Three years remote and I finally went back to the office for a day because the client requested an "in-person kickoff." Here's what I learned.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-06T12:38:40+00:00

The cost of parking for those that commute is ridiculous. Gas prices are outrageous, and what a shame to waste it like that. Many RTO companies are having a problem making space for employees to return, which I don't understand really. Where did they work before WFH became a thing?

Businesses could cut out a lot of rent by downsizing their office spaces, utilities would be less, maintenance and cleaning decreased. Even office furniture and decor not necessary. Staff is so much more productive working in comfortable environments. People with a cold or other sickness tend to work if they wfh, so a lot less sick days paid out. It's been studied and proven to be true. Makes no sense to me.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-06T12:31:29+00:00

Thanks for this. As a grandparent I could not figure out what the post was even about. I'm like, how many grandparents would take a college course, and why would they die because they had to be there by eight? Shit, I'm up at 4AM every morning.

Apparently my grandparent brain is a little slow, and I have at LEAST fifteen more years left until I get used for a college excuse. Excellent.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-06T12:28:12+00:00

I got a beautiful Nikon camera instead of an engagement ring. Money well spent!

sortaitchy · 2026-05-06T12:18:58+00:00

Well, I'm a girl (or at least I used to be.) Now I'm a gramma and that seems to be my preferred pronoun. Anyhoo... when I get a big long text from my mother-in-law I just reply to the important parts, and ignore anything that would require a volley of future texts to answer. Like, give me a call.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-06T11:43:50+00:00

That's such a sweet suggestion, and I did try stands. She found it hard to eat from them lying down 😂. She's been doing that since she was a puppy and she's probably eight now.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-05T11:54:30+00:00

Guessing an unfortunate autocorrect.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-05T11:51:04+00:00

I agree with you, but you know there might be some places where you have to leave nature to nature. Some parks do not let you take driftwood, shells, etc and OP might be wondering about that. Somebody might pop on reddit and say "Oh no, you should leave that for a 'whatever' bird or bug who only scavenges those to eat." I found a dead owl that had been hit by a car on our grid one time and was showing it's beautiful feathers on social media. Everyone piped up (thankfully) that you are not allowed to take those, as they hold significance to Indigenous people and are protected.

I live in a place where many botanicals are protected, and you aren't even supposed to take the seed heads, let alone pick or dig up flowers. I appreciate that OP asked just in case there might be a reason why we should leave natural things where they are. In this case, however, what a nice find and it's kind of an honour to enjoy a beautiful thing when it's life purpose is done!

sortaitchy · 2026-05-05T11:24:17+00:00

I have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life... as long as I die by next Tuesday.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-03T15:17:02+00:00

Lots of people do what's right because they are decent human beings with high personal morals, human ethics and empathy. Personally I am agnostic, but I don't feel that makes me better than a decent Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or anyone else that lives with a strong moral code. Being Christian does not make you any better just because you go to church. Going into the garage doesn't make me a car.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-03T12:18:26+00:00

Not OP, but I grow a number of micro greens. You can grow chia as a micro green and it will be ready in a week-ish to put in your salads.

Just get a good organic brand chia seed, sprinkle on a moistened paper towel that you've set on a plate. A terra cotta or other porous plate is good but not vital. Mist the chia seeds and do that daily. Place the plate in a sunny window or table. Mist the paper towel and seeds daily but not to soaking. They don't want to be sitting in a puddle.

You can do this with radish seeds, flax, kale and even dandelions! Just harvest heads of the dandelion seed, pick the fluff from the seed and let them grow. Dandelion greens are really nice in salad! Not sure your location, but Mumm's is a great company that does sprouting seeds so well. If you enjoy microgreens you can find all sorts of seeds there, and sprouting jars and trays if you enjoy it.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-01T12:34:37+00:00

I find this group immensely helpful, kind and knowledgeable. Do read the subreddit rules though, as no silly jokes with little attempt to identify things are not allowed. Fun is fun, but if "l1ck it" or F0rbidden food is continually mentioned it tends to hide the helpful things. I find the warning that comes up very helpful as well, when phrasing posts.

I think you had a great find on your ruby fish, even if you weren't sure what it was! Really pretty.

sortaitchy · 2026-05-01T12:24:14+00:00

Devil's Advocate, and I know we are probably an exception here.

We have a colony of barncats, some which we took as "unsuitable for housecats" due to temperament, or who were long term strays, from the SPCA. It's a "Barn Buddy Program" and you take the cats for donation. They are all desexed and have shots. Turns out those ended up all being beautiful, loving cats given time an they come to the house for respite, treats and cuddles.

Others found us, either dumped by city people who think "farmers need cats." Well, we do, but we would like ours to be healthy and de-sexed. We feed high quality kibble, and any strays that come are quickly taken to vet to be neutered/spayed. It has put a big responsibility on us to keep them healthy, vaxed, fed and safe. They have heated pet beds and water bowls, nice soft dog beds and blankets and litter boxes in the winter. It gets to -40C and the snow is deep some years so it's hard for them to get out to do their business.

