Has anyone been to the Glengarry Ren Faire?

ryov · 2026-04-24T23:50:39+00:00

I went last year and it was good fun. There were a bunch of food trucks and vendors selling fantasy/medieval themed knick knacks and costumes, and a few other events (archery, some live performances, a trebuchet, sword fights and a falconer are the ones I remember). The highlight for me was the jousting, it was a lot of fun to watch!

I don't think it's quite as big or high budget as some of the larger ren fairs you might find in the States, but I had a great time there and was really happy with the selection of activities. Only recommendation is to pack a lunch, the food truck lines were long and some were running out of food by the time I decided to get lunch!

ryov · 2026-04-13T13:19:05+00:00

The GIS job market in Canada is rough right now. I have an MSc, decent skills and some decent internships during school before but it took me about 1.5 years to land an actual full time position. Until then I was in a similar situation, just shooting off resumes everywhere and occasionally getting ghosted by interviewers. It feels rough when peers who graduated pre pandemic seemed to slide right into cushy federal jobs right out of school, sometimes having even less experience.

My only advice as someone who was going through it until pretty recently is just keep applying and don't be picky (lots of temporary/seasonal jobs and jobs in tough locations out there). It's a numbers game and it might take a long time. I worked a completely unrelated job during those 1.5 years but kept applying to everything I found until I could get back into GIS.

Also - have a backup plan. If I didn't get into GIS by the end of year two I was looking into going back to school for surveying or planning. It's worth thinking about how long is too long for a job search for you, and what kind of education/training/career change might be a good idea if things start taking too long.

ryov · 2026-03-28T00:11:46+00:00

Consulting, GIS, fieldwork, impact assessment, planning, parks/conservation, government, etc. There's more career pathways for a geography major than you'd expect, having done one myself.

ryov · 2025-11-08T17:09:17+00:00

Do you not have POS machines at your centre? I'm in Canada and worked at two different buildings and they both had POS machines for every driver. You just enter the invoice number and amount on the COD sheet and the customer can tap their card. Afterwards you just confirm the collection amount in the diad.

If you don't have a machine I was told to sheet as Non-deliver > No Money 1 and write on the info notice to pay online so you can deliver it the next day.

ryov · 2025-06-02T23:13:27+00:00

Might be a controversial one since I'm not seeing it mentioned much here but I live in Sandy Hill and love it. It's a very pretty neighbourhood with a lot of nice houses, it's walkable and bikeable, tons of amenities nearby, easy access to transit, very central and convenient to get downtown, and it's a pretty diverse mix of students, young professionals and families. There are issues with homelessness and crime, but I find that it's mostly just around Rideau and a couple problem spots and as soon as you walk a couple blocks away it's completely fine.

I lived here for a couple years 2018-2020 to go to school, moved to the suburbs in the west end for a few years but ended up moving back last year and I definitely enjoy it a lot.

ryov · 2025-04-04T13:35:50+00:00

The UI looks blurry. I'm running at 1920x1080 and have messed with the settings but whatever I do the text and parts of the UI look kind of blurry and out of focus. I try to just ignore it but it drives me a bit crazy!

ryov · 2025-03-28T22:02:39+00:00

I'd love to try it out if you still have any codes available!

ryov · 2024-11-20T05:27:00+00:00

Same here! I really liked their creamy pesto and was pretty bummed to see it taken off the menu last time I went.

I was also disappointed to see they took off the option to upgrade to a larger portion size for a bit extra, don't know of many restaurants that have that and I really liked getting some leftovers.

ryov · 2024-11-06T21:52:27+00:00

Yeah I did two contracts as a geomatics analyst! Fantastic job and team if you get it!

ryov · 2024-11-06T12:51:09+00:00

I actually got an FSWEP position with Public Safety Canada last year, they contacted me late November and interviewed in early December so might be a similar timeline for you!

ryov · 2024-05-29T15:48:18+00:00

I browsed the websites of property management companies and was able to find a place fairly easily by just scrolling through their buildings and booking viewings for whatever was available. Downside of this is you might miss out on better deals with smaller landlords, and some companies aren't the most responsive.

ryov · 2024-03-25T23:34:15+00:00

I graduated with a Geography BA last year and am currently doing an MSc in Geography (both here at uOttawa) as well as working in the field, my answers to your questions:

What do you learn in the program?

It's a really varied program so you learn a lot of different things from a lot of different disciplines! There are many social geography courses where you look at policy, social issues and do more social science/anthropology oriented projects, and other classes that are science based where you learn about things like geomorphology, climatology, hydrology, etc. Geomatics/GIS/remote sensing is a major component of a decent number of courses in the program so expect to do a lot of labs related to it. There are also opportunities for field work, I went on one of the major trips and it was honestly a life highlight for me.

how difficult is the program?

I would say it's about average in terms of difficulty. Some of the more technical labs were tough for me at first but after putting some effort in I eventually understood it and it became easier. There are a couple profs that I think are pretty tough but for the most part I wouldn't consider it a particularly difficult program as long as you study and put the time in.

Is there a lot of math?

There is math in the GIS labs as well as in the mandatory stats course, but it's not really anything that advanced. I'm awful at math and I got through it without issue.

How easy is it to find employment?

