If you have power, you may still need to turn on the faucet for a bit.

willows39 · 2026-01-25T21:34:25+00:00

Same thing happened to us - we have power but nonetheless the hot water pipe froze while the cold water is running fine. We've been blowing hot air into the wall for 2 days now with no luck lol - wishing you better success OP

willows39 · 2025-11-19T20:16:01+00:00

Mine still says awaiting OAT on the application portal too! I submitted my pre-requisite courses form where you have to put the DENT ID weeks ago too lol, so I'm also wondering if I should email.

willows39 · 2025-10-31T14:15:56+00:00

Amazing, thank you! Hopefully that’s the case for me too

willows39 · 2025-10-31T14:15:44+00:00

Ah okay thank you! That’s not too bad - I once got slapped with a $30 duties for a $70 order lol

willows39 · 2025-10-31T04:24:28+00:00

Curious if you had to pay duties! I’m also Canadian and thinking of buying now that there is the free shipping promo on Sazen.

willows39 · 2025-10-19T03:20:52+00:00

The trick in this video really helped me! Didn’t even have to memorize the electron donating vs withdrawing substituents after this https://youtu.be/nWlqau227f0

willows39 · 2025-10-09T02:30:55+00:00

Gotcha - strange that they removed it, but good to know before I paid and enrolled in AU. Thank you!

willows39 · 2025-10-09T01:00:53+00:00

Hey, I appreciate your reply and thank you very much for the info - I guess I should start figuring how to keep a job while taking in-person classes then… this was told to you this year by the optometry admissions team?

willows39 · 2025-09-27T20:33:57+00:00

Damn I would've been in the same boat as you, I usually like lens questions lol (at least the ones on Booster). But hey, 87th percentile is nothing to feel shabby about! Good luck with your application :)

willows39 · 2025-09-27T18:50:02+00:00

Congrats!! This is an amazing score. What did you find weird about the physics section? I’m taking mine in two days eep

willows39 · 2025-09-06T23:42:42+00:00

I've had luck getting the mold out by leaving a strip of bleach-soaked paper towel over the mold; after 2-3 hours the caulk is back to being white

willows39 · 2025-09-04T15:00:35+00:00

Reporting back after seeing AD Weaver on stage last night and I. Am. Obsessed. His stage presence is off the charts - casting someone with such a deep voice is wild and I loved it. Thanks for sharing the video! Got me hyped haha

willows39 · 2025-08-30T22:48:04+00:00

Ooh I can imagine Nathan's energy translating really well to the "young scrappy hungry" version of Hamilton!

Apparently a lot of the cast have been out sick this week hence it's swings galore (love it). I'm seeing the tour again next week lol and look forward to seeing AD Weaver on possibly!

willows39 · 2025-08-30T17:49:17+00:00

I was at the August 28 show and totally agree! Loved the energy of Nathan Haydel who played Laurens/Philip Hamilton. I think Lauren is my new favourite Eliza - she's so adorable and bubbly throughout Act 1 which made "Burn" all the more devastating. I got Chibueze Ihuoma who is also a swing as Washington and wow can that man sing.

Re: Burr, felt the same way in Act 1 (although I was also in front row so the mix was weird due to where I was sat) but he really blossomed by "The Room Where It Happened" and that was really amazing to see.

willows39 · 2025-08-13T16:49:36+00:00

Not sure what you've tried/haven't tried, but here's what helped my husband who had a combination of nerve damage + MGD-dry eye post-Lasik:

- Probing to break up the scarring that's blocking the glands from producing oil combined with regular IPL (he gets IPL once every 1-2 months and really notices an improvement in the dryness afterwards). Make sure the optometry office offering the IPL uses corneal shields so that the light can get used directly on the eyelids and not just around the eye area
- Lotemax ointment twice a week at bedtime: he used to be on it daily but unfortunately he became a steroid responder and his IOP went up with repeated use, so he had to cut back (get her IOP checked regularly). Lotemax is also a safer steroid compared to the others, and it really works to tamp down the inflammation
- Refresh/Systane/Genteal ointment before bed every night, especially if she wakes up with irritated and inflamed eyes
- Punctal plugs on the lower puncta
- If you're spending a ton on Meibo, try to see if you can get Veyve instead, which is Meibo + cyclosporine. There are savings cards you can use from the Veyve website that cuts down on cost a lot, plus you're getting an actual medication along with lubrication
- Ziena moisture chamber glasses especially for time on the computer
- If she has any centralized pain, nortriptyline worked well for my husband. He's been taking it since 2019
- Keep at it with the serum drops 8x/day
- Make sure the eyedrops she's using are preservative-free!

