The Cockroaches of the Neighbourhood

I got into an agreement with one of the major banks to semi-possess a small property, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 5 years ago. It was a good time to buy. There were many properties available, not many buyers and I did have a job. Now five years later I'm looking to move to a bigger place in a better neighbourhood. Not easy. Prices are very high. If you're looking for a nice place, and not in a major city, don't look at anything less than $500 K! It would not be so hard for couples, if they both make reasonably well. It's hard for single people like me. One source of income and I've already cut down on many costs, as much as I could. But why would I want to move to a different place? The answer is simple: If I can reach the age of retirement, I don't want to live in this small place. I, also, would not like to live with all these cockroaches around me! They're very annoying, particularly during the summer when you need to leave the windows open. The last reason, which is as important as the other two is the lack of privacy! The neighbours eyeball you all the time, particularly if you're a foreign single in a house. My plan is to buy a house with two doors, at each end, just like our old and good house in the old country so all my coming and goings are not spied on! Here's what I have in this little sad street:

1) Fat Slop and Skinny B-tch: Interesting couple in the neighbourhood. They used to sit on folding chairs in their driveway and talk sometime until midnight, last summer. One week they had some guests, lowlife drunkard animals, just like themselves, of course and they sat outside and talked until 04:00! The next day I confronted the slop and asked him to quiet down. He complained. There's barely a day that I get home or leave home and I don'y smell Marijuana. How much of this crap can you smoke? What percentage of your income is spent on this? One thing I like about this couple is the way they cough! It's almost non-stop and they respond to one another! It means when he coughs, she responds with a cough and when she coughs, he approves with his own! Despite all the above, I must say that these are not bad people. They're just idiots who, most likely, never had good directions in their lives and ended up like this. I think either of them has kids from their previous relationships, like many Canadians do. This summer they never showed outside. Not even once. The woman sometimes waters the lawn or the vases. The man can only be heard by his coughing, from time to time! Much better for me! These couple are so inconsiderate and stupid that sometime I can hear their TV on the street!

2) Grandpa and Grandma, the big losers. We all know that most of the elderly are forgotten by their children here in Canada. Most of them are put in home care and never are visited. When I lived in White Rock with my ex-wife, we lived in a tiny apartment in Fir St. Now that I think of that type of living, I'm more thankful of my current situation. Nevertheless, there was this old lady next to us whom we never met but we knew she lived there. Her son would visit her once a week. The poor woman was all alone by herself in the small apartment and one day she passed. The son gave us some of her belongings that he had no intention to take and we accepted: Bed, TV Stand and a few more things, I guess. I distinctly remember these two because we used both and the TV stand or table is used to this date by my own Mom! 

These couple here spend most of their times inside the house and if the weather permits they, mostly the man, spend their time in their little front yard and the back yard that I can't see: Mowing the lawn, building little things, cleaning, you name it. I only saw they were visited by a bunch of people and that was during COVID-19 when people would go to their relatives to say Happy Birthday or something. The woman comes out and starts yelling hellos and having conversations with different neighbours! Sometimes she stands in the middle of the street! The man is too old to do that. He walks, or perhaps I shall say, slags and tries to find someone to talk to! It's interesting that the woman, at times, smokes at that age. 

3) The South Indian family: There's a family of four. I can tell from the colour of their skins. They're usually well-behaved, unless most of (East) Indians but considering their origin, stupid things happens being done by them at time. One of them was at my door one day! I think the boy was playing with his friends and had to hide or something! I told him he couldn't do that. He left and never saw him doing it. When there's one of these Indian festivals, usually people gather in their house or they cook and go to the other people's house. One night they were very loud and I asked them to go back in front of their house and yell! There's usually not much of a problem with these people. 

CAF peacekeepers in former Yugoslavia. Photo courtesy of Government of Canada

4) The other Indian family: There's another family of four with much younger kids. These guys, obviously, are from a different part of India which has some hostility towards the above family! I've never seen these two even say hello to each other but considering the status of Indian society, I don't think it's odd! There's a huge gap within different ethnic groups and people of different backgrounds in India. Remember the Balkan War when Yugoslavia was torn apart? One of my trainers when I was in CFLRS told us that he had not seen so much brutality and hostility anywhere else. Indian people hate each other so much with this difference that they have no guts to get really violent! It's not that they don't attack each other or they don't burn other people's houses and businesses. It's just the fact that they haven't gone that violent except the Sikhs whose stories have been told a few times. 

This guy is a true asshole and a bully. He drives in fast and makes noises. His kids scream and yell on the street and cry! What can I expect? Lowlife rubes have been given the opportunity to live in Canada and they do everything to do so. 

There're other neighbours in this little community, of course, but they're mostly okay. I, nevertheless, am planning to move out and get a bigger place but first I have to see what happens to my mortgage. I'd like to move to a better and bigger place so I can stay there as long as I'm alive. At least that's the plan. Whether it can be materialized or not is another question. 
(Photo: No! This is not my neighbourhood but it'd nice. Would it not?)

The Disgusting Cheap Homes of Canada

 

I've decided to move to a bigger place. Weather it happens or not and when, I'm not sure of it. The prices are still so high and most likely remain at this level. There might be a slight decline but not much. I'm not going to live in Calgary. A nice house in a good neighbourhood in Calgary could cost at least $650,000. I might be approved for that loan but at my age, I don't think it would be a good idea. A house like that, most likely would require lots of work or would not be located in a nice and quiet neighbourhood. My ultimate goal would be settling down in a nearby town and commuting. If I sell this house, I will be able to buy a nice car, either an EV or a hybrid and even save some money. In that case my loan would not be too much, something that I hate a lot and my commute will be comfortable. There still will be issues in winter but issues always exist. There will be two major issues with this plan:

1) The family would like to be in Calgary for social and service reasons. Physician and dentists, as well as friends and some businesses are located in the city. 

