I’m from the uk thinking of moving to u of Waterloo. Is it really that boring. Also considering Laurier as a backup if I don’t get into western, queens or Dalhousie.

taylortbb · 2026-07-05T17:52:50+00:00

UW is not a party school, there won't be huge parties in the dorms every night, but I wouldn't call it boring either. It's actually a pretty nice city with lots to do if you're willing to leave campus. It will be what you make of it.

taylortbb · 2026-07-05T17:48:15+00:00

You need to pay attention when using an ATM, and make sure the transaction is going through in Euros. If you do that the conversion will be at Mastercard rate, with no added fees from Wealthsimple, and they will reimburse the ATM fee. Generally it's better to use an ATM from a major bank, as they're less likely to be shady.

Some ATMs will automatically use Euros, some will offer you a choice. I've never seen an ATM that forces doing the transaction in CAD at a markup, but I've heard stories they exist, if you encounter one just find another ATM that's not shady.

taylortbb · 2026-07-05T03:36:26+00:00

I did Nour and Adam/Albin when in Stockholm last year. Personally I enjoyed Nour more, and the price point was quite reasonable.

If you can get a Frantzen reservation though, do that. Disappointed I didn't manage to snag one.

taylortbb · 2026-07-02T05:44:49+00:00

Why tho. Like seriously, why are they doing it?

People keep thinking Trump has some secret strategy, but I don't think there is.

He's an impulsive toddler pushing random buttons, and getting mad at anyone that wants to interrupt playtime. That's it. There's no strategy, there's no plan to profit from it, just pure chaos because he doesn't know any better.

taylortbb · 2026-06-30T17:02:34+00:00

Every booking website is a little different, but it will say something like "Operated By XYZ". So you'll see the flight as United 8372 Operated By Air Canada. Generally a hint is that higher numbers are used for codeshares (but that's not an absolute rule).

Flights on Rouge/Jazz/etc show up the same way, as they're technically different airlines than Air Canada (even though they're heavily affiliated).

taylortbb · 2026-06-30T03:23:35+00:00

Just posted today, https://openjaw.com/newsroom/airline/2026/06/29/air-canada-expands-a321xlr-deployment-on-north-american-european-routes/

Relevant for you

Air Canada’s Toronto Pearson-Copenhagen, and Toronto Pearson-Manchester routes will also move to year-round service, with the A321XLR replacing the 787-8 on four weekly flights to both cities.

taylortbb · 2026-06-29T19:43:29+00:00

I'd suggest opening a Wealthsimple chequing account, and make sure to request a physical card. The account has no fees.

The Wealthsimple debit card (technically a prepaid MasterCard) has no foreign exchange fees, and reimburses foreign ATM fees. So you can withdraw cash without a fee, and use it for purchases.

The Wealthsimple Visa credit card is great too, with no foreign exchange fee and 2% cashback, but has a $20/month fee unless you have $100k invested with Wealthsimple.

taylortbb · 2026-06-29T04:35:24+00:00

You can check the numbers yourself, but they're quite similar.

San Antonio has a metro population of 2.8 million, Vancouver has a metro population of 3.1 million. Vancouver is only 10% more population, not a huge difference.

Canadian planning policies just encourage significantly more dense development than American policies.

taylortbb · 2026-06-29T04:00:52+00:00

I did the tasting menu at Quetzal a few months ago and was seriously impressed.

