Cool Stuff For Men

[6102Perf]

We don't have men's scented soap in the country, women however have entire isles and boutiques dedicated to them. Until last year I had never seen or known it existed, I was stuck using unscented soap. We have stores called Winners and Marshalls who buy surplus stuff, since last year they decided to have a mini section for men. I got lucky, I had a few bars left and found a few more this week, I drove to most stores in both cities to find these soaps from Portugal or Italy. I found 2 bars of my favorite ones stashed in the women's soap! Jackpot!


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You need to move my friend! Tobacco soap hey, that sounds interesting. You better buy up all the local supply before that woke mayor of yours outlaws it

 

[6102Perf]

Another thing we don't really have is hazelnut coffee, we have 2 brands but they aren't very good and one of the two has to be ordered online. Forget ordering from the states they either don't ship here or charge 3-4 times the amount.

Every once in a while I get lucky and find a one or 3 good bags of coffee at Winners. However for the last 8 months absolutely nothing so I had to drink the one I didn't really like. This week I found 2 stashes. I'm going to check out the rest of the stores to see if there are any more. The cashier asked me if I bought these because I owned a coffee shop! I 'll be happy for a while.

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I'm a fan of flavored coffee myself. Don't think I've tried this particular one. Who would have thought a topic about 'cool stuff for men' would feature soap and flavored coffee haha. Do you drink alcohol at all? If so what's your drink of choice?

 

[Luzifer]

You need to move my friend! Tobacco soap hey, that sounds interesting. You better buy up all the local supply before that woke mayor of yours outlaws it

People have told me that all my life to move for all the nonsense stuff we have to deal with. I wouldn't want to restart at the bottom. The healthcare down there scares me with those rumours of horrendous bills and corrupt cops that have qualified immunity.

 

[Luzifer]

I'm a fan of flavored coffee myself. Don't think I've tried this particular one. Who would have thought a topic about 'cool stuff for men' would feature soap and flavored coffee haha. Do you drink alcohol at all? If so what's your drink of choice?

The only alcohol I like is Irish cream, the best one was Bushmill which won many top awards because it was the best tasting brand. However Bailey bought it out and immediately closed it down. I now drink Carolan's, no more than one bottle a year.

 

[6102Perf]

People have told me that all my life to move for all the nonsense stuff we have to deal with. I wouldn't want to restart at the bottom. The healthcare down there scares me with those rumours of horrendous bills and corrupt cops that have qualified immunity.

I've lived in both countries, and I can tell you the healthcare is vastly superior in the US. If you have any semblance of decent medical insurance, the majority of procedures are covered. And it's really not all that expensive compared to what you are paying for your 'free healthcare' in Canada when you look at your level of taxation. And don't even get me started on timely medical care if you actually need to see a doctor. Even for basic ER visits, you're waiting what 8-12 hours to see a doctor and get assessed? In the US you can be in and out of the hospital in under 2 hours including xrays, scans, diagnosis, treatment. I'll take that service every time.

And beyond that, I'd be very worried getting cancer or any other significant illness in Canada right now. You'll die before you can get access to adequate healthcare. You can't support the level of newcomers Canada is taking in, your healthcare system is extremely overburdened. Whether you've been in the country 5 days or 50 years you get the same treatment which I think is ridiculous. Your healthcare up there scares me way more.

 

[Luzifer]

I've lived in both countries, and I can tell you the healthcare is vastly superior in the US. If you have any semblance of decent medical insurance, the majority of procedures are covered. And it's really not all that expensive compared to what you are paying for your 'free healthcare' in Canada when you look at your level of taxation. And don't even get me started on timely medical care if you actually need to see a doctor. Even for basic ER visits, you're waiting what 8-12 hours to see a doctor and get assessed? In the US you can be in and out of the hospital in under 2 hours including xrays, scans, diagnosis, treatment. I'll take that service every time.

And beyond that, I'd be very worried getting cancer or any other significant illness in Canada right now. You'll die before you can get access to adequate healthcare. You can't support the level of newcomers Canada is taking in, your healthcare system is extremely overburdened. Whether you've been in the country 5 days or 50 years you get the same treatment which I think is ridiculous. Your healthcare up there scares me way more.

Spot on, the healthcare system here is a complete disaster.

Without insurance in the US I wonder how much let's say a simple family doctor visit costs, a 20 minute visit? What about a hospital trip, with a small or medium surgery, would it be 10K, 25K, 50, 75, 100k?

By the way about cool stuff for men, would you like to discuss tools? If so I would hijack this thread because I have so many.

 

[Luzifer]

The flooding of immigration created a massive cluster F problem. It's bad really bad. I would only discuss this in private.