2) A new car would most likely cause an issue at work! 

You might wonder why. Here's the story: I met Ali G. in Cargill Meat Solutions. We used to hang out. We don't anymore. He lives in Ontario now. He might be reading this now! He had an old but running Mercedes and he told me he had been teased by Canadians a lot! I've written about this a lot. Canadians, generally, do not like to see foreigners to be well-off. They general attitude is this a poor, uneducated, hungry fella or he would not be in Canada. So if they see you dress, nicely, clean shaved, have a good car, they don't like it and they grow resentment. He at the time was not more than 25 and it was very difficult for Canadians to see a young foreign guy drive Mercedes, even if it was not a new and he only had paid $5000 for that! They didn't know. I'm sure this will be a problem for me as well, especially because I'm about to join an organization. If I move and have to switch to a new vehicle from my 15-year-old car, it will cause an uproar and I'm certain there will be people who exert any possible effort to have me canned. 

Having said that let's go to the problems with houses. Most of the houses do not contain heat, especially the cheap ones. The cost of heating is really always a problem and is too high. I paid $166 last month and I was uncomfortable and cold, most of the time. I must have paid much more, if I wanted to be comfortable and cozy but I have to watch my bills now that I'm our of work. I don't think it would be anything less than $200, if I was to crank up the heat. 

The second problem is with kitchens. They are majority of the time built stupidly(!), small and insufficient! I think perhaps because there's not much cooking in Canadian culture or it is simple and quick. When I cook, I need lots of room. The smell and noise is another issue. When I cook there's lots of noise (pressure cooker, clang and cling, you name it) and aroma which spreads around the house and sticks for a day or two, especially in winter. There's no hood over the range. There's a disgusting and stupid microwave which I have never used. Replacing it with a good hood and fan will cost at least $700. The cheap bastard who built this shity house stuck a $450 microwave instead. There's no wall or door to separate the kitchen in any room! Why? That's how the nasty motherfucker builders make millions! How the hell do you think these guys build a house in a couple of weeks: Cheap material, cutting corner, missing essentials, you name it. 

That'a another reason I'm moving. I plan to buy a place and redesign it the way I want. I can't ask for a custom made as it would probably cost so much that I can't afford but I can redesign it gradually.

(Photo: I was looking at some proprieties the other day and look how stupid this house is. The nasty drunkard cheap idiot has put a refrigerator at one side or the room and a series of cheap cabinets at the other side, in the middle of the room and call it kitchen!!! Only an alcoholic, nasty, drug-addicted loser would accept to live in this pigsty!)

The Shocking Housing Market

 

I never paid attention to all these news about the housing market and how difficult it is to rent a decent place or buy one until yesterday that I opened my place's assessment. I was shocked. It's been always said that the municipality's assessment is lower than the market. This time it is more, according to my realtor because although I received it in Feb., the evaluation has been done in Jul. of last year. Here's what we have:

1) Purchased price (Aug. 2020): $285,000

2) Assessment (Jul. 2024): $478,000

3) Minimum Market Price (Feb. 2025): $430,000

The difference, based on the minimum sale price and the original cost is approximately: $145,000.

If I sell the place, based on what I owe the bank, which is apparent, I will have at least $238,000 in my account.

It would be good for someone at retirement age and a good pension. He could simply rent a place and live but I'm not there yet. If the situation was good in the old country, I could go there but it does not look so promising. The Chef now receives his CPP and unfortunately it's not much. He made a lot of money throughout the years but spent a lot on booze and shit and sent a lot to the old country. He says his family has build a house and rented it out but he lives on a $898 pension, in an old and gloomy basement and washes dishes in a restaurant which he has to walk to and from in -25 ℃ (-13 ℉) because he doesn't have a car! He probably has some money saved here but he's not spending it but even if he wanted to purchase a car to protect him from the frigid cold and bring some convenience to his life, let's say something around $2000, it would be very difficult considering the insurance he had to pay. I got a quote for him nearly 7 years ago and it was around $5000 for an old car. It was, I think because of the claims and his incidents.

Going back to my shitty(!) situation, I was hoping to pay the home off in the next three years, which would have been a little more than 2 years after the first five years, if I kept my job but now I'm out and need to start over! How annoying that is? I first thought of purchasing a place back in 2008 when I was in British Columbia but never stepped forward and then in 2012 I was married and had a good job, economy was good and everything was reasonably priced. I and my spouse went to the bank and requested a loan but the silly thing is she started asking questions about what happens if the couple split! I'm not going to say the rest of what happened but we ended up buying nothing and she left me as part of a long plan later which she regretted and want to come back(!) but I was in CFLRS and told her that I could not leave! I didn't finish the program and she never called me after that. We both sustained heavy losses both emotionally and financially but that's in the past. She has recovered by marrying the guy whom she used to see before me! I'm in shit and thinking what would happened, had he purchased that home back in 2012 and moved on with our lives?! It's useless to think about the past but it's good for readers to learn and avoid the mistakes. 

(Picture: this might not show but this neighbourhood is only 10 minutes drive to Downtown Calgary and has some of very nice houses and beautiful trees in late spring, early summer and there're good businesses around. I, of course, don't live here but just want to show it. It's, of course, is not the only nice neighbourhood in Calgary. There're many more but I had this picture and decided to use it. I don't believe one could find any house less than, at least $700,000 in this area and that's only based on my assumptions and what I've learnt from the market)

Downward Economy

Everyone is in panic in Canada after Trump was re-elected as the next United States president and I think they shall be, including me! The only difference is that I'm careless and I'm not responsible for anyone but me! 

