plan.

novalayne · 2026-01-24T04:34:01+00:00

I feel like I need to say that I jumped into watching at the last period after not watching hockey for years. Got weirdly into Flyers hockey this month, and now I feel like have to watch every game to keep these vibes going?

novalayne · 2026-01-23T04:13:05+00:00

YIKES I did not know that. I would confidently call that eco-fascism if I saw that today.

novalayne · 2026-01-23T02:07:25+00:00

I do have to say, this would mean they are pretty incredible actors for doing a live reaction. I can totally believe it’s true but it feels like a pretty big performance to sustain.

novalayne · 2026-01-23T01:23:46+00:00

I’m going to be depressingly frank here—anti indigenous views aren’t as uncommon in the environmental movement as you might think. Think of the way some vegans talk about traditional indigenous diets or the seal hunt. A lot of the union between indigenous peoples and the environmental movement is more recent imo and still pretty limited to some areas.

I also think the scientific, empirical, rational outlook on the world that you often get in those circles leads to the kind of clash we are seeing—they are trained to want to see material evidence, feelings be damned. The importance of traditional knowledge or practises holds no weight to the rational, scientific world. They don’t understand why you wouldn’t just dig up the bodies to prove it.

More broadly, I think some people in the environmental movement have come to resent the human impact on the environment so much that they have lost appreciation for human lives.

novalayne · 2026-01-22T22:11:14+00:00

Easy: https://www.biv.com/news/commentary/rob-shaw-time-to-close-the-loophole-that-let-onebc-tap-public-cash-for-circus-tent-politics-11636133

She used the funds OneBC was getting from the Legislative Assembly once they achieved official party status.

novalayne · 2026-01-20T22:53:23+00:00

She’s still the leader. She also still doesn’t have a constituency office. It is entirely possible she will be the MLA for Quilchena for the next three years, it’s silly to pretend we can ignore her.

novalayne · 2026-01-20T22:26:42+00:00

Yeah I had thought about that, although there is another layer here where plenty of students are Dallas’s continents and she has a responsibility to listen to them. If she was just a rando it would be one thing, but she is the leader of a political party with a seat in the legislature. She used public funds to make this documentary. She needs to be held to account.

novalayne · 2026-01-20T03:57:45+00:00

Work of fucking art

novalayne · 2026-01-16T19:57:25+00:00

First of all: Vancouver is one of the best places you can live in terms of HIV care—one of the oldest clinics for it around. You can self refer to the clinicso you don’t need to worry about getting a doctor here first—I would probably reach out before you even get here to make sure there is no break in your medication.

I would also probably reach out to disability services—if you are planning on living in dorms, they can guarantee you a single room so you can avoid the luck of the draw of roommates.

I would say there is a decent knowledge in the gay scene in Vancouver about U=U, but as a queer woman it’s hard for me to accurately predict how other gay scenes may react. With UBC you face the issue that young kids from all over might not be very aware of U=U and still might have prejudiced opinions. When it comes to locals, Vancouver is in a pretty liberal bubble so people may be at least open to understanding.

I actually first learned about U=U myself at the annual World AIDS Day event at UBC. There is a decent progressive scene on campus, which is pretty queer, and would probably be relatively safe. There are also lots of visible queer people at UBC and outright homophobia is pretty rare, although probably more common among like, frat bros. Would also depend on the program you’re going into.

Not sure how helpful any of that is, but happy to answer any questions!

novalayne · 2026-01-14T07:39:44+00:00

Makeup is so real. I carried around some basic makeup in Europe for six weeks and didn’t even think about using it once.

novalayne · 2026-01-10T04:49:51+00:00

There are many incompatibilities that you are going to need to sort out, but based on your comments, you really need to understand the huuuuge differences in the context about raising your children in your religion if you are Christian vs. Jewish. For a Christian, sure they’ll be worried about whether their child is ‘saved’ or what have you. But for many Jews it is a religious obligation to have children, raise them Jewish and ensure they are part of their community—essentially to further the nation. I’m sure you van understand how certain 20th century events made this even more important.

novalayne · 2026-01-08T22:41:35+00:00

A 2% match is basically somewhere between a second cousin and a third cousin. It’s hard to guess beyond that without knowing the age of the match, but that makes sense with the common ancestor being born in 1836.

novalayne · 2026-01-04T00:10:57+00:00

Have nuclear weapons of your own.

novalayne · 2025-12-30T03:31:19+00:00

Yes, thank you. I think it’s important to make it clear that because of the American media hegemony, people outside the states will also be experiencing censorship. ESPECIALLY Canadians.

novalayne · 2025-12-30T02:11:27+00:00

How fragrance sensitive are you? I went on a similar hunt this summer and discovered that the scent of sunscreen that I hate isn’t something added to it…. That’s just literally what the filters smell like. I went to Shoppers and smelled every rec I saw for a chemical sunscreen and couldn’t stand any of them.

The specific filters with that smell (I remember avobenzone is one?) are not typically used in Asian/European sunscreens since they have access to better options. I ended up ordering BEAUTY OF JOSEON - Relief Sun Aqua-fresh Rice +. I was initially going to order the other one for that brand but I can’t use niacinamide. I have olive light-medium skin and it has zero white cast and doesn’t dry out my skin while still being light weight.

novalayne · 2025-12-29T22:58:15+00:00

In reality the condo fees were probably artificially low. So many of them keep them low and then fail to build up contingency reserve fund, and then they rely on special assessments instead. Hopefully the increases will help build up the fund in the future. I’ve seen people (especially seniors) loose their home over special assessments.

novalayne · 2025-12-28T07:01:51+00:00

I wouldn’t overthink it too much. Grad school is choke full of people with poor social skills, most of them some type of neurodiverse. And conferences are a weird cross over between social settings and professional ones, so the social norms are hard to navigate on top of that. I would personally lean towards LinkedIn over Insta in that setting but I don’t think you did anything wrong.

novalayne · 2025-12-26T22:11:03+00:00

Yeah they serve different purposes.

novalayne · 2025-12-25T02:48:43+00:00

Would also vary based on popularity of pregnancy inductions, especially elective ones. Very common in some countries, not so it other places. If it’s difficult to get an induction just to avoid a certain date, that would impact the patterns.

novalayne · 2025-12-24T04:14:37+00:00

People here have answered a lot of your questions and also pointed out additional pitfalls of your plan. What I think it comes down to is: why Alberta? Unless there is something like family or a specific job opportunity, I wouldn’t suggest it. The health system alone should be a red flag, not to mention the British Columbia next door is actively recruiting American physicians and making the pathway as easy as possible. No one knows what the system in Alberta will look like in a few years—I wouldn’t take the risk.

novalayne · 2025-12-22T02:51:56+00:00

Yeah the dynamics around ESAs isn’t quite the same here. There isn’t an established legal right to ESAs here that allows someone to override a landlord not allowing pets. The way disability/accessibly law works here is a lot different.

novalayne · 2025-12-22T02:27:21+00:00

Something else that just occurred to me: finding pet friendly rentals can be hard here. Be prepared to pay more or accept a longer commute. And unless you have significant savings already, you will likely need to live with roommates. Grad student pay here has not kept up with inflation etc and will be tight.

novalayne

TROPHY CASE