XRF Level II Examination

I wrote my XRF Level II examination this week. It was a very easy exam. I failed though! Why? The answer is simple. I was lazy and discouraged and didn't study enough! I have to re-write the damn exam and pay again and the employer only covers the cost of the exam which I show the proof of passing. The stupid thing is you only need 70% to pass. I barely passed 66%! 

The misleading part of the material is sections which says Recommended for Level II! My understanding was that the question will only come from this sections of the material! Dead wrong! The entire material was covered! It's an excuse. I should've studied the entire material and completely and I will. I will try to book it for the end of Aug. I month will be enough now that I even now what sort of questions there will be. The funny thing is I think I had answered some of them in my Level I exam.! I might be wrong. They could be quite similar. Here are some of the topics of interest:

a) The different laws and regulations that govern XRF activities.

b) Unit conversion.

c) Some basic physics about atom and all the related.

d) Safety and calibration of the analyzer and related devices.

e) Other usages of the analyzer such as soil analysis. 

This is just a reminder for me so I won't waste time and money again, although most of my life has been waste. I hope your hasn't been and won't.

(Photo: A case of Olympus hand held XRF analyzer)

The West's Gift to the World

I did not go hiking for the third week. Why? This damn ugly, polluted and hot weather doesn't allow a good sleep, so despite the fact that I wake up when the clock goes off at early hours, I'm so freaking tired that I can't even get out of the damn bed. I hardly can get out of the damn bed even during the week but I do as I have to go to work.

There was a program on CBC 1 (AM 1010) about the poor asthmatic children whose lives are in danger now. This program was about the B. C. Interior, and I think one of them has already passed away as a result of extreme air pollution in the region. So sad but who's fault is that? Every issue we have in the world is the fault of the greedy Western companies. Their non-stop hunger for money has brought the universe to the position that many environmental scientists believe there's no cure for it. Who introduced plastic to the world and have been using it non-stop in every aspect of life? They introduce a ridiculous law at different levels of the governments and think they have done plenty. They have banned plastic bags from groceries and many opposed that at government levels at the time I remember, and then they repealed it. What a bunch of filthy disgusting, nasty, sewer rats! Then you go to a freaking supermarket and there are thousands of, literally, thousands of disgusting nasty, filthy, vomit causing, processed food items wrapped and bagged in several layers of plastic! That's how they protect the environment. They have wars all around the world and imagine how much waste and how much smoke and other health threatening items are going into the atmosphere every year. Who has started or lengthened the wars in Ukraine, Iran, Sudan, Yemen (all current) and Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria?! 

They do nothing or minimum and brag about it. I hope the temperatures drop at least a little in the few next days so I can go hiking. 

(Photo: This little storm pond is close by. I went for a half an hour running around it. It is so peaceful and there's barely anyone there and there's a nice breath. You don't even feel the heat!)

The Worst Olives

I like Olives very much, not that anyone care and not that many people like it here. If it's not Chips, Cookies, Candy Bar, Licorice or so, it's not considered snack. I used to be Olives from The Real Canadians Superasshole but then realized that these thieves have increased the price so much that it's not even worse going to the store. I tried the Kalamata Grocery in Downtown Calgary, a few time. It's not bad. There're so many varieties and that's what makes the selection very difficult. 
Lina's, based on my experience, is the best source for Olives. I'm not saying they have the best, I'm just saying that they're the best to go. Limited variety, reasonable price. Available both in bulk and jar and of course the bulk is from a big jar! 
The Olives don't last long, when I buy. I add them to my salad, to my sandwich or just eat them as snack. I bought a pack of 1 Kg Moroccan Olives from kalamata Grocery nearly three months ago. More than half of it still sitting in the refrigerator! I had added Morocco to my travel list a few years ago. I was hoping to do a hike and see a couple of places. I considered that to be a good trip and attractive price-wise. I have moved it to the bottom of the list now with the possibility of completely removing it but that's not why the Olives have not been eaten! The damn Olives are too salty and dry and no flavour. Perhaps that's normal in Morocco but comparing it with all sorts of other olives I've tried from different sources, this has been the least appealing and has had the worst taste. 
I have a plan to visit an Olive growing country before the end of the year and despite the fact that most of my time will be spent in the non or less Olive growing regions(!) I will try to buy and try as much as I can. I believe based on what CBSA says I can bring as much as 20 Kg or 20 L. for personal use. We will see.