Now we're in the last days of 2024, I don't know if I did well or I could've done better because, again, I'm careless but I know 5 years have passed since the year that first I wanted to buy a vehicle to replace my old one and couldn't! Uncertainty is an inseparable part of North American society and they have adopted themselves to it for generations. Thanks to credit card companies! Micheal Moore briefly describes this situation in one of his movies and he says it started from the time J. Carter became the president.

The situation is so bad that in the entire year I only bought red meat once! I know many would say red meat is not good for you anyway but not being able to purchase some once in a while, I bet, everyone agrees it's not good and shows how high the prices might be.

I make steak in a frying pan and simply add The Keg mix, some red onion and garlic and absolutely nothing else. This came out so delicious that I ate them both while in fact I wanted to save the second for later and make a steak sandwich. The pan, by the way is not a normal one. It's one of the Cuisinart conduction skillets

The employer, I heard had some profit share last year and they're not going to have it this year because they have invested a lot! In response they gave everyone a lousy grocery store gift card for the amount that I'd be embarrassed to write it here! The Canadian dollar, at the same time, started a journey to hell! It's going down so fast that I haven't seen it so far. It is at US¢68! I think we all have to wait to see what the Government would do to repel the tariffs and other unpleasant things imposed by the economy! 

(Photo, top: This cartoon shows a few seconds after the failed assassination on Trump)

Nearly $135,000 after Four Years

I don't know how accurate these talks are about housing shortage and high rents but the place I bought  4 years ago does not seem to have much increase in its value, only $135,000. This is the difference between what my loan contact says and the most recent municipality assessment. I need to get the hell of this neighbourhood regardless of the job I'm going to be doing. It has become too irritating because of some asshole, disgusting neighbours. Beside I need to have a nice yard and bigger garage. I may keep my old Toyota, at least for awhile when I'm buying my new car which most likely would be an E. V.. 
I'm going north and I'm hoping I can get something for leas than $350,000 which matches my needs and with low interest rate, meaning using my current rate or the new one which will be introduced by Bank of Canada, this week. In the second case, It will be easier for moving but will be more costly because I will keep both the houses and then sell this one and use the difference on my new car although I have all the cash for that now but I'm moving toward the plan slowly and carefully. 

(Photo: AMPA's concept E. V. called Arrow. I don't know why they call it that name. It reminds me of the failed jet project. Let me know if you don't know about it and I will write it here or you can find it in the web. This, however, is not something that I'm buying!)

Wasting Water Like everything else

The Chef lived in this rundown apartment building in Bridgeland for a few years. It's a building on a main busy road. So, in summer you have not much chance of a good sleep because of the road traffic. The main Calgary homeless shelter, called D. I. (short for Drop-in!) is nearby. So, you have the pleasure of being visited by a drunkard, a drug-addict or if you're lucky enough, a double-feature, once in a while! I remember once I was there visiting him and were going to leave. We went to the underground parking which has access from the street without a gate or door. We saw fresh business(!) at a wall, just next to the car! 

But why this story comes to mind now is because I visited him a few times in a row years ago and I heard a stream of water from inside the apartment! When I asked him what it was, he took me to the bathroom and showed me the faucet in the tube. Water was flowing to the drain like Niagara Falls! It was not only the few minutes I was there or the day before or after. It was like that for weeks, if not more than a month! I don't know exactly. This shows how full of shit this laying bastards of The City of Calgary are! Just a bunch of greedy, nasty assholes who think of nothing but their paycheques, their year-end-bonus and what the next lie is that they can sell to the public! All of them, from the top to the bottom. How is it that the so-called one of the most livable cities in the world(!!) has no monitoring system to realize that water is excessively being used and wasted for days! Is is not because they're incompetent and ignorant lairs? I have no doubt that is the reason. 

(Photo: Consolidation Bridge over Bow River provides the people of Bridgeland and other nearby neighbourhoods to access to Calgary D. I. What a great privilege)

The Outraged (East) Indian

I've dealt with (East) Indians a lot here but before I even get to the story I have to clarify the reason why I used parenthesis for the word, East:This has been said at least once but when Christopher Columbus stepped on the land which is known as the United States of America now, he thought he had arrived at India as it was his ultimate destination! For that reason, he called the native Americans, Indians! This name has been stayed with them after all these years and both Americans and Canadians, the majority of them, still call the native people of North America, Indian and the people from India are called East Indian! As stupid as this is, I'm not going to write more about that here.

With that in mind, this new fella who worked with me was a different type of (East) Indian, from what I've seen. The Mumbling Guy is the main example of the majority of (East) Indians: Cheap, jealous, stingy, lair, all-time-bragging, coward, you name it! He was different but not better! He was belligerent, aggressive, lazy, coward, two-faced, gluttonous and of course, as it's the case with most of (East) Indians, jealous! I tried to establish a good relationship but it didn't go well. His laziness and aggressiveness bothered me the most but he was really jealous of everything. 

