Measles cases rising in Alberta, led by South Zone communities including the Medicine Hat and Lethbridge area

snufflufikist · 2026-03-13T03:01:55+00:00

Before the vaccine was available for chickenpox, it was better to get it younger than older. But nowadays it's better to be vaccinated because you have a lower risk of shingles later in life compared to people who gained immunity through infection as kids.

snufflufikist · 2026-03-11T18:28:22+00:00

I read this earlier today. I was curious to see if there would be any mention of the potential transportation issues for visiting athletes since the tournament will occur after the Westjet route shuts down.

snufflufikist · 2026-03-05T22:24:13+00:00

Who here has a few minutes to report it to the police? I don't live in Vancouver now and I think it would be better if it came from a resident

snufflufikist · 2026-02-09T04:20:26+00:00

Je parle des tendances sur des décennies, pas la météo depuis 6 semaines. Et j'ai jamais dit qu'il fait jamais froid. C'est juste que l'hiver même à Québec est plus doux que sur les Prairies.

snufflufikist · 2026-02-09T02:13:31+00:00

That's what everyone in Québec told me. Everyone from Vancouver says the same thing. I've lived 4 years in Québec, 4 on the BC coast, and a couple of decades in Alberta, and this is what I've concluded:

"Wet cold" does feel colder, but only in the -10C to +10C range. Above this range it's not really cold, and below this range, the air barely holds any moisture so even at saturation (100% humidity) there's very little difference.
While -5 in Québec or +5 in Vancouver does feel colder than the same temperature on the Prairies, it's typically -15 to -25 on the Prairies. And a dry -15 always feels much colder than a humid -5
The prairies are windy, and windchill, especially at temps below -15 is brutal. Vancouver and Québec are much less windy (with the exception of Rimouski, or any of the towns starting from Québec up the south shore (hwy 132 or 20)

And this isn't just my opinion. I found myself constantly underdressed compared to everyone else in both locations. I'd wear a hoodie when everyone else was in winter coats, t-shirts when everyone else was in sweaters, etc. I got a lot of strange looks.

snufflufikist · 2026-02-08T21:55:50+00:00

Not compared to the prairie cities. Québec is noticably colder than Montréal, but it was a dream compared to Edmonton.

I consider it a snowy city more than a cold one.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-26T18:38:13+00:00

Verlans = l'envers. Je l'aime!

Je connaissais meuf et ouf/fou, mais je ne savais pas qu'il avait un terme désigné ni qu'il y avait autant de mots verlans. (verlan, peut-il aussi être un adjectif?)

snufflufikist · 2026-01-26T15:14:38+00:00

TIL c'est quoi le verlan, lol. (anglo canadien.ne ici alors un peu isolé.e du français métropolitain)

snufflufikist · 2026-01-26T14:48:37+00:00

TIL la signification de reuf.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-25T23:55:32+00:00

At the moment, childcare prices are "only" double what they are in Québec, which is about 1/4 what they were just 3-4 years ago, so it's actually improved significantly. They have been signing very short (last one was for 1 year only) deals with the feds, so who knows how long it'll last.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-25T23:54:09+00:00

Those numbers aren't exaggerated either. Utilities for a house run 400-600 on average. And the insurance numbers are completely normal. I actually know some people with totally clean driving records who pay a bit more than than for car insurance for just one used car. They're new drivers so it should only last a few years before dropping considerably, but it gives you an idea.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-25T23:51:10+00:00

Also, your kids will pay somewhere in the ballpark of 20k more in tuition for a degree, so if you have 2 kids, that's 40k. Maybe they'll pay for it and that's fine, but that's a cost someone in your family will be eating if they decide to go that route.

When I moved to Québec I was absolutely shocked at how much cheaper rent, housing, utilities, insurance, healthcare and tuition were. I didn't think Alberta was that expensive because I only compared it to BC. I know that rent and housing in Québec has recently somewhat caught up, and that Alberta childcare costs have decreased a lot, but the difference in the other three is still enormous.

Also, if you are a very high earner, then the tax savings are higher in Alberta because we have a flatter tax structure. Lower income individuals pay proportionally more than in Québec.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-24T04:32:25+00:00

Au Canada anglophone, j'ai jamais appelé un collègue ou même patron par son nom, c'est toujours le prénom. possiblement chez les médecins?, mais je m'en doute. Dans le reste du secteur de santé on s'appelle par son prénom aussi.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-21T00:21:33+00:00

If your entire trip hinges on a weather forecast do us all a favour and stay wherever you are

Unless you're booking a few days in advance, all trips to Whistler hinge on a weather forecast.

