13 Days Out of 15

Yesterday I had my last day of jugging practice in Talisman for month of Dec. Although I was tired as that was the third consecutive day, I gained an almost alright time. But what I started doing after Dec.08 is instead of running the short lane which takes 12 laps to finish 2.4 Km, I performed the exercise on the longest lap and did only 10 lamps which makes 2.33 Km.
This month’s performance is not so bad but the question is how long I can and I should keep this up? CF answer to my application for that job in the Navy is very unclear. If what that man in recruiting centre said is true and the background check takes a long time, I think that’s just stupid. Thanks to Kamix who told me not just to rely on that job. I’ve applied for other positions as well and waiting for the holiday is over and then continue career hunting.
Anyhow this is this month’s performance. I’m not goin’ for work out and exercise today as I was up until 12:30 at Hodani’s place (Thank God he didn’t get drunk this time surprisingly!) and am very tired. I’ll have a complete multiple-month performance analysis soon.

(Photo: Chart of 13 days of running practice in Dec. of '06)

Christmas Eve

I was at Hodani’s place on Christmas Eve for dinner and Hojam was there too. We were almost done with our dinner and Hodani was almost drunk and started to act wired. I asked him to stop drinking but he was not himself. Then I grabbed his glass and took it to the kitchen. That drove him really mad. He then asked me to wrestle arm with him. Hojam quoted that he was very strong. I don’t know if he wanted to make me scared of him, boost his spirit or just simply prevent me from doing that. When I saw that Hodani was insisting, I thought it was better to give him a good piece of advice. I hoped that make him sober. We sat at the small dinner table and I easily defeated him but he got angry and said that I was cheating! Then I asked him to do that using the left arm and beat him again! This time he was really furious and said that I use my hand in an inappropriate way and also use my shoulder and everything! I think he didn’t expect that from me. He probably had thought that I was a weak guy because I work at a office and he does a labour job. He probably had forgotten that I go to the gym at least 5 days a week! After all as he’s shorter than me, I’m kind of over him when I’m doing arm wrestle!
Hojam stepped in between and acted as a referee this time. He set everything up and we started as he counted. It didn’t take more than, I’d say, 10 sec. to beat him again! His face was really funny while he was being defeated. He was completely mad at this time and started bullshitting me! I knew that he was not himself and is under the influence of alcohol. So I grabbed my jacket and left! That was our fun on Christmas Eve!

Faded, The Same or Increased?

I did the CF Aptitude Test today. It was harder than I thought but I passed. There was nothing to write or check. The test was provided through a computer based system. The vocabulary part was really hard and there was so little time to do that. The questions compare to the examples we have been given already were very difficult. For example they say " What is the opposite of sad? " and the answers are busy, happy, active and real. Every one is able to pick the right one easily but in the test they, for instance, say " What's the synonym for pseudonym? "

Anyhow I passed it but something else came up after that. An officer, a captain, a French-Canadian, I guess, because he had strong accent (I speak English better than him!) explained a form to me which is called Security Clearance Form. This is the way that the Federal Government scrutinizes your life in past 10 years in order to find out what you have done and whether or not you are clear. I don't have any issue with that at all but according to what he said as I wan't born in Canada and my background before my immigration must be completely checked and that is in Iran, that might take a long time to be processed. He said that it could be from 6 month to 2 years! But I don't believe that's that. May be he didn't like me because of my background or he's very pessimist according to the recent Canada-Iran conflicts. It's partially because of that idiot photographer, Kazemi who got herself killed by shooting protesters outside a horrifying prison near Tehran. There's a proverb in Persian: " One crazy idiot throws a small rock in a water well, 100 wise can't take it out. " That asshole made everything dark and gloomy by her stupid behaviour and thousands of immigrants and refugees are suffering from that.

But that doesn't hurt me. I provide them with all the information and wait. I understand that's a very important job I'm applying from them. It's a leadership position as an engineering officer in the Navy and I have a very big commitment and responsibility but I'll do my best and I'll be very proud and joyful to do that. I'm goin' to prove them that I can be a very good team player and team leader, a hard working, loyal and honest member of CF and I serve Canada responsibly.

(Photo: Canadian Navy or Royal Canadian Navy [although I haven't seen that] logo)

Stranger Than Fiction

I spent the last discount ticket from my previous job on Stranger Than Fiction tonight. First I was going to watch new Mel Gibson’s movie, Apocalypto or the new comedy, The Holiday. Then I thought it’s better to catch the movie I wanted to a few weeks ago. And luckily I didn’t get out unhappy. I was sad off and on during the movie but I was happy at the end that I didn’t waste my last ticket and time on some shit movie.
First of all it’s about average North American people movie, single, middle aged, doing the same shit every day, machine life. And that’s what makes me puke. And there’s how they fall in to a relationship, seeing someone regularly and then sleep with her or him which leads the person to a patron!
All of these are the things that you either might do or might see in your daily life in any corner of North America. But what is amazing about the movie, is the author lady who narrates this story and the way the main character finds out about the story and reacts.
Simply put if you wanna see something different and if you wanna laugh and also get sad, don’t miss it. Catch it before it’s faded from the big screen because it this time of the year many good and bad movies come up and it’s almost difficult to make a decision which one worth watching.

(Photo: Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a young bakery owner in the movie who is audited by an IRS agent. I saw her first time in Secretary, the movie which has made her notable. I, myself, didn't find anything special in the movie but a few erotic scenes!)

Luck and Chance

I never believed in luck before my immigration and living in this part of the world. All I always believed in was how hard I try, study and work. But that is gone now. What has happened after wasting 5 best years of my life here? Nothing actually! So many good opportunities and interviews are all gone and I'm at the verge of losing everything. Alfa, whom I wrote about his defeat and return to Iran, is back to the US and has a good job in MA now. He was completely broke and was using his credit cards and his visa was expired. Now he's back on track and got a visa for three years. When I was talking to him last weekend on the phone he was complaining of loneliness but he'll be fine. He's not a special guy. Even his language is terrible but ... you never know. That's where luck helps you.

I still have a few opportunities waiting for me, which I'll write about them in detail later but there's no guarantee. Besides that Dec. and Jan. are not hiring months. If I don't get EI, I won't be able to survive for a long time and I have to pack and go back. That's the truth and that's bitter but that's what it is and I accept that. May be I'm simply not good. May be I suck. I have been doing a lot of thinking, may be not a lot! but haven't found any solution.

(Photo: There are different signs of good luck in Western culture, including a horse shoe but I still don't believe in that esp. when there are a few rusted ones piled up together!)

Gift Cards

When I opened my mailbox today, I noticed there's a mail from my landloard. And as I'm most of the time and habitually a pessimist (damn me!) I thought that's a warning or something worse!

But what I saw was completely surprising: A Safeway gift card! Gift cards are common here and you can buy and give it to someone you like and he or she goes and buys whatever her wants and enjoys. Most of the famous franchises have gift cards with different values. I was really happy. It's absolutely rare to receive something like this in Christmas season from this cold people in this cold country. Although I'm sure the same thing has been sent to the other tenants as well (may be not) but I remember the people in Amhurst Property Management Ltd. have been always nice to me, esp. the lady who showed me the apartment at the beginning. There were at least 12 people and I was finally chosen to be the tenant. I guess the people in the company, I mean the main people are originally from India or somewhere like that. I say that based on their feature and names. But it doesn't matter where they are originally from. What matetrs is they are very nice people and I rocommand them in case you want to have business with them. But remember, it all depends on how you behave. They might not be nice to people who postpone their rent or damage the property or complain too much!

