He’s right but there’s a point where I can’t entirely agree. The one about not looking up schedules. It varies a lot and sometimes it’s worth checking the time table for planing purposes. It’s correct that people shouldn’t really have to worry or check a time table before taking public transit, but because the world isn’t perfect, it really helps to know how to do that anyway. Because it’s not just the US that is stuck with this type of “oh public transit is impossible here”, and other countries also have those issues. He recommends travelling but if you do that, you’ll also sometimes encounter even worse than in the US.

Before going to some Caribbean islands I like to at least research if it’s possible to get around there without a car, using public transit. Sometimes every comment I see on the place says that it’s impossible, that I’ll need to rent a car or use taxis, but it turns out to be entirely false. And sometimes it really is impossible unless you’re feeling really adventurous.

I went to Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten and checked the bus routes online, but there were none. This tiny island does have buses, but apparently locals are used to take them and know where they go and when they pass. There’s no published schedules. So as a tourist, you’re highly encouraged to rent a car or use taxis. And it was true. I saw bus stops and bus “terminals”, but no information posted anywhere. I ended up using a taxi most of the time. I also wanted to cycle parts of the island but just getting to a shop that rented bikes was complicated and I gave up.

However I also went to Guadeloupe and also looked up the routes and schedules before going. Most comments I saw online told me I would need a car, that public transit was unreliable, that it would be absolutely impossible to use it. My host strongly insisted that there was “no public transit to the hotels”. Yet, there was. The only thing unclear before going was how to pay and the exact location of the stops. But I knew there was public transit, and I used it. It was like being back in the early 2000s where I live in Canada, with online PDFs of the schedules and the routes, but it was fine, aside from the obviously underfunded system. I gleefully cycled on the wonderful island of Marie-Galante and got there with public transit despite being told multiple times that it would be impossible.

So it’s a useful skill to have. I live in a city with decent public transit. I don’t check the schedules for the metro because they come every few minutes. I also don’t check the schedules for a few frequent bus routes that I know. But, it becomes useful and/or necessary if I’m not familiar with the area or the system. Trip planning shouldn’t be dismissed on the count of a bad system. Sometimes you want to know where the bus/tram/train is going, and when it will reach its destination.

Sports fans will never boycott anything. They are loyal to their teams, not morals nor logic. Can’t diverge from the groupthink. Gotta be a team player.

There’s multiple psychology papers on this exact subject.

I’ve been talking to my parents about this for 30 years.

They can see the winters are fucked up. They can see the frequency of natural disasters increasing. They say the climate changed since they were kids.

Yet, when I’m the one saying it, they reply that we will see, there are no concrete effects yet, electricification is a scam, etc. It’s so disappointing to hear.

I don’t know much about the US system, and I would chose the Canadian system any time, but ours sucks too, in a different way. Sure, if you break a leg or have cancer, you will be helped first and should not end up with crippling bills. However, I hope you don’t have a mental issue because seeing someone will take multiple months, if not years. I hope you don’t need glasses. Or a dentist.

I’m in Quebec and I don’t even know about the other provinces, but I have no family doctor since the pandemic. The previous one retired. At one point I was prescribed Concerta, after finally seeing neuropsychologists, but when my doctor retired, I wasn’t able to get a new doctor for a follow-up or renewal, so I just stopped. I still have no doctor since the pandemic. The system is so run down that we have to fight for appointments at the walk in clinics. You call at the clinic at 8 AM when they open but they’re already full for the day. In fact, they’re full at 00:01 AM. When I need to see a doctor, I have to call 811 and get a rendezvous at the walk in clinic.

I understand that it could be much worse, and I appreciate what we have, but it’s also very difficult to praise in any possible way.

Especially when I’m on a bicycle.

Like, they pass me dangerously then they get stopped at the next traffic light and I end up by their window anyway, looking at them with disappointment. Bravo, champ.

In French, il has always looked a bit weird when typed at the beginning of a sentence.

Il y a un I suivi d’un l.

