Tyria

Most of the island, yeah, but Sydney got 150cm! There's a wild video on CBC.

Finally tapered off a couple of hours ago! Almost everything has been shut down all weekend and today so the crews can clean up. In the city we got at least 50cm. Cape Breton, though. Yikes!

Stuck in a slow moving storm since Friday that won't stop until tomorrow. I consider us "lucky" being in the 20-40cm range (although we're at least at 40 by now). Just an hour up the shore is in the 40-60 range, and Cape Breton is getting smacked with 80-110, but the northern most part is projected to get up to 150cm. That's what hit my area during White Juan, which dumped that amount of snow in one night. Feeling for my friends and everyone up there. I didn't see my car for three days after that storm. Brutal.

I work in a uni library, and every year we have a staff day where one segment is a prof coming in to discuss their current research projects. One year, it was a biology prof who studies starlings (which are an invasive species here. Bloody colonists), and she has bird boxes all over the campus. One thing that she said she always tries to get across to people, is that if you smoke, make sure you dispose the butt properly. She said that one of the most common things found in all the bird boxes is the fibreglass from the filters that the birds gather to use in their nests. One of her projects was gathering data on the effects of nicotine on the development of the birds. Let's just say, it's not good. I used to be a regular smoker, now I smoke when I drink. The connection between the two is a hard one to break. Mr. Tyr hates cigarettes, but he is a massive, chronic, high functioning weed smoker. What he smokes in a day would have lasted me for a month back when I puffed. Luckily, we can legally grow it and have two grow tents in the basement, so it cuts down on the expense. I used to love hash, but never really cared for weed. I don't smoke either, because now it makes me too anxious, then hungry, then giggly, then sleepy all at the same time. Whenever he gets a chunk of hash though, I always smell it, coz daaaammnn that shit smells good.

Gonna be a wild weekend with Hurricane Lee stopping by. There are concerns that the storm might flood the Chignecto Isthmus, which would cut us off from the rest of the country. I mean, sure, we could still get stuff by boat, but the power lines run through there. Yikes.

As to the thread title, what I hear when I see it is "He's so indicted! And he just can't hide it!" a la Pointer Sisters

As to the thread title, all I hear when I read it is "He's so indicted, and he just can't hide it!!!!" Pointer Sisters ftw.

Same here! Finally. You know it's been stupid hot/humid for a long time that you put on a sweater when it's a perfect 25C

Married Mr. Tyr 16 years ago today

Got a text alert that more severe thunderstorms on the way tonight. Possibly more on Saturday. I feel for all the people still dealing with last week's flooding, washed out roads/bridges, and cleanup. Starting to get a bit worried as the ground is so saturated that we might get some basement flooding. The neighbours on either side of us have sump pumps, which I think has saved us in the past. We have always had a perfectly dry basement, and I hope it stays that way! We often refer to the province as North America's exhaust pipe, because the gulf stream and jet stream just poop everything our way before it moves out the ocean. Usually less severe when it gets here, but shitty.

Yeah, the aftermath is still bad in some areas. Reading the news about finding the kids was heartbreaking. They also found the remains of the older guy that was missing, and they are still looking for the teenager. Just so freaking sad. I mentioned it in the weather thread, but the storm Friday was just insane. We are right in the city close to the harbour, and I could walk down to it in about 20 minutes. Keyword there is 'down'. We're lucky enough to be on higher ground, so we came out unscathed, except for several hours of me dealing with a stressed out pup. I knew when the next *kaboom* was coming, because she would stop panting and shaking for a few seconds, look at me, and I just kept talking to her calmly about just nonsense through the next boom. I literally had to get a towel early in the storm to cover me and try to catch all the panting drool. It mostly worked. The only good thing that came out of it, and I'm not being glib just looking for a smidge of...something...was the video of the beavers swimming up the flooded Bedford Highway. Crazy.

Yeah, it was something alright! Glad it wasn't a tornado though, yikes, Kair! We get hurricanes, which is bad enough, but I can't imagine a tornado, or even a warning for one . Glad you and your mom are ok!

In one word? Crazeballz. We went from massive forest fires, to heavy rain, to insane humidity, to a massive thunderstorm/torrential downpour Friday into early Saturday. We're ok being a bit on higher ground from the harbour, but other parts of the city were flooded. Weather guy reported "the Bedford Highway is now the Sackville River". The river runs alongside part of the highway where it drains into the harbour. I saw videos on FB with beavers swimming up the highway! Worst part is the thunderstorm only cleared the humidity until yesterday afternoon. Back to swampy again, blah.

That sucks. I get pressure headaches, but not migraines. It really messes with my ears most of all. Pain and pressure. It blows, but not as bad as a migraine though. Feel for ya, buddy.

Still swampy and earwiggy af. I would rather have the actual temperature to be 40C than have it be 34C with the humidex at 40C. I can cope with hot (to a certain degree), but not feeling like you're fighting through molasses just to walk the dog. Or not even being able to walk the dog, because this weather is not good for either of us. My province used to get a handful of these types a day in the summer, not weeks worth. Now it goes right into fall. Most of the older houses/apartments don't have AC either, because we never really needed it. We could make do with fans, popsicles, etc. over those few days. Now all new builds typically have AC built in. We have a window AC, but haven't used it since we bought the house. Luckily our street is lined with massive trees that keep the house relatively 'cool' compared to outside (I say that as sweatbeads are literally making their way between my boobs, and also headed to ye ol' arsecrack). One of my co-workers was telling me that someone in her department got a wearable AC (they work in Facilities, so on the go most of the time). I'm seriously considering buying one.

