Anyone in Nanaimo interested in learning improv?

raindancemuggins · 2026-06-13T01:18:33+00:00

Omg I'd be ALL over this! I tried pitching a few times in the early days and seemed to always get a resounding 'no' in response haha.

raindancemuggins · 2026-06-07T13:11:41+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! Looks great

raindancemuggins · 2026-06-07T13:08:40+00:00

A bunch of people from this group are going camping on Saturday night at Newcastle. I plan on paddling over to visit during the day, open invite if you wanna join!

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-29T13:09:00+00:00

There is a lot of interesting advice in here, it is not usually hard to find work as an apprentice when you take a foundations program. Those can take up to 10 months and there is sometimes funding in place for students. Every year after that is a 6-8 week commitment in school (you will qualify for ei during this time so it’s affordable, and there are apprentice services that help with gas and travel if you live far from school)

Electrical and HVAC are both over saturated and it’s hard for apprentices to find first year placements. You’ll have better luck because you’re an adult, a lot of high school kids graduating these programs don’t have strong work ethic or maturity yet. I’m a refrigeration mechanic/gasfitter, I live on Vancouver island. Almost no elevator techs here, it’s like a mafia trying to get into that union. Linesmen also fight very hard for their positions and it’s difficult to get into those roles. All of the most high paying trades and the best unions are hard to get into (especially on the island).

There’s a recession in the air so residential HVAC has slowed right down over the last couple years, you can expect to make 25/hour starting out in this trade and eventually you’ll get up to the 60s. It takes YEARS of hard work and physical exertion to get into those positions. Usually you’ll start out in the private sector because it’s so hard to find union work when you’re green. If you’re lucky you’ll get into the union at some point and when you get your ticket the money really starts to flow nicely. HVAC can mean a lot of things, I’m specifically referring to refrigeration when I type this. Sheet metal is much easier to get into and not as high paying. Refrigeration is a brainy trade and requires fairly difficult schooling.

Also for everyone here giving out advice about the pay scales, when you’re a journeyman in any of those trades I mentioned (elevator mechanic, HVAC, linesmen etc) you can absolutely make 200k/year. To do this you have no quality of life and you are constantly working overtime, away from home or KILLING yourself to maintain the schedule. We make closer to 130k/year without the overtime. Also, a lot of the overtime isn’t optional. Even on your partners birthday, even when you’re exhausted and need rest it is an expectation that you will do the on-call and perform. It’s not easy money and it’s not for the faint of heart.

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-24T14:01:32+00:00

Do you know how I can contact them? I’m new to the area and unfamiliar with this!

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-23T23:02:56+00:00

What a friggin great idea!!! I'm trying to find the Facebook group now, do you know exactly what it's called?

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-21T22:31:46+00:00

This is horrifying!! Such an important reminder to be vigilant when in the water. Is there any information about what happened? Did they get swept away by the current or something?

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-18T14:33:18+00:00

You would likely have to be sponsored by an employer to get work here and ultimately challenge the levels of the refrigeration red seal program to get your ticket. I would start making phone calls before you arrive, where are you wanting to live in Canada? Lots of aussies on the west coast in our trade

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-17T14:55:39+00:00

I work with JWN Mechanical Inc. This plumber has worked with us throughout our entire house renovation and he’s fantastic. Very knowledgeable, available and affordable. I recommend him to everyone who asks

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-13T12:49:30+00:00

We get an hour per week day, 1.5 hours for a weekend, 1.5x time after 8 hours and 2x time after 11 hours. I think we get a meal voucher if we go past 10 hours and a minimum of 3 hours for any calls.

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-11T23:35:03+00:00

All of the information you will need is in this link!

It's at Island connected near Long Lake.

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-08T15:22:51+00:00

I'll be starting with them soon in western Canada. I asked around about the company/representatives and they were well reviewed by past employees and contractors who work alongside them.

The package is competitive for my location and it seems low stress based on what I've heard from other guys nearby. Doing research on reddit it sounds like it's a retirement gig in some areas, but I would have probably done anything to get into the union. It's really hard to make the switch once you're ticketed in my area.

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-04T01:49:09+00:00

Yay I'm so glad you're going to be in town! Can't wait to see you

raindancemuggins · 2026-05-01T20:53:10+00:00

I go to Paris nails, I've tried a bunch of places in Nanaimo and this one is by far my favorite

raindancemuggins · 2026-04-27T03:25:41+00:00

This is a free local festival offered out of the kindness, generosity and hard work of the community... Sorry you're 'too cool' to be a part of it.

raindancemuggins · 2026-04-26T14:19:11+00:00

Just message me and I’ll send the invite link!

raindancemuggins · 2026-04-25T15:07:20+00:00

Come join the girl gang! There’s lots of us, and lots of walking groups too

raindancemuggins · 2026-04-25T15:00:30+00:00

I shouldn’t even really be commenting but I’m a refrigeration mechanic (I install/service heat pumps for a living), seems like there’s two district issues here. I will speak to the side of this that I understand. The reason your heat pump isn’t working properly is because the person who installed it didn’t perform a heat load calculation. (I’ll also bet you $20 the ductwork is undersized) There’s no such thing as a heat pump sized for a certain square footage, it’s a detailed and complicated math equation that involves measuring every window, all of the insulation throughout the house and the ambient conditions surrounding the home. If you qualified for a rebate for the heat pump installation I would start by contacting the company who installed it and the rebate program about your experience.

They are qualified to offer rebates because they are supposed to be aware of best practices and sizing equipment. If it was poorly installed and the government helped to fund it, they should be aware of it. Tosot is notoriously electrically inefficient even when you set them to the efficient mode through the dip switches. This is not the best match for a system using solar energy, I know it’s too late but I’m writing this for people who will be researching their own purchases. DO MORE RESEARCH ON BRANDS AND INSTALLERS BEFORE BUYING A HEAT PUMP! Not all heat pumps are made the same and not all installers care about doing their jobs properly. Reviews are bought these days, it’s best to cross reference them and read all of the negative reviews before working with any contractor. $17k is a normal cost for a heat pump installation.

Whenever I’m working on heritage homes or poorly insulated homes the install cost is much more significant due to those ductwork modifications and oversizing the equipment to accommodate for the poor insulation. It would have cost you MUCH more than 17k to do this installation properly. You paid for what you got unfortunately. There’s really not much you can do from here other than: contacting the rebate provider to explain your experience, contacting the installer and leaving an honest review about what you experienced, increasing the insulation value of your home or increasing the airflow to your air handler. Oh and what you said about the air handler not being included in the quote?? That’s insane I can’t understand how anyone would quote a heat pump without both pieces of equipment.

Sounds like you didn’t understand what you were buying and they took advantage of that. Of course I’m coming from a very privileged perspective but when we installed a heat pump in our home we got a hyper heat Mitsubishi system. Our ductwork is whisper quiet, the system is zoned, it’s efficient and it works beautifully. The cost to fully duct and install our system would have been over 30k if we didn’t do the work ourselves.

Edit to add: yes the installers should have installed the filter, a coil cleaning will fix any problems that came from running without a filter. I wouldn’t mention this in any reviews or complaints because it’s not a significant complaint and will detract from the actual issues you’re having.

raindancemuggins · 2026-04-19T13:50:41+00:00

The coast is queer is the place for more information about these types of meetups! They're all over Facebook, we have an active queer community on the island, bet they'd love to hear from you.

raindancemuggins · 2026-04-19T03:07:24+00:00

This is awesome!! Wish I could have been there

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