(Photo: The $15 Safeway gift card that I received from my landlord. Not bad ... Ha?)

The Real 2.4

I ran the inner lane of the track today and that was 12 laps. That was the real 2.4 KM and I didn’t better than 11:59:799. It’s quite far away from what I claimed in my application form for the position in CF. That’s 10:50 or 10:40, as far as I remember! Almost 1 minute longer! Hence I have to work my ass off to get as close as possible to that damn time. I don’t know my chances but what I know is I have to tell them that it was a syntax error!

(Photo: This photo, taken by P. M. months ago, shows track No. 1 of Talisman Centre and all its lanes. The closest to the guardrail is the one I'm talking about. It's 200 m long. If you have keen eyes, you'll see a shadow of a runner in lane 2! That's me and that's how a stupid takes a photo!)

Liberal Leadership Convention

The Liberals have been busy with choosing a new leader for themselves in last few months. There was no one as the head of the party after they were defeated by the Conservatives and Martin stepped down. It's being said that the Liberals has given almost everything to this country in last three decades including the Charter of Rights (that's the only thing I can recal and I thing is a very important asset) and all of a sudden the Conservatives took over!
Thus the Liberals tried to elect (yes elect!) a new strong leader who's able to defeat Harper. There were a few candidates of course and only one of them was known to me: Michael Ignatieff. He made a few comments during Israel-Hizbollah conflict a few months ago which was not wise, in my view. He once said that bombing a small village in southern Lebanon, where Israel claims that's where Hizbullah guerilla used to hide and ambush Israeli troops, was a war crime. That made him a bad guy in Jewish community of Canada and even a party member attacked him verbally. Then a few days after that he tried to rebuild trust with Jewish people and said he would travel to Israel but the contradiction diminished his attributes as a good party member and futuer leader and almost no one bought it.
When I saw him as a leadership candidate last week I was surprised and got more surprised when there was no sign of people like John Manley and Blinda Stronach and few others. But these are none an issue. The problem I saw here is if the Liberals ultimate intention is defeating the Conservatives and regain the reign, then why don't they consume all of their effort and energy on fighting with them (The Conservatives) instead of having internal clash for their leadership?!
They simply are able to have an election by their for example top 5 mebers (Let's call them leadership board of the party) and chose the person they believe is able to run their party toward a triumphal fight with the Conservatives. I don't know why that is not the way how the leadership convention works here. May be because it's a convention!
Anyhow Ignatieff was leading the leadership election with almost 29% of the votes in the first, I would say, round. Then all of a sudden a French-Canadian guy, with a strong accent and poor English won the leadership. It's said that Stephane Dion (I don't think there's any relationship between him and Celine Dion. The only thing in commen that I've seen so far is their rather poor English and ridiculous accent! Sorry. No offence to Celine! She's great. I'll write about her a little later) has had a kind of deal with one of the other candidates, Gerard Kennedy and that made him able to step up from the forth seat to the top and winning the election. We'll wait and see how he does and how he defeats Harper.
(Photo: The newly elected Libral part leader, Stephen Dion, is seen here with other candidates after his victory. He's the second from right)

Nov. is the Best So Far

I'm getting better at running and my total time is decreasing as it's shown in the above chart. That's probably because I'm losing weight. This month I got my best time and that was in Nov.30 as I wrote in the previous post. I probably start running in the inner lane this month because I know the exact length (Every lap is 200 m) and that helps to record the time. I have to make 12 laps instead of 10 that I have been doing so far in the second lane. Or may be I find out how to measure the area of that oval shape track and stay in the second. I will have a four months comparison at the end of Dec.

(Photo: The chart for running in Nov. of 06 shows a downward in the total time. Day 8 should be omitted based on special cause law. The number of days also went down due to my illness in this month and unemployment shock)

Resurrected

I'm getting better day by day after that shock. I did my jugging exercice in 10:25:714 min. (almost 2.4 KM and I should do that in less than 13 min.) which is my best time so far. IQAS assessment was received today and my degree is now equal to Canadian bachelor degree which is usu. done in 4 years here. I started Canadian Forces online application right after that and then went to their recruiting centre to hand it in. I was told that I had to add a few different documents and then my application will be started. Although IQAS was my main concern for this position but I know there's no guarantee that I get the career. Interviews, tests and checks are ahead of me and I have to pass them all successfully. But I think it's also easier now to apply for a M. Sc. degree in any school.
I try to make everything ready and hand them in tomorrow. Then I have to start making myself ready for the interviews.
Those motherfuckers haven't sent my Record of Emplyment yet so my application for EI hasn't been started. I'll give them a call the coming Mon. and I have to stick to what I got.
(Photo: An officer gave me a CD which describes the opportunities with the Navy. That' s the cover of that disk)

Amir Amiri

I was being dragged down in to my confusion last Sat. night while received a call from Ali G. He told me that had parked in front of the building and asked me to come out. " I have a surprise for you " he said. I put my cloths on and got out. It was freezing. He had bought a brand new Acura, a 2006 model for more than $30,000. I don't remember the model but it has a huge engine and a beautiful interior design. He finally did that after he have had problems with his old Mercedes and his old Ford truck was impounded.
Anyway he told me about a live performance of Amir Amiri in Beat Niq. I had heard the guy before but never listened to him.
We got in and after a few min. they started. That was him playing the santir, an Oriental girl, playing violin and another Oriental girl, originally from Vietnam whom I saw her in Heritage Festival last Aug. with a big stringed instrument which I can't recall the name. Amir and the violinist performed a few beautiful duets. They have had several times practice together but they didn't seem very tuned with the Vietnamese one. That was their first time she was playing with them. We spent 2 hours in there, from 09:00 to 11:00 PM and that was really good. It's the first time that a Persian musical instrument harmonizes with a Western and Oriental one and that was a very unique and amazing experience for me. Amir has been living in Canada for almost 10 years and music is his career. He's a very cool guy with a sense of humor and the few girls over there liked him very much just they like every musician! That reminded me of Jack Black in School of Rock saying " You might be the ugliest guy on the planet but when you're in a band you'll be the most popular guy in the school " Amir is not ugly but music is among the things that attracts girls very quick and easy. They worship musicians. I have been doing different hard sports for more than 15 years and have never been the centre of attention as much as a new music player is! Good for them!
(Photo: Amir with his Oriental violinist friend. This picture is not from the night we were enjoying their performance. There was a girl, one of his freinds[!] who took several photos with a kind of advanced digital camera, using no flash that night but I didn't have my camera with me. May be next time. I hope to see her and ask her how she did that)

Strange Name for Strange Movie

I watched Tenacious D: in the Pick of Destiny last night while temperature was down to -33˚ C! and it was not only that. The damn wind made it almost -41˚ C and it was so slippery that you could easily do ice skating in the streets and everywhere but nothing stops this people from their ordinary life. Nothing at all. I even saw people who were driving their bike. That's unbelievable! and that's obviously Caucasian people most of the time and some others as well.
Anyway that was totally different from what I was expecting but good though. It was I guess too much of explicitness and oddness. I was a little disappointed especially at the end because I was expecting more but it suddenly ended in hour and half. It's pretty short movie compare to the ones you usually watch these days.
If you like Rock music and also comedy go catch the story of two desperate man who're trying to pay off their rent by playing music while that's not what you see at the end.
(Photo: Jack Black, right and Kyle Gass in a scene of Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny)

Collapsed!

