Strange Coinsedences

I had an interview today. It was with a recruiting agency. I explained my situation and talked about myself until the person got the chance to introduce the hiring company to me! It appears that is the same company that I will have an  interview with next week! The is a different position though. However I am not sure whether I have applied for that job or not. The recruiter was very optimist but I know this guys will grill me when I go there. I will give my best though to get out of this shit. The compensation package that was discussed is attractive and the position is staff but even if that happens and I join, I have intention to spend the rest of my life in that city. The very same thing happened a little while back. A few differences.I applied for a job and received a call from the company and in a week after I had been turned down, I received another call from a placing agency in regards to the same job!
Now I will have to see what's going to happen. Everything should be clear in a month or so.

My Over-Drinking Experiment

There has been hundreds of thousands if not millions of books, articles, commercials, etc about the affect of alcohol on different parts of body but I would like to share this experience of mine.

We had this sort of meeting in this fine classy hotel which started according to the schedule at about 16:00 hours on one of the working days of last week. (no matter how little information I give, you simply can go to the hotel's schedule and find out every little about it)

The opening day for us was the bar. So I walked up and I got a beer, one of the unusual ones because I couldn't tell by looking at the bottle what brand it was. So I had that and obviously the event was going on! We had a few more minutes to go to a speech. I tired a few pieces of appetisers which were good and took another trip to the bar. This time I ordered Whiskey on rock. The guy two container. He had a sort of funny looking small scoop which would be used every time he wanted to fill my glass. I don't know what it's called. It looks like an upside-down pyramid which it's tip has been cut off! 

Anyway the first one I tired and it was not so bad and I talked to this guy who always takes photos in our meetings and events and then one of the managers came and we three were standing. I barely could hear the guy and was just nodding when he was giving a piece of his brain to the manager. To be not only a listener I gave a manager a short lecture by saying how happy and proud I was working for the great company! 

Then I tired to get another drink and this time I got the same and squeezed a slice of lime to it myself. Much better. I don not know how many more time I tried the same but it must have been at least 2 more times because when we all sat to listen and I think it probably took about 45 min., I could not understand a word of it! Apparently it was about safety but I didn't get anything. Then it was the dinner time. The meal was good and then after that we all left. I was not feeling very bad. I walked to the train station and then from the destination station walked home, for about 15 min., maybe.

It was at home that everything started. I had this constant feeling that I wanted to use the restroom and my mouth was so dry. I tried several time to remove the dryness by drinking glasses of water but did not help much. Then I said I should do something because being active helps to overcome hangover. So I started doing chores around the kitchen area! I was good as long as I was moving but the damn affect never went away the entire evening. 

I know for a fact that consuming too much alcohol damages the brain cells and a good example of it is Hodani. He is a constant drinker. There used to be piles of empty cans and Absolute Vodka and Whiskey bottles in his balcony. I guess he has lowered his consumption but years and years of drinking alcohol has made him practically a fool. He still is alert enough to perform his job, where he has been working since 2006 but his memory is completely gone. He tells you something today and tomorrow forgets about that completely. If he sees one person two days in a row and sees the second one in the third day, he still calls the second person by the first person's name for awhile, at least until he realises that he is a new person! Once I took him to a clinic back to the time that I lived in Squmish and he was visiting me there. he was complaining about stomach ache and the doctor diagnosed that as Ulcer. 

I must add that I was sober all the time but could not concentrate on the subject during the speech for example. Talked to the people, walked there and here without any problem. Hodani's one major problem was getting violent and I guess this is with many people. Some just get really dangerous. On once case we got into arm wrestling years ago and in another he was choking a buddy of ours! 

I guess enough has been said about my experience. The good thing is I do not drink regularly. So there is a very little chance that something like above happens to me. For that reason all the misery after the drinking worth the fun of it! 

A Suggestion for Workplaces

I was thinking of this fella and his obnoxious behaviour on daily basis. I have called him Screamer. He is a repulsive turd, I would like to call him that as well! He erupts at least a few times a day. You're sitting and everywhere is quiet. everybody is busy with what he or she is doing and all of a sudden you here someone scream! It probably reminds you of that commercial for Alien where it goes: In space no one hears you scream! 