We had a good number of Ukrainian refugees who worked really hard. Coming out of a torn-apart country, by war, and a stinking village, they really wanted to compensate for their miserable life, so they all worked 10 to 12 hours and one day there was this rummer that one of the Ukrainian couples had purchased an apartment! That drove him to the wall. He had difficulty understanding how a couple of refugees from a devastated country has purchased a property in Canada less than a year after their arrival and he, a successful(!) and hard-working (East) Indian, still rents a place in one of the ugliest apartment buildings in Downtown Calgary although I have to clarify that the building is probably 100 times more comfortable and cleaner than the filthy hole in India that he has come from! He immediately told me that I had to contact my realtor(!) and ask her to find a place for him! I told him that he, first, had to talk to his bank to see how much loan he can get and that I would have been happy to introduce her to that lady realtor! He said nothing! I don't know how those guys had purchased the apartment and I don't know if it was just a rumor or truth but we all know that Ukrainians receive special treatment from the government and NGOs. He, overall, was not a bad guy(!) but because of his past and his size (he was a big guy) he thought that he was better than anyone else. Something which is quite common within (East) Indians! I called him last night to get some of my belongings that I had left behind when we used to work together. He didn't pick up! Don't know what's happened to him.

(Photo: India, the most red is the most racist nation in the world. The more red, the more racist the country and blue, is of course, not as much and it is just a general view. There are exceptions everywhere but I personally believe in it)

Working Hard or Hardly Working?!

Canadians have been importing slaves (yes! slaves!) for more than 100 years to this country. And yes we're all slaves to the system. Some don't know it because, they're a little luckier than the rest. If you didn't know there's two types of slaves: Home Salve and Field Slave. Some people might be familiar with this terminology and know that I've simply replaced the term " Slave ", in the above two terms with an old term which is rarely used this days. Nevertheless Sikh Indians and Chinese are amongst the oldest slaves in Canada. I believe the large community of Sikhs in Abbotsford and Surrey (two of the most miserable cities in British Columbia!) are decedents of the very first load of Sikh slaves to Canada. The funny thing is these modern day slaves have taken over from their slave masters now, Canadians! I have had only short visits to Abbotsford and don't know much about it but I know there're neighbourhoods in Surrey that the residents are all Sikh! The Chef was saying something true and at the same time funny the other day. He was saying this Sikhs who are fighting for his independent state in northern India, Khalistan, in fact has established their Khalistan here in Canada! Abbotsford and Surrey in British Columbia, most of the northeastern quadrant Calgary, Alberta and Markham in Ontario are amongst the cities and towns which the majority of their residents are Sikh and they barely let anyone else in or if they do, they have a full control over them. How and where they could've had a better autogenous state, rather than Canada?! Without demonstration or poll or resorting to violence they've got what they wanted and as they reproduce like rabbits, their population soon with pass other ethnic groups and Canadians! 

It's obvious that these people were brought here to do the kind of work that Canadians are hesitant to do. The Chinese were brought to Canada to do the main railway system, I read once somewhere and the Sikhs for something of that nature. I know many of them used to work in the sawmills of British Colombia, many of them shut down now. It's understandable. The problem is they keep bringing people in while there's no jobs and no place to live. Rents have gone up so high this past year and so and the place that I have financed with a bank ( I refused to write " I purchased "!) has gone up significantly that now if I sell it, I not only can pay the loan I got from the bank, but also would be able to buy an AWD 2023 Tesla Model 3 and keep something in my account! Not that I have any plan for that until I find somewhere safe and comfortable to live!

Sikh Indians in Canada. They were and still are a big part of the workforce

With this introduction as why and how Canadians brought all these slave to the country, I being one and mostly these day all the slaves from the torn apart and devastated countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine (this one is a bit different. I will have a separate post for it, later), Iran, you name it, I would like to narrate what happened the other day in the neighbourhood. I saw a big truck, with a few tool boxes and ladders in the back pulled into a spot in front of a house. I don't spy on people but this is the neighbourhood I live. So I look outside at time to see what is going on. They were two big Canadian guys who started evaluating the situation(!) and having conversation. I didn't listen but my original though was that they were going to do something with the roof or the windows of the house, considering it's still warm. I thought they're fixing it for winter. They brought 5 different sizes(!) of ladders from the truck and positioned them at different corners of the property and continued their discussion. In a few minutes one of them was on the roof hip, doing something. I don't know why. This process took nearly 3 hours with the occupant coming out and engaging with the two. What was the outcome, eventually? Lights on the fascia!!! 

The occupant turn it on at dusk. It looked nice for a three-hour, two-man work! And turned it off, when it became dark, probably because of the energy bill they anticipated!

(Photo, top: Chinese railroad workers in British Columbia, courtesy of Coquitlam Heritage Society. Coquitlam, a suburb of Vancouver is now a neighbourhood occupied mostly by Iranians, rich Afghans and [South] Koreans. One of the interesting stories is about this Afghan warlord who had gained a fortune by selling guns and drugs and then moved to Canada and settled down in Coquitlam. He one day went back to Afghanistan to review his business. They gunned the bastard down there!)

Capitalism finally digs himself in (4): Greed

 

I've visited Toronto only once since I came to Canada more than 20 years ago and I'm sure I will never, ever go to that city again unless someone takes my corpse there! I know there're people out there who start teasing as soon as they hear something like that but being away from over-population, pollution, unreasonably priced services and goods, traffic and so on were the reasons I came to Canada. Why the hell would I engage myself with that nonsense again! 

With that in mind, Toronto is the dream city of many Canadians and foreigners, to sum, idiots! A filthy stinking toilet which you have to pay over $600,000 for a small 1-bedroom apartment just to say that I live in Toronto!! The only solution, in my mind and I truly with my whole heart I believe, to problems of such is the Third World War! A really nice bombardment on cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City and other similar stinking toilet and wiping out the entire city with every single soul in it! Can you imagine who many problems of the governments and generally human race is resolved? Astronomical numbers! 

