Don't Install Windows 10

For weeks this message appeared on my desktop to upgrade my operating system to Windows 10 for free. Finally I agreed to that and upgrade was performed. The result: Shit! 

First of the its appearance is ugly. More importantly I am now unable to uninstall or install programs. My Internetcalls has problem and I decided to uninstall and re-install but a stupid message appeared on the screen and denied that. My chess is gone and I'm no longer able to play! I guess they are going to provide that as an App that the interested people must buy! 

The quality of the photographs the system shows, when you open them, looks very low! I don't know how this one could happen because I use the same monitor, same hardware, same everything, except that the stupid Microsoft has changed something, probably, that I don't know what it is. 

I know normally it takes a few weeks or at times month to the user to get used to the new system but there are issues that have nothing to do with time. Remember Waterworld? In a scene Kevin Costner is in conversation and he goes: Nothing's free in Waterworld! This is in response to the guy who claims something is available for free. If it is free, I'm sure they have a reason behind that. In this case they're probably using you as a lab rat! Speaking of free I took a friend to Food Bank and probably have to have a post in that regard later. 

By the way, although there are many criticism toward Waterworld, I like that movie. Sure it has issue but what movie doesn't? I like its theme song very much.

(Photo: Late Dennis Hopper, on right and Kevin Kostner in a scene of Waterworld, one of my all time favorites. This scene, however has nothing to do with the expression Nothing's free in Waterworld!)

Disgusting and Disturbing Winter

It is Dec.09 and the temperature barely has gone below -6º C except for a few days. There's no rain and snow and you look everywhere around and you this disturbing brown colour sours your eyes, except of course at night that the lights of dwellings and some businesses illuminate. 

I once saw people skating at Olympic Plaza two weeks ago, it was I think but I barely think that the ice is good and other outdoor rinks are suitable for skating, to mention, Prince's Island Park and Bowness Park.

But the question is why the winter is remarkably mild? They say it is because of global warming, a result of too much greenhouse gas emission. Who emits this much green gases to have such a significant affect on the weather that the average temperature of winter in December in Calgary now has gone down to around 4º C?! They say countries such as China and India are the most contributors to greenhouse gas emotions and I guess two weeks ago they had a global conference on climate in Paris. Why would China and India emit so much of greenhouse gases? Isn't that because people in North America, Europe and everywhere else are bombed by advertisements 24 hours a day, 356 days a year to buy more and more?!

That conference and other conferences of similar nature is not the solution. As long as Americans  and Canadians want to drive their big SUVs and trucks and consume different products excessively and fly here and their for their all-inclusive vacations, the problem will remain. British Columbia, if I'm not mistaken, has already introduced Carbon Tax and Alberta, I heard, will soon. Alberta also is planning to shut down coal-burning electricity producing plants which as a result will increase the electricity bill. These are good steps but not enough. By the way I have to study a little bit about this Carbon Tax when I got time and post about it. It was not this bad last year and I'm shocked that in only a year the impact can be such. All the businesses who would benefit from cold weather are now suffering! Imagine the amount of warm clothing and jackets which could be sold. Skiing I bet can not be done to the same quality that was normally been enjoyed. You barely require heat for your home and your car does not require more gas because many still are able to walk a few blocks to get to a bus or train station.
(Photo: This image might not completely speaks for itself but December in Calgary and generally in Alberta have always looked much colder. Here there's barely any snow on the ground and this is the first in the past 3 weeks maybe! Less than 1 cm!)

Lowest of Loonie

In the string of good news that I have heard in the past month or so, this one was added on the top of it: Canadian dollar hit its lower since 2004! It was traded for US $0.74! At the same time and it looks they have hands to hand with crude because a barrel of WTI was traded for US $38.05! 

So it is true that 2016 doesn't look much better. There's a saying in Persian which goes: A good year has its pleasant signs shoeing in spring! and that is because Persian year starts in spring and it literally means that if your spring is pleasant then your year most likely will be good as well. 