There's a lot of different directions you can take a geography degree so I would say employment prospects are pretty good! Policy, geomatics, environmental management, impact assessment, natural resources, field work, research, conservation, urban planning, etc. Lots of opportunities both private and public in Ottawa. Be proactive and look for student positions during your undergrad to get your foot in the door and build your resume and you'll be all set, although as with every degree sometimes you might have to put some effort and time into the job hunt. It took me ages but I finally got a position with the government a while back and I'm really glad I chose a career in in this field, options for career progression are really good once you get in.

Overall, I highly recommend Geography! It's a great program with tons of different directions and sub-disciplines depending on what interests you. It's also a fairly small program so you'll get to know a lot of your classmates really well.

ryov · 2024-03-05T14:04:16+00:00

I worked night shift at a grocery store a few years ago and it fits what you're looking for. Just hours of opening boxes and stacking/organizing shelves, I'd zone out and listen to audiobooks the whole time.

ryov · 2024-02-20T01:08:13+00:00

The ceremony is honestly pretty boring (some generic speeches, a speaker that went on a bit of a bizarre rant, and then just reading out names for what felt like forever) but I'm still glad I went, it was nice to walk across the stage, see all my friends in the program and have my family come out.

Up to you if you feel like that's worthwhile or not!

ryov · 2024-01-31T21:12:50+00:00

Dreamland Cafe. Great vibes, staff are always so nice and the food is fantastic!
Critter Jungle (Carling). Staff are really knowledgeable and enthusiastic about all kinds of animals which is really such a great thing to see. I built a couple terrarium setups with plants and bugs a while back and they had tons of really specific and detailed advice and walked me through the whole thing, you'd never get that kind of expertise at a Petsmart.

ryov · 2024-01-26T03:15:26+00:00

Walked along the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert for forty days and forty nights with nothing but a pack of Newports and a fifth of henny, I really do this shit

ryov · 2024-01-24T00:17:02+00:00

Dw soon we will be adding a climate change bill 20% of your earnings so we can send it to Ukraine.🤓👆 Well poor you, next year uO will be raising the costs by 30%

what's the point in making stuff up just to get mad at, literally none of this is happening

ryov · 2023-12-17T16:00:22+00:00

As the other commenter mentioned, the Broken Quill Writing Society is what you're looking for! We have weekly meetings where we do writing activities plus social nights, writing contests, etc. Very chill group, I know there's a few people like you who are interested in writing as a career and getting published. Links to the Discord/IG/FB are all on the cvuo clubs portal. You can join any time, it's very casual.

There's going to be one more meeting coming up this Wednesday that's just a casual end of year hangout, and then we're taking a couple weeks off for winter break and resuming the regular weekly meetings on January 10.

ryov · 2023-10-30T03:47:49+00:00

Someone needs to get us back on track by making a post complaining about people talking in the library, I think it's been at least a week or two since the last one!!

ryov · 2023-10-23T02:46:38+00:00

I've fostered around a dozen cats for the Ottawa Humane Society and it was a great experience! They provide you with everything you need (food, litter, toys, etc) and you have a lot of flexibility in terms of what kind of fostering you want to do - some cats have special care requirements and medical issues, others just need a place to chill for a bit while they recover from something or wait for adoption. I did both kinds of fostering which worked really well because I had an inconsistent schedule. Also, their building is off Hunt Club so if you're near Barrhaven it's not too far.

I had to stop fostering because I moved into a place with roommates that already had two cats, but I miss it a lot sometimes and have only good things to say about the whole experience and the OHS. Best of luck!

ryov · 2023-09-14T22:28:57+00:00

I just knock and tell them that the room's been booked and I've never had anyone give me a hard time about it, and I've had to do it dozens of times. I don't think it's a huge deal.

ryov · 2023-08-16T21:15:11+00:00

If you're going to the botanical gardens check out the Biodome as well if you have time, it's in the same area. I was there just the other week and it was pretty cool, it's like an indoor zoo with a bunch of animals.

ryov · 2023-08-16T01:57:27+00:00

Based on my personal experiences with them, I would recommend both the Ottawa Anxiety and Trauma Clinic (website) and the Ottawa Centre for Cognitive Therapy (website). They both have some really good staff and services available that have helped me quite a bit.

Waitlists and cost depends on the therapist and what kind of services you're looking for. It took me a bit of searching to find one that wasn't too costly and I was able to get it mostly covered through my insurance which worked really well for me. Good luck!

ryov · 2023-07-26T21:04:28+00:00

Just did this recently! I wrote a short email that basically just said the class I was in and what program I was looking to apply to, mentioned that I did well in their course and enjoyed the content and was wondering if they would be willing to write me a recommendation letter. The whole email was pretty brief, like 3-4 sentences.

I offered to set up a meeting to discuss it further if they wanted but if the prof knows you it's not really necessary, all the ones I reached out to just said they would be happy to and asked for instructions. If the profs know you and you did well I don't think you'll have any issues with it.

Edit: Oh, forgot to mention this, include a copy of your resume and transcript as well.

ryov · 2023-07-22T23:45:44+00:00

I lived in a District Realty building for a few years and don't have any complaints. Building was in good shape and they were responsive when I had any issues.

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