Anyways my suggestion is to slip him a mickey early in the morning right after he arrives at the office! If the proper dose is used, it should keep him calm all day long, possibly to the afternoon. Now the question is should it be done with his consent or without because I know people who actually take downers to be able to work. Some people drink alcohol just to make it easy on them. The later would consider illegal but how about the first? If it is supervised and a medical professional confirms that, the guy does not even have to  know it. It could be only said to the H. R. people. After all this is for the benefit of the company and its employees so there should not be a problem!

D-Day

Last Thu., June.06 was the 69th anniversary of D-Day, the day that allied forces landed in northern France and started an invasion which led to the defeat of Germany a year later. Allied forces at the time consisted Americans, British and Canadians, mainly. Unlike what I had expected there was nothing on the news or no especial ceremony in the country.

Americans entered the war simply seeking opportunities and they got that later. Their gift to Europeans was Marshal Plan. Based on that plan the US provided a total of $13 Billion in terms of economic and financial help to the European countries which their economy had been destroyed as a result of the long WWII.

Many call this as the most unselfish act of helping but there is no doubt that the US benefited from a lot by simply accessing the European markets for years even after the plan was ended!

In military terminology the letter D simply stands for Day and D is the day of an operation. The days which come after that are called D+1, D+2 and so one while the days prior to the military operation are named as D-2, D-1 and similar. So D-Day is general term but since it signifies the most important invasion of all time, everyone who thinks of D-Day immediately thinks of the day that invasion started in Europe to pass the Atlantic Wall and liberate France, rest of occupied Europe and eventually defeating the Nazis. Discussions about the WWII are so long and broad and there's no room and time for it here in post. I just have to point at two post-war occasions: First, The Nuremberg Trial, the most ridiculous juridical event of the all times! You are in fight with someone and he defeats you and then he takes you to the court and sentenced you to be punished to this much! There is no doubt that what Germans did during the WWII was evil but didn't Americans do even worse in many corners of the words in the past 60 years!? Did anybody condemn them? Did anything happen to them? No! Did any of those who killed civilians ever go to prison? How about the bombs on the two Japanese cities? Did anyone take the Americans to the court, especially the Japanese?

With thousands of pictures available on the net these days, it's  hard to find a reliable one . This apparently shows  what is left from the Fuhrer's residence in the southeastern part of Germany but to be sure, I will go there to see it with my own eyes one day soon.

The other one is the destruction of Berghof, Hitler's residence in south east Germany. Berghof without a doubt is the most beautiful residence that someone ever resided in. The Americans blind from jealousy bombed the place and wiped it out while it could have stayed to become a museum. There is nothing actually, absolutely nothing left from the villa, I would call it but just the location is amazing. I would love to see it, if it still existed.

(Photo: This map shows the stages of the alliance invasion in Normandy started in 06-Jun-1944)

Edgar Farms, Innisfail

We had planned to go to Innisfail in central Alberta to see an Asparagus farm and we did it yesterday. The weather has been miserable in the past 2 weeks, I would say, continuously pissing but we wanted to go anyways especially because I checked Weather Network and realized that unlike Calgary, Innisfail was only cloudy with chances of light rain in the afternoon.

So we left the city around 11:00 hours with the hope to reach there by 12:00 or 12:15 hours at the most. It was rainy, cloudy, sunny every few kilometers of the Queen Elizabeth Highway but it was so beautiful too. It around 12:05 we finally exited the highway from number 365 but I guess I took the next road by mistake and  that cost us at least extra half an hour! That's why having a G. P. S. is very good for the road trips.

Anyhow we got there when there was a light rain and we paid the admission which I had known from their website but later was a bit unfair but I'm not too concerned about that.

