Flashback (35): The Steering Wheel

I haven't hung out with The Chef for over a year and a half. Last time I saw him he was kicked out of his job of 17 freaking years because he, I quote, " had touched someone's face at work "!! We all know what that means, He was either walking or riding an old bicycle because he couldn't afford his $5000 annual insurance for his old 1991 vehicle(!) and he was sharing a basement with mice, drunkards and some other members of society at that class!

I asked him to apply for a position with the company I worked for at the time. He came over and filled out the application form. I think the mistake there was that I gave the form to The Evil Woman and obviously because that piece of shit never liked me, his application ended up in trash can. He, nevertheless, took me to Gate of India and we had a meal, celebrating the job he never got! Later after a bad exchange of messages over the phone we never spoke. I only knew that he still was in the same shit-hole and worked as a dishwasher. The term dishwasher, and don't get me wrong I'm not looking down anyone because of their job, should not be considered as a derogatory phrase. George Orwell once had to work as a dishwasher and he's one of the greatest essayists of the all time but The Chef isn't even close to an average human being in the society and he's not alone. There're many of them, especially in Western society, in the countries such as Canada, the US, Britain, you name it! George Orwell, in fact has described them very well in his book, Down and Low in Paris and London which I wrote about it years ago.  

With that in mind, the story brought back a memory of him which I thought it might be amusing to people to read, although it's short. He used to drive a small old car, which I don't remember what brand it was but I have written about it a few times, I think. This goes back to the last years that he drove it because the car was about to fall apart! I don't know what he had done which has caused a major malfunction to the system that supplies fluid to the steering wheel! Turning the steering wheel without fluid is like a grabbing a bull on its horn and trying to turn its head! I, in fact helped him to do that a couple of times or so! He was going to turn while backing up in the parking lot of a Safeway and he would go " Get the wheel! Get the wheel "! And I would helped him to turn. It was so hard that two of us were having trouble turning the wheel! My guess is, and I'm not sure, that was what eventually led to losing his car. He might have gotten to an accident as it was so difficult to turn(!) and the rest is self-explanatory! 

(Picture: This, apparently is, how you add fluid for your steering wheel but his problem was that, and I quote here, the pipe which takes the fluid to where it should be used or the pump was broken!)

Understanding Winter Driving Conditions

Alberta has once again gone back to a warm winter condition while eastern Canada is battling with frigid temperatures. While I'm sitting here at 7 ℃  (~ 44.6 ℉), many in provinces of 

and Manitoba are having temperatures ranging from -13 ℃ (~ 8.6 ℉) to -21 ℃ (~ -5.8 ℉). 

It was the same just a few days ago in Calgary and as a result of that driving was a major issue for many. It resulted in many accidents. I was heading home the Fri. before and I was tempted for a minute to take the company's pick up truck as I had done it before but didn't want anyone to say something. I drove my old sedan.

All sorts of vehicles were either in the ditch or involved in incident. Here's what many don't understand and what I mean by many, I mean many drivers of different vehicles. People think if they're driving a shitty SUV or a big ass pick up truck, they're immune to incidents and speed up and down the roads and highways. That is not the case. I was driving northbound Deerfoot Trial and at a curve I slowed down because it was extremely slippery. I could easily feel the vehicle dancing on the ice. An SUV sped off my left and then at the curve span and hardly stopped! I slowly passed him while looking at a van and couple of other vehicles who had hit the guard rail and had been damaged. I continued slowly until I reached home safely, without any issue, just a little later than usual. 

Two vehicles, both SUVs are sitting at the side of a road, beautifully(!) waiting for a tow truck to come and save them from their misery! That is the beauty of Alberta winter which proves SUVs worth shit!

The thing about winter driving here in Alberta is these sort of incidents happen every year and caused by the people who either were born and raised in the country but also have been driving for years! Still don't understand that winter driving is different from normal driving! 

This makes both the body shops and insurance companies happy. Not to mention the law enforcement agencies and tow truck companies. I don't know if it has any affects on tire sellers because most of the people are under the impression that the so-called All Season Tires would be good enough for driving in winter, because winter is a season of the all seasons! 

The only reason I've been able to drive safely in the past 3 winters is I bought 2 sets of winter tires back in early 2020 when it was the pick of Covid-19. I probably have to replace them next year.

(Photo, top: I actually stopped at the side of the highway and put my hazards on to take this picture!)

How to Spend your Money Wisely when Inflation is High?

