For the T8 fluorescent long tube replacement, I've seen LED direct replacement tubes being available for sale at Home Depot. Are those not a good option to consider at all?

For someone like me who is very unskilled in home maintenance / DIY, that certainly seems like the better option to pursue LOL~

If you can’t install a light you shouldn’t own a home.

Lol, true.

Changing a light fixture is just a matter of:
1. Turning off the breaker
2. Verifying that there is indeed no power going to the circuit
3. Removing the existing fixture (unscrewing the fixture and untwisting a few wires)
4. Repeat in reverse with new fixture

Watch a video, it's very straight forward.

It's not a bad option per se, but your fixture will still be dependent on the old fluorescent ballast which still is a point of failure.

Plus modern LED fixtures can do a better job at directing the light patterns, giving you better light performance.

I left shortly before the provincial government introduced $6 sucks rules

Do it hottttt

Yeah! Nub!!!

Gonna have to narc on you for not applying for a permit and using a licenced red seal electrician ! :accepted:

can't narc on me if I generate my own power :badpokerface:

Oh man. Just got an email an hour ago that our wedding photographer passed away. He was about our age.

We actually haven't even done the ceremony yet; still had our deposit with him. We were going to have our wedding in 2020, but then COVID dragged on and we got by on something temporary, thinking we'd do the full thing soon enough.

He had a wife and a kid. The wife had sent us the email letting us know.

I suppose it's another reminder to live our lives to the utmost, while we're still here.

Are you gonna get your deposit back ?

Brutal :lol

We learned today that a friend of a friend died today literally coming back from a routine visit at Costco. Cause is unknown.

Facebook suggested a former director of my team as a friend last week. Looked at his profile, and he posted his wife passed away while they were on vacation the week prior.

He died because he didn’t return enough stuff. Chinese heart attack.

There's been a couple people on my friends list who have passed away in the past few years (one was 6 years ago) and yet every year when their birthdays come up people post on their FB page completely unaware that they're dead. "I hope you have a great day!" kinda stuff.

It's both sad and hilarious. Like, yo, actually go to their page and read the death announcement eh? Or see all the notes of the people saying how they are really missed.

Wellness check on skinny? I know Hong Kong isn’t small and likelihood he’s affected isn’t high, but wondering regardless.

i feel like it's the age group of forum members as we age to see more folks in our circle passing unfortunately

Could have been a parking lot fight

RS = RIP Scene

It has been a slow trickle in my social ciricles, but over the years, there have been a few passings for one reason or another.

What I am having a difficult time coming to terms with is how many people have developed / are developing some sort of common chronic middle age illnesses. It is not at all surprising at my age (late 40's), and I have been affected by different ailments here and there as well. Overall, I'd still say I have been very lucky bcos I have generally been pretty healthy. But enough of my friends seem to be require medication to manage their health conditions, and it just goes to show that we are no longer the spring chickens that we were...

I'm good brother, thanks. My wife's coworker actually lives there, but thankfully he was out for the day, and has no pets. He's lost everything, but the death toll keeps climbing. I think 55 last time I saw, and there's still hundreds in rough shape in the hospital

Turns out they were using bamboo scaffolding around all these buildings, which is being phased out for this reason. It is basically like enveloping buildings in timber. And they put this waterproof screen over it, which is supposed to be non flammable material, but this company used cheaper stuff that goes up in flames, so that's like enveloping the buildings in kindling. 3 men have been charged with manslaughter already. They were told to replace the netting, but didn't, and this is what happened. Horrible tragedy

-glad to hear that you are okay. :thumbsup:

latest news reports mention that polystyrene boards were used to cover some of the windows of these particular apartments in Tai Po. -extremely flammable boards.

Hong Kong in general has a very good safety record when it comes to apartments from what I hear from my god parents in Sai Kung.
The last major fire in a Hong Kong apartment was back in 1996.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/26/asia/...ire-latam-intl

-from the article:

Disasters like this are extremely rare in Hong Kong. One of the densest cities in the world, it has a strong track record when it comes to building safety, thanks to its high-quality construction and strict enforcement of building regulations.

Also, bamboo scaffolding is ubiquitous in the city, used not only in the construction of new buildings, but also in the renovation of thousands of historic tenements every year.

Hong Kong’s Development Bureau recently announced that 50% of new public building projects erected from March onwards would need to use metal scaffolding to “better protect workers” and align with modern construction standards in “advanced cities.”

That statement drew backlash from residents, many of whom noted that bamboo scaffolding is a cultural heritage that needs to be maintained.

i always thought this would happen more often given how insane the lack of safety standards are in asia, but you cant blame the bamboo. we've built a gazillion projects with that stuff and hardly ever have an incident.

It's really the green waterproof sheets they put over it. That's not supposed to be flammable, but they used it anyway.

Such a terrible situation. I feel for people who lost their lives and everything they they had.

Would you guys be open to a group fundraising page to a charitable cause in HK?

That city is wealthy enough; they can take care of their own folks. We got fuckers around here that could use a helping hand..... if administrative costs and other slimy charity schemes didn't eat up all the money.