Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Inevitable

Days are passing so fast and I just waste most of my time. It seems like it was yesterday that I was writing about my monthly performance.
My total performance in this month is better than the previous one. I only missed one day. In fact I ran 14 days in Oct. compare to 11 days in Sep. I even ran more but 14 is the number of days that I timed myself. Beside in this month I, at times did exercise 4 or 5 times a week. I added a considerable amount of indoor cycling, used more machines and experienced new exercises.
One problem I have and must get over it in Nov. is doing work out in weekends. My capabilities drops sharply in weekends and that’s, I think because of lack of activity and eating too much! For example I had my worst time ever in Oct.22 which was a Sun.! I got 11:57 min., almost 1 min. longer than my close-to-the-best time! And that single day plus one more day affect my total performance of this month. If I look at the whole data as a SPC program, those two days are out and not considered. Here are this month’s results:

Number of days = 14 (3 says more compare to Sep.)
Average time: 11.1483 min. (- 0.0053 compare to Sep.)
Minimum time: 10.8256 min. (+ 0.0029 comapre to Sep.)
Maximum time: 11.8936 (+ 0.4846 comapre to Sep.) This data actually should be removed from the analysis but I leave it!
(Photo: Nov. performance chart shows lots of ups and downs. Day 12 should be removed and a new chart could be generated)

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Constant Learning

With the new NHL season began a few weeks ago, we have at least three games every Sat. night, I guess. One of the plans is move NHL games from CBC to one of the numerous stations that you usu. get them on cable TV. It hasn’t happened yet so I still have the chance to watch the beautiful games.
Washington was playing in Edmonton against the Oilers and I caught the game from the second period where it was 1-0 Edmonton. It was a nice game like all NHL game and the Oilers beat the Capitals 4-0 at the end. Just a few second left to the game, the Capitals pulled out their goalie in order to be able to attack using 6 players and that was when they were fallen behind 0-3! Then they accepted the forth goal and the goalie returned to his position! Coaches usually do that when they are one score behind not when it’s like that but what one of the commentators said last week when Detroit was playing against the Oilers in Edmonton is interesting. He said coaches use every opportunity to make their players exercise the team’s tactics and learn. Edmonton won its 6 home straight game tonight.
(Photo: The Capitals' goaltender, Brent Johnson, didn't have a good night in Edmonton unlike this photo. He allowed 4 out of 28 shots)

Trevor Berbick: Another Example

Canada has had problems with Black immigrants since they started coming to this part of the world! They always dishonor the country but what can you do? They do have benefits too. The thing is their disadvantages are much bigger than their advantages but Canadians don’t see that, like many other obvious facts they ignore.
What can you do with them? You can’t turn a donkey to a horse! They are all like this. Look at them: Michael Jackson, a two-time child molester accused who ran away from the States and hiding somewhere in Europe! Mike Tyson, who was convicted of rape, spent a few years behind the bars, converted to Islam (This is really hilarious. Actually this is very good because that's exactly what Islam is, where outlaws hide themselves behind of the mask of the most violent faith in the world. The faith which its believers and followers burn the embassies and climb up the walls for cartoons!) and now is begging for money by touring the US and performing boxing exhibition. Ben Johnson who was convicted of doping in 1988 Olympics games and his medal was taken away from him. Whitney Houston, who's addicted to drugs and has been out of music and cinema business for years and many more. It’s really funny that the mentioned people are the famous and rich ones of the big Black community of North America. What do you think the ordinary people of them do? Gambling, drug dealership and abusing, theft, shoplifting, B & E, rape, prostitution and all the other illegal actions are their main business.
And now we have a victim, a former heavy weigh champion, originally from Jamaica: Trevor Berbick. I never forget his two-round fight with Mike Tyson which I have in my boxing collection. Tyson beat the shit of him in those two rounds. He was once knocked down in the first round and then in the second, he received a devastating left from Tyson among many others which send him to the ground. He attempted to get up twice but couldn’t and was counted out. Berbick’s body was found today morning in Kingston where he is originally from. He pronounced dead at the scene. The poor guy was only 52. Berbick gained his reputation by defeating freaky Mohammad Ali in 1981 and gaining the world championship which was very short. He was once convicted of assault and then rape which led to his arrestment, spending time in jail and deportation to Jamaica in 2002! They are all like this, big body, small brain!
(Photo: Berbick goes down after receiving a fatal left from Tyson in Nov.22.86, 20 years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Flags of Our Fathers