It's has been said that people were mentally distressed during Covid-19 pandemic, which was finished a few months back. Spousal abuse was increased, pregnancy rate went up, people were going crazy as they didn't 

know what to do and companies benefited from that by introducing DIY Kits which I don't know how people were able to pay for them while mostly out of job and so many other issues were present. Happily none of the above and else bothered me because I worked the entire time. 

We have entered a new era now and that is the High Inflation Period! Everything's price has gone up. I was thinking that if I bought a McDonald's medium size coffee every day and nothing else and I work 25 days a month which is mostly the case, by the end of the month I would be paying $45, at least, just for the damn coffee! You add the other expenses, essential and occasional and you'll find why people always struggle! 

With that in mind I was visiting someone at their Downtown high-rise and happen to have a look at the mail-room, if I can call it. Lot's of parcels from Amazon as you can see. This was not a newly built and modern Downtown resident. It's an old and almost rundown place where poor and desperate live, no offence but that is a fact. So what people do, even when inflation is high and you gotta pay $2 just for a medium size cup of coffee? They spend on junk! And what are the main resources of junk in this country? Amazon, Wal-Mart, Dollarama, Princess Auto and a many more! So what do people do? They sit on their asses with a telephone in hand and go up and down and order cheap garbage from different website so when they come home after a day of 8-hour miserable work and probably more than hour on the way, they feel good by opening the parcel and feel fulfilled! There're other things that they make themselves busy with, mainly pets which is not going to be covered here! So go open an account and start throwing your money down the toilet! What are you waiting for?! 

(Photo: Several parcels, mostly from Amazon are sitting on the floor, waiting fro their owners in this Downtown location. I hope there're no thieves around!)

Refurbished Beverage!

I was introduced to this ridiculous beverage by The Tote Lover last year. I must say that I had never had something as stupid as this! No wonder why they pile up! I would really like to see the person who had this invention! The catch is having a taste, say a fruit's taste without having it's sweetness(!) to eliminate the harmful affects of sugar, perhaps! 

So you, for example drink Apple Juice and it tastes like apple juice but it's not sweet! And you know how sweetness is different in different fruits as it depends on the specific fruit's taste. That has been eliminated from the beverage! What has been left then? A disgusting, fake taste of fruit without a real taste of fruit! 

The interesting thing about this beverage is that Michael Bubble, the Canadian singer, whom I like, advertise  this, simply because his name, surname, rhymes with it! I guess people do everything for more and this is not the worst! 

(Photo: A stack of Bubly beverage boxes in a local store. It comes in different fake[!] flavours but all colourless! My guess is Pepsico or any of other major, multi-national companies produces this. So if the market does not respond to it well, they simply discontinue production with as less loss as possible)

Hitler's Children: Would you Let it go?!

I watched this documentary-like movie called Hitler's Children, made by an Israeli, a few days ago and I have to say that despite my all interests in history, movies and mainly documentaries, I was not impressed at all. Very poor work by an amateur, I'd like to call it. Everything is bad in this movie: The subject (the plot), filming, length, actors/actresses, you name it! Let's look at each so you understands why I dislike this movie and do not recommend it. 

The subject of this so-called documentary, which was made in 2011, is to target and attack the grandchildren and other descendants of prominent German officers during the Second European War (1939-1945) which is incorrectly known as the Second World War, by the public, because that's what the Europeans want! They show them one by one and either ask them questions or they talk about their relatives of the past themselves. One them is a lady named Betina Goering whom Herman Goering is her great uncle and they bomb her with stupid questions about him! What are you trying to achieve? Sympathy?!! Remorse?!! I'm younger than that lady and I, like any other normal human being, despise what the Germans did in Europe in the 40's love the country now and I don't think of Germans as what their ancestors were 80 years ago, not the majority of them. What do you expect a grand-nice of a former high ranking German officer during the 40's, in Europe say to you on camera?! Are you stupid? 