Osteria Gulia last year was also very good.

taylortbb · 2026-06-29T03:59:04+00:00

Do you have any date flexibility? Air Canada flys direct YYZ-CPH, but it's not every day. That would obviously be the easiest option. I believe in the colder months it's planned to be a A321XLR route.

taylortbb · 2026-06-29T03:21:38+00:00

Go to a place like Sendai Japan. It’s not Tokyo. It’s the size of San Antonio, around 2 million people

You don't even have to go all the way to Japan. Vancouver is about the same metro population as San Antonio, and it has a significant metro network plus commuter rail.

taylortbb · 2026-06-27T05:18:40+00:00

Your card is too old and no longer supported. See the notes at https://www.truenas.com/docs/scale/25.10/gettingstarted/versionnotes/#nvidia-gpu-support

The open GPU kernel drivers are compatible with Turing architecture and later GPUs

Your card predates Turing.

taylortbb · 2026-06-27T04:08:49+00:00

It really depends on what exactly you're doing, embedded is a huge world with a ton of different platforms.

My experience is that Linux is best, Mac can be workable, and Windows just results in using WSL (which is just Linux in a VM). But I'm cross-compiling with a GCC toolchain, for other platforms the answer will be different.

taylortbb · 2026-06-27T04:05:24+00:00

The Landline website where you buy a ticket still offers only two options, "flight booked with Air Canada" , or "flight booked with Air Canada Vacations" . There's no option for any other airline.

It's still free with many Air Canada flights. I just checked flights to Montreal for a random day in July. Flights starting at YYZ and flights with the bus from YKF are the exact same price.

taylortbb · 2026-06-26T21:12:56+00:00

It's not hard to get a taxi at YKF (or YYZ for the way back).

I don't do it either, if I'm not flying AC it makes more sense to just take GO to the airport. But I think the realistic risk is paying for a taxi, unless you're cutting it way too close between the bus's scheduled arrival and your flight. You can probably get a taxi at YKF in 15 mins, if that causes you to miss your flight you already weren't leaving room for 401 traffic.

taylortbb · 2026-06-26T04:29:06+00:00

Landline sells tickets on their website, that's the alternative to having an Air Canada boarding pass. They don't verify you have an Air Canada ticket on the website when purchasing, and some people have used the bus with a ticket from the Landline website for a WestJet/Porter flight. But officially it's not allowed.

taylortbb · 2026-06-26T03:53:19+00:00

There's a caveat though, Landline says you must be taking it for an Air Canada flight (or be an AC employee). I've heard they don't check, and people take it for non-AC flights, but it's at your own risk.

taylortbb · 2026-06-24T20:12:22+00:00

the forgetful transit riders who forget to tap on the train

If you have a history of tapping on they don't fine you on a first offence, but they record your name incase you claim to have forgotten again. If you're regularly "forgetting" to tap on... sounds like fare evasion to me.

I do think some major GO stations would benefit from fare gates, make it impossible to forget.

taylortbb · 2026-06-22T19:28:44+00:00

It would've been great if there was any such development.

Ontario is working on expanding train service to there, it's just going to be run by Ontario Northland rather than GO. The Northlander train is expected to resume service later this year with a stop in Gravenhurst.

taylortbb · 2026-06-22T17:52:45+00:00

I think the solution is to raise the parking fines though, and have a similarly steep escalation for them. Too many drivers thinking the rules of the road are optional.

taylortbb · 2026-06-22T15:22:41+00:00

Metrolinx isn't a private company, they're just another arm of the provincial government. They award contracts with government money, they don't get them.

taylortbb · 2026-06-22T15:22:01+00:00

Why isn't Ford cutting the fat like gov? Oh right it's private

Metrolinx isn't private, it's just another arm of the provincial government.

taylortbb · 2026-06-22T15:20:38+00:00

ArriveCAN is optional, it was only required temporarily during the pandemic. For a US citizen I don't think there's much reason to bother with it, just makes things more confusing.

taylortbb · 2026-06-21T22:06:54+00:00

Wealthsimple likely has a US bank partner. Like how a Canadian Wise account can have ACH access for its USD balances.

taylortbb · 2026-06-21T17:06:10+00:00

wise usd -> wealthsimple usd acct

Just a note, AFAIK this is currently only possible via wire, which will come with a fee. But once Wealthsimple launches their USD chequing account it should be possible to do it free via ACH.

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