I finally watched a good movie in a theatre after a few disappointing ones. I caught Flags of our Fathers in Chinook. First I thought it's a new version of Saving Private Ryan as everything looked the same at the beginning but then it turned a little different! Yes. Just a little different!
It's a new version of that movie but Eastwood tells us the story of Iwo Jima island where Americans and Japanese fought for a piece of rock in the last days of WWII. He has added a few good points and facts about American society which makes it valuable: The propaganda, life of native Americans or as they call 'em Indians! and in a way American way of life which is full of dreams.
Anyhow that's a good movie also for the ones who like to see war scenes. So don't miss the chance and get it in a theatre 'cause it's worth watching on big screen. Don't wait for the DVD.
(Photo: American soldiers raise their nationsl flag on top of Iwo Jima island in the last days of the WWII. The fight were goin' on days after that actually!)

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Side Flake


I have to find a solution to my permanent problem with morons, eventually. I’m not a genius but what’s make me different from others at job, according to my previous employers and bosses is I’m a very organized and totally devoted to my work. I also can say that I’m workaholic too. This is another story of the idiots that I deal with almost every day:
One of the maintenance lead hands asked me to order a kind of plastic chain that is being used on slaughter floor, almost 10 days ago. I called the sales department of the supplier company, which I rather not name it here, and talked to a man regarding our need. He took the order and also said that he would meet with me and discuss the business. He came over and I gave him a chain link as sample of what we needed. The guy told me that he had been working for the company for almost 15 years. So far so good. Then we received 3 boxes of chain last Tue. and I was notified by the lead hand that the chain is not what he was waiting for! “There’s a difference” he said. I, then, took a look: Yes. The chain I ordered has a side flake and the one he sent us doesn’t. It makes it unable to function where it’s needed. I e-mailed the guy and explained what happened. He denied any mistake and said that he had ordered the right item. That could be the manufacturer who shipped the wrong part. Then I sent one of our guys with another sample and he, again, said that he didn’t see anything that makes the two chains, the needed one and the received one, different! What I did, then, was scanning and e-mailing the photos of the two chains, hoping he understands, this time. Luckily he was convinced after a whole lot of explanation. Then there was another question of him: The gray colour of the chain you need is in stock but if you need the same colour as your sample, white, you have to wait a week or a little more!!
So here’s my question now: How many idiots do I have to deal with every day?!
(Photo: Two different chains. The bottom one is what was needed and the above shows what we received. Clearly different)

A Piece of Cake or a Headache?

I’ve got my passport and it’s quite a story. Seems like no part of my life would be ordinary! Here it is:
I filled out the application form online and then went to the passport office to deliver it. I entered the room, told the old man over there needed to hand in my documents; he took a look, confirmed, and gave me a number and boom! That was me whom was called! I gave the lady the documents and the whole process didn’t take more than 10 min.! I was told that it usually takes 10 working days to have the passport at the address.
Then last Fri. (13th. What a day!) when I got home I saw a delivery notice. That was strange becuase I wasn’t expecting anything. Also the notice was hung at the door nob. I was so suspicious! I thought, then, that’s a letter from Passport Canada saying that I have to find another reference. That’s because I and D. H. who’s one of my references, had a kind of silent verbal fight and I thought when he received the call from the passport office he denied that he knew me for a quite long time and that ruined everything.
Then I thought, my goodness!, that’s the cops who are looking for me! As I’m a troublemaker, I made a disturbance in the same postal outlet that sent me the notice! So I thought I must have been caught on camera and somehow they’ve found out who I am and now they are after me! But that doesn’t even make a sense. If they knew me, why would they do such a stupid thing? They could simply come and arrest me! Nevertheless I didn’t do anything serious. I was a little upset over the clerks who were working like a snail and a fucking stupid short Filipino bitch who slid in the line.
Anyhow I called the fucking outlet and every time I called I was told I got nothing! Then they gave me a number and I called Canada Post and I was told that I should've gone there. " Go there. The letter is in the back” The lady said.
I was about to forgot that and said to me: "If this is something important, they will contact me again." And let it go until last Fri. I was goin’ to buy a bottle of shampoo and thought it’s better to take the notice and give it a try. Surprisingly there was a small parcel-like letter for me. I opened it in the parking lot while was walking to my car. That was the passport! It took only 9 days altogether to have the passport at my address but because of those stupid morons in the outlet, and who I am, I almost missed it! Now it’s the time for an exotic trip!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Arar's End