My supervisor asked me to leave everything and kicked me out of the job last Fri. It was almost 11 o’clock and I simply handed my card and logged off and left. That was a shock to me because I didn't expect that. I always wanted to leave them and was looking for a new position. I wanted to leave them desperate but they jumped over me and kicked me out. That was my own fault. I started fighting them right from the beginning and said to me: “They desperately need you and they have to follow your lead” But that was not that. They considered my criticizing as nagging and I should have known that I can’t make a change in a short period of time and also I can’t turn a donkey to a horse.
I have been in so bad situation ever since. I can’t eat properly and sleep enough. I decided to go back home and I still have that plan in my mind. All I’m doing is waiting for my record of employment, so I can complete my EI application and receive a few hundred bucks from the Federal Government, do more job searching and renew my Iranian passport. I’m also waiting for IQAS reply to my education assessment request that I need for the Navy job application. When I went to the gym last night I noticed that my weigh is dropped to 187.1 Lb! I lost almost 5 Lb in less than 2 days! I really felt weak when I was lifting and pushing weights but I have to go back to normal life. I feel a bit better now. That was a good lesson for me. Now I know how to behave in my next position. Here are a few tips for new job seekers in North America, especially the ones from a different work culture:
- The American way of life which is being followed both in Canada and of course the US doesn't care about the waste and expenses. If they are manufacturing or producing something and that costs $10 while could be $5 try not to clear the mess. Just leave it there and let the stream take you. Efficiency and productivity are the facts that you only read them in the textbooks and you have to leave them there. No one here needs that. So try not to suggest or recommend anything. They don’t like changes even if that leads to a more efficient and productive workplace. “ I don’t care ” is their favorite quote and you hear that everyday. What brings this society to the top is first of all the poor refugees and immigrants who work hard for $10 to $15 an hour and then almost unlimited resources they have. Modern slavery keeps Canada alive, people who used to earn not more than a buck a month come to this part of the world and work hard for that much I just mentioned and are happy. That’s what keeps the cogwheel running here.
- Never ever apply for a position that you are overqualified for. Otherwise you have to waste your time with sheep and cows who never understand a thing and you’ll suffer a lot.
- You should understand that these people don’t like immigrants in general, especially if you’re originally from a country like Iran as I am. They don’t care if you are fluent, shaved, educated or well-dressed and polite. They look down on you and consider you all the same. There were people in the company who didn't answer back when I say hello to them. You could figure out the rest yourself. Anyhow that was a good experience and I learnt a lot both in technical and behavioral terms.

Organic Foods

One out of many concerns here regarding food, one is what really farmers, companies and restaurants do to bring the food to your table. For that reason there are a few organic food stores in the town which claim they sale non-processed food, the food is literally natural with no chemicals added to it.
I was to one of these stores for the second time, this time to purchase something. When I stepped in the store a tiny cute Canadian girl caught my eye and I started asking questions about organic food. She answered all the questions and explained everything to me willingly. The food in those stores is really expensive compare to what you get in a regular supermarket. I wanted to try them and see the difference. Actually some of them are tasty but for someone like me who eats a lot and earn a little, it’s not a good idea to do his or her grocery shopping in such a store. Look at what I got today from that store, Planet Organic:

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna – 0.21 Kg - $6.50
Multi grain Green Onion cake - $2.49 (Just a small round thin piece of bread like a pita)
Semi Sweet Dark Chocolate Chip – 0.21 Kg – $4.09
…

As you see most of these foods are snacks not real meals and you see how expensive they are. It’s plain to me that someone’s weekly spending on food goes double or even triple if he or she wants to have a diet based on organic food. So my guess is people go to such store off and on just to satisfy themselves that they have at least a few organic meals in a week. May be I talk to people next time in the store and ask about their ideas.

(Photo: I barely resist something like that but I've been recently very careful with my food. This is a bowl of organic blackberry frozen yogurt. Looks very yummy)

BC in Deep Shit

News of storms that hit B. C. was all over the TV and papers a few days ago and I thought that was it. But people are still suffering from the consequence after I guess after 4 days. The power lines were cut in places and people have no electricity and also the whole province lack clean drinking water. I called my cousin last Fri. but no one answered. I left a message and haven't received a call back. I think they are frustrated and furious because they have to boil water before consume it, even when they brush their teeth. So I understand their situation and let them be. May be I call them when it's all over.
Scenes of people line up at the stores' doors to buy bottled water were shown on TV today but it was also said that each person is limited to only 2 packs!
B. C. people are always happy that they are away from harsh arctic cold of Canada but they never knew that this damn climate change, a result of global warming, would hit them so bad that they have to live with no water to drink and no power to do a damn thing. One sad fact is all of the stoves here are electric-powered so you can't even cook! The damn storm threw them back to Stone Ages!
Hope everything is alright soon.
(

Gout

I was diagnosed with Gout almost 4 years ago and this is one fucking awful disease. If you are not aware of it, eating rich foods like cheese, steak, liver, in another word most kinds of red meat and alcoholic beverages are the cause. I didn't use to drink on that time but may be I used to have too much meat and cheese. This fucking disease attacks you on the joint and it's so painful that makes you immobile. It always attacks me on my left toe and my goodness! I can't even put my shoe on!
I remember when it hit me the first time four years ago, Keiv P. drove me to a Downtown clinic and the piece of crap got disappeared after that! That's the person whom I used to call a friend! I had to walk to the nearby bus stop while limping and take the bus home after examination! I asked that stupid animal to stop calling me after he called several times and I didn't pick. I rather not to hang out with human-like useless filthy craps like that.
Anyway the doctor prescribed a medicine that removes the pain and explained that diet I had to and still have to follow.
Gout attacked me 3 days ago again and I tried to ignore it. I even went to gym and did all my exercises including running (That's how a tough guy acts!) but it I was defeated finally last night! I woke up at about 03:00 AM and couldn't go back to sleep for almost 1.5 hour. Then I was completely useless at work today, continuously under severe pain. Gordon offered me some Deer Sausage made by a friend or colleague of him. He had told me that he goes Deer hunting off and on. Deer meat is very rich and that's exactly what I should avoid! It was also very spicy and made my body itchy but I couldn't resist and had some while brought the rest home. That's so tasty. It reminded me of the small piece of Moose Andrew gave me a few years ago. That was actually very tiny piece and I don't even remember the taste but what I remember and know is that the meat of all these mammals are very rich. I don't know how Inuit people eat that shit every day and most of the time raw! May be that's the harsh condition of North make them able to have such a rich food. Nevertheless they are really tough people. I'm not even close to them! After all these Canadians are kind of strange mostly. Some of them are helpful and friendly and some are just scums.
I was struggling with pain all day long and did mostly nothing and then left early for a doctor. First I went to a 24-hour clinic in Downtown, 8th & 8th Clinic, where I was diagnosed first time almost 4 years ago. There was nowhere to park the damn car. I didn't have change for the fucking meter and the local parking are so expensive, $6 for the first hour and $3 for every half an hour after that! You imagine how much you pay after sitting hours in the clinic. So I left for another doctor's office at 17th Ave. and 14th St., SW, where there's a higher chance of finding free parking. I parked and walked to the clinic while still was in pain. What I found was shocking, a sign at the door: We have moved to ... !
Frustrated and in pain, I left for another walk-in clinic in 17th but a few blocks away, close to 40 something St. Fortunately I saw a doctor after more than an hour waiting and he prescribed the same medicine. I'm feeling a little better now and hopefully go back to normal life again tomorrow. But I'm telling you it's as bad as tooth ache and be very careful with your food. A pharmacists I talked to, the other night told me that the disease is genetic, meaning has been transferred to me by my ancestors! But I know no one with a such horrible history of illness in my entire family. Nasser my cousin who's 8 years older me with a big belly and a lot heavier than me of course and has never done a single sport in his life, has never complained about that. Who knows?
(Photo: This photo shows me my buddy Andrew with one of his trophies. I kind of changed this picture on the face as I am not sure if he is OK with his image being posted. May be he sees it and get in touch!)