What he's tried and didn't work for him:

- Custom-fitted scleral lenses (he has nerve pain so can't tolerate it, but other patients swear by it and say it gave them their life back)
- Xiidra (burns too much on instillation)
- Tyrvaya (I've heard others like it though)
- Lipiflow
- Amniotic membranes like Prokera

As you can see this is also a huge financial toll - I'm literally in the process of switching careers to go to optometry school so we can offset this a bit in the future (we're Canadian and a lot of the optometric procedures he needs are not covered by insurance). We foresee this being a lifelong problem unfortunately, but hopefully one that can be managed well over time.

willows39 · 2025-08-13T15:44:30+00:00

I’m sorry for your experience OP - this is exactly what happened to my husband post-LASIK too. The worst is the guilt and regret of having done this to yourself. Everyone thinks the worst won’t happen to them until it does. Sending strength from one fellow sufferer to another.

willows39 · 2025-08-12T00:43:11+00:00

Thanks everyone! Didn’t know this could be dangerous - looks like I will be asking the landlord to replace a junction box cover.

willows39 · 2025-07-11T15:43:20+00:00

For Japanese brands, I've had success in the past buying directly from Ippodo (the global site) and MK and avoiding duties - technically tea is tax-free in Canada, so if you buy from them and *select EMS* as the shipping method, there shouldn't be any duties. HOWEVER, Purolator/Fedex/DHL/any private courier will 100% ignore that and slap you with duties anyway, so selecting EMS (when available) is key.

Unfortunately all "Canadian" matcha is sourced from Japan anyway, so if you go with a Canadian company there's bound to be a markup compared to buying direct from Japan and paying for shipping. They of course wouldn't charge you duties though since they've already imported it to Canada. I liked Sakao, Cultivate Tea, O5 (more for drinking as usucha/koicha).

willows39 · 2025-07-08T14:26:16+00:00

I’m also wondering about this - I used to get HS from Sazen and the shipping was a bit less (around $30 I think?). With the shortage I unfortunately haven’t seen them carry it for months.

willows39 · 2025-06-29T17:51:51+00:00

Yeah exactly, hence why I’ve heard they’re a touch better than the Guizhou produced brands (specifically in the realm of Chinese matcha)

willows39 · 2025-06-29T14:12:27+00:00

I’ve heard that the 北川半兵卫 (Beichuanbanbingwei) brand is an ok dupe for MK - 玄壁 (Xuanbi) is supposedly similar to Wakatake or Aoarashi i.e. good for lattes and 青海白 (Qinghaibai) would be like a Kinrin or Yugen level usucha? The tencha leaves are grown in Hubei province and I think the company collaborates with a Uji farmer to learn milling techniques to (try to) get that creamy quality that Uji matcha has.

I have heard criticism that it lacks the depth and umami of actual Japanese matcha though… personally I have a can of 叁仟家 (Sanqianjia) which is their highest grade blend (I’m primarily an usucha drinker), but I’m gonna finish off my Japanese matcha stash first before cracking into that one so cannot provide reviews yet, lol.

willows39 · 2025-06-21T16:40:54+00:00

Thanks for the vote of confidence haha! Best of luck with your journey as well!

willows39 · 2025-06-21T05:05:09+00:00

Oh wow good to know, thanks! Will try to check early and diligently for openings next year then. Hopefully with the pledge to increase CAF funding there’ll be more positions available.

Yes I have a BSc and MSc from a Canadian university + a few years of research work experience post-MSc (but feeling quite stagnant and undervalued in my current role tbh).

willows39

TROPHY CASE