You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by 81MC

Wait wait wait…is this smoking prop being a cool look thing a joke, or are people seriously finding the look a cigarette cool?

I think it looks cool. I feel cooler with it, too.

Not a joke, though. Kind of a sad tale, really.

I started with real cigarettes...I'd just light one and then extinguish it right away. Smell reminds me of my long-gone dad. Started doing this last year when my mom got cancer. Was nice to have the smell there to sort of have my dad help me out. But a lit-then-extinguished cigarette leaves tobacco bits everywhere, plus the filter end gets kinda nasty after a while from being in your mouth since a cigarette would last me a few weeks before I'd break it or drop it or something. So I moved onto prop cigarettes. They last basically forever, although they don't have the smell, which is fine because now I just like the cigarette in my mouth. I'll probably stop at some point, but for now it's nice for me. Truly an adult soother for poor little Sliver.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think it looks cool. I feel cooler with it, too.

Not a joke, though. Kind of a sad tale, really.

I started with real cigarettes...I'd just light one and then extinguish it right away. Smell reminds me of my long-gone dad. Started doing this last year when my mom got cancer. Was nice to have the smell there to sort of have my dad help me out. But a lit-then-extinguished cigarette leaves tobacco bits everywhere, plus the filter end gets kinda nasty after a while from being in your mouth since a cigarette would last me a few weeks before I'd break it or drop it or something. So I moved onto prop cigarettes. They last basically forever, although they don't have the smell, which is fine because now I just like the cigarette in my mouth. I'll probably stop at some point, but for now it's nice for me. Truly an adult soother for poor little Sliver.

I'm gonna be straight with you man (if this is true): you definitely don't look cooler or more badass, to anyone. The opposite, in fact.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

I'm gonna be straight with you man (if this is true): you definitely don't look cooler, to anyone. The opposite, in fact.

There's no way that's true. Objectively speaking, cigarettes look cool. Also objectively speaking, they feel cool.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by 81MC

Wait wait wait…is this smoking prop being a cool look thing a joke, or are people seriously finding the look a cigarette cool?

I get where Sliver is coming from. I'll pretend the chupachup lollipop stick is a cig after finishing the candy. There's something interesting and fun in those actions. I don't know why, it just feels that way.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Sliver

There's no way that's true. Objectively speaking, cigarettes look cool. Also objectively speaking, they feel cool.

Yes, but this only applies to real ones.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Yes, but this only applies to real ones.

You honestly cannot tell my prop cigarettes aren't real. They're really neat that way.

But, I mean, I'm not a smoker. Smoking is super dumb because of the cost and health consequences, so don't get me wrong here. They're still a vibe, though.

[Titan2]

Freud would like to have a conversation with you guys...

[Matata]

I love party cigarettes, often the funnest times at a party happen in the smoke pit and only having a handful of cigarettes a year makes them quite potent with a nice buzz.

[bc-chris]

running a hockey team can rgmg

our men's league starts up next week and i just found out that 3 of my full time guys from last year are now not coming back... really... did you just make this decision now.... nope... just forgot to tell you. now i'm scrambling to find guys.

i don't know what fees for hockey are like in calgary, but i think it's ridiculous here in kelowna.
$775 per guy plus if you are new to the team you also need home & away jerseys & socks. maybe i'm just old, but to me, $775 is a lot to pay to play on poor to bad ice, have awful ice times (apparently this season we now get the privilege of games starting as late as 11:30pm), have a lukewarm shower (if you're lucky and it's not ice cold), have pathetically small change rooms (barely fits 9 guys... just great when you have a full roster) and when we get stuck playing downtown we also have to pay to park.

i think i would have folded the team years ago (this is our 14th season) but i really do love the guys on my team - good guys for the most part... except when they don't bother telling you they aren't playing this season and it starts next week!

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

running a hockey team can rgmg

our men's league starts up next week and i just found out that 3 of my full time guys from last year are now not coming back... really... did you just make this decision now.... nope... just forgot to tell you. now i'm scrambling to find guys.

i don't know what fees for hockey are like in calgary, but i think it's ridiculous here in kelowna.
$775 per guy plus if you are new to the team you also need home & away jerseys & socks. maybe i'm just old, but to me, $775 is a lot to pay to play on poor to bad ice, have awful ice times (apparently this season we now get the privilege of games starting as late as 11:30pm), have a lukewarm shower (if you're lucky and it's not ice cold), have pathetically small change rooms (barely fits 9 guys... just great when you have a full roster) and when we get stuck playing downtown we also have to pay to park.

i think i would have folded the team years ago (this is our 14th season) but i really do love the guys on my team - good guys for the most part... except when they don't bother telling you they aren't playing this season and it starts next week!

Did they say they were coming back and now they're not? Or you haven't talked to them since last season? If it's the first one, I think that's very disingenuous.

It's possible they're also annoyed by all the same things you mentioned with the times, showers, parking, etc.

[jayswin]

I don't mean to criticize but I've never ran or played on any team where fees aren't due mid summer for winter season. I mean maybe it's a function of your beer league in Kelowna that teams fees aren't due well in advance?

But even if they weren't I'd still have a drop dead date of like August 1 if you start early September. Our league starts registration in like June for September winter league and then fees are due July-ish.

Having guys inform you a week before the season starts that they won't be playing means you're too nice/relaxed on fee collection

[jayswin]

I do like that most calgary leagues have taken the pressure and hassle off gms now a days. Now players register directly for the team they'll play on and upon registration they pay online, directly to the league.

Takes all the annoyance and awkwardness away from the gm "Oh sorry, looks like you didn't register and pay on time so they didn't put you on the team".