Heinrich Himmler, second from right, a former high ranking officer when the Nazi party was in power in Germany. He died in the hands of the British, mysteriously, in the last days of the war

Then comes the granddaughter(!) of the brother(!) of Heinrich Himmler another high ranking former German officer during the time that the Nazi party was in power. The poor woman had to write a book that how Heinrich got to what he was and how the other brothers were, possibly just to clear herself. 
The first question is how could you possibly blame someone for something that his ancestors did decades ago?! And what your intention is question them for that? Shame them? Benito Mussolini was the former dictator of Italy, in case you didn't know. He was a close ally of Hitler and was caught at the last days of the war and hung. His grand-daughter then became a member of parliament! What about that?  
As per these people who were interviewed, I honestly don't know what their intention might have been? Did they accept to appear in the film because they felt guilty? Did they forced to or were under pressure? Did they simply want to take that off of their chest? Either way that was not necessary. 0.5 out of 5 for this so called documentary! Next time do a documentary with whoever is left from the Kennedy family and question them about his decisions during Vietnam War!

Dachau Concentration Camp, autumn 2014 when I visited Germany. This is close to Munich. The guard's tower, the barbed wire fence and the moat is left almost intact. There must have been some preservation, of course. The rocks in wooden frame is where the prisoner's barracks were. All are gone today. A few building inn the south side which is not seen are preserved for administrative and show purposes. All funded and supported by big Jewish corporations.

One other person and this was a true idiot was an old guy going school to school saying that he hates his parents for what they had done! Or grandparents, doesn't matter. And he had written a book too and would read it to the students and then this idiot filmmaker, the Israeli guy was showing him driving a Mercedes around! Bought with the money he had made cursing at his own parents! Regardless of what his parents or grandparents have done, it's no way to make a living! 

The last guy was a guy in his early to mid. 50's who went to Dachau alongside a child or grandchild of a survivor of Holocaust.  I've been to what is left from Dachau. The barracks are long gone but the guard's tower, the barbed wire, the moat and some other things have been left the way they were built 80 years ago. There's no admission for the place so you can see flocks of people, including school kids going in every day. There were a bunch of Israeli students with their flags there the day when this guy was there and the guy was either the son or grandson of the camp commandant who was shown in Schindler's List and the funny and strange thing at the same time is they lived just outside the camp on a beautiful big house! The guy is introduced to the kids and they are told that they can ask him questions!! That was really ridiculous! It was as ridiculous and meaningless as the Nuremberg Trail! One girl asks him why he was there and the guy looked scared and confused and I don't know whether that was him or the screenplay(!) and he couldn't answer well! I would've said: I'm here to see what this place looks like. It's hard for me to feel what the poor people who lost their lives or survived here, felt but I believe now it helps to sense their pain. I feel disgust for what my parents/grandparents did and if I faced them, I'd say to them that I can not have any association with them any more. The last sentence would be my answer to another question that the guy was asked: What would you say to your parents if you saw them now? And the idiot said: I would kill him?! Obviously he was confused, under the pressure and scared but the fact that he was an idiot helped him to come up with this answer! 

(Photo, top: Herman Goering was a pilot during the 1914-1918 War in Europe and then was a top officer during the time that Nazi party was in power in Germany. He was stripped of his position by Hitler in the last days of the war because he had a plan to negotiate with the Americans. He was captured and tried and before any sentence is executed, he committed suicide) 

A Short Review of the Past Year: The Year of Failures!

January.01.2023. Morning. One more day and I will be back to hell! The disgusting job that I was given back in May of last year and is most likely will run out in a month of two! Let's quickly go through the past year and see if anything was gained. These are the plans for 2022:

1- Get the hell out of this shithole that I have been calling workplace for a little more than two years now.  I've had it with these fools. Get a real job. I got out. I have been making more but barely because of more hours that I had to put in! Beside, I worked outdoors, in extreme cold and intolerable heat. Not to mention that the number of assholes that I had to deal with with way more than the previous job. So overall was that better? Perhaps a tad better! 

2- Enter in a long-term and meaningful relationship. All my attempts failed. I have a separate post for that. Perhaps I should work harder or it's never going to happen for me! 

3- Travel outside Canada at least once. What a great accomplishment! I went to Nevada to do a hike and even that was a failure! 

4- Buy a new vehicle. Did not! The interest rate is so high and my desirable vehicle was not available. Once I wanted to order, the bastard tried to impose extra $3000 of different services and I gave up. 

5- Practice calm. Not achieved at all. It was so stressful at times and I made back mistakes simply because I was so tired and overwhelmed. 

6- Do as many hikes as possible. Overall I did 3 hikes and I failed in reaching the summit in all!

What a disastrous year 2022 was! At least I know what I should work on although with the price of everything going up, I don't believe it will be an easy year! 

(Photo: Snow is frozen to the branches of these short trees in Nose Hill Park, in Calgary. Did a short walk a few days ago)