Under Fire

Canada's Environment Minister, Rona Ambrose, who is elected to the House of Commons from Alberta has been under fire by opposition parties and foreign countries, both, recently. NDP, the Liberals and two other parties are saying that her plan to reduce greenhouse emissions - which goes all the way to year 2050 - is useless and an immediate and quicker plan should be put in place.
On the other hand in recent UN meeting in Nairobi, Canada is was accused of not committing to Kyoto Treaty, the one that has been signed by Jean Chretien.
As a Canadian citizen I don't see any way that reducing greenhouse gases is possible. What makes Carbon Dioxide? The main source is vehicle and there are millions of them in Canada. Do people here give up their cars? No way! It's impossible to live without a car here. Many families got more than two! The Government and the North American way of life urges you to have a car and they force you to have a bigger and newer every day. They give you loan and credit and make it possible for you to by a car which costs thousands of dollars with as low as a few hundred dollars a month. Beside that the public transportation system is so awful you automatically get turned away from it! Old buses which are slow and make you wait minutes in the cold, with short hour services that don't take you wherever you want. Shopping is almost impossible without a car and you need to shop at least once a week. And then there are seeing a doctor and other medical and health needs, having a hair cut, visiting people and many other activities which turn to misery if you take public transit! One more thing is the size of the cities. They are so wide that taking a bus or train is just waste of fucking time. For example compare the way I go to work:

1. 
   
   I wake up at 06:30 AM.


2. 
   
   I dress up and get out.


3. 
   
   If it's snowy and cold, I wipe up the car and let it running for a few min. If not just ignite the car.


4. 
   
   I drive to work.


5. 
   
   I'm at work at 07:00 AM!

Loot at the way I use public transit to get to work, if I have to:

The only route that takes me somewhere close to the plant is route 433 and that leaves at 06:17 AM from a C-train station, the closest to my work place:

1. 
   
   I have to wake up at 05:30 AM.


2. 
   
   I have to walk to C-train station which takes at least 20 min.


3. 
   
   I have to get the train and be very careful and fast enough in order not to miss the 06:00 AM train.


4. 
   
   I have to be at the bus station any time before 06:17 AM.


5. 
   
   I ride the bus.


6. 
   
   I have to get off at the closest station to the plant.


7. 
   
   I have to walk to the plant.


8. 
   
   I prob. would be there around 06:35 to 06:40 AM.

As you see in the second scenario I have to wake up 1 hour earlier and be there 20 min. early while I don't get paid for that. So what does a smart person do? Does he or she rides a bus and train or drives?

There's a chance to ride a bike probably in Apr. or after but it's a long time until then. The winter has just started. We got 5 months to go! And sometimes it's not even possible to do that with damn scattered showers and hail storms we have here every summer.

(Photo: Rona Ambrose, MP from Alberta and the Minister of Environment)

Remembrance Day

Last Sat,. Nov.11 was the Remembrance Day and for that we were off today. It was actually a statutory holiday for everyone because when a holiday hits weekend,  the very next day is the day that everyone is entitled to have off.
I didn't know that even schools are closed and there's no class. So when I went to U of C to find the wrestling coach whom had been introduced to me a few days ago by a young Canadian girl, I only found his office. I went there to see if I can join them for exercises, although I have been away from wrestling for years. I should try that again soon.
CBC had a program about a Canadian soldier's and his family life after he lost both legs in his mission to Afghanistan. This is what I immediately send to CBC as part of their Your Turn program which let the listeners send their feedback to them, although I know they never publicize it:

What we watched tonight on The National is just part of the pain that Canadian soldiers who have been sent to Afghanistan, are through. If this country is going to lose more young individuals, the ones who are supposed to build this nation's future and if a few more billion is going to be spent on such a useless mission, there's nothing that I can add.
If you're going to wake up and open your eyes to the truth, that's again the time I don't have to say a thing because that's the time you understand that sending them out there is the biggest mistake that one nation has ever done in the entire history of mankind.
And finally If you believe in free speech, let Canadian people hear my voice. May be they wake up from hibernation and do something in that regard instead of being worried about Christmas, their SUVs, NHL, their wine and dine and their night and dawn.

(Photo: World War I veteran Lloyd Clemett from Ontario, born 1899 is amongst three Canadian soldiers who are still alive. State funeral has been suggested by some for these three veterans but is not approved yet. That kind of honor is only subjected to high ranked authorities in the country like the Prime Minister and Governor General)

Extreme Sickness

I didn't want to write about this because this is not something that someone wants to keeps it in his or her mind as part of his life's memoirs but I think better to write it as this is the most unpleasant thing that ever has happened.
I was really sick for a few days and that was so bad which prevented me to go to work on last Wed. and Thu. It was kind of food poisoning I guess. The physician I saw thinks it's the chicken I had but I think that was the fish we had because almost the same thing happened to Hodani. The only difference is he only lost one day of work and that's because he had much less than me. My Goodness! that was the worst sickness I've ever had: Gassy stomach, diarrhea and weekness. When I weigh myself yesterday in the gym, which was the first day since last Tue. I was about 191.8 Lb! I guess I lost about 3 Lb! That's because I almost had nothing for 3 days, compare to what I usu. eat!
Anyway I'm getting healed very slowly and get back to normal life. The strange thing is we had that fish on Sat. evening but the sickness started being felt serious on Tue. evening! The bactria or whatever it was, was kind of inactive for 2 days! I gave stool, urine and blood tests but haven't received anything from the doctor yet.

Trouble with the Car, Again!