But without having an Armageddon some greedy assholes already starting feeling the pain in their butt holes! Who? Many of the wise guys who had plans to be rich and purchased those honey-comb size condominiums in Toilet-to (Toronto!) have already started losing money! There's nothing, in the whole world, more satisfactory to me to see greedy people losing money and suffer mentally! You offer me Ice Cream, Strawberries, T-bone Steak, Wagyu Sandwich, or, check this out, tell me that greedy people are losing hundreds of dollars every month, I take the latter! 

Funny thing is Greed is one of the seven deadly sins in Christianity, the so-called religion that Canadians follow but I bet they are as much Christian as Muslims are Muslim! And don't get me wrong this greed is not solely seen within Caucasian Canadians. Many foreigners, mostly war refugees and other free-loaders immediately become one just after a very short period of time because they don't want to lose this race! 

One example of that is Pika, my friend who currently resides in Texas. He said he was sick for years and was taking anti-depressant medication as a result of losing thousands of dollars! I actually was very happy when I heard that, although he's my long-time friend. Why? Because I remember him leaving his wife for days and day, supposedly doing businesses at different locations and the poor woman was all alone by herself and even suspected that he was cheating on her! What I know about that part is he was cheating with Porn films on her because there were times that he would come to me to see if I can find any for him and in fact there's a very funny story about that which I will tell one day. 

I remember The Mumbling Guy got himself in buying and selling houses a few years ago and even wanted to sell one house that he had purchased in the Ghetto(!) to me which of course I refused. When I asked him nearly one year after that he said that he no longer was in the business. I think he was wise enough not to dig a hole for himself and got out fast. Greed is another aspect of capitalism which eventually drive people to bankruptcy, alcoholism, depression and so much more and I truly hope that all the greedy ones suffer to the last day that they're alive. 

(Photo: Arial view of Downtown Toronto with CN Tower. This truly looks nice and attractive, What most of the people don't see is the dirt behind these shiny buildings)

Stress on the Grid

This past week's extreme cold, the authorities said, had a tremendous stress on the grid in a way that two warnings were given and they added that a black out would be inevitable. That, of course, was because of the high consumption and people were asked to reduce it by, for instance, cooking by microwave instead of cook-top(!) and do not use as much Christmas lights as they usually do! 

No one ever said that Calgary Tower should turn the lights off or all those high-rise buildings in Downtown which leave their majority of their lights on, should conserve energy! 

My consumption is usually lower than other house but with that problem I had with my furnace yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bigger bill, next time. 

(Photo: My energy service provider sends a chart similar to this, on regular bases. I have pointed to this previously in another post. With price of everything going up, it's important to reduce energy consumption)

This Year's Christmas Gift

I was at work yesterday and there was no action but I said: What the hell. I get paid for 9 hours! So why not? I in fact did a little work and that was transferring a number of documents to their related folder for further reference by the project, in case it would be needed. Rather than that it was a very boring and miserably cold day, like the other days of the week. 

Went to the Italian Centre Shop, which I had recently found on the web for some olives but it was so crowded that I found not worth the time! I got the hell out and drove home. Then at home I sat at the table to have something (although I was not hungry!) and check my e-mails and I thought it was not a very desirable temperature. Checked the ecobee thermometer on the wall and it showed 11.5 ℃  (nearly 53 ℉)! I just had heard an abnormal action(!) from the system and I realized that was it! It sounded that the thermostat shut the furnace off and then turned it back on immediately! 

It was not late but a day before the Christmas Eve is not usually that one would want to have a problem with their furnace while the outside temperature is about -24 ℃! (a little higher than -11 ℉). I remembered that I had the local newspaper delivered to my door the night before. I went to the classified section and called a heating business which is not too far. The guy said that because they had not previously provided any service to us, he would not be able to do anything! Honestly I was even surprised that he answered and even more surprised when he said that he might be available tomorrow morning! The second fella had a message on his phone asking people to send him text messages! When I did that he asked me who I was and wrote that he had not received any messages from me before!!It's a strange world with lot's of wired people! I briefly explained to him what had happened and his response was: I'm at a party!! Then he sent me a message and asked me to clear the vent and restart the furnace! I didn't get the point at the beginning. So I called the third guy. This time a lady picked up and said that he would ask a technician to give me a call and started asking questions. I easily hear a background noise which indicated she was at her home and being just day away from Christmas Eve, was distracted by all the events associated with the holidays. After a few question I realized that she was not paying attention and I wished her a good night and hung up! 

Then I thought of what the guy had sent as a message about the vent. There are two pipes sticking out of the front wall of the place, next to the balcony. I look and it, the one I assumed it was the vent, was solid blocked by a big chunk of ice. I broke part of it but the inside was clogged. Then I tried to break the ice inside but it was not accessible. My next solution was using hot water(!) and in order to do that I had to clean the balcony, at least partially, from a 1-foot snow. It appeared that the ice was being affected by the hot water and it showed it was effected when I re-fired the furnace but it froze again quickly and pushed the furnace back and the temperature as it was very cold! 

I eventually decided to stop after 2 or 3 attempts proved ineffective in frigged night and decided to go to bed. I guess I had two pullovers and a jacket and still was not very effective, I didn't sleep much. Same story the next morning due to the low temperature. It was eventually my neighbour whom I ran to and helped me! She brought a ladder and a crowbar and started breaking the ice inside and that was it. I can sleep comfortably tonight!

(Photo: The balcony after it was plowed enough to reach the vent. You can see the top of the Bear Spray at the right bottom corner of the picture. Refer to this post for the related story!)