I've been keeping my eyes on Arar's case since the beginning. You might know about him but if you don't, you can go back to Nov. of '03 and Jan. of '04 in the blog. What's happened finally to the guy is first of all RCMP was found guilty of passing wrong information to Americans which led to his arrest, deportation and torture in Syria. The head of RCMP was questioned by MPs and then apologized to him, but didn't resigned. He's an Italian guy who's an immigrant himself. The statements he made and his apology doesn't seem satisfactory to the House and he might be asked to step forward and explain for the second time.
Arar also has sued the Government for $ 400 million! He's obviously an smart guy. He used to work for a company in Ottawa as an engineer but lost his position after he got back to Canada. It's unknown to me how he has been managing his life with a wife and two kids. Also how he affords a lawyer is another question. Most of the lawyers don't accept such a huge case unless they know they get a good portion. So it seems that the lawyer is so confident 'cause that's a lot of money he's goin' to make. In the other hand, Arar is not smart enough, I think. Because he wouldn't go to the US just a short time after Sep.11 show! Every jackass with such appearance and wife would know it's not wise to do so!
And the last thing and probably the most interesting part is that he was awarded a kind of prize yesterday in the States but didn't attend the ceremony and accepted it through video conference. He said he was afraid of being arrested by Americans! You should have thought of that when you were planning for your trip back to Canada, you smart ass!
(Photo: Maher Arar and his wife Monia)

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Rex's Good Point


There’s a guy called Rex Murphy who at times analyzes daily events in CBC’s The National. I’ve never paid enough attention to the points he brings up in his short program called Point of View until tonight, partially because of his strange accent which makes what he says a little difficult to understand but finally tonight I listened to what he said about a few of celebrities including Bono. That was really catchy.
He says Bono encourages the Irish government as well as other Western, rich countries, such as Canada to spend more money on developing countries and complains that they don’t provide enough help but has moved to Amsterdam to pay less tax, as that city is easier on taxpayers compare to Ireland! He wants more tax to be spent on poor countries but he doesn’t wanna pay tax!
(Photo: Rex Murphy of The National's CBC)

Monday, October 16, 2006

Man of the Year: Not Even A Comedy!

I'm completely disappointed with Robin Williams. I haven't been to a theatre for a long time and last week I received four discounted movie tickets from the company. So I decided to catch a movie and I didn't know which one is good. So I said: Let's go watch Man of the Year, the latest comedy of RV's actor. What was the result then? Same crap, even worse! There was a few scene that the movie turned to a drama and I've never seen a comedy like that before!
I'm telling you don't waste your money and 01:55 of your day. It's not worth it. The movie is so boring that I was gonna leave but forced myself to stay. Even Canadians who laugh at almost everything which barely brings a smile to my face were mostly silent. A comedian runs for the US Presidency and wins but is informed by a computer company's employee that there was a malfunction and he didn't win. The company which provides the voting systems and faces bankruptcy tries to stop the woman but fails. The elected president goes to a press conference, reveals and gives up. That's the whole story which you have to deal with for 01:55! The only funny parts of the movies are when Williams talks in his show, in the debate or to his team and that rarely happens to make you laugh.
Fortunately I have three more tickets and will use them wisely. And also ... will try to stay from Robin Williams and his stupid, boring movies.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Fools

