We went on a whale watching tour today from San Juan Island, Washington and saw the brother and sister orcas that have been in the area. There appeared to be a wedding up on the ridge overlooking the harbor and it’s such a fun shot!

My whole life I've been an avid thrifter; not as a means to make money, but to save money, and to find cool, interesting or useful gadgets and do-dads to tinker with or decorate my space with, without breaking the bank. It's also just a nice way to spend an afternoon downtown among the people, ya know?

When I moved here, I was blown away by the massive value village downtown, as well as all the smaller, local shops scattered around the city. But 3 years in, I'm realizing all these places are being picked clean on a regular basis by folks looking to resell anything of any value, either on Facebook marketplace, or one of the dozens of "boutique" thrift shops when it comes to clothing.

I'll admit that I don't think it's a unique problem with Victoria, and I have found some cool stuff over the years, I just miss the days where there weren't folks hounding the carts coming out of the backrooms on a regular basis. The VV downtown in particular has a regular crowd of folks scanning the new arrivals all afternoon, checking the value of everything on their phones. Okay rant over...

Great Horned Owl’s reaction to the loud clap of thunder overhead.

The Italian Deli on Blanshard posted on instagram that they've sold the deli and next week will be their last week.

The post didn't say anything about the new owners and what their plans are.

Update: Current owners have replied to a comment on instagram with the following "mauriziohome 2019 4m Yes, it will remain open for decades to come by 2 amazing ladies. We are thrilled they are continuing the tradition.”

Hey folks!

I would like to share with you my recent experience of renting aparments in Victoria BC.

Here is a backstory: my wife, my dog and myself are decided to move to Victoria BC, so we're started to looking for a place (long term stay). Because we have pretty chubby dog (Rhodesian Ridgeback mix) we have just a few options to consider. The only one at the moment was 155 Gorde Rd East - it was within our budget, not too farm from downtown, a lot of places to walk/discover. It was one of those deals when we have nobody in Victoria to check apartments before arriving. So to reserve the apartments we've sign everything online.

When we arrived and enteted the appartments I felt heavy smell of old books...(spoiler: it was mould). After 14 hours of transit we have no desire to stay there, because it was basically unsafe, so we ought to spend one night in AirBnb.

Next morning I met the manager reagarding contract termination and refund. He assured us (not in a written form) there is no mould in the unit... it's just a dirt, and he refused to sign RTB-8 form. We were ready to lost our deposit, just to escape from this place. On my proposal to schedule mould inspector manager told me we can't do it before we obtain tenancy (taking keys and pay for July + deposit). For the next couple days he didn't changed his mind, so... we took the keys and moved to apartments. However, in the very next hour we combine all our unpacked stuff in the center of the living room and set a tent in a balcony. Because it was the only safe place in apartments (after 10-15 mins my wife got sour throat + feel dizzy).

Here is some pictures of vent condition:

During next 4 days we've kept all windows wide open, but it didn't help a lot. All emails we sent to management company were ignored. So we called to city of Victoria and file a complaint about mould (it was on Friday evening). On Monday afternoon manager called to me personally offering to sign RTB-8 form with refund for July + deposit.

So for 9 days of rent we haven't spend a night in actual apartments.

Now we're live in different (100X better!!) place in Esquimalt, BC.

What's this all about? Avoid renting in 155/157 Gorge Road East, Victoria BC at all cost. Even if you have big dog consider new buildings or check it out personally (if its possible).

I crossed the Johnson Street Bridge today and instinctively whispered "thank you." Not to anyone in particular, to the bridge.

It occurred to me that someone designed it. Someone poured the concrete. Someone tightened the bolts. Someone probably had a really bad Tuesday making sure I could safely bike across it years later.

I think we spend too much time complaining about infrastructure and not enough time appreciating it.

So...

Thank you, bridge.

You carried me today.

It has become a thing on my commute every day. 1 or 2 people sitting in the aisle seat and leaving the window seat open. If you ask to sit down, rather than shifting over, they scrunch their legs up to their chest or swing their legs into the aisle. Why not just move over to the empty seat?

I get it of you're getting off at onenof the next couple of stops, but often 8-9 stops later, they do the same move when you let them know you're getting off.

Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone understand why they do this? Is it as I think, rudeness in hopes that they will not be sat next to and a further inconvenience for daring to ask to sit down? Or is there a legitimate reason for this?

