Eiri

In a riding where the other candidates don't stand a chance, I vote for the candidate who doesn't stand a chance but whose party's values I like best. Like the NDP or the greens.

Doesn't do much, but in a way, it's freeing and I can pretend I'm free to vote for anyone.

If someone has a chance to beat the worst candidate, though, I'll vote for the most likely one. And that's the most depressing situation of all.

I really hate this voting system. But it'd take a miracle for it to change.

Oh yeah they look pretty handy, and affordable. Only thing I'd be worried about is that they look like steel. I don't know how well they react to water, snow and salt.

But you definitely look like you have a lot more options than we do.

The plastic basket was the best the bike shop where I bought mine could find. Most people here use satchels on the sides of the wheel, but 1. That precludes the use of a trailer for groceries, 2. I don't see what's so convenient about them unless you're a camper.

There's also just having no storage and using a backpack for everything. A popular option, but backpacks are hot. Not a fan.

The basket I ended up with is certainly big, but its aluminium construction reduces the weight, and above all, it's handled a few falls just fine so far.

And well, on an e-bike, weight is much less critical. I paid a fortune for this bike; might as well enjoy the perks.

Oh god that would stop me from using my bike so fast.

Oh yeah it took me years to finally find an apartment where the landlord would allow me to get a storage shed. I'm glad I can finally own a bike.

Leaving the bike outside all the time was always taught to me as a no-no that'll pretty much instantly ruin your bike, so I hadn't considered it.

Now though I'm moving this year or next year and I'm unsure how we'll manage with my shed. Can it be moved? Will someone buy it? 🤔 Eh, I guess I'll see.

Over here the only one I could find that would allow me to lug around my purse and a little bit of extra cargo if needed was this one. It doesn't even mount on my bike so the people at the bike shop had to improvise with zip ties and the like.

It took a while to find, because I couldn't trust steel not to start getting rust stains on all my stuff, and my previous one pretty much instantly broke the very first time my bike fell, so I couldn't trust just any kind of plastic.

I had the employees of no less than 5 bike shops try to recommend me something with little success before finally finding something. Most shops seem to carry 0~1 models of bike basket period, and not to have much more that they can order from their distributors.

I think North American shops are just confused at the idea of a bike for anything but leisure overall. Which is understandable considering how goddamn dangerous our awful car-centric cities can be.

I love my big basket, but man was it not easy to find

Fair. I just don't consider non-electric one in such a hilly city. I just know I'd be too lazy to face the hills without the help of a motor.

If you want an electric bike, the price goes up fast.

If you want one with a belt so that it won't take crazy maintenance not to degrade over the winter, it goes up faster still.

If you want storage for your purse and whatnot, a bit more expensive still. A good large basket is more expensive than you'd think.

Initially misread as "brought" and imagined someone squeezing houses in a briefcase

Was something of value lost?

But like what even is a social media for women? I wasn't aware the ones we currently have were for men

Well he said he wrote them down. In a lot of restaurants, the whole system is a book.

Unless your income is really low, look into FHSA. It's a stupidly advantageous investment mechanism. It's like RRSP in that it reduces your taxable income, except it doesn't become taxable when you use it. (Although you can only use it for a real estate purchase.)

As for investing in Canada, lots of banks and financial advisors offer managed Canada-only investment funds.

Personally, I just go for socially responsible funds anytime I can. Lower returns, but it doesn't tend to crash as much as the general market when the news talk about massive market downturns, and above all, it doesn't come with the guilt of investing in weapons or fossil fuels. And well, even if it's in the US, I really don't mind investing into a company that's not morally terrible.