One of my problems in life has always been not being able to stay away from fools! But everyone is fool in a way, even me! I’m fool because I’m a troublemaker and when I make trouble for others, that comes back to me later, most of the time! The good thing is I know my malfunction and managing. Many people don’t! That’s where their life gets ugly.
Once I was told by an Afghan whom I used to know that he had received a letter indicating he won a lottery! He, then, showed me the letter. Everything seemed fine: His name and family name, his address and so on. The sender somewhere in Spain asked that fool to open an account so he would deposit the money which was something around € 250,000 to that account. But he had to pay kind of administration fee, something around US $1000. I explained to that animal the fact that it’s a fraud. I said: " He would take that money and never deposit a single penny in your account." But that stupid scum didn’t believe me and drove me to his TD Bank branch, to open the account for him. I don’t remember what happened after that but I knew he somehow asked the sender to deduct that fee from the total he had won and send the remaining! Of course that never happened but the question here is what’s the difference between an animal like a mule and that man? Basically nothing! And to mention that he was an educated man!
Then that was another person and he even called the guy and they had conversations and don’t know happened finally. It seems a very good business ‘cause I received two e-mails today! This first one is really funny and here’s part of it:

I am Barrister Ahmed Babah, an Attorney at law, and the Personal lawyer to ... an ... .He owned Crossword Continental Ltd., Lome - Togo in West Africa. Hereinafter, he shall be referred to asmy client. On the 18th of December 2003,my client, his wife and their two children died in an earthquake that destroyed over 2.500 people. These critical accident happened two days after their arrival in there as they traveled for the end of the year holidays.
Since then, I have made several inquiries to their embassy to locate any of their relatives and this has proved unsuccessful. I am contacting you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US $14M; (Fourteen Million United States Dollars) left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge amount was deposited. The said bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated as the banking law here stipulates. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives, Iseek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.
Therefore, I will not fail to inform you that this transaction is 100% risk free. On smooth conclusion of this transaction, you will be entitled to 30% of the total sum as gratification, while 10% will be set aside to take care of any expenses that may arise during the process of transfer including telephone bills, while 60% will be for me. All I require from you is your honest co-operation to enable us see this transaction through.


Obviously the guys who do that to people know them personally or at least partially. Otherwise how in the hell they know my previous nationality? Or that Afghan's name and address?!
That’s my instant response to him:

Hello,

I suggest you to simply spend that amount on poor African people who are dying everyday as a result of AIDS (because of having sex with chimps and gorillas), food shortage, civil wars and contaminated water.

Enjoy!

I didn't answer the second one, as all of them are the same crap!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The War Tapes