Swampy. Humidex been hitting 38C for a while now. And rain. So much rain. We coulda used that when the province was on fire not too long ago! Worst part is this type of weather brings out earwigs *shudders*. I was deadheading some plants on the deck, and one popped out. I ran away. I washed my hands in the downstairs bog this morning, grabbed the towel: earwigs. It's still sitting in the shower where I threw it and ran away. This falls under Mr. Tyr's part of the chores under "gross stuff".

We went to our first BwB meetup in 2007 in Edinburgh after we got married in Glasgow. The group freaked out at Canadian cig packages and the super graphic images. They've gotten worse since then, and now they are amping up. Won't deter the hardcore smokers, but hopefully it will click for some an further encourage people not to start.

I don't have much to add other than Alberta sucks. No, I don't mean every single thing about it. The whole Texishness of it is just so creepy. I think it was featured, if briefly, in The Family doc on Netflix about how religion seeped into conservative politics and why we are where we are now. Seriously watched Hail Satan! after as a palate cleanser. No, I am not a member of the Satanic Temple. I more closely align with their beliefs, but I think all the rituals are just as stupid as any other religion (I know most em do it to make that exact point, but some are really into it). It's hard to give a shit about a province so far away. I'm in Canada, but I can fly to Iceland in four hours or back to Scotland in five. Takes seven hours to Alberta, if you're lucky enough to get non-stop. Plus, chunks of my little province are on fire right now. Like serious wildfires. All believed to be human caused. A friend's parents were evacuated and lost their house. They were fortunate to have been home, because when the evacuations started in nearby communities, they packed as much as they could in their car. An hour later, evac. I feel really bad for those people, and especially the people who weren't home at the time of evac (it was a super fast moving fire on a hot day) and couldn't get their pets out. There were a whole bunch of horses that bolted, but luckily all of them are safe. One woman was turned away at a checkpoint, so she backed up, got out of her car and ran 3kms through the woods to get to her dogs. They are all safe now. Tons of animal charities are out in force working with the Department of Natural Resources trying to get as many pets as they can. They have been pretty successful, so that's promising. There is a Facebook page where people can post their address and pics of pets giving permission to break in and get them, if they can't get a key to them. This video is bananas.

I read the title of this thread as Tom Arya screaming "On and on, Harry and Meghaaan!". If you know, you know.

May not apply to Spain, or the length of your trip, but your lady friend may want to pack extra hygiene products. I only mention this, because as an undergrad I had to attend a study abroad seminar (despite being an immigrant who had travelled abroad numerous times) because I got some funding from the university and that was one of things they mentioned. I guess you may not always have access to products with ingredients you are used to, which may cause...irritation. As someone with eczema, I'm always stocked up on everything I may need that won't irritate my skin when I travel, so I wouldn't have thought of that.

Hahahahaha, yeah. I live in Nova Scotia. Again, foggy brain doesn't word good.

Forgot to address this part, but yeah, Canada is huuuuge. Saskatchewan is prolly bigger than all of the Atlantic Provinces combined. Area wise, not sure about population and too lazy to look it up. Also cold af in the winter. Like prairie dry cold -40C, etc. Can't blame him for leaving. Alberta at least has Calgary and Edmonton, but still Canada's Texas. We get a few cold days here, but being right on the ocean -any C hurts to the bone. Forgot about GPs being on call. I've mostly lived in the city, and I don't think that happens here? Could be wrong though. I do know that when I lived in a small town for a bit that the GPs had on call shifts at the local hospital. My GP is also an OB/GYN, so she does on call at the children's/maternity hospital, but she adjusts her GP hours for that. So, yeah, GPs that are also specialists do on call shifts as do specialists themselves.

Disease. Post menopause foggy brain doesn't word good no more sometimes.

That is a good question. I don't know if it was the pharmacist that gave the jabs or if they had a nurse in. I was in a horrible anxiety downward spiral at the time, so I just wanted to get out of there. I'll find out. Here most vaccines are free. I think the only ones that aren't are ones for travel to certain countries. Blanking on naming one!

Ah, ok. It is different here. Pharmacies don't typically receive funding as medications aren't covered by the government accept for Pharmacare for lower income and seniors, and for First Nations people. For the latter, if you have insurance through employment, that is billed first. Mr. Tyr is Mi'kmaw, so he doesn't have to pay for meds, glasses or dental. Mine is mostly covered through my work plan, then there is something called RxOne (I think) that also lowers the price of meds and/or the co-pay. Pharmacies will now receive funding for providing services (and did for giving vaccines) where I imagine it will be a similar billing system to what doctors/nurse practitioners have. I may have misread the linked quote, but our pharmacies are like franchises. There are some family owned ones, but most of them are just like running a McDonalds.