A Note on the Door

There're a couple of hot topics in the news these days and since I'm not interested in neither of them, because most of the news is bullshit, these days, I'm only mentioning the one that somehow I am related to it. Bank of Canada has decided to increase the interest rate and I'm not sure if it has or not yet but what I do know is that the housing market at almost every corner of the country has been flooded with customers whom their offers, at times, have been $100,000 higher than the asking price! Some house hunters even, they said, skip home inspection which might cause them issues later after possession is made. 

With that in mind, when I got home the other day I saw a note on my door. First I thought it was from one of these silly neighbours who want me to do something! " Shit! What the hell do they want this time? " That's what I asked myself. I went inside and looked at the note and it was from a local real estate agent who wanted to know if I would have liked to sell the house! 

I just have moved in less than 15 months ago and I'm in no mood to move out, search for a new place and move in, particularly in damn winter. So I just left the note on the desk! The funny thing was the municipality's Tax Note and Assessment Value. They have just increased the tax, a bit, meaning the property's value has gone up and then the Value Assessment which came after that, a few days later, confirm it.

(Photo: I was expecting something bad the moment I saw the damn note on the door!)

Cost of Energy

Buying home in although it brings comfort in a way but there are disadvantages to it as well. It is true that only families should go through the hassle of borrowing money and pay monthly fees for their home. It's not difficult if the couple work but for a single man, it's not easy. 

I have tried to keep the cost to minimum but it's not easy. I don't have air conditioner, I don't put heat so mush high in winter, I don't use microwave oven, I don't have a dryer, I wash my cloths, as there aren't many, perhaps once a month, I don't have a TV, I don't put many lights on when it's dark(!), I don't fill the refrigerator and the top, freezer part, so it doesn't consume too much electricity, I don't have a fan of any kind, no ceiling fan and no standing one, I don't park in garage! So the garage opener and the light aren't used at all! However I do have a coffee maker, I cook at home on my stove and in the oven and I even do have a bread maker! The energy company has sent me reports of my usage. One is seen on the top and it's for electricity and one one the bottom is natural gas.

Natural gas consumption is compared between three types of homes in the city

As it can be seen in the gas graph, month of Feb. has the highest amount of consumption but what I know for a fact is these homes are not properly isolated because if they were, we wouldn't have to pay this much for energy. Or perhaps I should correct it to " they shouldn't have to pay this much for energy "! These are cheap homes and they're sort of " Build & Sell " homes. If the financial situation improves, I will do something about this damn house. I will probably get solar panels and do a good isolation if I can find a good provider. Until then I will have to keep the costs low using the same manner.

(Photo, top. The graph shows the electricity consumption in the first 6 months of 2021 and the comparison between three types of homes in the city)

It is too Freaking Late!

If this question ever comes to your mind: Who are the stupidest people in the world? 

What would your answer be? I would candidate Canadians as a possible correct answer! Why? Because they destroyed and keep destroying one of the most beautiful countries in the world by their stupidity and greed. In the so-called Lower Mainland British Columbia, the fool Canadians destroyed half of the region by cutting trees and built houses and condominiums and selling them to Asians in a way that the population of Asians is more than combined the Aboriginals and Canadians! If you could find any place in the entire world that people are as stupid as this, name it to me. 

Apart from a little farming and a number of small technology companies, the only jobs available in Brit "SHIT " Columbia is logging, fishing, which is mostly fish farming and public services. The rest have to work like horses to make ends meat. Many work under-the-table jobs or some call it cash. Those shitheads have their own problems which is not the subject of this post (tax evaders). Oh! I almost forgot this; 1 out of 5 British Columbians works in tourism industry. Interestingly all of those people are screwed really badly now because of the damn pandemic. 

Part of Bow Valley and TransCanada Highway shortly before the town of Canmore. As you can see on the top left of the picture the mountain is used as a mine and facilities have been built to use that ore and process it to whatever they want. These are only parts of the destruction in Canada. Just a tiny part. I took this picture on my way to the summit of Middle Sister one of the major mountains in the town of Canmore

But what I wanted to mention here is the fact that they have gone too far now that there's no way that they can stop the destruction. And of course it's not my word. It's what Davis Suzuki, the Japanese-Canadian environmentalist says. It's like a spacecraft which has reached the point of  no return!

With all that said, it was in the news just today that two major development project are cancelled in the town of Canmore. Thanks whoever had a little functioning brain in their skull and voted against these devastating projects. For the ones who don't know much about Canmore I should say that it's a very nice little town in Bow Valley of Alberta in western Canada, surrounded by beautiful mountains, forest and lakes. I have done a number of nice hikes around the town and I'm happy that the place is not going to be ruined by the ugly condominiums, roads and bridges. 

(Photo, top: A very familiar scene in British Columbia. Trees are cut to be processed and sold to the builders and exported to the US for the same reason)

The Proper Usage of Coke

 

I hope Soda drinkers, particularly the fans of Coke don't get offended but this is how I use this sort of beverage: We were served food at the workplace a few weeks ago and of course Soda is a must(!) for these people. One large bottle was left, more than half gone, after the party and I brought it home. Did I drink it with my lunch? No! I used it to clean my bathroom sinks! 

Soda has a good amount of Phosphoric Acid in it and although not such a high pH, it's good enough to clean the germs! All you need to do is to block the drain, pour some Soda, add some water and wait for a couple of minutes or longer depending how dirty your sink is. Then let the liquid drain and scrub with a brush. It will be good as new. The only problem is the smell! I don't know what the hell these companies add to their drink. You can tolerate that or use an air freshener after clean up.