The War Tapes is a documentary in war in Iraq, taken by three American soldiers using amateur cameras last year and has been released recently. I watched that last weekend. A documentary, esp. one from a very violent war is not easy to make. How do you expect the soldier to do the filming while being under fire from every different corner? So what’s the solution? The soldiers shouldn’t be doing the filming! That’s why I didn’t find it very interesting but it worth watching once.
I always wanted to know what makes an American to go to Iraq regardless of the fact that I’m appreciated and elated. And I think I find the answer finally but only partially. One of them said: When New York was hit, I felt my home got hit and then I was ready to go and now I’m here! The other one was a fucking stupid animal Lebanese, an Arab obviously, he had migrated with is family to the US when he was 10. He was obviously there ‘cause he couldn’t do anything else. What do you expect from an animal Arab? The motherfucker said: Operation Iranian freedom is hopefully the next! I just say to that piece of crap: Israel gave you a good lesson, you useless scum. Every fucking Arab should be killed no matter what age or gender that creature is.
Anyhow there’re some other good things to learn in addition to what I brought up. One is that a Hammer's window glass is about 4” thick and bullets and mortars are very unlikely to go through. I admire Americans for many of their products. Other than that as it’s a documentary, the Americans couldn’t be the big fabricator they are always! That’s all truth. It’s not similar to Black Hawk Down. It was on Citytv last night and I watched that partially. My Goodness! That looked like a comedy not a war movie to me at times! Two American squads with the support of a few choppers defeat a whole city in Somalia! That’s actually based on a true story but the only part that is right is Americans being kicked out of that African country! The movie reminded me of one of the Oriana Fallaci’s interviews in her book about Vietnam War, which is one of my all-time favorites, Nothing and So Be It. (Oh! I just learnt that Fallaci is dead that was just a few days ago: Sep.15)
In the book Fallaci interviews a Vietcong or a North Vietnamese captive in a prison in Saigon (Today Ho Chi Minh City) The guy tells her about his young hood, when he used to go to theaters to watch movies. He says: I used to watch war movies. The war between Americans and Japanese and Americans always defeated Japanese! Behind Enemy Lines is another war movie that I like a little because it has good cinematography but the end of it is so ridicules! Saving Private Ryan is probably the one in many which shows a little truth. I'm tired of wars and movies both!

Sunday, October 08, 2006

RV

I watched RV on DVD last night. It’s one of the movies that I wanted to watch in theatre but couldn’t and I’m happy for that! It’s supposed to be a comedy but rarely makes you laugh. If a movie is good, I usu. watch it more than once and at times if I really like it, I buy the DVD but RV is not one. You can not compare it to any of Jim Carry movies. Robin Williams is a veteran actor but he has jumped to different genres. I don’t remember I’ve seen many movies of him but he’s very popular. A movie of him that I watched and enjoyed and that was the only one is Mrs. Doubtfire. That’s the movie I’ll rent again and prob. buy if I like it. But RV is just an average movie. It longs a little more than hour and a half and I think the scenarist tried very hard to make it that long because all he could do is adding more RV camps to the screenplay and that doesn’t make much difference in what might happen to a family on a camping trip. There’s a scene that the RV rolls back to a lake and sinks. The director doesn’t even bother saying the story of taking such a big vehicle out!
Anyhow if you haven’t watched the movie, there’s no regret, don’t even rent it because it’s a new release and they charge you $5.19 and that's only for 2 nights! That’s what happened to me! If you wanna laugh, rent one of Jim Carrey’s or choose from many other titles and then rent RV in a few month! The quote has been said by Roger Ebert: There’s nothing I much disliked but little to really recommend.
(Photo: Joanna Levesque is for sure one of the reasons you might watch RV. She's very cute and looks like Lindsey Lohan. That's why I like her!)

Friday, October 06, 2006

Hardest Part of a Job

Do you know what the worst part of a job is? It’s not straight working for more than 8 hours . It’s not waking up early. It’s not gluing your eyes to the screen for hours. It’s not running up and down the stairs. So what's it then?
It’s dealing with idiots. And that happens every often at my job. The other day one of the guys, an Iraqi physician who used to live in Iran for quite a long time, prob. because he’s Shia and works as safety coordinator came to me and asked what kind of chemical a Current Issue is??!! Just imagine what kind of moron he is! Our suppliers usu. send us a bunch of papers with their products and that’s called MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). In that document they explain what possible dangers are hidden in the material, what the safety cautions are and more useful information in that regard. The guy, who his name is Ali and has changed it to Alex, said he wants to know what type of chemical a Current Issue is?! That was prob. a printing error in that MSDS but the guy who is a graduate of a medical school doesn’t understand that! That’s just a sample from a big population. The others are not much better than him! What I noticed at the beginning is that the plants lacks inventory control system, something so simple to think of and essential. Many suppliers have set up online ordering systems but these idiots here still are stuck to orders over the phone! I can write pages about how these morons run the company and the amount of money they waste every day but that would never stop their stupidity because you never can turn a donkey to a horse!
But I have no other choice. I have to work hard and that’s what I’m doing. The good thing is I’ve proved that I can handle this job easily and I’m a fast learner. I have to keep going until I find a better opportunity. I can't struggle them because I'm new and I get booted out in a blink of an eye.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Sep. Performance


