John Bolt-On!

Do you remember that jackass, John Bolton? He was the National Security Advisor to Trump during his first term for about a year. He did everything he could to convince Trump to attack Iran. He didn't succeed. The US later, last Feb., attacked Iran and soon regretted it. I wonder what the relationship of them would like now. There was a rumor later that Iranians wanted him dead, by the means of assassination! Not that I condone it but what the hell did he expect? Trump didn't listen to him and their relationship went sour. 

Bolton's memoir's cover. It does look like it has been taken off the shelves but I don't think I can read a book in 500 page about the dirty tricks in the US politics!

It seems that someone has made it easy for Iranians now: Himself! He has been charged with 18 counts, including 8 counts of unlawful transmission and 10 counts of retention of national defense information. FBI agents stormed his home and office and confiscated documents and then later, he stood in front of the judge. It is believed that he has pleaded guilty to one of the charges. Without getting into the details of his trail, if convicted he will serve a 5-year imprisonment and he will lose his pension. He also has been fined $2.25 million as part of the guilty plea which basically takes everything he has earned from his memories. His sentencing will be in Oct. and his situation doesn't look good. He's now bolted on and can't make a move. The same thing has happened to all the people who bombed the innocent people of Iran, including the school children. They might not end up in jail or fined but they know they have made a mistake and have been trying to step back with minimum embarrassment which is the result of losing billions of dollars and being basically defeated.

(Photo, top: Bolt-on, the former advisor to Mr. Trump in his home in Maryland!)

An Album after 58 Years

Syd Barrett was a founding member of alternative rock band Pink Floyd, in 1965. There's only one band that comes close to Pink Floyd, in terms of enjoying their music, to me, and that is Led Zeppelin. We'll maybe discuss that later but Syd contributed to the early works of the band and then his mental health deteriorated. One of his works and the band's work is A Saucerful of Secrets which has not gained enough attention, I think. It was released on 28-Jun-1968, exactly 58 years ago. 

A Saucerful of Secret album cover is supposedly a visual representation of altered states of consciousness 

It's a great album. Syd's mental illness resulted in leaving the band before the album was released. They managed to get it together and complete the work. Syd eventually passed away in 2006. He simply stopped shining. His story is quite remarkable and available on the internet for the interested ones.

(Photo: Pink Floyd in 1967, from left: Nick Mason [Drums], Richard Wright [Keyboard, passed away in 2008], Roger Waters [Left the band in 1981 and pursued a solo career], and Syd Barrett. David Gilmour joined later and remained active until the last days of the band)

Not a Fan of Satrapi

I've seen Satrapi's Persepolis and I even own it on DVD. Not true. This is not the true story of Iran in the early 80's. It's exaggerations, falsification and oozes out of the mind of a person who was part of a very small population of the country. 

Her stupid stories about people partying at night, the Western style, drinking alcohol, everything else are not selling! The majority of the people of Iran were devoted Muslims and there is still a big population of them in the country who are stuck to their traditions and beliefs. I'm not saying that she is lying in the film. I'm saying that it might have been her life. She was not happy and she left the country and then couldn't adopt herself even there, in Europe, and went back with her tail between her legs, living with her parents! 

This guy was a loser and died a loser. I have no respect for Marjane Satrapi and people like her and I'm not sad that she's passed away. Less people like that in the world, the world is a better place.

(Photo: A wall from the ancient Persepolis Palace in Central Iran from 500 years B. C. which its name was stolen by the dead ugly woman and stuck to her exaggerated, untrue story!)

Mist Mountain, Not Finished

I checked the weather all around Alberta starting this past Tue. to see where I could have my first 2026 hike. I eventually selected Kananaskis Country. Not only because it's close but also because my pass is still valid. I have done hikes there in the days when no pass was required. Now you have to pay for everything and gasoline price is high. Although I need to check this Canada Strong Pass for the time I'm going top a National Park. 

I set the alarm for 04:00 and then changed it to 04:30 before going to sleep! When it went off, I woke up easily but was not sure whether I should go or not! I laid down and then got the hell out of the bed, grabbed my gear and headed to Highway #1. I needed to buy some gas because I had been too lazy to buy it the night before. I stopped at a Shell gas station on Country Hill Boulevard, I think it was $1.669, then I drove deeper south, on 16th Ave., which is an extension of TransCanada Highway (and I never knew why they did that!) it was about $1.560. When I got to the intersection of Highway #1 and Highway #40, where the big casino and all the other Indigenous people's businesses are located, it was around $1.760!
The Mist Mountain trail-head is deep in Kananaskis Country. You need to pass Highwood Pass and drive for another 10 km. When I reached there it was almost 07:30, meaning from home to the trail-head took 2 freaking hours and a half! I stopped for gasoline and a coffee, of course but still it's too long. This time, despite my first attempt which was last year, and I didn't even go up because it was raining! (another stupid excuse!) I was able to find the trail, using my handheld GPS. I will write about this stupid and useless device later to everyone who buy something like that to simply save them some dollars! The trail goes through the three and it's steep and then you come out and walk beside a creek and it becomes steeper! I was almost at 1 hour when I saw three people coming down, which is always a good thing. I was told that unless I had crampons, I would not be able to pass the snow pack and it would be very risky. Good advice. 

Recent precipitation has created a beautiful green lush in the area

At  01:15 I was on a ridge with good views and could see what the guys were talking about. I was tired anyway and the excuse saved me! I spent around 15 minutes on the ridge and headed back down. The rest of the trail which would go to the Hot Spring didn't seem too hard, if someone was well equipped but I will see that the next time I try it. The funny thing is Scottie wanted to go with me and despite the fact that I know he's full of shit, if he ever says he wants to join, I will take him but with separate vehicles. So when he's stuck like a stupid mule, I'll leave him there! People like that deserve this!  

