The Coward/Brave Chef

I visited The Chef after a long time this weekend. I had a few things that I had to get from him. We sat for a coffee and chatted a bit. He's looking forward to the next for his surgery but looked a bit, just a tiny bit calmer as he had received a cheque from the insurance company and had a few dollars in his pocket! We went to one of the East Indian or to be specific Punjabi stores in the neighbourhood for a little shopping and there I saw the other side of The Chef! 

After years of being friends with him I realized that one of the reasons that he drank a lot was to get courage because when he didn't drink he was like a rabbit! Scared of almost everything! He take a step towards it and it hopes and disappears! For example today I wanted to use the bathroom and his roommate was in there. I pushed the door open without knowing he was in there and The Chef said: Oh! He's now goin' to get mad and will slit my throat! He was pretty serious about what he said! He was scared! He really is scared of smallest things, most of the time. Something as small and unimportant of what I just explained. Today tough when we were in the store a mid-aged man stopped while we were talking asked us what language we were speaking? I told him that we spoke Persian. The Chef then asked him if he was from India. The guy said that he was the enemy of Indians! I immediately realized that he was from Pakistan particularly because he said that he was upset about what has been going on in Kashmir. Here to my surprise The Chef goes: Pakistan belongs to Saudi Arabia! Which is an absolute deniable truth but the guy surprisingly walked off and said: We belong to no one! I pulled The Chef aside, while I was in shock and asked him let the guy go! I'm sure if he was a younger fella a fight would break out but he also knew that he was in a Punjabi store which although is not exactly Indian but is not Pakistani either. Some say that Punjabi support Pakistan but I don't know but based on what the guy did that is not hundred per cent true. 

I praised what The Chef had said several times but we waited for the guy to leave because I didn't want any confrontation with police attending at the end and having a file! It was an absolutely awesome act by The Chef which made my day. 

(Photo: Two cute bunnies. I know rabbit as symbol of cowardly. This is from the old country. Not quite sure if that is how it works here in Canada or not)

The Poor First Nation Man

* Disclaimer: This post in no manner has any intention to offend or downgrade the indigenous people of North America and most specifically Canada where this story happened. Please read carefully and do not make silly conclusions. This just is something happened which made me sad but similar to many things that happens in my daily life, I would like to narrate that here *

When I went to work today I was introduced to a man who, apparently, was there to cover for our temporary worker who was absent for a reason. Our temp. is a crazy Nicotine-addicted guy from one of the former USSR republics in European side, which I wish not to reveal, but because he has a good relationship with the supervisor (they both speak Russian) he is kept there. Anyways his story is separate but the supervisor told me that I should help the new fella to work with us. Fine, I said. As we went to start I asked him if he was Native and he said yes! I scored big in the first encounter. From the beginning the poor guy showed signs of lack of focus, bad vision and other physical signs which proved to me that he would not fit in but I didn't want to get the chance form him. I then realized his hands were shaking while I asked him to do something easy. He also had difficulty reading, as I said. However we worked together until the lunch break without any issue. He seemed to me a guy who was trying to recover from his past. He was clean shaven with acceptable clothing for a worker but sure he stunk. It proved to me that he had issues in the past that he was trying to move on and get back to a normal life although it seemed a little late. One thing I know is shaking hands is a sign of excessive alcohol consumption. When I say excessive, I mean way more than what some even can imagine. I always have said that The Chef is a heavy drinker but I don't think he reached this guy although The Chef has his own problems.

Anyways we carried out after the break and he seemed more focused and worked smoothly until when I was helping and I realized that he was suffering form a sort of pain. I saw that in his face and asked him what had happened. He said that he hit his foot and he had a muscle spasm. He then suddenly bolted off! He started walking so fast and went to the other side of the workplace where usually two people work but they were on their break. I followed him to see if he was OK but was not able to catch up with him and when I got closer I saw him falling but we were all lucky that he landed on his hands or he would have been seriously injured. I ran and called the supervisor. That was the time we both saw he had a seizure. It was not so bad at the beginning and he was able to respond to the supervisor's questions and kept saying that he had a muscle spasm in a certain part of his body but then as soon as the supervisor called the ambulance he got worse and foamed up his mouth and his shaking became more violent. It continued until shortly before the arrival of the medical crew. They spent a little time with him and since he had came back to normal position, they took him away. 

