The other side of the Globe: How is it?

Only 5 days left to start of 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and here it doesn't look like it's winter at all. It doesn't feel neither! At 12:5o AM it's only 6 C.

Unlike this year, last year was the year of snowfalls, strong wings and cold weather in B. C. I bet the organizers wish the could have had 2009 instead of 2010 as their Olympics year. VANOC is no struggling to bring enough snow to ski areas and had to ask practicing guys to leave the venue. It's costing them a lot, trucks loaded with snow!

Things doesn't seem that bad in Whistler though. Higher elevation, more snow, colder. It's 0 C over there. I bet these guys are goin' to overcome that problem with snow and make everything ready just on time.

We all know that Japanese manufactured products have a good reputation in the world. They are reliable, reasonable in price, high quality, available, you name it. Their vesicles, there's no need to say, here are always on the top of the list of high sellers everywhere in North America. Based on that I purchased a new model a few months ago and I'm happy with it, overall.

But that's not how everyone else fells. There a huge recall on some models in North America, specially the US as there're safety concerns. Driver's have claimed that they were having serious problem with accelerator pedal on a number of models and brake pedals on Prius, the magnificent, supposed to be(!), hybrid.

These are the news that everybody knows. At least the ones who drive a Toyota. The problem is so big that the Secretary of Transportation in the US is involved. But what amazes me the most is the Japanese reaction to this. The problem is goin' to cost a lot to the company. Not in terms of maintenance of the problematic vehicles but also in terms of Lost Market. Sales will be dropped sharply if not have been dropped yet and is goin' to be added to the other problems that Toyota has been having since Gobal Economic Recession.

As someone who has been in Quality business for few year, I always knew Japanese as the pioneers of Quality methods. Terms and means like JIT, Kaizan, Mistake Proofing, Ishikawa Diagram and many more are all invented and have being applied by Japanese for years and those are their keys to success in electronic, automotive and many other industries. Why they're losing the track of their parts and facing such a disaster is a big question. They blame it on lack of proper communication between Toyota USA and the head office in Japan! Something that I hardly can believe it. Not that I'm saying that they're lying. I just can't believe this is happening! After all I have no problem with mine so far and I hope nothing happens. I hope they can solve the problem using their root cause analysis.

The Calgary Flames has lost their last 7 games in this season. One of the games against the Sharks was really a bad loss: A 1-9(!). Today a few of the players were being questioned about the status of the team and how they will dig themselves out. One of them said: We're goin' to get back on track soon and find ourselves. It's just a matter of time! I don't know what this guy's talking about because we've already past half-season (52 games so far and the Flames is 9th overall in the conference!) Is this funny or stupid?

But listen to this one. This is really something. I'd say unique but not sure if I can call it unprecedented! He said: There're other things in the word that should be worried about rather than a 7 straight loss(!!)

You idiot, you're a professional hockey player. If that's not something to be worried about then what is? Tiger Woods?

One of the daily activities in this society is striking. Employees are on strike at one corner of this country every week. Once there're transit employees. Another time you hear about food court people. This is called a sign of democracy in a nation. I'm not against strikes. It's good that people can stand and speak up but most of the time it's really stupid and hurting to the society. Strike works only if it's well organized, has a good leading team and there's unity. One guy whom I worked with in Alberta told me once that they were on strike and the business owner simply shut the plant and left after a few week calling the employees back and they refused! Strike at times leads to clashes between two groups of employees, the ones who wants to carry on under the circumstances and the ones who demand more. It happened at Lakeside Packers in Alberta a few years ago.

At times these strikes are so stupid. A good example of it is the recent hospital cafe workers' labour dispute. There were a bunch of Punjabi women working at hospitals that I had to go to a few times. One day I saw the cafe closed and saw them outside with banners. Nobody gave a shit! The coffee shop is still closed and they probably work in another place. I really don't know what those women wanted. You work at a coffee shop and all you do is pouring beverages and giving the change back. You don't even know how to great. What do you expect? A $35 an hour wage?! ... I mean ... be reasonable. You are not here all the way from Punjab where you had to work to your death, to go on strike! This is ridiculous!

Who do you think this person is in the photo on the top?

Looks like it's a lady walking to a local shop with her shopping bag. And you might also think that she's a green(!) lady because she's carrying a reusable bag. She's net and clean and walking at the side of the street. Everything seems in place.

The fact is she's a woman who walks street to street and home to home to collect recyclable cans and bottles to turn them to cash.

Many people live their life here based on recyclables. Some of them are nice and well-dressed like this Chinese woman. The others and dirty and smell really bad.

This is s Rich country, Canada!

Every year in the first day of the year, Jan. 1st, in all or most Western countries and perhaps these days some other countries as well, people who live by sea have a little event called Polar Bear Swim. It actually is not a swim. It's Get In, Get Wet, Get Out as I call it or 3G (G. G. G.!) Nevertheless it's brave from people to get naked in this cold weather.

In this year's Polar Bear Swim in B. C. people had less difficulty to join the event. It was not really cold and there was no rain or snow. I'm posting just one photo after twenty days.