I still am not sure it was a mistake selling my brand new tiny lovely Toyota Echo or not. I went for a coffee in the early morning of last Sat. when I left McDonald’s lounge and sat in the car I had no doubt I could start the car and go back home. The big gas-eater 8 cylinder Chevy performed perfect all week long when the temp. dropped to -16 ˚C. So I turned the key and the engine started groaning! I was surprised. I tried a few more times and nothing happened! Then simply left the car in the parking lot and walked home. Then I came again in few min. and gave it another shot: Zip!
I noticed its choke light comes up. I ran back home to check what it is. I only found that the cars which lack fuel injector, use a choke which if driven with a light on, would seriously damages the engine. Choke is used to enrich the fuel mixture by reducing the flow of air to the carburetor.
I asked me: " How in the hell am I going to work tomorrow? ", " What if I ride my bike? ", " Damn! The rear tire is as smooth as a hockey rink! ", " How about bus and train? Then I started studying different routes that might take me to work. Routes 10, 47, 403, 433 they all take me somewhat close to work but I have to wake up early and walk and change and damn! That’s gonna be a misery! In the mean time the car was sitting in the parking lot. If someone reported on that, my car would get towed and I would be fined but fortunately no one usually pays attention to an old car in a busy McDonald’s parking lot in a cold Sun. afternoon. I decided to check on route 433 which would get me close enough to the plant. So I walked to C-train station, caught the train, got of at Erlton-Stampede and then checked 433’s stop. I had to be there at 06:17 AM to be able to catch the bus!
Then I called Keiv to see if he’s home and I headed to his place. We talked for a while and watched a hilarious serial part that he had downloaded it and then had our dinner. At the end he gave me a ride home. He had bought a 2006 Honda Civic Coupe in last June and I should say it’s a beautiful car. The interior design is very catchy and unique compare to all the other cars I’ve ever been to. But the engine is pretty small for such a big body, only 1.8 L. which is as small as my sold tiny Toyota Echo's.
Anyway when he dropped me at the door, I went where I left the car in the morning and it was still there! I thought I have to pay to get it towed to the mechanic shop nearby anyway so let’s try that again. I got in, sat, inserted the key and turned it. The engine got ignited! That's crazy. Same thing again today in the morning: Just one try and that was it. I should see if any repair to choke is needed. And eventually I have to buy another car because this is not reliable at all.

Jack Was Here!

Hodani called me last Sat. afternoon and asked whether or not I was busy that night. I told him that I was goin’ to gym but we might get together for a nice dinner after that. I went to Talisman and I first ran 5 laps and then did power cycle for 30 min. I burnt 306 Cal. in that short time which is good.
We then got to a CO-OP and got 5 big pieces of Steelhead trout. Hodani was looking for a complete fish with fins, head and everything but neither Safeway nor CO-OP had one. That’s probably because it was kind of late, almost 07:30 PM in a Sat. night. We, after that, got to its liquor store. I was against beer as it’s fattening and we thought it’s better to try something else. I got a 750 ml bottle of Jack Daniels and we headed home.
We tried it at the beginning while Hodani was preparing the fish in his magnificent style. I added some diet Coke and it tasted pleasant. But as I’m a beer guy and am used to gulp down everything at once, the way I drink a glass of Whiskey doesn’t give me the same joy. May be I should keep working on it to get its pleasure. Regardless of all, the percentage of alcohol is high. It’s 40% but not as high as the Vodka Hodani got last time and I didn’t even touch it while was sitting in my fridge for more than 2 weeks.
Anyhow we had the fish with pita and the booze and it tasted great but 5 big pieces was too much for us. So I left 2 for the day after. By the time we finished the meal we both were drunk and Hodani was more drunk than me. He lied down on the small sofa with his head down from the side! That was so funny but I enjoyed a lot because I was not as drunk as him. He might have had more than me or his meal was less, I could say.
I escorted him to the C-train station while he was still affected. We were discussing about the DVD I bought for Hojam and he never paid me and I was making an story for him to sell but he said: “ You’re trying to trick me because I’m drunk! ” I left him in the station and went to sleep. But I don’t know what went wrong and woke up during the night a few times and had to drink water. Then I opened the bottle of diet Coke which was left and I had some and my goodness! that was the time that damn stomach ache started and I couldn’t sleep after that. That was almost 05:30 AM.
Yes Jack was here but seems we didn’t respect him enough or treat him well and he punished me! I don’t know if the same thing happed to Hodani. I will ask him.

(Photo: Jack Daniel's TV commercial is one of my all time favorites. I wish I could save it! Really. This barrels resemble the commercial)

The Greatest News Ever

It’s about 06:35 and because of kind of stomach ache I woke up around 05:30 and couldn’t sleep since. I went to my PC and had a look at news. Then I read one of the greatest news I ever heard: Saddam and 2 others including his half-brother are sentenced to death by Iraqi high court.
I never forget a day in Sep. of 80 that I just began school and news of war was everywhere. Although hundreds of thousands of innocent people got killed, were made refugees, wounded and tortured mentally or physically, I don’t know why we kids never felt something really fearful in the early days of war. I remember we used to hang out in the streets when there was a blackout, talking about Iraqis' air strikes and walking around with flashlights. That’s probably why many young Iranians volunteered: fearless as a sign of youth. But it should be mentioned that many of them, later, not in the early days of war, went to fight against Iraqis for another reasons. That was because of mostly being brainwashed and the benefits that the regime would give them.
But none of them matter anymore. The war is over and Iran and Iraq are both ruined, Iraq wouldn’t get back to peace in near future and Iranians will suffer more because of their own mistake of keeping the current regime. That’s another story which might be told later. Cheer everyone! That's a good news.
(Photo: Former US attorny general Ramsey Clark, one of Saddam's lawyers is ejected from the court before the verdict is delivered for whatever reason. I don't know what's this fucking shit? Why the fuck a fucking American lawyer defends a fucking murderer!? That's prob. another sign of democracy, invented and supported by generous Americans!)

Inevitable

Days are passing so fast and I just waste most of my time. It seems like it was yesterday that I was writing about my monthly performance.
My total performance in this month is better than the previous one. I only missed one day. In fact I ran 14 days in Oct. compare to 11 days in Sep. I even ran more but 14 is the number of days that I timed myself. Beside in this month I, at times did exercise 4 or 5 times a week. I added a considerable amount of indoor cycling, used more machines and experienced new exercises.
One problem I have and must get over it in Nov. is doing work out in weekends. My capabilities drops sharply in weekends and that’s, I think because of lack of activity and eating too much! For example I had my worst time ever in Oct.22 which was a Sun.! I got 11:57 min., almost 1 min. longer than my close-to-the-best time! And that single day plus one more day affect my total performance of this month. If I look at the whole data as a SPC program, those two days are out and not considered. Here are this month’s results:

Number of days = 14 (3 says more compare to Sep.)
Average time: 11.1483 min. (- 0.0053 compare to Sep.)
Minimum time: 10.8256 min. (+ 0.0029 comapre to Sep.)
Maximum time: 11.8936 (+ 0.4846 comapre to Sep.) This data actually should be removed from the analysis but I leave it!
(Photo: Nov. performance chart shows lots of ups and downs. Day 12 should be removed and a new chart could be generated)

Constant Learning

With the new NHL season began a few weeks ago, we have at least three games every Sat. night, I guess. One of the plans is move NHL games from CBC to one of the numerous stations that you usu. get them on cable TV. It hasn’t happened yet so I still have the chance to watch the beautiful games.