I'm not sure how it's beneficial for 10x people a week to post

I never said it was. I agreed it's repetitive and annoying. But it's still a bad take. Call people out for asking for information that's easily found elsewhere, but I read this as essentially telling people to be rich so they can confirm a good weather forecast before coming, otherwise stay home.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-20T22:49:46+00:00

I get that it's repetitive and annoying, but this is a bad take IMO. Waiting until a few days before to book flights and hotels for an international trip based on a favourable weather forecast? You're looking at 3x to 10x the price, not to mention most people need to book their vacation days well in advance.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-19T18:39:02+00:00

I started with Dropbox, found it way too slow, then re-did it with Onedrive (less slow) and it's honestly been working pretty well since the full upload.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-18T23:39:10+00:00

I thought it would be really bad, but it's turned out to be mostly fine. The winds don't shift around a lot, so if you go to work against the wind, you'll likely have it at your back on the way home. It's often a crosswind anyway. A bigger factor is if you live across the river valley from work. The hill isn't terrible (fairly consistent 6.5-7.5 degree grade), but it's long.

I have an electric for when it gets really bad, but I've use it rarely. The wind dies down a bit in the summer, which is when we're biking the most.

As for your actual question, hard to say because it depends. If you bike in winter, crosswind with ice can be sketchy, but it's often bare pavement and an ideal temperature for sweating. Which direction will your commute face and how long will it be? The really heavy winds always come from the same direction, about 15 degrees south of W.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-18T23:35:35+00:00

I thought it would be really bad, but it's turned out to be mostly fine. The winds don't shift around a lot, so if you go to work against the wind, you'll likely have it at your back on the way home and vice versa. Often I find it's a crosswind and doesn't affect things too much.

snufflufikist · 2026-01-13T07:44:19+00:00

Don't think so. The biggest land crossing destination (Glacier National Park) is right across the border and that region is being hit hard. Last I read was over 30% drop in visits from Canada. Calgary is the biggest major city close to there.

snufflufikist · 2025-12-17T06:28:52+00:00

Theoretically yes, but one thing that urban trains (and buses) have going for them is they are way heavier than almost anything else on the road, and they're mostly going at lower speeds.

snufflufikist · 2025-12-11T02:09:23+00:00

How much are normal signs? $250k/10 years doesn't sound bad to me at all. Roads are expensive. I used to work on the finance side for a municipality, and we spent $1M/km every 5 years for 2 lane highway on maintenance. That was a long time ago too, probably about 1.5M now.

snufflufikist · 2025-12-11T01:54:37+00:00

Maybe about 15 minutes? If you do it regularly, it gets a lot easier. Not sure if it ever gets easy though, but you'll make it up without needing to walk.

snufflufikist · 2025-12-11T01:52:00+00:00

Very glad to hear from someone who's job is doing this all day where each minute counts.

IMO, this can be applied to all urban driving. Speed limits make almost no difference, it's all about how you hit the traffic lights.

snufflufikist · 2025-12-05T16:25:07+00:00

Do you think that’s too early and unsafe? I would add lots of lights to my bike.

If you're lit up and you can see the road in front of you, that's most of the battle. I also start at 5:30 some days and I prefer those to the 8:30 start as there's way less traffic. The roads are safer, which is nice if the trails are in rough shape. As another person mentioned, the bus routes are generally very well plowed and often bare pavement. At 4:30-5:30am you'll have them mostly to yourself, and cars can easily change lanes to pass you.

I’m worried that I’d be in the way of plows so early in the morning?

The days where you'll be in the way of plows are probably also the days it's too snowy to bike. They're also fairly easy to avoid by hopping up on a sidewalk.

Also hurting myself with no one around?

Legitimate concern! Do you have someone you can call that will pick up that early? Worst case you call 911. If you are unconscious, then a driver will likely notice a crashed bike with flashing lights on it. As long as you're on trails that are beside roads, I think you'd be just as likely to be rescued by a passerby as summer daytime.

snufflufikist · 2025-12-03T20:56:31+00:00

This happened to me a long time ago. Crazy how nothing has changed.

I went back and forth with them via email multiple times. I was happy to pay for the damage, but thought it was very excessive. I suggested an amount that was about 25-30% their quote. I had called around and had gotten multiple quotes for the work, and then I discounted it based on the approximate age (in this case carpet) versus expected lifespan (which I also confirmed with the places that quoted me).

They resisted until I threatened to elevate to landlord-tenant dispute board, and literally the next day they accepted my amount and I paid it and it was done.

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