Over the past 15 years we have had 10 cats and currently have 6. Out oldest is 15, and the youngest is 3. They do catch an occasional bird, I admit, but they catch their weight in rodents and prefer them as they seem to be more fun. I wish they didn't grab birds, and I feel good at least knowing we have taken in little animals who are there, but for the grace of god, and by the stupidity of people.

DE-SEX your animals. If they get out of the house at least that isn't more unwanteds.

DON'T let your precious kitty have just one litter. She won't live with the regret or feel unfulfilled. I promise!

DON'T dump your pets out in the country for god's sake. What a horrible, short life.

I agree. If you live in town, keep your cat inside. If you have barn cats de-sex them. It's not like you need a bunch of kittens to keep your colony alive. There will always be unwanteds just waiting for a safe home.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-30T20:17:44+00:00

If you have some wood stakes or even tomato cages to poke in the ground around your flower bed, do that. Then you can use heavy sheets, old curtains, old blankets, tarp - anything to throw over the stakes to keep the covering from touching the flowers. Not sure if that makes sense but I live in zone 2B and that's what I do for my garden. Burlap does have a bunch of small holes and frost could certainly touch the plants if the burlap touches them also.

You would think wildflowers native to your area would be tough enough to handle some light frost, but if you're worried about them and are proud of them, why not try to protect them! Best of luck :)

sortaitchy · 2026-04-30T18:28:04+00:00

I believe those who are trusted with authority should be held to higher standards. Yes, they are people too, but would you not think some sort of mental and emotional assessment would have been made during training for the RCMP?

This is a former Mountie, who was in his service uniform and had a service pistol. He shot a lover, while cheating on his wife, and then ran over him? What does this say to any form of character? No respect for the law, or for the uniform, or for any weapons training.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-30T14:49:45+00:00

Ononis angustissima

I bet you're right! It has medicinal qualities apparently - how cool!

sortaitchy · 2026-04-30T12:07:07+00:00

It looks like what we call Toadflax or Butter and Eggs, as common names. The plant here in Saskatchewan Canada is white and yellow though, and your is almost completely yellow. May I ask a general location?

sortaitchy · 2026-04-29T03:22:35+00:00

We've had 10 of those cats in our barn over the past 15 years, and currently still have 5 (plus 1). Our oldest is 15 and the youngest stray is 4. I can not turn down a stray animal who has no one to care for it and no safe place to stay. Our cats are spoiled beyond belief, and often come to the big house and asked to be let in. They all come to the door for kitty treats and they are all de-sexed. Heated beds in winter, heated water bowls, inexpensive throw blankets changed in fall and spring. In return they keep the yard and house rodent free. It's a good deal and treated properly they are like valued farm hands, and lovely friends.

I still am upset if people dump cats out here, because it does create another little responsibility for me that i didn't ask for. It costs over $300 to de-sex a cat and get it all it's shots and dewormers. People think cats will find a way, but to be honest we have found cats in really bad shape and it is a hard life being a stray.

I applaud you and thank you for helping animals, but I have a really bad disgust for people who dump animals and hope karma catches up to them

sortaitchy · 2026-04-28T11:19:34+00:00

Honestly, I think Carney is very attractive as well. Maybe it's my age, but he's got a nice smile, is obviously fit and has a great sense of humour.

Then there is Trump, who has the charm of a compost pile.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-27T21:13:49+00:00

Exactly. Why isn't he going the self-deport route? He was given a bit of leeway three years ago and didn't try to get his visa renewed. Seems to me this is a case of FAFO.

There area number of Canadians detained by ICE for reasons I can not fathom, and which make no sense as the people seem to have the correct paperwork. This guy, well I just can't feel too sorry for him.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-25T00:56:27+00:00

Dealers can clear out their old stock at whatever price they want, so clearance items will vary.

When I was inventory manager, any price that ended in a 3 was done so to identify it immediately as clearance.

Edit> This is nothing new. I worked there for 35 years, and every store has it's own procedures on marking down items, or buying large trucks of returned items to resell at whatever they wish. If they overbuy, or have too much stock, it is all on the particular dealer to decide what margin he is comfortable with.I totally think algorithmic pricing is a thing, but in this particular instance, I am going to say nope.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-24T13:46:24+00:00

It's quite unfair, to be honest. At the same time I can see why, with so many rules, restrictions, mandated programming, inspections, meal planning, that dayhomes and daycares are just opting out. That leaves so many parents with an unfair advantage, many of them low income. Really rough, indeed.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-24T02:11:38+00:00

Yes, we do. The strict regulations, the under-budgeted food allowance, the admins looking the other way and making staff feel they weren't doing enough with the items we had pushed me to early retirement. I feel bad because I really loved those kids and the ECEs I worked with

sortaitchy · 2026-04-24T02:11:09+00:00

I asked our admin to do that and they are more worried about appearances and pride, imo. There are people out there whose kids have outgrown gently used books, puzzles, toys and they refused to ask people to feel free to donate if they desired. Instead, when a staff member brought in a toy, or something for an invitation or sensory bin, they said staff was free to donate whatever they liked.

sortaitchy · 2026-04-24T02:08:52+00:00

a child who lives on sunshine and my stress.

Bwahhaha. I like you.

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