Washington was playing in Edmonton against the Oilers and I caught the game from the second period where it was 1-0 Edmonton. It was a nice game like all NHL game and the Oilers beat the Capitals 4-0 at the end. Just a few second left to the game, the Capitals pulled out their goalie in order to be able to attack using 6 players and that was when they were fallen behind 0-3! Then they accepted the forth goal and the goalie returned to his position! Coaches usually do that when they are one score behind not when it’s like that but what one of the commentators said last week when Detroit was playing against the Oilers in Edmonton is interesting. He said coaches use every opportunity to make their players exercise the team’s tactics and learn. Edmonton won its 6 home straight game tonight.

(Photo: The Capitals' goaltender, Brent Johnson, didn't have a good night in Edmonton unlike this photo. He allowed 4 out of 28 shots)

Trevor Berbick: Another Example

Canada has had problems with Black immigrants since they started coming to this part of the world! They always dishonor the country but what can you do? They do have benefits too. The thing is their disadvantages are much bigger than their advantages but Canadians don’t see that, like many other obvious facts they ignore.
What can you do with them? You can’t turn a donkey to a horse! They are all like this. Look at them: Michael Jackson, a two-time child molester accused who ran away from the States and hiding somewhere in Europe! Mike Tyson, who was convicted of rape, spent a few years behind the bars, converted to Islam (This is really hilarious. Actually this is very good because that's exactly what Islam is, where outlaws hide themselves behind of the mask of the most violent faith in the world. The faith which its believers and followers burn the embassies and climb up the walls for cartoons!) and now is begging for money by touring the US and performing boxing exhibition. Ben Johnson who was convicted of doping in 1988 Olympics games and his medal was taken away from him. Whitney Houston, who's addicted to drugs and has been out of music and cinema business for years and many more. It’s really funny that the mentioned people are the famous and rich ones of the big Black community of North America. What do you think the ordinary people of them do? Gambling, drug dealership and abusing, theft, shoplifting, B & E, rape, prostitution and all the other illegal actions are their main business.
And now we have a victim, a former heavy weigh champion, originally from Jamaica: Trevor Berbick. I never forget his two-round fight with Mike Tyson which I have in my boxing collection. Tyson beat the shit of him in those two rounds. He was once knocked down in the first round and then in the second, he received a devastating left from Tyson among many others which send him to the ground. He attempted to get up twice but couldn’t and was counted out. Berbick’s body was found today morning in Kingston where he is originally from. He pronounced dead at the scene. The poor guy was only 52. Berbick gained his reputation by defeating freaky Mohammad Ali in 1981 and gaining the world championship which was very short. He was once convicted of assault and then rape which led to his arrestment, spending time in jail and deportation to Jamaica in 2002! They are all like this, big body, small brain!
(Photo: Berbick goes down after receiving a fatal left from Tyson in Nov.22.86, 20 years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Flags of Our Fathers

I finally watched a good movie in a theatre after a few disappointing ones. I caught Flags of our Fathers in Chinook. First I thought it's a new version of Saving Private Ryan as everything looked the same at the beginning but then it turned a little different! Yes. Just a little different!
It's a new version of that movie but Eastwood tells us the story of Iwo Jima island where Americans and Japanese fought for a piece of rock in the last days of WWII. He has added a few good points and facts about American society which makes it valuable: The propaganda, life of native Americans or as they call 'em Indians! and in a way American way of life which is full of dreams.
Anyhow that's a good movie also for the ones who like to see war scenes. So don't miss the chance and get it in a theatre 'cause it's worth watching on big screen. Don't wait for the DVD.
(Photo: American soldiers raise their nationsl flag on top of Iwo Jima island in the last days of the WWII. The fight were goin' on days after that actually!)

Side Flake

I have to find a solution to my permanent problem with morons, eventually. I’m not a genius but what’s make me different from others at job, according to my previous employers and bosses is I’m a very organized and totally devoted to my work. I also can say that I’m workaholic too. This is another story of the idiots that I deal with almost every day:
One of the maintenance lead hands asked me to order a kind of plastic chain that is being used on slaughter floor, almost 10 days ago. I called the sales department of the supplier company, which I rather not name it here, and talked to a man regarding our need. He took the order and also said that he would meet with me and discuss the business. He came over and I gave him a chain link as sample of what we needed. The guy told me that he had been working for the company for almost 15 years. So far so good. Then we received 3 boxes of chain last Tue. and I was notified by the lead hand that the chain is not what he was waiting for! “There’s a difference” he said. I, then, took a look: Yes. The chain I ordered has a side flake and the one he sent us doesn’t. It makes it unable to function where it’s needed. I e-mailed the guy and explained what happened. He denied any mistake and said that he had ordered the right item. That could be the manufacturer who shipped the wrong part. Then I sent one of our guys with another sample and he, again, said that he didn’t see anything that makes the two chains, the needed one and the received one, different! What I did, then, was scanning and e-mailing the photos of the two chains, hoping he understands, this time. Luckily he was convinced after a whole lot of explanation. Then there was another question of him: The gray colour of the chain you need is in stock but if you need the same colour as your sample, white, you have to wait a week or a little more!!
So here’s my question now: How many idiots do I have to deal with every day?!
(Photo: Two different chains. The bottom one is what was needed and the above shows what we received. Clearly different)

A Piece of Cake or a Headache?

I’ve got my passport and it’s quite a story. Seems like no part of my life would be ordinary! Here it is:
I filled out the application form online and then went to the passport office to deliver it. I entered the room, told the old man over there needed to hand in my documents; he took a look, confirmed, and gave me a number and boom! That was me whom was called! I gave the lady the documents and the whole process didn’t take more than 10 min.! I was told that it usually takes 10 working days to have the passport at the address.
Then last Fri. (13th. What a day!) when I got home I saw a delivery notice. That was strange becuase I wasn’t expecting anything. Also the notice was hung at the door nob. I was so suspicious! I thought, then, that’s a letter from Passport Canada saying that I have to find another reference. That’s because I and D. H. who’s one of my references, had a kind of silent verbal fight and I thought when he received the call from the passport office he denied that he knew me for a quite long time and that ruined everything.
Then I thought, my goodness!, that’s the cops who are looking for me! As I’m a troublemaker, I made a disturbance in the same postal outlet that sent me the notice! So I thought I must have been caught on camera and somehow they’ve found out who I am and now they are after me! But that doesn’t even make a sense. If they knew me, why would they do such a stupid thing? They could simply come and arrest me! Nevertheless I didn’t do anything serious. I was a little upset over the clerks who were working like a snail and a fucking stupid short Filipino bitch who slid in the line.
Anyhow I called the fucking outlet and every time I called I was told I got nothing! Then they gave me a number and I called Canada Post and I was told that I should've gone there. " Go there. The letter is in the back” The lady said.
I was about to forgot that and said to me: "If this is something important, they will contact me again." And let it go until last Fri. I was goin’ to buy a bottle of shampoo and thought it’s better to take the notice and give it a try. Surprisingly there was a small parcel-like letter for me. I opened it in the parking lot while was walking to my car. That was the passport! It took only 9 days altogether to have the passport at my address but because of those stupid morons in the outlet, and who I am, I almost missed it! Now it’s the time for an exotic trip!