I'm just chilling at this moment! There's not much to do. I'm working on another certificate which I will write about later when it finishes. There are not many jobs available to apply. The last position I applied was in Toronto and I never heard anything from them since. It was the 29th of Nov. Rather than that I do a little bit of exercise, cooking and cleaning at home and waste the rest! 

I still do have this plan of going to the US for a hike, most likely in one of the first 3 months of the new year but I need to check with Alfa to see whether he can met with me or not. I wonder what the exchange rate will be at that time. Perhaps I should postpone it to early fall, Sep.

(Photo: With Canadian dollar losing all his power, I wonder what those asshole cross border shoppers would do now? You are pretty much fucked up losers!)

Pre-Christmas in NE Calgary

This weekend I went to The Chef's place in NE as he needed me to help him again. I rode his bicycle all the white to Whitehorn Station and from there got on the train to Westwinds and again rode the bike. He wanted to go to a clinic for his injury and I drove him. It was waste of time as he was told that he should have seen the physician who did the surgery on his injured knee. 

Then he had some banking to do and I took him to two different banks. NE Calgary as most of the people know is a community of refugees and foreign workers. The majority of the population of the neighbourhoods comprises of Punjabis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Hindus, Filipinos, Africans and all foreigners who have sought Canada as a refugee asylum. 

Since it's closing to Christmas time, most of businesses and of course most of Christians households put up a Christmas tree. While barely anyone celebrates Christmas in NE, businesses do their routine similar to the other branches at the other neighbourhoods of the city. East Indians whom were named just a few lines above are very attached to their roots. They believe their cloths are the best, their foods are tastier, their religion is what guides human beings to salvation and in a nutshell everything from and by them is the best. The only question here is if everything by or from them is the best, why the hell are they here in Canada?! Why the hell couldn't they do something with the country of the origin to make it the best and make Canadians to beg to go there?! That's the question shall be asked from one of them one day and I will. 

The Chef had a major grocery shopping so we went to a Safeway and did his shopping. I, as usual enjoyed earning Air Miles and got the stamps that now Safeway give out for some glassed you can get them later in 2016. Then he insisted to go to an East Indian restaurant in the neighbourhood. We went to this nasty place called Hot Plate. Rundown restaurant with broken furniture and trash almost everywhere! I had expected that because it is a Pakistani restaurant and who's dirties and more unsanitary that a Pakistani in the world?! May be Indian or Afghan! After all they are all the same! Anyways,I only went there because The Chef wanted and he was paying. We sat and then a kid came and took our order. The restaurant had their customers and they are all of course Pakistani. We waited for probably 20 min. and the food arrived. Mine was a mixture of bones and hot spices boiled in water and vegetables. Tasted good but there was as much as a tablespoon meat in the whole dish! The Chef's was something of a different taste. They brought three piece of bread. The breads, of course had been baked out of white floor but I ate them as they were baked very well. Basically you come out of the restaurant because you had lots of bread and hot spice and they tend to make you full but don't provide nutrition to your body! When we came out The Chef's complaint started! He is always like that. He says we shall do something and we do and after that he complaints and regrets! 

I took him home after that and because I had too much I walked to the train station and took the train home. 

(Photo: An East Indian man, probably a Pakistani is seen in a bank in NE Calgary wearing his traditional cloths and cap. A Christmas tree is put up in there with wrapped gifts underneath. I bet they are used to this scene but I'm not sure whether they take an offence of not!) 

12 Years of Air Miles

Points and rewards are part of shopping culture in West. There's barely any business without points, flyers, discounts, rewards, promotions and stuff like that. They wouldn't survive. 

Air Miles is one of the most popular, probably because you can collect points which turns to free plane tickets to everywhere you like! Very tempting. Ha? How much actually do you have to spend to collect enough for a flight. 

