u/PicaroKaguya

I remember years ago lupo use to do it and they removed it from their menu. It was so delicious.

I love ridiculous food. Please tell me.

Hello Brothers/Sisters.

Currently I work for a municipality as a maintenance plumber (and have been plumbing for 15 years). This is my first union job i've ever had. It's also one of the best jobs ive ever had. The only issue is the pay is pretty low, and the days can be extremely boring due to lack of work. Even though my municipality has alot of properties/real estate, we split the work between quite a few plumbers. Alot of the jobs are just changing batteries in flush valves, repairing pool stuff, and lots of backflows. Some pipefitting, some mechanical stuff such as building pump repairs and alot of plugged toilets.

I live in probably one of the most expensive cities in the world, and due to the lower pay, it's a little hard to get ahead. Our pay currently is under industry standard and we have to pay 8% of our wage into our pension. Even though I'm quite frugal and saving my money i' feel life is kicking me down, and as a single person I can't see myself ever getting ahead. I've also been told that I am too young to be doing a retirement job.

Me and my coworker who are similar aged have been talking about our struggles regarding finances and how we dont make enough. When we talk to our foreman about how we should be getting paid more, we constantly get shut down by management. My coworkers are scared to talk, and because our union has to represent everyone in my municipality the odds of going on strike are 0.

I really want to be doing more, I've always dreamed of doing big projects, and I always get really proud telling people of buildings that I built, or projects that I've helped on, or major repairs ive made. I spent 11 years of my career doing service and its what I specialize in. I've done all types of things from industrial, heavy commercial, light commercial, and tons of residential. Everytime I fly out of the airport I always talk about this 300k project I did solo that took me over 3 months.

I also really want to transition to learning something new. I really want to get into pipefitting.

While I was out and about, I ran into the business development guy for my Local UA. I was telling him how upset we were with management, and he was well versed how much of a "shit deal" we get at the municipalities. I am very very pro union and very anti management so I was probably ranting for a bit. I then approached him about possibly joining the UA, which he said I should do. After chatting a bit we ended the conversation. I sat on it for a month, and I dropped off my application at my local.

So some questions I have, since I am VERY new to unions.

1. How does joining a union work while you have a job in a different union? Do I just pay my dues until a job comes up that I am asked to work at?

2. Am I essentially a contractor to the employer I work for? There is one company in town I really want to work for but the only way to get onboard is through the UA. I can't apply directly to the company.

3. Will I hear back from the UA regarding my application? Should I follow up? When is an acceptable time to follow up? Can I keep working for my current employer while I wait for the right job to come up? Do I just pay my union dues?

Thank you for the help and reading my long post.

Already took the 1st step at applying at my local UA that seems to get all the pipefitting jobs.

Any advice I can get for those that want to make this jump?

I'm in a conundrum. Financially I am healthy and make a decent salary, invest a good portion of my salary, and travel well.

I'm a car guy. I bought my 2017 Fiat abarth new. And I've taken care of it mechanically. It only has 80k km on it, I do every single maintenance. Had the transmission and clutch warrantied in its final year, which also had the dealership change the serpentine belt.

I use my car for the occasional plumbing sidejob too, as I can't take my work vehicle home, but this could change if I decide to leave my public gig and go back to the private side. It's served me well. I love the car to death. But I've been approaching 10 years now with the car, and I have this itch wanting to upgrade.

Ive been offered 12k cad for my car. I'm really tempted. I'm worried that I'm going to reach a stage soon where the car is gonna start having its typical maintenqnce issues. There are some wear and tear issues like needing a new carpet in the driver side because my heel wore it down or needing a new taillamp because I've cracked it replacing a bulb.

Right now Subaru has a promotion for a brz ts. 3.49 percent financing for 4 years. The cost of the loan is around 2k with a 12k downpayment. Love the look, test drove it and absolutely fell in love. Especially the red one. I drive strictly for pleasure, I don't really carry people around. But the thrill of buying a new car stays on my mind.

My other option is clapping out my abarth. I could put a stronger turbo, intercool3r and intake and tune and push the horsepower from 170 to 230 while still being reliable. But I'd obviously kill the resale value. I do also believe the car to be quite rare. There are only 12 of the 2017 registered in my province.

I guess I'm asking since my car is 10 years old what kind of mechanical issues will I start running into? I'm trying to weight the pros and cons.

Ask a union guy how much rhey make they tell you their total package.

Ask a guy at a wholesaler how much they make they refuse to tell you for reasons???

Read on reddit how much x trade makes and they always post some insane number without mentioning where they work, if they own their own company or if they work a shit load of overtime.

If we were all transparent in our own trades about what we do and how much we make we could help others who are trying to advance in their trades. Probably not targeted to people here but I've helped countless apprentices find work and will always stick out my neck for people who try to better themselves by getting a skill because I was in their shoes once when I was desperate to learn a skill that noone could take away from me.

At that time my journeyman took a chance and because of it I'm not longer working some general labour job.

The worst personally for me was wanting to learn hydronic heating but getting pigeonholed into service plumbing and wasn't allowed to go on any heating calls. Really stunted me developmentally. Now I'm in the 16th year as a plumber and jumped to a company finally willing to train me in areas I want to be trained in.

Tldr; join a union if you can.

After discussing stuff with my local plumbing union and lots of other plumbers. I'm thinking of joining them so that I can eventually go work for a big operation near my house that has work for me until retirement.

I'm currently in a different non trade union but want to continue working for them for the remainder of the year getting more specialized commercial plumbing experience.

Do I go join the plumbing union now just to get my name on the board?

If I join is it bad that I am currently employed for someone not under their union? Or do I just pay my membership dues?