 

[Sakura]

If you love a quiet, boring, and green nature, for retirement, maybe check out Japan? The seafood is fresh and people are generally nice. Places are pretty safe. Not perfect but really a decent place to live. Doctor visit is an average of one hour. Health insurance is pretty expensive but manageable. Lots of cute nurses.

I heard Italy is a nice place to live too.

 

[Luzifer]

If you love a quiet, boring, and green nature, for retirement, maybe check out Japan? The seafood is fresh and people are generally nice. Places are pretty safe. Not perfect but really a decent place to live. Doctor visit is an average of one hour. Health insurance is pretty expensive but manageable. Lots of cute nurses.

I heard Italy is a nice place to live too.

Good question about retirement, where would I go or if I stay in the same place. Pretty boring where I live but I wouldn't see myself in a mega city where you're stuck in traffic all the time. Where I'm at, outside rush hour it goes pretty quick to move around the city but there isn't much to see.

What I do plan this summer is to go see my mother in the Lambo, people are going to freak out as I doubt there has ever been a super car except a Viper owned by an a drug crime boss 30 years ago. It's very far in the middle of the forest, lakes and mines, a 5 hour drive to get there.

Unfortunately I can't really speed unless it's in corners and have to come slow down on the straights because there's cops hiding in the woods literally 2-3 hours from the nearest village. I'm bringing the cat so I have to travel extremely light. I think this time after 9 years of running the biz without taking any vacation I will mute my phone while I'm there.

 

[Sakura]

Good question about retirement, where would I go or if I stay in the same place. Pretty boring where I live but I wouldn't see myself in a mega city where you're stuck in traffic all the time. Where I'm at, outside rush hour it goes pretty quick to move around the city but there isn't much to see.

What I do plan this summer is to go see my mother in the Lambo, people are going to freak out as I doubt there has ever been a super car except a Viper owned by an a drug crime boss 30 years ago. It's very far in the middle of the forest, lakes and mines, a 5 hour drive to get there.

Unfortunately I can't really speed unless it's in corners and have to come slow down on the straights because there's cops hiding in the woods literally 2-3 hours from the nearest village. I'm bringing the cat so I have to travel extremely light. I think this time after 9 years of running the biz without taking any vacation I will mute my phone while I'm there.

Totally get the traffic. My place is near what’s probably one of the best highways in Japan, running past Mt Fuji and a bunch of tourist spots. There are even race tracks around. The thing is, it gets boring fast because those places are built for tourists. Locals go a few times and then… meh.

Sounds like you are going to have an awesome trip with cats, forest, lake, and mines. I don't think you can find that combo anywhere else in the world. Muting the phone sounds like a solid plan.

 

[Luzifer]

Totally get the traffic. My place is near what’s probably one of the best highways in Japan, running past Mt Fuji and a bunch of tourist spots. There are even race tracks around. The thing is, it gets boring fast because those places are built for tourists. Locals go a few times and then… meh.

Sounds like you are going to have an awesome trip with cats, forest, lake, and mines. I don't think you can find that combo anywhere else in the world. Muting the phone sounds like a solid plan.

I think I'll go to next town and go for a little drive, however it's a 100 km away just for maybe a 20 minute cruise in the town and then you're done. I will visit an animal refuge where I went a few times they have moose, deer, owls, more birds and more. As for the mines they are off limit except 2 where they have tourist visit. One of them I already did a visit underground. I worked in many of them when I lived there.

Usually I leave my phone on take calls and take appointments for when I come back.

 

[Sakura]

I think I'll go to next town and go for a little drive, however it's a 100 km away just for maybe a 20 minute cruise in the town and then you're done. I will visit an animal refuge where I went a few times they have moose, deer, owls, more birds and more. As for the mines they are off limit except 2 where they have tourist visit. One of them I already did a visit underground. I worked in many of them when I lived there.

Usually I leave my phone on take calls and take appointments for when I come back.

Whoah, are you sure we are not neighbors? That's about the same distance when I drive, usually on the weekend. About 100 km to either sides, east or west, where the bigger cities are. There is a small farm too where they housed sheep, goats, donkeys, and horses. When I visited there, the sheep and goats were absolutely LIVID, but the donkey was extremely polite, more polite than average people When he got fed, he opened his mouth slowly and lifted his lips while grinning and showing his nice teeth. He also took his carrot very slowly to avoid biting the giver's hands. The goats and sheep were like lawnmower in horror movie. They were ready to munch my hands.

I can't imagine doing work in the mines! I bet you have all the equipments ready like miner helmet with lamps and all the safety gears. I am always fascinated about the gears.

 

[Luzifer]

Whoah, are you sure we are not neighbors? That's about the same distance when I drive, usually on the weekend. About 100 km to either sides, east or west, where the bigger cities are. There is a small farm too where they housed sheep, goats, donkeys, and horses. When I visited there, the sheep and goats were absolutely LIVID, but the donkey was extremely polite, more polite than average people When he got fed, he opened his mouth slowly and lifted his lips while grinning and showing his nice teeth. He also took his carrot very slowly to avoid biting the giver's hands. The goats and sheep were like lawnmower in horror movie. They were ready to munch my hands.

