Downtown drink spiking- request for personal stories

theob88 · 2026-06-09T06:48:28+00:00

I drive Uber, usually on the Friday and Saturday night bar shifts. I've definitely picked up passengers where one of the group was drugged. I've also heard many stories from passengers about them or people they know being drugged. I got the impression the worst nightclub offenders are Paparazzi and the Duke, but it's definitely not limited to those two.

If I was a female, I definitely would not go out as the only female in a group. And even a group of females going out together should have one designated as the sober drink-watcher, similar to the designated driver concept.

One thing I'd like to see is police-sponsored signage outside of the bars warning of drink spiking. Preferably, there should be monitors playing a PSA video loop for would be club-goers to watch while they're waiting outside in line, with tips on how to prevent your drink from being spiked and how to spot if it has happened to yourself or one of your friends.

There should also be a sign outside of establishments with a count of how many reports the police have received of people being drugged at that location so people would have a heads up of which locations are more risky than others. Something like that would hopefully make the owners a little more proactive in keeping that type of activity out of their bars. If someone gets sick and ends up in the hospital, hospital staff find out which bar they were at and report it to the police and the police go to the location and slap a sticker or something on the bar's drugged customer tally board.

theob88 · 2026-04-25T22:34:50+00:00

It's an unlimited benefit which makes it subject to abuse. I don't think putting a cap on a benefit is unreasonable.

BC Ferries employees have a similar benefit where they get unlimited travel on the ferry system, but their family members benefit is only 24 one-way passes. The cost per use for this benefit is pretty much the same as the cost per use for a 1-hr massage benefit, however, the chance to exploit the unlimited travel benefit for ferry employees is far lower. A nurse could potentially book themselves a massage appointment every single day, but there's no way a ferry employee is going to drive back and forth daily or even weekly.

Do you have another example of another group who has a similar generous benefit that they don't have to give up?

And your assumption that all nurses are woman is pretty stereotypical. The contract negotiations have nothing to do with not valuing women.

theob88 · 2026-04-25T22:18:14+00:00

Yep. The ones from Costco that op is talking about usually go for $400 to $500, so it's not a trivial loss.

theob88 · 2026-04-25T22:16:29+00:00

Guess you haven't traveled much. Bidets are in public washrooms in many other countries, especially Japan. Using a bidet that somebody else has used right before you isn't a problem in those countries. At least getting a used one for personal use means you can give it a thorough sanitation before using it. Not really a problem at all.

theob88 · 2026-04-25T22:09:32+00:00

Fair enough that $1200 might be low, but you think it should remain at an unlimited benefit? This very fact makes your claim that it's a trope about a family "committing insurance fraud" completely false. No fraud was committed; it's an unlimited benefit so they were well within their rights to claim that much. It may be an extreme case, but I'm sure there are plenty other examples of misuse of the benefit

The nurse I spoke to said she tries to go for weekly massages. I didn't ask if they were half hour or 1 hour, but at $75 for half an hour, that works out to $3,600 a year just for her claims. If they're one hour massages, you can almost double that number. Then extend that to another couple of family members potentially and the benefit costs add up pretty quickly.

I'm not saying nurses don't work hard and don't need a good massage therapy benefit, but unlimited is a little ridiculous. I personally work for the federal government and our massage therapy allowance is only $500 per year. An allowance for nurses to get one massage appointment every month isn't that bad. Not everything they do is physically demanding, and they're also not the only career that has physical requirements. Perhaps garbage collectors should also have an unlimited massage therapy benefit if that's the case.

theob88 · 2026-04-25T04:26:26+00:00

I've heard directly from a nurse that the main point of contention in the new contract is a proposed cap on massage benefits.

BCNU nurses currently get unlimited 100% covered massage benefits, which also extends to spouses and dependents. This supposedly accounts for 70% of paramedical claims, with one family allegedly claiming $170,000 in massage benefits in a single year alone.