Arar's End

I've been keeping my eyes on Arar's case since the beginning. You might know about him but if you don't, you can go back to Nov. of '03 and Jan. of '04 in the blog. What's happened finally to the guy is first of all RCMP was found guilty of passing wrong information to Americans which led to his arrest, deportation and torture in Syria. The head of RCMP was questioned by MPs and then apologized to him, but didn't resigned. He's an Italian guy who's an immigrant himself. The statements he made and his apology doesn't seem satisfactory to the House and he might be asked to step forward and explain for the second time.
Arar also has sued the Government for $ 400 million! He's obviously an smart guy. He used to work for a company in Ottawa as an engineer but lost his position after he got back to Canada. It's unknown to me how he has been managing his life with a wife and two kids. Also how he affords a lawyer is another question. Most of the lawyers don't accept such a huge case unless they know they get a good portion. So it seems that the lawyer is so confident 'cause that's a lot of money he's goin' to make. In the other hand, Arar is not smart enough, I think. Because he wouldn't go to the US just a short time after Sep.11 show! Every jackass with such appearance and wife would know it's not wise to do so!
And the last thing and probably the most interesting part is that he was awarded a kind of prize yesterday in the States but didn't attend the ceremony and accepted it through video conference. He said he was afraid of being arrested by Americans! You should have thought of that when you were planning for your trip back to Canada, you smart ass!
(Photo: Maher Arar and his wife Monia)

Rex's Good Point

There’s a guy called Rex Murphy who at times analyzes daily events in CBC’s The National. I’ve never paid enough attention to the points he brings up in his short program called Point of View until tonight, partially because of his strange accent which makes what he says a little difficult to understand but finally tonight I listened to what he said about a few of celebrities including Bono. That was really catchy.
He says Bono encourages the Irish government as well as other Western, rich countries, such as Canada to spend more money on developing countries and complains that they don’t provide enough help but has moved to Amsterdam to pay less tax, as that city is easier on taxpayers compare to Ireland! He wants more tax to be spent on poor countries but he doesn’t wanna pay tax!
(Photo: Rex Murphy of The National's CBC)

Man of the Year: Not Even A Comedy!

I'm completely disappointed with Robin Williams. I haven't been to a theatre for a long time and last week I received four discounted movie tickets from the company. So I decided to catch a movie and I didn't know which one is good. So I said: Let's go watch Man of the Year, the latest comedy of RV's actor. What was the result then? Same crap, even worse! There was a few scene that the movie turned to a drama and I've never seen a comedy like that before!
I'm telling you don't waste your money and 01:55 of your day. It's not worth it. The movie is so boring that I was gonna leave but forced myself to stay. Even Canadians who laugh at almost everything which barely brings a smile to my face were mostly silent. A comedian runs for the US Presidency and wins but is informed by a computer company's employee that there was a malfunction and he didn't win. The company which provides the voting systems and faces bankruptcy tries to stop the woman but fails. The elected president goes to a press conference, reveals and gives up. That's the whole story which you have to deal with for 01:55! The only funny parts of the movies are when Williams talks in his show, in the debate or to his team and that rarely happens to make you laugh.
Fortunately I have three more tickets and will use them wisely. And also ... will try to stay from Robin Williams and his stupid, boring movies.

Fools

One of my problems in life has always been not being able to stay away from fools! But everyone is fool in a way, even me! I’m fool because I’m a troublemaker and when I make trouble for others, that comes back to me later, most of the time! The good thing is I know my malfunction and managing. Many people don’t! That’s where their life gets ugly.
Once I was told by an Afghan whom I used to know that he had received a letter indicating he won a lottery! He, then, showed me the letter. Everything seemed fine: His name and family name, his address and so on. The sender somewhere in Spain asked that fool to open an account so he would deposit the money which was something around € 250,000 to that account. But he had to pay kind of administration fee, something around US $1000. I explained to that animal the fact that it’s a fraud. I said: " He would take that money and never deposit a single penny in your account." But that stupid scum didn’t believe me and drove me to his TD Bank branch, to open the account for him. I don’t remember what happened after that but I knew he somehow asked the sender to deduct that fee from the total he had won and send the remaining! Of course that never happened but the question here is what’s the difference between an animal like a mule and that man? Basically nothing! And to mention that he was an educated man!
Then that was another person and he even called the guy and they had conversations and don’t know happened finally. It seems a very good business ‘cause I received two e-mails today! This first one is really funny and here’s part of it:

I am Barrister Ahmed Babah, an Attorney at law, and the Personal lawyer to ... an ... .He owned Crossword Continental Ltd., Lome - Togo in West Africa. Hereinafter, he shall be referred to asmy client. On the 18th of December 2003,my client, his wife and their two children died in an earthquake that destroyed over 2.500 people. These critical accident happened two days after their arrival in there as they traveled for the end of the year holidays.
Since then, I have made several inquiries to their embassy to locate any of their relatives and this has proved unsuccessful. I am contacting you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US $14M; (Fourteen Million United States Dollars) left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge amount was deposited. The said bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated as the banking law here stipulates. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives, Iseek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.
Therefore, I will not fail to inform you that this transaction is 100% risk free. On smooth conclusion of this transaction, you will be entitled to 30% of the total sum as gratification, while 10% will be set aside to take care of any expenses that may arise during the process of transfer including telephone bills, while 60% will be for me. All I require from you is your honest co-operation to enable us see this transaction through.

Obviously the guys who do that to people know them personally or at least partially. Otherwise how in the hell they know my previous nationality? Or that Afghan's name and address?!
That’s my instant response to him:

Hello,

I suggest you to simply spend that amount on poor African people who are dying everyday as a result of AIDS (because of having sex with chimps and gorillas), food shortage, civil wars and contaminated water.
Enjoy!

I didn't answer the second one, as all of them are the same crap!

The War Tapes

The War Tapes is a documentary in war in Iraq, taken by three American soldiers using amateur cameras last year and has been released recently. I watched that last weekend. A documentary, esp. one from a very violent war is not easy to make. How do you expect the soldier to do the filming while being under fire from every different corner? So what’s the solution? The soldiers shouldn’t be doing the filming! That’s why I didn’t find it very interesting but it worth watching once.
I always wanted to know what makes an American to go to Iraq regardless of the fact that I’m appreciated and elated. And I think I find the answer finally but only partially. One of them said: When New York was hit, I felt my home got hit and then I was ready to go and now I’m here! The other one was a fucking stupid animal Lebanese, an Arab obviously, he had migrated with is family to the US when he was 10. He was obviously there ‘cause he couldn’t do anything else. What do you expect from an animal Arab? The motherfucker said: Operation Iranian freedom is hopefully the next! I just say to that piece of crap: Israel gave you a good lesson, you useless scum. Every fucking Arab should be killed no matter what age or gender that creature is.
Anyhow there’re some other good things to learn in addition to what I brought up. One is that a Hammer's window glass is about 4” thick and bullets and mortars are very unlikely to go through. I admire Americans for many of their products. Other than that as it’s a documentary, the Americans couldn’t be the big fabricator they are always! That’s all truth. It’s not similar to Black Hawk Down. It was on Citytv last night and I watched that partially. My Goodness! That looked like a comedy not a war movie to me at times! Two American squads with the support of a few choppers defeat a whole city in Somalia! That’s actually based on a true story but the only part that is right is Americans being kicked out of that African country! The movie reminded me of one of the Oriana Fallaci’s interviews in her book about Vietnam War, which is one of my all-time favorites, Nothing and So Be It. (Oh! I just learnt that Fallaci is dead that was just a few days ago: Sep.15)
In the book Fallaci interviews a Vietcong or a North Vietnamese captive in a prison in Saigon (Today Ho Chi Minh City) The guy tells her about his young hood, when he used to go to theaters to watch movies. He says: I used to watch war movies. The war between Americans and Japanese and Americans always defeated Japanese! Behind Enemy Lines is another war movie that I like a little because it has good cinematography but the end of it is so ridicules! Saving Private Ryan is probably the one in many which shows a little truth. I'm tired of wars and movies both!