I can't imagine doing work in the mines! I bet you have all the equipments ready like miner helmet with lamps and all the safety gears. I am always fascinated about the gears.

I worked on the surface for a plumbing company, mostly installing natural gas heaters to heat garages and shops. Sometimes repairing industrial piping. I did come across an old bucket filled with dirt and it was a little strange. A security guard suddenly appeared with a 12 gauge shotgun telling me to step away from the dirt bucket. He explained it was on its way to get further refined because it contained gold dust.

 

[6102Perf]

Spot on, the healthcare system here is a complete disaster.

Without insurance in the US I wonder how much let's say a simple family doctor visit costs, a 20 minute visit? What about a hospital trip, with a small or medium surgery, would it be 10K, 25K, 50, 75, 100k?

By the way about cool stuff for men, would you like to discuss tools? If so I would hijack this thread because I have so many.

I'm not sure. But I would never put myself in a situation where I didn't have good health insurance. It would be irresponsible to not have it. It'd be like driving your vehicle without auto insurance and guessing how much repairs are going to cost you should you get in an accident. Most wouldn't put themselves in that situation so we don't worry about it.

Sure, let's hear about your tool collection. Do you have a brand preference? Snap On kind of guy or what?

 

[6102Perf]

To me the biggest thing is access to timely, high-level medical care is readily available in the US should I ever need it. You're really rolling the dice in Canada right now if you get sick. Huge wait times for cancer patients and others to see specialists and if you need what the government deems a 'non-essential' surgery you're going to be waiting many months or even years. That's an unacceptable standard for a developed country, but many people turn a blind eye because they think your healthcare is 'free' without considering the underlying cost you pay to fund that broken system.

My work takes me to both sides of the border (I'm actually in Western Canada as we speak), so I have a pretty good sense of how both healthcare systems work. But I know where I'd rather be should I ever find myself in need of urgent medical care.

 

[Luzifer]

I'm not sure. But I would never put myself in a situation where I didn't have good health insurance. It would be irresponsible to not have it. It'd be like driving your vehicle without auto insurance and guessing how much repairs are going to cost you should you get in an accident. Most wouldn't put themselves in that situation so we don't worry about it.

Sure, let's hear about your tool collection. Do you have a brand preference? Snap On kind of guy or what?

As for tools I couldn't afford snap on and to me it's silly to pay I don't know 3,4,5 times more than another brand? 95% of the tools I own I bought on sale, I always look for high quality tools that will last a lifetime without paying a premium, it's like buying a "Louis Vuitton" hammer! No disrespect to Sakura.

As a young adult I couldn't afford a mechanic to fix my car, I bought a shop manual and a wrench set to remove a transmission. That's how it started...

 

[Sakura]

As for tools I couldn't afford snap on and to me it's silly to pay I don't know 3,4,5 times more than another brand? 95% of the tools I own I bought on sale, I always look for high quality tools that will last a lifetime without paying a premium, it's like buying a "Louis Vuitton" hammer! No disrespect to Sakura.

As a young adult I couldn't afford a mechanic to fix my car, I bought a shop manual and a wrench set to remove a transmission. That's how it started...

Frankly speaking, the best thing from Snap on is their tools cabinet. I don’t mean the cheaper one, but their top of the line cabinets from their US factory. The metals are thicker with better locking and casters. I researched about it for months before I got one. I agree the quality of their tools are average. Mostly made in China. For example, they have this cutter with auto blade changer which is great in theory, but the casing is too big it blocks the cutting spot and the surface finishing is too rough it can cut your skin. The seller acknowledged this too and told me the brand was more about heritage and getting there first in the market. Other brands like Japanese KTC is way more better in terms of quality like better material choice, better coatings, and precision. Typical Japanese made items.

Don’t give LV any ideas because they already have this LV cues and pool sets they sell a few years ago. And dart boards. Someone at LVMH could be reading this

 

[rockpool]

Whoah tobacco, leather, and sandalwood scented soap!! Something an alpha male would prob use

Here I am using a Rose scented soap! No wonder I had guys hitting on me!

I used to buy amazing green tea soap every time I visited Japan - the only place I could find it.

 

[Luzifer]

I had an insulated rambler that didn't quite match the car and if you put a hot liquid it would "sour" the flavor. A few weeks ago I found a batch of Yeti ramblers in a matching color and it doesn't ruin the taste as much. However it was a huge cup so I ordered one from the US, it was very expensive at $100 CAD. I'm happy it matches the car. I'm also using it in my work truck.