(Photo: The Coke bottle, the brush and my sink. ready to go!)

Stupid and Disgusting Delivery of Food

One of the most disgusting things that I hate it the most (used most twice in a sentence!) in Canada is food delivery. Many disgusting cheaters manage part of their disgusting lives through food delivery. One example of that is the filthy fat-f*ck named The Fisher who I used to know through Hojam and I, in fact, probably met him once only. This nasty animal, who by the way probably made up a story about cult of Bahai and sold it to CIC to settle in Canada, lived his disgusting life by food delivery and avoiding paying income tax for years. This piece of sh*t, as far as I remember was either drunk or high on drugs! According to The Chef he always had a handful of Marijuana in his glove compartment when it was illegal, of course. Once I was at Hojam's, he had invited me over for dinner, which was by the way was a simple meal comprised of Shirazi Salad and Bandari Hot Dog(!), and it was years ago, probably 2006 and the telephone rang. I remember Hojam didn't have a cellphone back then and asked me to pick of the phone, which was the landline. I picked up and at the other side of the line there was a drunk man whom could be understood barely! That was this disgusting fella, The Fisher! I told Hojam that it was this guy on the phone. He told me that he had been probably lonely and drunk because his wife had taken a trip and ask me to hang up! Now, and again according to The Chef, this guy has lost his job and because he evaded tax for years and years cannot apply for any of the Government aids!

Shirazi Salad, originated from the city of Shiraz in south-central Iran is very tasty and healthy

Now I'm not saying that all of the delivery guys are bad or fraudulent. What happened today reminded me of The Fisher and I thought I should part of his story here. But what happened yesterday was that when I pulled my vehicle to the side of the street and parked I noticed a bag in front of my door. I thought to myself: Is this a kind of a joke?! Did a freaking bastard leave their garbage in front of my door?! What the hell is it?! 

I approached the bag and I realized that it was a food delivery from a local business! I never order food. I hate that. You need to eat get your stinking ass off of the coach and cook a meal or put something on and go to a fast food joint or a restaurant. I hate lazy people! So I called the number and a woman picked up. I asked her why the had delivered the food to my address. She said that it was not them. It was one of these disgusting food delivery fake companies who you can have use them using your phone. I asked her to send someone to pick it up because I didn't want to deal with a lazy ass hungry idiot who would complain about his food being taken by me. She said they could not do that. I left it on the side walk and walked back in!

(Photo, top: Two Magpies are enjoying the food inside the bag! The country which it's economy is based on sh*t creates minimum wage jobs in tens of thousands and make the most of population lazy idiots who either wait in their homes for food to be delivered to them [!] or deliver the food as it's easy and does not require any skill or talent! Some still are not able to perform this easy job!!)

The Disaster of a Power Outage in Canada

I was on the phone with a Financial Advisor from my bank, after a short visit to a branch, and just when he said that he had sent an e-mail to me I realized that there was no power!! I had never seen something like this, in fact since the old days in the old country. There were, at times, power outages in the old country and there were result of two phenomena:

1- During the war years, 1980-1988: During these years there were at times blackouts or power outages as this was considered a defense mechanism when the enemy planes would show in the skies. I don't know how effective it was. As well there were power outages due to shortage of fuel for power plants. Also there was this rummer, once I remember clearly after all these years, that the enemy bombers have bombed, for example, this power plant! I don't know how true it was. There was never an official explanation or alert

2- After the war: The power outages were very rare but occurred. The reason, if I remember correctly, was indicated as some technical difficulty.

An oil lamp similar to what I, at times, used in the old country to study. Something similar to this goes for $100 or more on websites

With that in mind when I saw the power outage I was not prepared because an incident of such here in Canada could be fatal while in the old country you only lose a couple of hours or more of TV program! As unimportant as that! I remember that there were even night that I studied using old oil lamps and it was okay. Here as soon as the power is out, if you don't get out of the house, if you can(!), you're dead! You cannot cook and eat because the damn stove or range is powered by electricity. You cannot check anything because both your computer and internet are powered by electricity and you might even not be able to get the hell out of the house because your garage door is powered by electricity as well! 

I was lucky on that day because I had parked in front of the house. So I jumped in the car and went to the first McDonald's but before that I called to report the outage and I was told, after calling the Calgary area number, that I should have called Fortis. I was given the number and I reported the outage to a, of course, automated system! In the McDonald's I realized that Fortis Alberta handles the power generation and supply at parts of the province and I saw a map with good detail including the time that the power would be back on: 18:30. 

So I said to myself that the entire afternoon is gone! I wanted to do some job searching and application and instead I contacted Lazy Ass and went to his place. This time though, unlike the other times, he took me to damn Burger King and I had an awful meal. We were supposed to watch a movie on his big screen TV which he had recently bought but a buddy of him called and he ditched me with some bullshit story but I think it had something to do with an illegal way that he makes money! I said: f*ck it! I headed back home and luckily, as the website had said, the power was back on but the damn internet was down! That is the subject of the next post! 