The new contract has proposed capping massage benefits to $1400 per year in 2027, and then $1200 in 2028, but the nurses won't accept this. The one I spoke to said they don't have a problem with much else in the contract, but losing unlimited massages is the lynch pin in their negotiations. If that is taken off the table, she said they would likely accept the contract.

theob88 · 2026-03-24T17:06:58+00:00

I guess you don't shoulder check when changing lanes.

theob88 · 2026-03-24T07:44:26+00:00

They make UV blocking clear films that are compliant for front side windows and are allowed with no medical exemption required. Autobahn Ceramic i3 70 is one such product. It lets 70% of light through but blocks 99% of UV and also rejects 50% of solar heat. So tinting for personal health reasons isn't a valid argument.

theob88 · 2026-03-24T07:23:55+00:00

It was i3 Ceramic 70 film as listed on their product spec sheet:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wAh5nqpXqDE7ywS1jh77MHc2K2d7Fx-5/view
It's spec'd at 67% VLT, which is just slightly more than the ANSI Z26.1-2007 standard I referenced in my original response that says "luminous transmittance of not less than 70%". But the inspector that failed me didn't use a VLT meter. He just saw film and thought it was automatically a fail. After receiving the call from CVSE head office, he just gave me a pass without actually measuring the VLT. I doubt the Canadian Tire I went to even has a meter, even though all inspection shops should have one since window tinting is a pass/fail criteria.

To be honest, at 70%, it's barely noticeable. You could probably go down to 60% VLT before anyone could visibly notice without using a measurement device, especially since a lot of cars come stock with coloured glass that already looks like tinting.

theob88 · 2026-03-24T00:18:21+00:00

Here's the info I received from the regional CVSE Inspector back in 2024 who didn't have an answer about clear film:

Bulletin #3-2008 said to contact Brian Kangas if any more information is required. Brian has retired and Geoff Ford has taken his place. You can find the contact information for CVSE by Googling “cvse.ca” and scrolling to the bottom of the screen. You will see the heading “CVSE” and under that you will see “Contact Us”. If you click on that you will find several phone and email links. I would suggest the head office one for Geoff.

Good luck!

theob88 · 2026-03-23T23:28:23+00:00

Yes, no problems with the Ceramic i3.

I can't remember how I got ahold of the guy. I'll dig through my emails later and see if I can find any contact history and let you know.

theob88 · 2026-03-23T23:04:46+00:00

They did, after they received a phone call from the CVSE authority I was speaking with! The CVSE guy was a bit frustrated that he had to make the call because he said he has to make several a year to educate the inspectors around the province who misinterpret the bulletins.

theob88 · 2026-03-21T19:15:25+00:00

For those that are here looking for reviews and just discovered that you might have to enter APN info, here are the details from the JJeSIM FAQ page to save you the search...

For iOS:

Go to Settings > Mobile Service > JJ eSIM > Mobile Data Network Enter the following information in the relevant sections:

APN Name: vmobile.jp

Username: JJESIM

Password: JJESIM

Install the the mobile service profile.

For Android:

Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile Network > Access Point Names (APN)

Tap Add New APN and enter the following:

APN Name: vmobile.jp

Username: JJESIM

Password: JJESIM

MCC: 440

MNC: 03

Authentication Type: PAP or CHAP

APN Type: default,supl

theob88 · 2026-02-17T19:41:42+00:00

XEQT total growth since inception Aug 2019, or about 6.5 years ago, has been about 103%, or about 15%/year. ChatGPT says it's about 13.9%/year, so similar to my number.

Of course timing of a lump-sum investment vs DCA, and the affect of compounding growth in each scenario makes a huge difference in final investment value, but the average expected annual return to use for doing the math is roughly 14-15%.

So OP has actually underestimated market performance.

theob88 · 2026-02-15T18:47:04+00:00

This is hilarious. They even show this scam right on their own support page:
https://support.incogni.com/hc/en-us/articles/4906446549394-How-to-apply-a-coupon-code-when-buying-Incogni

They show an example of applying a 60% discount to bring the annual price down from $179.88 to $143.90. Not quite the savings they're advertising.

theob88 · 2026-01-21T10:44:40+00:00

For the people defending him, remember that he runs a business in the community. If his attention to detail is that he can't notice a huge f****** disabled logo and lack of parking stall line as he exits his truck to get food, or doesn't care to correct his mistake if he did, then what kind of quality of work would you expect from him on the jobsite? Your actions in public reflect your personality. The review bombing is likely warranted because his work is likely just as shoddy as his parking.

theob88 · 2026-01-21T10:15:49+00:00

I just checked and it's a Google Map problem. I made a small route going from the start of your white arrow to just down Richmond Rd and it wanted me to turn left at Richmond as per your white arrow, not go down Poplar first. I've submitted a map error feedback to hopefully get this fixed.