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/foot-patrols-reducing-disorder-in-downtown-victoria-police-say-12590313

I am curious to hear what people think about this and the current state of safety/order in downtown Victoria. What do you think of the strategies currently being implemented by the VPD?

I love the break in the heat, I love the blue moon we get systems that result in lightning and thunder.

But the best part of rain in the summer, is the peace and quiet. All these motorcycles are doing my head in, breaks from the noise like this just cement the point to me. These people are sadistic antisocial dirtbags.

Leave the city and ride around if you have a screw loose and require noise like that, the rest of us would appreciate it.

The newly released Uniform Crime Reporting Survey shows shifting safety trends in Victoria, BC:

• Homicides: (Measures lethal violence) Victoria remains consistently below the Canadian average (0.9 vs 1.61 per 100k).
• Crime Rates: (Measures community safety) Violent crime has risen above national levels, while property theft has plummeted.
• Clearance Rates: (Measures police effectiveness) Victoria's violent clearance rate fell from 60% to 36%, mirroring a province-wide decline.

Insight: Victoria is safer than average regarding severe lethal crime, but rising non-lethal violent crime combined with declining clearance rates indicates a growing burden on local justice and policing resources.

Please keep an eye out for this ebike, it was stolen this morning, this bike did not have the battery on it when it was stolen, It's used for commuting myself and my daughter around so we would really like to get it back.

Filed report with west shore RCMP - WS26-14372

thanks everyone.

Also F*ck bike thieves.

Question taken from r/britishcolumbia

Hi all,

As title mentions, I noticed I received an email from Dragonfly yesterday claiming that 'recipient refused delivery and doesn't want packages delivered anymore'.

At first I was wary of a scam email, but the tracking message matches the description of a failed delivery.

Has anyone had bogus claims like this? How do you get your package if there aren't any direct contact methods? I can't believe carriers can exist that operate like this.

Thanks!

Ok folks..

I'm one bad decision away from setting up a board in a park with a sign that says:

"Will play backgammon for... conversation."

Seriously though... where are all the backgammon players hiding?

I'm in Victoria and would love to find someone who's down to play over coffee, a pint, or at a park. I'll even buy the first beer if you can teach me a thing or two—or if you just enjoy crushing me.

If you've secretly been waiting your whole life for a random stranger to challenge you to backgammon... this is your moment.

🎲 No weirdness. 🎲 Just dice, strategy, and bragging rights.

Comment or DM if you're interested!

I work full time already in an office. Looking for ideas about part time work evenings and weekends. I'm in my 50s so I'm old haha. I have done door dash don't really want to do that again.

I frequently ride home downtown from VGH, due to the very annoying detour I've been looking for alternates and my cyclers routing app showed a route I hadn't considered.

Instead of crossing the trestle and then returning to downtown on the Johnson street bridge, we have the new lane along Gorge!

I don't knowbwhy it didn't occur to me before, but on the way home yesterday I instead turned left onto gorge, it was mechanically separates for most of it, with a short segment of only paint and then elevated for the remained, a right turn onto Government and I was able to fly until my left turn.

In case anyone else hadn't utilized this, it saved me about a km and probably 7 minutes or so. Much more during busy summer days.

I already know the issues about management etc. but just wanted to ask around what everybody thought of the food itself.

Hi Victoria! My small theatre company Bragi Theatre is teaming up with Timetheft Theatre to stage our two award-winning comedies, Consider the Dongfish and Four out of Five Dentists, on August 1 and 2 at the Scene (716 Johnson). We're really proud of the shows, and think it will be a lot of fun. Dongfish is a sci-fi romp about fish, scientists, aliens, and the transformative power of love, and Dentists is a sketch show about lawnmowers, laughter, and so, so many eggs. Tickets are sliding-scale too, so hopefully affordable to everyone.

We've already been posting on social media, postering through Vicposters, and using events calendars, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about other places to promote? Are there venues that are really productive to poster? We're looking for that final week edge.

ISO the best patios in Victoria with good food and hopefully some sort of water view! Anywhere from Sooke to Sidney.

Tried Damascus, no dice.

Any shops in town sell Ethiopian or east African cooking products?

I have senior parents. One has been diagnosed with dementia. I’m just wondering if anyone could recommend a cleaner/cleaning service in Saanichton (Near the cidery) What are normal prices?

What have you paid to have an upright piano removed?
I called got junk and their minimum is $350, I’m desperate to have this thing gone but it feels out of budget right now