(Photo, top: A resident, with the help from a military person, is covering their windows during the WWII in the US in order to protect the property from the anticipated Japanese bombing in California. I remember that we did the exact same thing during the devastating 8-year war, especially the first year) 

Disgusting Disgraceful Builders of Canada (DDBC)

I I worked in residential construction as a sort of Site Supervisor for a bit more than a year and learnt a lot. I worked for that cheating, fraudulent, bastard, A. J. who by the way is a relative! The bastard deducted $100 every month, from the agreed-upon salary for insurance! Although the contract was not in writing but it was still considered binding and I could've filed a complained against the piece of crap but I didn't know at the time. It was then when I realized who these builders in Canada, similar to the old country, and perhaps the other parts of the world, become rich and I think everyone knows a little.
Using shit material, utilizing cheap labour, cutting the corners, skipping the codes and standards, providing temporary cheap solutions to problems, you name it!
In the province of Brit " SHIT " Columbia where there's a big pool of disgusting, stinking cheap labour available and without any bias they are mainly from Punjabi Indian background, A. J. utilized these fellas a lot to keep the cost of construction low. For example a job that a Caucasian would do for $2.5 per mܑ, a Punjabi and not to forget, also a Chinese would do for $0.25 per mܑ!

One of the 5 ceiling lights in the kitchen. Three of them should be taken out and two, I'm hoping to be used over the range

The difference, however would not be negligible. That's where I would have come to show! I was the one who had to fix and correct every shit job that these cheap assholes have done. A keen inspector, though, would catch them all and list them for the fucking piece of shit, A. J. 

With that in mind, now I'm in this fairly new residence, built in 2018, I can see some of the shit work similar to what A. J. used to present(!) in her so-called projects! I remember once there was a big house in Squamish for sale. The listing price was nearly $780,000. It was a huge single family home with an attached suite to rent. One day I recall clearly that a Caucasian tall blond lady walked in. This was she said when she step her first foot in: This is an Indian built house! That was it and she stepped back out! 

The house was, of course sold later to a Russian family as everyone has expectations. 

When I moved in to this place, I realized that the asshole builder has installed up to three bulbs in a number of the fixtures! I generally hate to waste too much on my electricity bill, let alone how disturbing too much light, particularly artificial light is to my eyes. So I went to the nearest Canadian Tire and spent over $100 on an aluminium ladder to get the disgusting bulbs out and I did that all this morning. I took a total of extra unnecessary bulbs out and still have three more in the kitchen's ceiling which requires, perhaps an electrician to take care of it! The ladder is good because I will need to do other things and that's a tool in the house but i also have to get rid of the nasty Microwave Oven, possibly through an electrician as I never use such a disgusting machine. In fact what I did was I disconnected that from the electric board in the garage the first day I arrived in the place. What I would like to do is to get rid of it which is hanging unnecessarily over the range and replace it with two of the ceiling lights. That not only save my eyes but also gives me better illumination for my cooking. Builders are the same everywhere. Some worse than others. They are all a member of DDBC!

(Photo, top: The bulb flower I made with 18 freaking extra bulbs that I have taken off in the house!)

The Never-ending Troubles of Home Ownership

I had to go to a Staples location the other day to send an Insurance Cancellation form to my bank because when I looked at the status of my mortgage I realized that they have included some $125 as Mortgage Insurance while I had declined it both when I met the damn Mortgage Specialist and when I went for the signing. These little cost add up eventually and at the end of the month you realize that all you worked has gone to different expenses which some could have easily been avoided. For example I had to pay some $5 for this shit, plus the cost of gasoline which if more than $1.05 per litre now and I wish the cost ended just right there. I have so much more until this home could be a comfortable and habitable place:

1- Bed and Mattress: around $1000

2- Computer Desk: A good one costs anything between $250 and $550, at least

3- Main Entrance lock change: Possibly around $80

3- Van for moving the major stuff in: At least $100 plus other charges such as gasoline and taxes

4- Chair and stool: Nearly $80 for both

5- Furnace set up and start up: Could be around $150 unless I go through the damn stupid manual and figure it out, plus asking questions. I will need to print the damn manual first

6- City utilities: Not known yet. It will be water and sewer, I think.

7- City refuse collection: Not known yet. Waste, organics and recyclables

8- Electricity and natural gas: Could be as high as $200 a month

9- Ladder, for home maintenance. It is required: Anything from $250 to $300

10- Washer. At least $600. And I'm not even considering a dryer

(Photo: Home ownership is a dream for many these days in today's world particularly for people who come from overpopulated countries such as India and China. You barely see any Indian as a tenant unless he is single or it is the beginning of his journey in Canada. There was a piece of shit asshole Indian or as it's said here East Indian in one of the companies that I used to work for and he used to come to work on Fri. when almost everyone was off to look for apartment just after 1 month of working. I wish I could break the motherfucker's greedy neck with one kick only!)

The Long Move

I finally moved to the new place but not completely! What I mean is I haven't brought everything in yet! I bought a Bloom from Sleep Country and a chair from Ikea and that's basically the furniture! I have my internet installed and have been using my laptop. I need to get many things including my stuff but it's hard due to the distance and not having many days off and I don't want to take any days because of the nature of the work. It's not so bad so far. The neighbourhood is quiet and there hasn't been many issues yet but the assholes who lived in the place! The jerk and her psychopath bf left me  indicating that they were waiting for something in the mailbox and wanted me to notify them by the number they had left, when I see that. In the meantime it was a cold night when I moved in and I didn't know how the hell to work the damn thermostat. So I called the fucking bitch! She didn't answer and then I sent a number of text messages. No answer again! And then I call again and this time the asshole bf of hers picked up and after yelling at me hung up! 

I bet if I was Caucasian this would have not happened but it's okay. I can't change people. In the meantime we have other type of people here in this society as well. The other day I parked near the house and popped the trunk to get my things out but forgot and went in! I then heard the doorbell rang! It was one of the neighbours who wanted to tell that I had left the trunk open. He introduced himself and we even shook hands. I, of course washed my hands after that. 

(Photo: I brought a set of Esperso cups from the old country more than 18 years ago and never had the chance to use them until today when I enjoyed a hot cup!)