Best products from r/Calgary

Downvote to everyone recommending bear bells.

Bear bells are NOT a good idea, but a terrible one, as they give people a false sense of security. Bears need to hear you coming. But particularly, bears need to hear YOU coming. Human sounds are what make a difference. The way you walk alone is relevant, but the absolute best thing you can do is make noise. If you are chatting along the trail, you're doing what you need to do. Your voice carries farther than a bear bell, and is a distinctively human sound.
In places, that might not be enough - tight bushes, where you can't see what's ahead, and neither can a bear, berry patches, where a bear might be busier and inattentive, along a creek, where the water makes noise, when you are hiking into the wind, and such. In those places, you want to give out an occasional loud yell, and keep yourselves additionally aware.

Bear bells are not loud enough to carry far for a bear, and they are not a distinctively human sound, so if a bear does notice it, he is at least as likely to become curious and investigate as he is to move off. But again, the upside of that is that the fact that they don't carry means you're pretty good.

The only thing bear bells protect you against is hiking partners.

If you can hike with more people, that is a good idea. But if the two of you are aware and making human noise, you're in pretty good shape.

If you really want to save your breath, an air horn has been shown to possibly help, but really, if you're not able to give an occasional shout, maybe slow down and take it a little easier.

Bear spray is a last-chance effort. If a bear is actually charging you, and gets within a few metres, you can spray, and it has a good chance of stopping the attack. It is a nice idea to carry as a last option, but you should change none of your other choices on the basis of whether or not you are carrying bear spray. It's something you don't want to use, but have just in case.
If you do want it, you can purchase at most gear stores.

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Since this thread insists on filling up with terrible bear advice, I recommend you the definitive book if you want to get the proper word.

I just finished reading this book to try and expand my background on this subject. I've always been against these kinds of massive events (and others, like publicly funded sports stadiums) as the benefits are always massively overstated and the IOC/FIFA/Team Owner walks away with everything.

https://www.amazon.ca/Circus-Maximus-Economic-Hosting-Olympics/dp/0815726511/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487867513&sr=8-2&keywords=circus+maximus

That said, within the book lays out a couple of scenarios wherein hosting the games has been successful. The 1984 LA Olympics were a success, partly because they were in a similar scenario to what the IOC is in now. After Munich and Mexico City, the Olympics were seen as tainted. LA was able to leverage that in to a deal where they could use existing infrastructure, secured significant private funding, and actually had the IOC guarantee all operating losses.

Secondly, the 92 Barcelona Olympics. These were a success, to parrot the author, because the City used the Olympics to help achieve goals that it was already striving towards. After Franco fell, committees were put in place to revitalize Barcelona. Infrastructure, arena's, etc were already planned and did not have to be purpose built for the Olympics. The influx of tourism and global attention helped demonstrate that Barcelona was a world class city, so it proved to be a net positive.

When we look at other recent Olympics, nearly all of them have seen significant cost overruns. While Vancouver may have been profitable from an operations perspective, I don't believe that captures the actual infrastructure spend. The way the games are set up, the Organizing Committees come out ahead, while the City's themselves are left holding the bag. The IOC often asks specifically for new, purpose built facilities to host the games. These costs are massive and leave cities with older, useful stadiums and new, white albatross stadiums. The upkeep costs are then frequently overlooked when talking about legacy.

In light of Budapest dropping out of the 2024 bidding, and with many Scandinavian countries rejecting Olympic bids, I think the IOC is losing leverage. I believe it was a Dutch study that said it will only be countries with limited democracy who can host the Olympics/World Cup (I.e. Russia, Qatar, China) as they are the only ones who can divert enough funds to make it work.

Calgary has some significant infrastructure spends coming up, some of which would dovetail nicely with hosting the Olympics. If we can continue those programs and put forward a reasonable bid, I can live with that. If we instead have to build a bunch of purpose built stadiums that require additional money to repurpose (i.e. London's Olympic Stadium did not provide the legacy it was planned, costing more money and providing terrible atmosphere to West Ham United) then I am against it.

Edit To expand on these points now that I've done the survey, my biggest concern is that whatever benefits would be gained from hosting the Olympics can simply be gained by spending the money on those projects without the actually having the Olympics.

