It takes a lot of courage to do this. Huge kudos to you.

When I moved back from gta to yvr, I was facing similar dilemma. I could go back to the office I used to work at who were willing to offer me a very decent package for what’s basically my old job. But I had always wanted to start my own business and do things that I actually wanted to do. I took the risk and the opportunity to do it and the result was super rewarding.

Not sure what field your company is in, but do reach out. If it’s anything my clients or former partners could use, I could definitely hook you up with something.

Things have quieted down a LOT here.

https://i.postimg.cc/NMbgqMcP/PXL-20...PORTRAIT-2.jpg

Rides bike in the rain

This is actually one of the first days in a LONG while that the skies were clear and blue (see background of pic).

Has Toronto gotten their 1st major snow dump yet?

Snowed a few times already, still some traces outside from monday/tuesday.

truly a post no one should care about:

my last two Temu orders were delayed so I got myself $10 credit for doing absolutely nothing lol, woohoo!

one out of our two Temu orders are delayed as well and we are still waiting for something that should have arrived last week, same and got a $5 credit.

I'm wondering if Temu is finally getting the hurt from the tariffs and is starting their spiral into oblivion. Let's be real, their business model isn't exactly sustainable.

you underestimate just how much that trash costs to make / ship. Even with tariffs im sure they are doing okay.

My first order was late by two weeks after the delivery window. Second order is currently 2 days late. Luckily I'm in no particular rush for these things to arrive. As long as it eventually arrives I'm good with it lol.

Never bothering with Temu again, cheap garbage crap. Did a first time order recently and struck out on all of them:

-Blades for trimmer -- All were shitty and dull
-Hand vacuum for car -- Literally the worst vacuum I've ever purchased, better off getting a Black and Decker off Amazon
-Head torch for camping -- Shittiest headlamp I've ever seen, I could've paid $10 more for a good one from MEC

I still ended up paying a decent amount for all that crap, had I gone the local route I might've paid $20-$30 more, and it would've been worth it.

You're buying from the wrong place for items where quality matters, you gotta find the brands that are legit and find it on Aliexpress. Like Wurkkos for flashlights or Sanrenmu for knives (dunno if they make trimmers)

Haha I dunno, maybe I've just had better luck because almost everything I've bought from them has been of decent or better quality. Maybe my expectations are low but that comes along with the price point for certain items. There are definitely items I would never trust to buy through them of course.

I think the quality can be had of equivalent items. There are some camping items I've found that are equivalent to a name brand that might be sold as some odd-ball brand, but the quality is on-par with some minor design differences.

But to your point - I 100% agree that you have to do your due diligence and buy the right items from the right place. Just need to use your discretion.

i've never used temu before but i use ali sometimes.

i bought a miter gauge for my table saw and it's actually really decent, much better than the one that came with the saw.
downside is it came in a box with zero instructions and you have to figure out the assembly yourself.
eventually you can figure it out but with instructions it would have taken me 5 mins to put together instead of 1hr...

One of my Temu items came with a mostly useless user manual and ironically it was in every language other than Chinese, made me laugh.

Wife bought some felt 'some assembly required' Mid-Autumn festival lanterns.
Kinda like those flat balsa wood build a tank/plane etc models. The kind with +60 parts to punch out, glue and assemble. Like that but in felt.

Instructions were as follows:

1: take out parts
2: assemble (instruction sheet only had a single picture of the fully assembled lantern)
3: put batteries in and light!

It was a long night.

I’m at probably the last few remaining hole in the walls in Richmond.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/YJ1ULwyMYNqX8jJL6?g_st=ipc

Golden coin is legit. Been around for probably 40 years now ? Last time I was in here was 2007.

Prices are still insanely good. Steak and eggs for 15 bucks. How can you go wrong

https://i.postimg.cc/j5X3nWRw/IMG-8063.jpg

I've been meaning to try their food for quite a few years now.

I tend to see modified cars parked outside who I assume are customers lol.

I worked in that commercial complex at the beginning of my career, directly across from Golden Coin. I never thought it was that great and would rather drive to Parker Place for food.

It became a pokestop in Pokemon Go

sorry, that's just you man. Never do anything china made with anothing electrical. Yes you can do clothing, mousepads, heck maybe even christmas ornaments, but nothing eg/ shaver blades or any blades or antyhing with a battery via Temu.

Hand vacuum - get the one from Costco, it's still legit.

another one - but in bby. (*edit - just closed for Xmas We’ll be closed for our winter break Dec 7–Jan 6.)
Northern Cafe and Grill (inside a lumber mill)
https://i.cbc.ca/ais/1.5262677,15670...3BResize%3D805

The things I've purchased from Temu with batteries have held up so far

1. Tire inflator - gets hot but hasn't died, does the job well

2. Handheld Vacuum for car - not super powerful, gave to gf to vacuum hair in bedroom instead (perfect for that)

3. Level with laser guide - does the job well

Everything else has been little things here and there, clothing, etc. Truly no complaints from me because I try to select things carefully and consider the reviews/photos before buying something.

I brought this up before, but if Temu or whatever is anything like Taobao, you have to shop around for the right brand. Manufacturing in China can be as cheap as possible, with the expected results. And sometimes that can be totally acceptable (like for a strainer or clothes hangers or whatever)

But the manufacturing can be just as good as what you'd buy in a local store, because that's where these are being made. The price won't be rock bottom, but it will be higher than the absolute cheapest crap.

In the past I have mentioned watchmaking tools.. Last month I bought a microscope for $300 that would have cost $550 in the US, for the exact same product (same OEM)

Here's another example of something that is not an OEM for a Swiss brand (most likely, but who knows, maybe they make enough of it to qualify as still being Swiss) but higher quality than the cheapest option

Here's the Swiss version, $1300 USD

https://i.imgur.com/RJ16m49.png

Here's the cheap version, for about $40

https://i.imgur.com/Nq6kHg6.png

I haven't tested it myself, but I can almost guarantee that it is goign to be crap

But if you increase that rock bottom budget by 400% to $160, you are still well under the Swiss product price, but with very high quality (usually.. again I don't have this tool) (edit: You can see casting seams in the Swiss tool but not this one... So maybe it's even better! LOL)

https://i.imgur.com/6y91tpN.png

TLDR: There are Chinese brands that are good. They aren't as cheap as the cheapest stuff, but they aren't crap either. Shop around

+2 for the first 2 items. My tire inflator has been used many times for tires, balls, water floatables with zero issues so far. The car vacuum has been more than sufficient power wise for what I'm vacuuming in the car.

As for other items there are plenty of high quality items and everything in between. If you take your time you can usually sort through what's total garbage and what's not so I really haven't had many experiences if any where I received an item and thought wtf is this?

Oh, I forgot to add my buffer to that list. The thing has worked well, came with 2 batteries and lots of different pads as well as micro fiber cloths and a carrying case. Absolutely no complaints on that one.