I have been practicing track running since June but I just started more frequent running in Sep. and jutted down the results. The above is the chart performance. Every lap is about 235 m and I usually make 10 laps. So it’s 2.35 Km altogether. My goal is to run 2.4 Km in less than 11 min. which would be excellent at my age. Many factors are effective in performance. Amongst them are the following:

1- The food the athlete have in the day of practice and the gap between the last meal and exercise. Running with filled up stomach or shortly after the meal, is an absolute stupidity.

2- Temperature and humidity. That is actually a controlled factor in a sport complex but the athlete can change it due to his or her need by using different types of apparel.

3- Tiredness. I’ve experienced it several times and it’s as clear as crystal. There were times that I couldn’t even finish the 5th lap as a result being worn out.

4- Clothing which would be applied in case you are jugging out in an uncontrolled environment, for example a park's trail.

5- Shoe. This is very important. Today’s technology allows you to have a very comfortable and relaxed run while being fast and accurate. I went to a Sportcheck last weekend to redeem a MBNA coupon which allowed me to have a 15% off any merchandise I buy. You could get running shoes up to $150 a pair. If you go to Running Room or Forzani Tech Shop, you pay even more and get better result. But that does not guarantee an ideal run just by itself.

6- The day of the week and the time of the day.

Here are some more of the Sep. performance:

Number of days the run was performed: 11
Average time: 11.1536 min.
The longest: 11.4090 min.
The shortest: 10.8227 min.

I will put more analysis into the this month's performance chart.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Nation of Islam

I was goin’ through the daily news the other day and encountered something that made me taken aback. Michael Jackson’s ex-wife is battling him to get the children's custody back, may be temporary. M. J. has been married to – or have had relationship with - different women so far including Elvis Presley’s daughter Marie for a short time but this one, Debbie Rowe testified in favor of him in his last accusation of child molestation which ended with a jury’s decision of him being innocent. There’s no doubt that he was guilty as before, the 1993 case, but he bribed the witnesses, the judge and the jury and escaped from ending up behind the bars for at least 20 years! When I used to follow his court trial on a daily basis, I noticed that many proofs has been gathered to throw him where he really deserves to be. Amongst them where a security guard who had seen him naked in bathroom or pool with kids, his fingerprints on a porn magazine which was being shared with the kids by him, feeding the kids with alcoholic beverages in soft drink cans (!) and many more but he, as I said, escaped. His reputation though was ruined so bad that he flew to Bahrain right after the court’s decision and now he’s somewhere in Europe. That’s funny because he’s trying to run away from himself and all the disgusting things he has done so far in his life. So why his ex-wife’s trying to get the kids form him back? (May be just 2 of 'em ‘cause the last one’s mom is unknown to the public!) That's because Debbie is Jewish and she says she sees M. J.’s ties to Nation of Islam! and the group is anti-Semitic! But what’s really Nation of Islam? You can go, search and read as much as you want but I have something to tell you: Louise Farrakhan the minister (!) of the group had a trip to Iran a few years before my immigration and met with the top leaders of the country. So you imagine Michael Jackson, who's an alleged child molester and continually grabs his genital when he has live performances on the stage, is a true Muslim and serving his Allah by those kind of actions! I don’t wanna say anything about Farrakhan because everyone knows people like him. People who daily sex with every possible person, alcohol, drugs, stupid Hip Hop music and inhuman way of dressing of them is known to every one. If this is Nation of Islam and this is what their religion is believed in, as salvation, I shit on it! Snoop Dogg (What kind of creature call himself a dog!?), 50 Cents and all the creatures like them (I don't consider them humans) whom are known as black celebrities (!) are probably members of Nation of Islam as well, driving to Allah and his beloved heaven!