Within the book mentioned above, there was a study completed in the 90's looking at tourism and knowledge boosts. The '88 Olympics did provide a boost in recognition world wide for Calgary (mostly that it looked cold), but that boost was lost be 1989.

London actually saw a decrease in tourism during the year of the Olympics, which I think makes intuitive sense. While that does bring a huge number of people to a country, many more people who may have wanted to visit are going to be turned off by the prospective crowds and construction.

Long story short, I think the benefits are always overstated, because the folks pushing bids are those who stand to gain the most (hotel operators, construction companies, etc). The true benefits are minimal and can be achieved for the greater populous with smart civic planning.

I run an 8" schmidt-cassegrain and from my backyard balcony on clear cool nights I can see some spectacular stuff in the city (some colours on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn if I am lucky, some larger nebula). If you don't want to spend a fortune, and are okay with something bulky get him a Dobsonian, the larger the aperture the better light collection and a better chance he can pierce through the light pollution of our city. Some Dobsonians can be broken down for easier transport.

For better viewing head to a park (nose hill, fish creek, etc.), or better yet out of the city (I know not feasible).

The U of C has an observatory south of the city towards priddis/millarville, and I believe they have open nights for amateurs that you and your son could visit to get taste for things. If you contacted the U of C they might be able to get you in touch with the people that go and you could car pool out there to see what its like. While there talk to the people on what to get him, and get some contact info help get things setup, they are super friendly as a community.

To feed his appetite you could buy him the The Backyard Astronomer's Guide which has tons of great info.

Edit: Forgot to say... When I got started it was with a reclining lawn chair and some binoculars, you can work your way up from there if he really stays interested.

If you've never gone to Lake Louise and the Valley of the Ten peaks, I'd definitely head there first. Moraine lake as well, it's always busy out there but it's so beautiful, it's definitely worth it. If you haven't ever seriously been hiking, I'd start out with some of the more popular trails. This book is worth the investment for sure, especially if you want less well-known hikes. I've been hiking my whole life, if you have any questions feel free to ask me or PM me. :) enjoy yourself.

The UBC engineering program is one of the best in Canada. U of S is great if you want to get into Civil Engineering, but is still very competent for Mechanical. I did quite a bit of research on this before I decided to go to SAIT for their Mech Eng Tech program instead; but limited to those two choices based on school performance alone, I would most definitely choose U of S.

"Wait, what?" I hear you saying.

Well, that's the thing. Your friend's daughter is likely not thinking about post-school factors even while she should be. In chapter 3 of the book David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell, he explores this specific issue. What school you choose to go to as a young person determines almost everything about the rest of your life. A lot of research has been done on this concept, but the part that he chooses to focus on is based on the Big Fish-Little Pond effect theory. Essentially, if you go to a bigger, more prestigious school (Gladwell uses the example of UMaryland vs. Brown), you can reduce your chances of graduating by almost 30%. Given that the engineering discipline is already high-stress and a significant percentage of students do not finish their degrees, why would you make it tougher on yourself than you have to? All engineering programs, more or less, will teach you the same maths and concepts, and it's going to depend more on your motivation to learn them than anything else. In the book, Gladwell goes on to explain that students who graduate at the top of their class in smaller schools have better job prospects than those of the same initial SAT marks who went to 'prestigious' schools.

But seriously, buy your friend that book and make the girl read it before choosing. And tell her to go to U of S.
Please.

Edit: I may have found a PDF of the book online. This is probably not legal. I'll just leave it here on the internet for all to see.

Not a motorcyclist, but use loud things from time-to-time. If you don't want custom, I find Surefire (see Amazon) are great. They block out a lot but have an extra opening to allow more sound in if you want. Also great for concerts. Great fit, hygienic, easy to clean. Different sizes

https://www.amazon.com/SureFire-Signature-Hearing-Protection-Earpieces/dp/B00ZENCXSK

It should be safe for you to hike in the mountains in September. Bring bear spray and try to make some noise (no need to yell, just talk or sing) and you should be fine.

Given your experience I would suggest you skip the hiking and look at scrambling (I like to call it adventure hiking).