(Picture: The Moroccan Olives as they are seen in a container in the refrigerator. I tried one and they're not rotten or anything. I think olives last long but this one's story is different. Just not good!)

Unbiased Opinion about Marlborough Dental

There's not much going on these days. Just the disgusting work and then home. That's my life! Therefore I thought I should write about my experiences with Marlborough Dental, in Calgary. I think I started going there back in, maybe 2003. So it's been more than 20 years. This dental office is located in a the ghetto, in a so-called mall of the same name. Many of the stores are ran by foreigners who come from absolute poverty and sell the merchandise which mostly their own people purchase. Nothing wrong with that. I think this dental clinic and maybe one or more businesses are the most prominent ones in the entire so-called mall. There used to be a Sears at one end but you'll know that Sears has been removed from the Canadian market. At the other end of the so-called mall is one of the nastiest and filthiest toilets in the entire City of Calgary: Wal-Toilet-Mart, where cockroaches and sewer rats hang out and enjoy their lives.

We are going to the dental clinic's history now that I have described the Marlborough ghetto to you. There was this Japanese-Canadian doctor when I first started going there: Dr. Higashi, if I remember correctly. He was very respected by the staff who at the time consisted of all or mostly Canadian young women and as far as I remember all pretty. He was not only respected because he was a dentist. He was tall, handsome and well-dressed and it comes from a heterosexual person. Imagine how those girls thought about him! Once I asked if he was Japanese and one of the girls said: His English is better than mine!

I was told later that he had moved to New York City to pursue his career and education, I think, when one day I went there and he was not there. I also remember most of the hygienists and assistants were all beautiful Canadian girls. I was there once on a Fri. afternoon and I realized that one of the girls seemed a little bit impatient. I told her that I understood it was Fri. night and everyone wanted to join their boyfriends! She said that was true and she really wanted to see her boyfriend! It's not that because I'm a loser myself and don't understand the need of a good partner in life but Canadians and I guess generally Westerners do not consider the single life as part of their lives! 

There are still a few Canadian girls in the clinic and they're all pretty but the front staff has been changed mostly to either Indian or Filipino girls. I started seeing Dr. Popp after Dr. Higashi took off and my experiences has been generally good but I heard many years ago that he overcharges and doesn't talk nicely and that came from a Canadian woman! What do I care? I'm just an expat! I don't have many choices. I would be treated almost the same or worse if I switched, I believe. The only time that I did not use Dr. Popp's services was when I was in British Columbia. In Squamish there was a dentist and in South Surrey-White Rock there was a very nice Vietnamese dentist. I remember he even called me after a procedure to see how I was. What a gentleman. When I moved back to Alberta, I went directly to Dr. Popp and I've been seeing him since. Would I change to another dentists? Maybe. I'm not sure. He's fine and I don't have any issues visiting the ghetto from time to time. Dental procedures are not something pleasant that you think about who does it. You just want to get over it! Is Marlborough Dental more expensive than other dental clinics? I don't know. I don't care about the cost at this time of my life, much. My insurance covers part of it and that's all I need. Can you shop around to see what clinic has a more affordable service?! I think not but there's something that I can recommend to people who might find that clinic or generally dental services expensive: You don't have to drink every day or smoke Marijuana 3 days a week or eat out every single night or do shopping for new cloths every week but you need to have good teeth. So cut other costs and do your dental. All those clothes, wines, shows, etc. are these and newer are coming every year. You will get your hands on them. 

(Photo: Lots of violence, drug using and homelessness is seen in the neighbourhood. This poor man was sitting at a corner next to the rear entrance to the so-called mall)

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)