This time I tried to climb light. I didn't take any water bottle and my hydration pack was only three quarter full. Luckily it was not too hot, as drinking out of a tube is not very pleasant. They say the plastic that forms the pack is somehow get mixed with the water due to chemical reactions! So basically you're drinking poisoned water! I don't think that's untrue! You can taste the plastic in the water but it can't be worse than majority of the food that people eat or the beverages that they drink on daily basis! 

I had read that reaching the summit requires gaining a significant elevation of 1300 m (from the road, of course), which equals to 4265'! It's not a little elevation and considering the summit sits at 3140 m (10301') it's not an easy hike (combined with scrambling) but I also read that most people don't bother going past the little pond of hot water, which is for the best. I have four weeks until my Kananaskis Pass expires! So I'm going to spend the next four weeks in that part of Alberta! No! I'm just joking. I'm not a cheapskate! I will make another attempt though, either the next week or the week after.

(Photo, top: The hike ended here on this ridge where you can see the trail continues in the snow. This is probably one third of the entire hike, if not less)

Not Every Franchised Business is Similar

I don't eat at MacDonald's or any fast food joint but I like their coffee and go to one, from time to time. I used to eat breakfast in their locations. Not anymore. I stopped many years ago. Different reasons for that. Here I list them as some might find it helpful:

1) McDonald's food and generally fast food meal contains a lot of fat, salt, sugar and artificial flavour. They all are harmful to the body. Continuous consumption of them will result in illness, chronic pain, you name it. If they're consumed at a very low amount, say, once a month, it's not that harmful. The body could get rid of them, particularly if there's enough exercise. Eating them repeatedly and at ages passed 40s would certainly have detrimental consequence. That's why I stopped eating this kind of food nearly 15 years ago.

2) There was a time that everything was affordable. You could get a decent meal for a reasonable price and enjoy it and get full, even if you had a normal job. Time has changed, particularly after the Pandemic. Prices of almost everything have gone up significantly. What do businesses like McDonald's do to stay competitive? They reduce the size of their meal and charge the same. I remember Buy One, Get One coupons would arrive every two weeks. You would by a Breakfast Sandwich and you would get the exact same sandwich free of charge! Now you get a sandwich which contains two and a half bites, you're still hungry and you either have to buy another one or leave half full! 

3) Population explosion! You'd find most of the fast food very busy these days, unless you go very early, like I did this morning, although it was around 09:40! It is considered early for many on a Sat. morning, I'd assume! A week of work. You're exhausted mentally and physically or at least one! You remain in the bed until 10:00, some even 11:00 and after. What do most of people do, after they wake up on a weekend? Have a quickie and then head out for breakfast or brunch. The other reason is the cost. Fast food joints remain the most affordable food in life. No cooking is required. You don't have to wait for the meal to be prepared, you don't have to go to a supermarket to buy the ingredients and know how to fix them! Those are the reasons they make fast food joints busy. That is only the way that a family with not a considerable income entertain themselves. Get out of the house, drive for a few minutes only as there're fast food places in every neighbourhoods, get an ice cream simulated cone for $1 and everyone is happy. Go back home and wait for the next day to come! Repeat the action. It's a loop!  

Most of McDonald's and Tim Horton's (I don't set a foot on a Tim Horton's property anymore. It's been a long time, not even for a coffee) are equipped with CCTV. You know why but in case you don't it's because of the number of mentally challenged, drunkards, drug-addict, psychopath and other crazy people who wander around in Canadian cities and town are significantly or perhaps I should say astronomically higher than a normal healthy society! The business owners hope to capture the criminals in case something happens, to have the chance of, perhaps, prosecution and conviction, I'd assume. That chance in Canada is very slim because the Judicial System is built in a way to encourage committing crime not to prevent it. That's how they run the business and keep the employment acceptable. 

A woman in her 70's wearing sleeper ordering food at a McDonald's! This was during the Pandemic. There're many people like this one in Canada who their lives revolves around fast food, Las Vegas, Mexico and cable TV!

With those said, I went to a McDonald's to get a coffee and study some XRF Level II for my upcoming examination, this morning. It was quite and almost clean although you never can expect a place like that to be spotless. food pieces were sitting on some tables and they looked they were from the last night! It's a McDonald's! What do you expect. I ordered a coffee and started my reading. I realized, while taking a sip that there was no camera, as far as I could see and it was a big lobby. My guess is the closer the location to Downtown and homeless and drug-addict routes, the more security cameras are installed. I've been to Tim Horton's, many years ago, where the number of security cameras were more than a bank! It also depends on the owner, I would think. 

If you're looking for a quiet and clean McDonald's to have a coffee or anything, it's located in Edmonton Tr., in Airdrie, Alberta and I found their coffee price less than other locations. Another reason for every franchise is similar.

(Photo, top: The McDonald's lobby around 10:00 on a Sat. morning. Quiet and clean, almost. Many Drive-thru customers but not many eat-ins)

Strange Things in Google Maps

You have probably read about the strange things that are seen in Google Maps from time to time. I was looking for a different way to approach a local park and in its parking lot saw this picture: A fat, nasty disgusting pig loser in baseball cap and shorts, who probably drives that big ass truck, talking to a woman! You can see the look in face despite the fact that its blurred. While this is a normal reaction of a person when they see the Google vehicle, this disgusting fat pig might also be worried that he's caught talking to a nasty bitch! These all could be speculation but the story practically writes itself. I really hope at least one of them sees this! I've also heard it's very easy to reverse the blurred picture to the originals! I'm not interested in that but I clearly remember a freaking criminal was caught after the experts were able to turn his twisted face picture to normal! Lots of freaking sick pathetic loser in this society!