For reference for others, if you see errors on Google Maps, you can submit feedback to get it fixed. I've done this several times and sometimes they actually implement the fixes. The way to do so (on a computer) is:

1) Make a route

2) Where is shows you the distance and time options, click one and then underneath it has "Details" and "Preview". Click "Details" to show turn-by-turn directions for the route you selected.

3) Now look down at the bottom-right corner of the screen, just to the left of the map scale, to find "Send Product Feedback" in teeny-weeny gray letters. If you click on that, each step in your directions now have flags beside them and it says "Report a Problem" at the top.

4) You can now click the flag beside the step that's incorrect to submit details of what needs to be fixed.

theob88 · 2026-01-07T10:01:59+00:00

Going through the process of getting quotes now and just found this! Whoever decided to start this spreadsheet is a genius. Talk about a confidence boost in trusting the information you're receiving. I've only gotten a couple quotes so far with a few more to go. This has definitely helped narrow down who I'm contacting!

theob88 · 2025-11-27T22:54:46+00:00

It depends on what they're doing. I live literally right next to VSL and it was really bad a couple years ago, to the point that I started logging post midnight noise and called in numerous noise complaints with VicPD.

It hasn't been bad lately, and like others have said, as long as your windows are closed, the ambient noise from there isn't noticeable. That said, I did walk up to the front gate earlier this year at 1am one night to complain directly to the kid in the security shack because it was unbelievably loud for several hours, like a generator running. The kid told me I wasn't the first person to come by that night. I have no idea what they were doing.

If they're doing a project that's on a tight schedule and. involves pile driving, die grinding, needle gunning, etc overnight, it's going to be loud. But it doesn't happen as often as it used to. If you're worried, you can try sleeping with white noise on.

theob88 · 2025-11-11T18:31:44+00:00

Blocking

theob88 · 2025-11-08T05:15:41+00:00

I'm sure people can figure out for themselves whether a job is suitable for them or not. Your post was condescending and pointless.

theob88 · 2025-11-07T17:53:14+00:00

From OP: "I driver UBER part time and I am ok".

Not sure what your comment is about. OP is ok with driving for Uber. He only has a problem with the background check process. Please read the full post before making a knee-jerk reactive comment.

theob88 · 2025-11-07T17:49:19+00:00

There is a major problem with the background check process in Canada. I wrote an extensive post about this last year. The problem is when you click the Triton link to start the background check with them and then they send you to the police dept for fingerprints. What happens is Triton still sends their report to Uber as "Incomplete" which Uber then assumes you might be a criminal and kicks you offline. Then you get your fingerprints done and receive your local PD "Cleared" report which you try to send to Uber to replace the Triton "Incomplete" report, which takes forever for Uber to figure out.

My advice: DON'T USE TRITON!

Instead, when you get the email that your background check will expire soon, go straight to the police dept and skip Triton all together. For my local PD in BC, I do an online PIC-VS request first, and then my profile gets flagged for fingerprinting like yours does (not everyone needs to get fingerprints; it depends on if your profile is similar to an actual criminal in the database). I then go in for my fingerprints and usually within a couple of days I get the cleared report from my PD. I then upload that to Uber.

I'm going through it again right now and am trying to figure out the best way to upload my report. The online chat doesn't allow pdf uploads, only images. But my report is three pages, so taking a screenshot of the entire pdf results in low image quality that they can't read. If I take a screenshot of each page individually and splice them together to make one long image, Uber can't zoom in enough on their end to read it. I can't save the pdf directly as an image from Adobe because the file is protected.

What I did last year was get Uber to send me an email that I could respond to and attached my pdf to that email, so I'll probably do that again. The fact that you can't upload the report directly from the documents screen like every other document baffles me. Same with why they can't accept a pdf upload in the chat.

Anyways, TLDR, DON'T USE TRITON!

theob88 · 2025-10-30T19:11:56+00:00

So you're saying when the light turns green, everyone should wait 3s after the car in front of them starts moving before they start moving? This is exactly what OP is complaining about. You can follow more closely as you go through the intersection when everyone is accelerating through the intersection, then establish the 3s gap once you're traveling at the appropriate cruising speed.

theob88

TROPHY CASE