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

running a hockey team can rgmg

our men's league starts up next week and i just found out that 3 of my full time guys from last year are now not coming back... really... did you just make this decision now.... nope... just forgot to tell you. now i'm scrambling to find guys.

i don't know what fees for hockey are like in calgary, but i think it's ridiculous here in kelowna.
$775 per guy plus if you are new to the team you also need home & away jerseys & socks. maybe i'm just old, but to me, $775 is a lot to pay to play on poor to bad ice, have awful ice times (apparently this season we now get the privilege of games starting as late as 11:30pm), have a lukewarm shower (if you're lucky and it's not ice cold), have pathetically small change rooms (barely fits 9 guys... just great when you have a full roster) and when we get stuck playing downtown we also have to pay to park.

i think i would have folded the team years ago (this is our 14th season) but i really do love the guys on my team - good guys for the most part... except when they don't bother telling you they aren't playing this season and it starts next week!

It's the Oiler fans dropping out at the end of summer isn't it?

[calgarygeologist]

Thanks Justin for forcing this on us.

A new study published in the journal Food Additives and Contaminants examined more than 20 different brands of plant-based straws and found high levels of toxic chemicals in almost all of them.

“These ‘eco-friendly’ plant-based straws are not necessarily a more sustainable alternative to plastic straws,” concluded a research team based at Belgium’s University of Antwerp.

Straws examined by the researchers were largely found to be laden with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as “forever chemicals.”

This not only means that the straws likely aren’t biodegradable, but that they are vectors for chemicals considered hazardous to human and environmental health.

The report noted that even in situations where a plant-based straw doesn’t become litter, it will most likely end up in a landfill where it will spend the rest of its lifecycle “releasing PFAS further into the environment.”

“Straws made from plant-based materials … are often advertised as being more sustainable and eco-friendly than those made from plastic. However, the presence of PFAS in these straws means that’s not necessarily true,” environmental scientist Thimo Groffen said in a press statement.

The University of Antwerp team performed chemical analysis on 39 different types of straws sourced from Belgian supermarkets and fast food outlets: 20 paper, five glass, five bamboo, five stainless steel, and four plastic.

Only the stainless-steel straws were found to be completely PFAS-free. The steel straws were also the only type that could realistically be recycled. Researchers were surprised to discover that even glass straws contained measurable amounts of forever chemicals.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada...or-environment

[surferguy]

Is this a Justin issue or is it corporations finding the cheapest thing that will pass current regulations?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Is this a Justin issue or is it corporations finding the cheapest thing that will pass current regulations?

A corporation will always work to skirt regulation. A bad regulation is a fault of the government that enacted it.

Now how much PFAS do plastic straws have relative to the paper ones? The answer from the same Belgium study is yes 75% of plastic straws had PFAS.

So our exposure levels didn’t really change. Perhaps just banning straws would be the correct answer. And also cups, and anything non-stainless and anything any kind of coating and water too

Here’s a link to the study

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...9.2023.2240908

Looks like many brands of paper straws have comparable levels of PFAS to their plastic counter parts but also many worse.

But also look at the concentrations. The worst one has 7ng/g The best ones 1.

[Jason14h]

As long as we don’t let grocery stores use plastic bags (or soon to be any bags) to put the food packaged in plastic wrap and plastic bags into them we will all be ok, all while selling the same plastic bags in cardboard packages

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Did they say they were coming back and now they're not? Or you haven't talked to them since last season? If it's the first one, I think that's very disingenuous.

It's possible they're also annoyed by all the same things you mentioned with the times, showers, parking, etc.

every indication was they were coming back. they said nothing at the end of the season, nothing at our wind-up party in june, nothing said when i've started emailing/texting about this upcoming season almost a month ago. so it's kind of frustrating.

Originally Posted by jayswin

I don't mean to criticize but I've never ran or played on any team where fees aren't due mid summer for winter season. I mean maybe it's a function of your beer league in Kelowna that teams fees aren't due well in advance?

But even if they weren't I'd still have a drop dead date of like August 1 if you start early September. Our league starts registration in like June for September winter league and then fees are due July-ish.

Having guys inform you a week before the season starts that they won't be playing means you're too nice/relaxed on fee collection

there are very few teams that i know of that require lots of $ up front to play. the way our league runs is i have to pay a deposit july 1 to register the team and then payments are sept/oct/nov/dec. guys bring/send $ at the first game of each month and then i pay the monthly fees and everything is paid off by december.

Originally Posted by jayswin

I do like that most calgary leagues have taken the pressure and hassle off gms now a days. Now players register directly for the team they'll play on and upon registration they pay online, directly to the league.

Takes all the annoyance and awkwardness away from the gm "Oh sorry, looks like you didn't register and pay on time so they didn't put you on the team".

here the team rep is responsible for the monthly payments. there's no way i'd want the guys to pay their shares individually to the league - if we are late on a payment then the team isn't allowed to play. there are also a couple guys who find if tough to make the full payments every month, so instead of 4 installments i'll let them stretch it out over 6.

[Hockeyguy15]

Deposit due in March to hold your spot. Balance of fees due in September. Pay by e-transfer or credit card to the league through a portal.

Seems much easier than your set up.

[calgarygeologist]

LED light fixtures are awesome but also a pain in the ass. I have a couple really nice barn/farmhouse style fixtures on either side of my garage door and I noticed that about half the LEDs on one have gone out. It is an integrated fixture so basically the whole is junk now and of course they don't make these anymore so I need to replace both. It just seems really wasteful to throw out a perfectly good light fixture. They did last about 8 or 9 years so that is a benefit but I wish it was as easy as screwing in a new light bulb to get it working properly again.