Should I join now or when I'm ready to make the jump?

Context: Currently make 12 dollars under what plumbers make in other unions but work for a great employer with amazing work life balance/benefits/pension.

Did the math and would rather go work at the higher wage and self invest in index funds or go work under an Hvac union company that does rrsp matching instead of pension.

My girlfriend has never lived on her own. When she was fresh out of highschool she moved towns to live with her bf where they dated for 15 years. While there relationship was falling apart we admitingly got closer, and when they broke up, began dating and after a 5 months she decided to move to my city and in with me. We have been living together for about 7 months now.

During our friendship and eventual dating I might have set the bar a bit high by paying for a lot of dates and paying for her flight to come visit me a few times. Now that we live together I've just begun to realize that I'm feeling unhappy with our situation.

When we first met she was working a job in her field and was getting by. Around the same time she recieved a large Inheritence but not enough to retire on. It was around 200k.

Shortly after Ai cannibalized her field. When we began dating her unemployment benefits ended, so she relied on her savings to get her by. Around the same time she broke up with her boyfriend and was renting out a room until she figured herself out.

After moving in its been a bit of a roller coaster. She left my place a mess and at the time I began work with a new employer in my field. Its quite a physical job and I work longer hours but I'm use to being solo and taking care of myself. I had begged her to unpack faster but it took her over 3 months to unpack. She made the home environment stressful to come home too.

During this time she has been paying rent to me but aside from that I've been covering a majority of the household expenses, and also cleaning up after her for a little bit. She spends all her time at home, wakes up late and then sleeps by the time I need to be waking up for work. She won't leave the house and has begun complaining that she has been gaining weight. Every little ailment is like she's been physically beaten. She doesn't like the cuisine of my culture either, and I think the worst is while we agreed we both don't want children, she absolutely despises children and is terrified of them. While me on the mean hand love my nieces and nephews and like being a part of their life. She refuses to find work, even if it's something partime and has told me she is working on herself. She also avoids my family and social engagements due to anxiety and She makes up alot of excuses in these things and it's beginning to annoy me. On the same front I've began making plans without her due to her always saying she's anxious or not feeling well to avoid being in public. She also doesn't drive, and is terrified to deal with any government agency, doctor, or anything thst requires social interaction.

On the sex front she refuses to use any form of birth control which makes me feel uncomfortable. I'll gladly condom up but we have had 2 condom slippage scares and it's making sex unfun.

I also have financial goals I'm trying to reach and I'm being hindered because of the constant dinners and groceries/toiletries I have to cover for.

Our relationship is clearly going different directions but the thing is she's the kindest and sweetest person in the world. She is very unaware that I'm unhappy, due to her autism (supposedly) I do believe in giving people chances but I feel like alot of these behaviours can't change. I've had people explain to me she's a hobosexual but I think she's doing it unintentionally.

Now that we live together I'm worried that our relationship is going to keep deteriorate. She has no parents and no immediate family. She doesn't stay in touch with relatives, all her friends are on the internet and alot of paperwork and government stuff send her into panic attacks. I want to be her friend still but I don't want to be responsible for her.

I'm worried if I break up with her that she won't be able to take care of herself, but I believe that there is someone out there for me who can take care of themselves and have their own lives and friends and isn't relying on me for every aspect of their life.

So I guess my question is

1. how do I slowly talk to my girlfriend about things thst are currently making me unhappy, and how can I explain to her that I'm concerned for her own well being.

2. what is a reasonable amount of time to give someone time to improve themselves?

3. if I break up with her how do I explain to her that id like to return to living independantly. Do I pay her back for a the few things she provided and give her a bit to help her move out? I still care about her but I think she needs a bit of living on her own to learn how to take care of herself.

I did the scotch tape trick on the back. For infinity focus it seems good. As from what I understand I max out the lens (in my case a 65mm f4) and just make sure the ghost matches up by adjusting the 2 little screws behind the plastic cover.

It's where I get to the close focusing where things to be misaligned but I can't tell if this is because the tape is not in the right position?

Is my only way to check for accuracy to shoot a roll of film?

I was in long distance relationship with someone for over a year before we decided to close the gap. During this period she was unemployed and collecting unemployment. During this period she wasnt really searching for work in her field but it was understandable since she had a large savings and her peers were struggling to find work.

Over the year we got closer with eachother and she decided to move in with me. While she is paying me rent, we did discuss our future and finances and plans with eachother.

For context I work a job that is very labour intensive and is long hours/high pay. I've been mostly solo my whole life and have had routines and have generally kept clean. I only sit down when my chores are done as my brain is free to do what it wants.

After she moved in, she hasn't made an effort to find a job and I find her waking up at 1 pm, and she just doom scrolls on her phone. Everytime I come home from work, she's still naked in her bathrobe. She refuses to leave the house even though I begged her that she should at least dress and leave the house and go for a walk since we live in a very walkable city. She also doesn't help much around the house and constantly "forgets" when I ask her to do simple tasks such as bringing down my laundry (where I will fold it) or doing the dishes. I'm starting to clean up after her.

Yesterday I finally lost it when her mess effected my day. I told her I don't want her to wear a robe anymore and I really hate it as it implies you are just waking up late, and it comes off as being lazy and she got upset with me about it. She asked if she wore shorts and an oversized shirt would that make a difference and I told her it did. She ended up crying for a bit which made me feel bad Becuase I don't like telling people stuff I want them to do.

She's also told me she's on the spectrum and I have found other accounts on reddit of kinda weird behaviour or other people who have similarities such as wearing a robe all day, only eating with a specific fork etc.

Am I overreacting for telling her to stop wearing a robe all day and possibly parting ways with her over it?