There was a good crowd over there but it was obvious that the weather has a huge affect on the festival. Picking was not available but we walked to Asparagus field under the light rain and it was beautiful. There was a lady over there, an old Dutch lady who was volunteer and welcomed us. Seemed that parts of the field had been harvested and the other parts were being done on the day. I had assumed that the Asparagus would be picked by simply walking on the field, cutting them and putting them in a bucket but the system is more advanced. The Farm had hired temporary Mexican workers and they would ride a kind of small rover, driving between the lines, picking the vegetables up and putting them in the provided baskets. It's much faster and if rains, the workers do not have to walk in the mud and under rain. It's interesting to know how much the Farm pays these poor guy. There's no doubt that's a win-win situation. The Farm gets the harvest done and supplies the market and the Gringo gets a few hundred dollars in their pocket after traveling more than 4500 Km! We were encouraged to walk beside the row of Asparagus, pick a few by snapping on the side and try them. We picked a few and it was not bad. I had tried steamed ones at home and liked them. Here there were raw and still edible but a bit sandy. 

The rain became heavier so the lady left us on our own to take as many photos we want and eat as many pieces we like! We always thought the the thin Asparagus is better than the fat ones. Fat sounded old to us but on the field we actually realized that there is no difference and in fact the fat ones are a bit tastier and juicer. So if definitely is a mist to pick the thin ones at a supermarket. 

We knew the Farm had Angus Beef and we could see them from there in the woods. So we walked up to them to have a closer look. All the cattle and calf were gazing at us and as soon as we got a bit closer, they started departing. A row of barbed wire and fence was separating them from us and there was no gate. So we could not get any closer and I don't think the owner would have liked it, if we had done it.

At the time we were almost soaked but it was fun and we walked back to main building while passing by a Rhubarb field on our way. It looked like Zucchini in the first glance but the sign said something we had not known. The leaves are quiet similar. Rhubarb is one of the vegetables that you see them here a lot compare to what we use in the old country. They even make pie out of it. We male a sort of stew which is sour and tasty. In the main gathering area people were busy with different things and in places like these kids are the happiest. We wanted to pick some Green Peas but we were told they would be available in July and then we asked about fresh Beef and realized recently frozen is only available. We bought two packs of frozen Angus Beef, one Short Rib and another one which I don't recall. We'll make them soon to see how different they are from the Beef purchased from supermarkets. After adding a pack of Asparagus to our basket we realized we had better be gone before we catch cold or anything like that. 

Overall it was a fun experience and would have been much better if the sun had been shining and we could pick what we wanted but things do not go the way you want them all the time! There are so many other exciting things to discover in the world! 

(Photo: Asparagus on the field. The distances between the pieces is more than what I imagined. The green stuff you see is a kind of weed which was called by the Dutch lady but I forgot and it's not so important but it's important for the owner because it's weed!)

Incredible Gas Price

I was going through the news the other day and I realized that the price of Crude had been dropped. The tumble in China's manufacturing sector had been blamed for it. I don't know what is that these guys are going to use as an excuse to either soar the price or bring it all the way down to the basement!

But then I went out and I was about to pass out! The damn price of gasoline, I realized, had been up, significantly. Just a few weeks back we notice a $0.99 per litre but ¢129.9 and even more than ¢131 is outrageous! 

The Oil market in Alberta is completely messed up. This Bubble Effect which actually is caused as a result of lack of transportation equipment, more specifically pipeline, has caused a significant deficit for the Province and many of the oil and energy companies, I heard, have started laying off many of their employees. There is absolutely nobody who questions these giant companies as while their major product price has gone down, why their other product's price has jumped all the way up. However It could be analyzed this way:

The oil company produces its crude oil which it's total cost of production is, let's say, $10 per barrel and adds overhead costs and profits and sells it for $80 per barrel and compare it to the time that it's sold, for example $110 per barrel. Now this gap, caused by the drop of price of crude, should be compensated by selling the end product, gasoline, with a higher price! Makes sense? If the cost of extraction or transportation drops,  the profit goes up but do the companies ever reduce their price? In most cases no! The price is reduced based on the market demand and stability on different corners of the world. But really what does have, for instance, moving a mobile missile launcher from one end of North Korea to the other end have to do with the price of Crude!? But they use FEAR to control people and drag them from here to there and then drug them with cigarette, alcohol, marijuana and other legal and illegal substances to obtain what they want form them: The maximum profit!

(Photo: A Shell gas station's sign, on 14th St., Calgary, reads ¢129.9 per litre, this morning)