Just click/tap the link to go directly on imgur. It’s imgur that blocks hotlinking and forbids other sites to display its images. They want people to go on their website, watch ads, stay captive.

Imgur is a terrible place to host images if they’re not intended to be viewed on imgur.

It’s always the cyclist’s fault.

You’re a Cyclist Who Was Just Struck by a Car Driver. Here’s Why It Was Your Fault

Not really.

After having my bike stolen while locked on the side of a Walmart, I am more protective of the new one. I’m a bit more aware of where I lock it, but I also bought a decent U-lock instead of just a cable.

But I also stopped using my own bike if it isn’t an absolute necessity. Sometimes I need the bike for the panniers or the trailer, so I take a risk. But if possible, I’ll use a bike sharing system when I go to some sketchy places.

I even got a bike stolen in the garage of my apartment complex, so now it lives with me, in my studio.

Just engage in the army and kill people for free health care.

I’m not an expert but from what I can find online, houses under 700 square foot (65 sq/m) are not covered by the local construction code so most municipalities don’t want anything smaller. It’s also forbidden to build a house with a single bedroom smaller than 320 sq/ft (30 sq/m), or a house smaller than 275 sq/ft (25 sq/m). According to old number, the average house here is about 1950 sq/ft (180 sq/m).

But ultimately it’s the municipality’s choice so it can vary depending on the region where you want to build it. I dreamed of having a small house to keep as much land as possible, but after looking into what’s possible where, it would be much simpler to just buy something already built that is grandfathered with the land.

No I just live without a car and make it a point to cycle everywhere I go, and I’m pointing out what I find unrelatable about micromobility in a place about this.

Unfortunately that person seems to live in a region where cycling is reserved for specific places, and moving a bike around town is done with a giant pickup truck.

It’s a fun experiment but its not like this is useful for anything.

I like Seth’s videos but I absolutely cannot relate, as he brings his bikes to the trails using a giant pickup truck. I pull my bike trailer with a kayak through my city’s bike lanes, and I’m glad I don’t need another vehicle to carry them both from one place to another.

Also depends on local law. I live alone, always wanted a mini house, but they are illegal in most municipalities here because there is a minimum size for a house. So if I really want a mini house, it has to be in a mini house approved neighbourhood, along with other mini houses. Like a mobile house park but for mini houses. They can’t be built anywhere; they have to be specifically approved.

After all, we can’t build a small house among bigger ones. Think about the neighbours’ property value!

And this is only about the price of the vehicle. I don’t know the numbers but most Québécois I know also oppose electric cars and prefer to buy gas powered cars in case “one day they make a lifetime trip around the province and don’t want to deal with criss de batteries”.

So they continue paying and paying and paying for gas, that has to be imported because it’s not energy that the province produces.

My father is a nationalist, always repeating we should buy local, but he has no problem buying gas that comes from imported oil, that keeps getting more expensive.

Twenty years ago I was working as a cashier in gas stations and people were complaining about the rising cost of gas. It had just passed the $1 CAD/l “psychological bar”. And yet most people continued to pay while bitching and saying they were robbed.

They have no choice anyway. It’s not like they are gonna walk, cycle, use public transit, or demand any of this gets better.

Unfortunately, car culture is very much ingrained in most societies. It will be a long time before people realise they are being used by the oil and car industries. When it comes to cars, most people are like “TAKE MY MONEY!” while whining that they’re too expensive, but they can afford one, because status! They’re not poor people riding a bike. Look at their car!

Building a dream house also means an ungodly amount of debt for the mortgage. The matching kit is a better financial decision.

That definition made me think of samaras floating in the wind.

I do it in French and use États-unien(ne,s) but it’s far more common and acceptable. In fact, there’s lots of papers precisely on that subject and États-unien (or Étatsunien) is a valid term.

But in English it feels a bit pushy and pedantic to repeatedly use United Statesian or anything like that. So, I guess I should do that and get used to it myself.

Trump’s fat ass didn’t do anything to Venezuela. Soldiers followed his orders. Nothing would have happened if not for the goons doing all the illegal work for him.