I felt really bad for the guy. As I said it was clear to me that he was a guy with a hard past who was trying to recover and come back to the regular life by having a temporary job but unfortunately did not succeed. One thing that I did not understand is whether the impact he had on his foot triggered the problem or what? I guess I never know. I hope he gets better and get back to regular. Unfortunately I know that the people who get seizure will never recover completely. 

(Photo: A Canadian flag decorated with indigenous people signs and symbols)

Small Place Job

With all the opportunities gone in the past two month or so, I finally decided to work the job that I was interviewed for by The Weird Guy! How long can someone survive in a Capitalist society without a job?! A very long time, as long as sleeping on a park bench and eating off food bank is not a problem for him or her! Or ... or he or she has no problem breaking in to residences and shoplift from the stores! Many people in Canada have chosen to live like that. And yes! They have chosen the way of living themselves! If I'm in this mess, having a low paid job and living in a rented disgusting place after all these years in Canada, it's my own fault! I don't blame anyone else for that! If The Chef is f*cked up in the a*s so hard that he, and I'm only quoting here, can't even sleep at night, is this his own fault or someone else's?

Anyways this is a very small place which supplies food to different businesses and despite its size it has some 20 employees just in this location that I work and probably half of them are in the workplace and working 8 hours a day and the other half are of course mobile. The Weird Guy so far has been very nice, friendly and helpful but I will write about him in more detail, probably in the upcoming posts. The pay is even less than the job that I found when I came back from CFLRS but what can I do? At least this is depositing some dollars to my account every two weeks. 

(Photo: Healthy eating is something that the majority of the people don't even think about it. I wish these foods were what the company I work for supply but they provide today's food to the public: Chemically enhanced materials! It's OK. Food is not the only factor which affects longevity!)

All the Purchases for Nothing!

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or in short KSA is the most brutal regime in the entire world. There's no doubt about that but because it's the biggest ally of the US, you don't hear much about it. People who know a little history have heard about what, for example, Japanese did in Manchuria during the Second European War (which is known as WWII in the public!) or what Khmer Rouge did to Cambodia. Saudi Arabia is much worse than anything you have ever read or heard. The whole country is ran by a family and they even named the country after themselves: Saudi, which means from Al-e-Saud, the surname of the family! Saudi Arabia is the biggest ally of the US in the region by keeping the price of oil to the level which is desirable to the US, by purchasing billions of dollars of war supplies, by fighting Iran in every and each front and in a nutshell by doing anything the US wants them to do either in the region or the entire world.  The Saudis helped Chechen rebels during the 1990 Chechen War. They founded and supplied Taliban in the 80's and 90's and still are helping them through Pakistan. 

This photo, courtesy of CBC, shows the area bombed by drones in Saudi Arabia recently

However one things is not clear to me that with all that technical support and all those billions of dollars spent on its military, how did the Saudis get hit by a number of drones in a way that their entire oil production is interrupted, regardless of who did it?! Saudi Arabian F-15s shot down Iranian F-4s with the help of American AWACS back in 1984 which is a completely different story. How is it that now that the area is as hot as the 80's, with Yemen War and conflicts in Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, the Saudis are not as prepared?! 

Anyway regardless of the responsible party for what has happened, that was a good punishment for the brutal regime of murderers of Saudi Arabia. 

(Photo, top: This chart shows Saudi Arabia as the biggest arm importer from the US)

100,000 KM in 10 year minus 10 days!

I purchased my Toyota 10 years ago in Port Moody, British Columbia brand new a day like this. It was exactly 19-09-2009. It never gave me trouble and I drove it a lot but on average only 10,000 Km a year which is not much compare to what others drive in North America. Has never had a major accident or overhaul. The majority of the mileage comes from the trips I had to British Columbia and once to Montana. To add all other trips for my hiking which while they were mostly within the province of Alberta, There were a lot. I guess if I had not been to many hiking trip, the mileage could have been half of what it is. 

I wanted to buy a new one, hopefully a Prius but now that I have gone to the wall, nose first(!) I don't think I can. Besides the priority should be a property so I can at least live peacefully in a nice neighbourhood. That's another subject but I know while this car will last me another 10 years or more, I will have to get another one. I have to get a well-paid job first!
(Photo: A very not clear photo of the dash shows my odometer when it just turned 100001 Km!)