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Air Miles indicating that it was the 12th anniversary of collecting points with them. 12 years since Nov-11-2003 and how many points have I collected so far? 3795 only! It is a little more than 316 points a year and considering that I collected most of my points from grocery shopping at Safeway supermarket, the main source of point, and every $20 you spend, turns to 1 point, it means that have spent a little more than $15 a year there! 

The fact is nobody gives you free tickets for free. There are other companies and businesses that they give you points when you purchase their goods or retain their services but they are not really helpful. Rona is one of them but I'm not in construction or renovation business. Sport Chek used to participate but then they pulled out. It  was at least a store I would go every few months! There are a few others including Shell gas station but they give you points for every $20 gasoline you purchase, I guess and Shell is the most expensive gas station in the business according to CBC! 

We do not do most of our grocery and cleaning needs shopping at Safeway. For not a long time that I lived in Squamish, there was no Safeway in the town and then I moved to Coquitlam and Surrey under not such a good financial situation and we did most of our shopping at the local Superstore (Super asshole) with my roommate and by myself. Same thing we did when we were in White Rock. We were shopping mostly at PriceSmart or Save on Foods because they were the closest supermarkets to us. 

Then moving back to Calgary now we mostly shop at Superstore because that is were The Lady gets her points and can quickly turn them to grocery stuff! We go to Co-Op and Safeway at time but not as frequent as Superstore and we purchase not as much. 

I checked Air Miles website briefly and I guess what I have earned so far would be good for a one-way ticket to somewhere in the middle of the US or eastern Canada! Good Luck with that!
(Photo: Shell gas station, although the most expensive gasoline in the city according to the CBC, is part of Air Miles program which encourages me to purchase from them most of the time!)

The Chance Got Bigger

I went to the CAF office to write the examination which had been booked for me. I was the only one who wrote an examination of any kind today, not that it was significant or anything. It was stressed several times that I would not be allowed to disclose the test materials so of course I am not but I was a little bit shocked as how the exam had been arranged. 

The exam was computer based, similar to probably all CAF exams today. Compare to 9 years ago when I had my first application out, CAF has advanced technologically which is good. There was only one subject on the test which became tougher to answer as the test progressed from its first level to the last. The whole session took about hour and half and I was a little nervous and at the end I was not very hopeful. That was due the problem that appeared to me as soon as I sat myself down and started the test! We had a couple of good vegetable pizzas from a local Pizza 73 yesterday and it was tasty in a manner that we gobbled all slices but two in less than 15 minutes probably!

If The Lady had not have to save to slices for her today's lunch, we would have eaten the other two up! Then we had a little exercise in the apartment gymnasium and for dinner we barely had anything as we were completely full! 

On the way to the CAF office I got a medium cup of coffee from a McDonald's and finished it before reaching my destination. Coffee, I don't know whether it has the same effect on every one else or not, has always been a helper to me to go to washroom shortly after I drink it! So when I sat at the desk and set the headphone, the pressure started! I tried to focus on the exam and answer the damn questions as soon as possible because it is a timed test. I succeeded but I guess I ran out of time and left a couple unanswered! When the exam was finished I was asked to wait in the main area. I took a short trip to the washroom but that only helped to get rid of the liquids! 

Then I was called back to the office section and say shortly with a Captain. He was a gentleman in his mid. to late 50's, may be a little older who congratulate me on passing the exam! I was happy and then he explained to me how I would proceed to the next levels which would be medical examination and interview. He added that hiring was closed for this year and everything, and he counted the available positions, would be available in March and indicated that I would most likely not hear anything from CAF until then. " You have the same chance as the others " he added which was a encouraging but that is the truth. I left then and headed home. As I was getting closer and closer the pressure was escalating! As soon as I stepped in, I rushed to the restroom! 

So there is still a chance and I have passed another obstacle but two main ones are left, if they contact me. In fact the main one would be the interview because I'm sure I'd have no medical issue.
(Photo: This seems to be the logo of the Royal Canadian Navy. Ready, Affirmative, Ready!)