I had a short stay in the local McDonald's for a cup of coffee and bit of newspaper. I noticed in The Province that 800 teachers in this province of shit and rain have received their notices of layoff just now! Yes these teachers with less than 5 years seniority is going out of job soon because there's no budget and why there's no budget because Canada wants to look good in the world and sends the money to Haiti. Not to mention tens of millions of dollars in Afghanistan.

And Oh! by the way I forget to say this: Our honorable Governor General, a practically useless creature who does nothing but wasting money and posing in front of TV cameras is originally from Haiti. So when she appears on the screen and weeps like a really sad person then that's the time the money will flow to that little island. Why not? After all Haitian are more important than Canadians. Let ruin these 800 teachers' life and many more, we can save Governor General's countrymen!

No! I didn't go all the way to Winnipeg, Manitoba to watch a 3-D movie like Avatar but I got 3-D and there they are: I was Disgusted, Disappointed and Depressed! Yes! I wasted more than $350 and a day and a half and all what I gained was the three ones and of course plus the exhaust! I barely keep my eyes open now but I've gotta right this.

I went to Winnipeg, the capital of Province of Manitoba to write a test for a job but first of all I was really disappointed. It happened when I spent a few hours in Winnipeg International Airport. It really looks like a small airport salon in a town of Third World country. I have been to Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, London (UK), Frankfurt and even Cologne/Bonn and none of them of course are like this. Even Saskatchewan's is cleaner and newer than that. Bulb lights were blown up and dust was built up on things. Toilets still have flushes that you would think they were long gone and sinks have faucets that long longer are being used any where else. All around the airport you see big ugly signs which tell you what to do both in English and French. I don't know if it's an old tradition or just because you're closer to Quebec! Number of security guards on patrol and police officers was 2 to 3 times more than what I have seen in major airports like the above while they are mostly 3 to even 10 times bigger than the Winnipeg's!

I got a cab to downtown to a major building where the exam was being held. It was cold as I expected, some -3 C and what caught my eyes the most on my way was the number of Native people in shabby cloths walking fast in the cold from here to there. Then I saw a few of them in the building and in the local cafes hanging around.

The building itself sounded an important one in downtown where many conferences and so were held. The test was supposed to be started at some hour and 20 minutes after that but the test administrators open the doors 15 minutes late and the test was started with an almost 40 minutes delay!

These things might not meaning anything to many people but had a bad impression on me and soon I realized that I had done a big mistake. Then you should have seen the test participants. That was even more disappointing!

Anyway I was not successful and that was basically my own mistake. I could have done much better but I simply just wanted to get rid of there and that was bad. Really bad!

I'm usually a very organized person when it comes to traveling because I like to travel. I always take my iPod and the headphone of course (for the plane entertainment system) my camera bag, my charger and everything else but this time I just left like a fool!

Brit"SHIT" Columbia now is officially the worst place on Earth and also the most stupid one as well. Everywhere else in the country has already felt winter. Here, in the most stupid place on Earth, with the most stupid refugees and immigrants has never gone beyond rainfalls and never bellow -2 C! This actually sounds very pleasant to the coward assholes. It's Jan.06 today and it's sunny and 4 C now!
This stupid Brit"SHIT" Columbia is actually being more stupid in a few weeks: The Olympics will be started and many restrictions in and around Olympics sites. But how a government who has to struggle with many problems dare to start a set of games which will cost a lot? If you have money why don't you deal with herds of homeless stinky people in Vancouver?! That's a shame. This province, I've mentioned it before, is just good to visit. Not to live in. It's just beautiful to see. But very stupid to live in.

We eventually watched Avatar in 3-D last night. That was the second attempt. The first time, last week, it was too crowded to get a ticket and I hate staying in lines. It was much better last night.
Avatar is the same old story of Caucasian civilized (as they think they are!) people who go to native people's land to civilized (!) them, teach them English, tell them who to become modern and in exchange take most of whatever they have, from raw material to women! This story has been told several times in different shapes, languages and dialects. At the end one of the invaders join the native people and fights against his/her own kind. Dances with the Wolves is a good example. There's a little difference between Avatar and that movie: This is less racist! James Cameron should be congratulated for that!
Kevin Costner in Dances with the Wolves eventually leaves the tribe with a Caucasian woman who had joined the natives years ago. This is so unacceptable to him to be with a native Indian. The movie actually encourages racism. The former Marine in Avatar at the end stays with the clan and starts his new life with a native girl.
Rather than that the movie is amazing in 3-D. It's just unbelievable. Why James Cameron chose that plot to depict with this modern technology, that I don't know. It's said that the movie was due shortly after another Cameron's hit, Titanic but then he realized that the then time technology still needed to catch up!
The movie is a MUST SEE and the a bit unpredictable in details of the story which takes you with it but at the same time might be tiring for some people to sit on their assess for almost 3 hours and have that pair of glasses on although I didn't notice anyone leaving. I,myself, enjoyed the movie and might see that again. There's no question that I'd buy the DVD if it's released in 3-D.
(Photo: Neytiri,the native Na'vi princess played by Zoe Saldana is seen here)