This guide book is standard. Summit Post is also a good resource.

Scrambles are usually steeper and sometimes longer than the day hikes most people and guide books will suggest. There may be some 4th class climbing and exposure. Most do not require any gear beyond hiking gear though some recommend helmets for rockfall and some crampons / ice axe depending on the season. Those are easily avoided. The big advantage to me as that while a lot of hikes will be up a valley or to a pass most of the scrambles get you to mountain summits or ridges. As such, the views are much better.

Some of the more popular scrambles that I would recommend are Heart Mountain (easy), Mt. Yamnuska (easy), Mt. Baldy, East End of Rundle, Mt. Lady Macdonald, Cascade Mountain (boring first half), Mt. Temple (long). There are many many more good routes.

Be prepared for adverse weather. Depending on the year September can be pretty close to winter. I've had some pretty bad snow storms even at the beginning of September. Check the forecast the morning of (it changes readily) and bring hats, gloves, and a waterproof jacket.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

If your as interested in this topic as it seems you are, there is a great book i can recommend (its a very fast read) called Follow The Money: Where is Alberta's Wealth Going

https://www.amazon.ca/Follow-Money-Where-Albertas-Wealth/dp/1550594354/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=follow+the+money&qid=1565053671&s=gateway&sr=8-4

It breaks down a lot of the questions you are arguing against here and might help give some clarity on the issues as it breaks down a lot of data to show whats happening.

Long story short of the book: Alberta is one of the wealthiest provinces, a significant amount of Alberta's wealth gets put into the profits of oil and gas companies who do not use their tax breaks to reinvest in Albertas infrastructure or Economy.

Its a great example of how trickledown economics do not work because unfortunately, the companies who get the tax breaks do not want the same thing as the government who is giving them tax breaks.

Use Power over Ethernet (PoE) then it's a single cable run. I ended up running cable through my soffet and into the attic for a few cameras, and one I used an existing penetration from an outdoor light.

Plus PoE is digital (uses ethernet instead of RCA), so many benefits over analog (higher resolution, easy upgrades, etc)

E: when I first started researching security cameras it seemed a bit daunting, but PoE makes all the cameras super easy, then it's just finding a NVR (network video recorder) that will work. Reolink has a super easy kit I ended up going with (bought from US Amazon, shipped up here for $450 CAD at the time, now it's $530). I also used a wifi extender
with ethernet port to connect the NVR to my home network so I didn't have to do an in-wall wire run (will do it later, just wanted the cameras up and running). So far so good, Reolink has a pretty solid app and desktop client

My wife is a definite non-hiker, and so I searched the book Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies and looked for hikes that are classified as "easy", are around 4 hours or less, and have an elevation gain of less than 500 m. I also preferred hikes that weren't in like Lake Louise, because we don't always want to spend 2-1/2 hours in the car each way and/or $20 for a park pass.

Here are some good ones:

• West Wind Pass - 393 m elev and 3 hours - south of Canmore along the east side of the Spray Lakes road (hwy 742). A bit difficult/unintuitive to follow the trail, but nice views of the Spray Lakes reservoir going up, and a great view at the pass.
  
  
• Rawson Lake - 300 m elev and 3 hours - from Highwood Pass (hwy 40). Beautiful backdrop behind a mountain lake for the price of a short hike.
  
  Johnston Canyon, as others have mentioned above, is a classic too. It doesn't have the high mountain views, but the canyon itself is neat, and I like the 1950s metal walkways. 215 m elev and 4 hours to the ink pots (small mineral pools). Note that you have to buy a park pass for this one.
  

There are a lot of great walking tour books about Calgary. I really suggest everyone pick one up and start exploring some neighbourhoods! They have great information, historical facts, and some pretty interesting stories about early Calgary. If you are not inclined to buy a book (or you don't have a friend to borrow a copy) you could always see if there is a walking tour running while your friend is in town. If not, take them around the communities of Kensington, Inglewood, Mission & 17th Ave. The river walk from Kensington to Princes Island is nice at any time of the year.

Go to MEC. They have a good selection of base layer stuff. That's where I got all the stuff I use at work (outdoor construction). Also, merino wool socks are fantastic. They stay warm even when wet.