Life and Death Dilemma!

The Chef's situation has gone from bad to worse now. He used to get a cheque form his insurance company which covered I think between 60% to 80% of his wage but nothing has come in the past 3 weeks or so. I tried to call his file manager as he doesn't speck English well but all I got was voice mail. He then has this thought that perhaps he should forget about his surgery. He was saying that he would not be able to have surgery because the time after the surgery requires money to recover particularly for him who has no one here. In the meantime he cannot go back to work because the employer requires physician's letter indicating he fits the work and he doesn't have that. I suggested him to do some cash job, like many Africans, Punjabi and other refugees do but he denied. I liked that part because if it's found out, he would be in trouble. His situation is very bad. Eventually he decided to borrow money from a fella that I know him as well. He's not a bad guy. We know him as The Four-Houses/Checks(!) but the guy told The Chef to meet him at his workplace and as usual he didn't know how to get there. So I drove him in his car! The guy, generously lent him $400. Then there was CT Scan appointment for him, and this I'm going to tell, arranged in Foothills Medical Center and he didn't 

The Chef's was worried that he might not have much time left!

know how to get there. Imagine someone who have been living in a city for over 15 years and still doesn't know how to get from one side to the other side! He owns an old GPS and has GPS in his phone too! Another problem was that he was needed to have someone with him as accompany and he didn't have anyone available! I went to that place with him once but I was working when he had to do the CT Scan. So we made a list of the people he knows and socializes (or used to socialized) with to see who is available to accompany and also lend money:

1- Bijan. A Punjabi fraudulent guy who lives in the same building as The Chef lives but barely speaks English. This guys situation is not clear to me! I met him only once when I went to pick The Chef up a few months ago and he was seeking an LMIA at the time! This is a long story that should probably be told separately. It's the nickname I have selected for him by the way, the same name as the famous Iranian-American fashion designer who died in 2011! Imagine how big of a help he could be! His real name has some resemblance. That is why!

2- The Fisher. This guy used to work for a Lebanese restaurant and according to The Chef the restaurant was closed down and he lost his job. He is either high or drunk! He eventually was kicked out of home by his wife, I heard, and now lives in a vehicle or an old motor-home. He used to hang out with The Chef just to borrow money for Marijuana or simply eat and drink freely! He is a close friend of Hojam who by the way left Canada  few years but attempting to come back to The Chef. I met this fucking asshole once and that's a separate story. He offered me a job on those days! I was smart enough not to go down the well using his rope, if you know what I mean by that! 

3- Abdul-Yahya. A homeless Afghan refugee who lived in the former Soviet Union for years. There are many Afghan refugees in Canada but they are from two groups, regardless of their faith. The ones who came from the former Soviet Union, a few years after Russia dumped the small colonies of it! The second group who have come from the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan. He had a decent life the first few years he lived in Canada and then turned to a hobo possibly due to heavy drinking. The Chef says that he got caught by cops once he was driving drunk and that was it! I don't know. He eventually was given a place to live after years of sleeping in DI, Alpha House and probably occasionally, on a park bench! I visited him once in his place because I and The Chef was helping him. It was a dump! In fact the asshole turned the apartment to a toilet! 

4- Abu-Bakar. A Kurdish refugee who had a very beautiful fight with The Chef last year and I believe he was beaten. This asshole, like most of the assholes that The Chef associates with, is a drunkard and a gambler. 

5- The Spring Maker. A nicotine addict who had the same problem as The Chef's a couple of years ago because of smoking too much and has survived so far. The Chef admires him a lot. He used to work 2 8-hour shifts for years(!) and when I'm saying that I really mean that. Working 8 hours the first job and then going to the next job and working the second 8 hours! There are many people in Canada who has never had anything in their lives and now being given the opportunity to be a good slave for their slave master, they try to use each and every of them! This asshole also has a story which should probably be told here! 

He will have another appointment before his surgery this month and I know there'll be no one to go with him but Bijan, if he still is in Canada. The appointment is set to discuss the CT Scan and preparation for the Open Heart Surgery which is supposed to happen late this year or as late as Jan. 2020. Good luck with that my friend.

(Photo, top: In this picture The Chef is depicted with these questions that he is facing: Should he go under the surgery or should not? In other words: Should I stay or should I go?!)