And I couldn't live without this. The face cover is independently moved from the head covering, if you need to talk or drink some coffee without taking off the whole thing, and it has a little mesh square to breath through. Best balaclava I've ever used.

The Source has a few. I'm near the core, down low and had a non-powered one from there that worked okay. Ended up giving it away and buying a powered flat one off Amazon which has worked better. Both used indoors.

Advantage to The Source is you could start with the cheapest and try it and return it and get the next most expensive one. But considering the amplified flat ones are $30 on Amazon (what I bought the second time, and I think your best bet for indoors) just ordering one of those might be the answer.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0776T1B97/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_t8rRCb38H1ZRZ

Nice! Went to T&T to find Trung Nguyen this afternoon but no luck in the North. Would that be the one? https://www.amazon.com/Nescafe-Vietnamese-Sweetened-Instant-Beverage/dp/B00LDXFI6Y#customerReviews

Ended up buying some Vietnamese Gound Coffee on Amazon so we'll see if it's good!

I would guess about 1% of Calgarians will do so. I would peg my guess at 12,500 people. This would be further reduced by people without homes and who will not be giving out candy, so reduce that number by half.


So to answer your question, 6,250 people will be giving out full size candy bars this Halloween in Calgary.


I am not buying full size candy bars for kids this year. I am handing these out:

https://www.amazon.ca/Kraft-Toblerone-Jumbo-4-5-Kg/dp/B004INT01A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540834734&sr=8-1&keywords=toblerone+giant

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Only 4.5 KG per bar, but that should make those kids happy.

Digital Antenna not an option?
https://www.amazon.ca/Antenna-Digital-Amplifier-Booster-Reception/dp/B0776T1B97/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1543003459&sr=8-3&keywords=digital+antenna

Won't get alot of channels, but it's free and legal. If you want live tv not many options. Does your home provider offer iptv signin's?(if so use that at this location of work.)

Very nice bike. I would've stolen it too. Jk.

I've had 2 bikes stolen from me in the past 4 years so I know how it feels. I finally made the decision to get a really good bike lock. It's very heavy but it gives me peace of mind.

https://www.amazon.ca/Kryptonite-New-U-Standard-Heavy-Bicycle/dp/B06XCH21YH/ref=asc_df_B06XCH21YH/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=293004696205&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13873452849690110250&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001314&hvtargid=pla-429675057762&psc=1

A wet handkerchief won't do anything except give you a false sense of security. To filter out the (very small) particles from wildfire smoke you need a mask that's N95 rated or better.

You can buy fancier ones, but something like this is relatively inexpensive and available at most hardware stores:

https://www.amazon.ca/3M-Sanding-Fiberglass-Vented-Respirators/dp/B0002YKBV2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=3m+cool+flow&qid=1559327792&s=gateway&sr=8-1

hello! I'm a hairdresser and I use the Whal magic clippers. They are excellent.

https://www.amazon.ca/Professional-5-Star-Cordless-Magic-8148/dp/B00UK8WFQO?th=1

I use this one and am very happy with it

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https://www.amazon.ca/AUKEY-Wide-Angle-G-Sensor-Dual-Port-Charger/dp/B075VRXRD6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537923286&sr=8-3&keywords=aukey+dash+cam

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This is a great book about Heritage Buildings here in Calgary by Harry Sanders. I have worked on many of the buildings in there, so may be biased....
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0889952973

I have ordered this one recently. Its really good ones and gives ample amount of lights in the night. If any of them doesn't work, just changed the battery ( they take AAA batteries by the way )https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07FY5QPNT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

>The adapter in your pic isn't the ones local to here? Wonder if the specs are the same.

It's probably super similar.

Here's a "real" Lime charger - https://limebike.myshopify.com/products/lime-s-power-supply-4-pack-new-gen - based on it's size, it can't be that powerful. A 10 amp power supply is physically bigger than that.

https://www.amazon.com/EVECS-Bird-Scooter-Charger-FY-4202000/dp/B07K1KPYFP is another that is for Lime and says it's 2 amp, so I think 2 amp is about right

Do you own this book?

I believe Little is more than a scramble, more tech. I wouldn't.