RV

I watched RV on DVD last night. It’s one of the movies that I wanted to watch in theatre but couldn’t and I’m happy for that! It’s supposed to be a comedy but rarely makes you laugh. If a movie is good, I usu. watch it more than once and at times if I really like it, I buy the DVD but RV is not one. You can not compare it to any of Jim Carry movies. Robin Williams is a veteran actor but he has jumped to different genres. I don’t remember I’ve seen many movies of him but he’s very popular. A movie of him that I watched and enjoyed and that was the only one is Mrs. Doubtfire. That’s the movie I’ll rent again and prob. buy if I like it. But RV is just an average movie. It longs a little more than hour and a half and I think the scenarist tried very hard to make it that long because all he could do is adding more RV camps to the screenplay and that doesn’t make much difference in what might happen to a family on a camping trip. There’s a scene that the RV rolls back to a lake and sinks. The director doesn’t even bother saying the story of taking such a big vehicle out!
Anyhow if you haven’t watched the movie, there’s no regret, don’t even rent it because it’s a new release and they charge you $5.19 and that's only for 2 nights! That’s what happened to me! If you wanna laugh, rent one of Jim Carrey’s or choose from many other titles and then rent RV in a few month! The quote has been said by Roger Ebert: There’s nothing I much disliked but little to really recommend.
(Photo: Joanna Levesque is for sure one of the reasons you might watch RV. She's very cute and looks like Lindsey Lohan. That's why I like her!)

Hardest Part of a Job

Do you know what the worst part of a job is? It’s not straight working for more than 8 hours . It’s not waking up early. It’s not gluing your eyes to the screen for hours. It’s not running up and down the stairs. So what's it then?
It’s dealing with idiots. And that happens every often at my job. The other day one of the guys, an Iraqi physician who used to live in Iran for quite a long time, prob. because he’s Shia and works as safety coordinator came to me and asked what kind of chemical a Current Issue is??!! Just imagine what kind of moron he is! Our suppliers usu. send us a bunch of papers with their products and that’s called MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). In that document they explain what possible dangers are hidden in the material, what the safety cautions are and more useful information in that regard. The guy, who his name is Ali and has changed it to Alex, said he wants to know what type of chemical a Current Issue is?! That was prob. a printing error in that MSDS but the guy who is a graduate of a medical school doesn’t understand that! That’s just a sample from a big population. The others are not much better than him! What I noticed at the beginning is that the plants lacks inventory control system, something so simple to think of and essential. Many suppliers have set up online ordering systems but these idiots here still are stuck to orders over the phone! I can write pages about how these morons run the company and the amount of money they waste every day but that would never stop their stupidity because you never can turn a donkey to a horse!
But I have no other choice. I have to work hard and that’s what I’m doing. The good thing is I’ve proved that I can handle this job easily and I’m a fast learner. I have to keep going until I find a better opportunity. I can't struggle them because I'm new and I get booted out in a blink of an eye.

Sep. Performance

I have been practicing track running since June but I just started more frequent running in Sep. and jutted down the results. The above is the chart performance. Every lap is about 235 m and I usually make 10 laps. So it’s 2.35 Km altogether. My goal is to run 2.4 Km in less than 11 min. which would be excellent at my age. Many factors are effective in performance. Amongst them are the following:

1- The food the athlete have in the day of practice and the gap between the last meal and exercise. Running with filled up stomach or shortly after the meal, is an absolute stupidity.

2- Temperature and humidity. That is actually a controlled factor in a sport complex but the athlete can change it due to his or her need by using different types of apparel.

3- Tiredness. I’ve experienced it several times and it’s as clear as crystal. There were times that I couldn’t even finish the 5th lap as a result being worn out.

4- Clothing which would be applied in case you are jugging out in an uncontrolled environment, for example a park's trail.

5- Shoe. This is very important. Today’s technology allows you to have a very comfortable and relaxed run while being fast and accurate. I went to a Sportcheck last weekend to redeem a MBNA coupon which allowed me to have a 15% off any merchandise I buy. You could get running shoes up to $150 a pair. If you go to Running Room or Forzani Tech Shop, you pay even more and get better result. But that does not guarantee an ideal run just by itself.

6- The day of the week and the time of the day.

Here are some more of the Sep. performance:

Number of days the run was performed: 11
Average time: 11.1536 min.
The longest: 11.4090 min.
The shortest: 10.8227 min.

I will put more analysis into the this month's performance chart.

Nation of Islam

I was goin’ through the daily news the other day and encountered something that made me taken aback. Michael Jackson’s ex-wife is battling him to get the children's custody back, may be temporary. M. J. has been married to – or have had relationship with - different women so far including Elvis Presley’s daughter Marie for a short time but this one, Debbie Rowe testified in favor of him in his last accusation of child molestation which ended with a jury’s decision of him being innocent. There’s no doubt that he was guilty as before, the 1993 case, but he bribed the witnesses, the judge and the jury and escaped from ending up behind the bars for at least 20 years! When I used to follow his court trial on a daily basis, I noticed that many proofs has been gathered to throw him where he really deserves to be. Amongst them where a security guard who had seen him naked in bathroom or pool with kids, his fingerprints on a porn magazine which was being shared with the kids by him, feeding the kids with alcoholic beverages in soft drink cans (!) and many more but he, as I said, escaped. His reputation though was ruined so bad that he flew to Bahrain right after the court’s decision and now he’s somewhere in Europe. That’s funny because he’s trying to run away from himself and all the disgusting things he has done so far in his life. So why his ex-wife’s trying to get the kids form him back? (May be just 2 of 'em ‘cause the last one’s mom is unknown to the public!) That's because Debbie is Jewish and she says she sees M. J.’s ties to Nation of Islam! and the group is anti-Semitic! But what’s really Nation of Islam? You can go, search and read as much as you want but I have something to tell you: Louise Farrakhan the minister (!) of the group had a trip to Iran a few years before my immigration and met with the top leaders of the country. So you imagine Michael Jackson, who's an alleged child molester and continually grabs his genital when he has live performances on the stage, is a true Muslim and serving his Allah by those kind of actions! I don’t wanna say anything about Farrakhan because everyone knows people like him. People who daily sex with every possible person, alcohol, drugs, stupid Hip Hop music and inhuman way of dressing of them is known to every one. If this is Nation of Islam and this is what their religion is believed in, as salvation, I shit on it! Snoop Dogg (What kind of creature call himself a dog!?), 50 Cents and all the creatures like them (I don't consider them humans) whom are known as black celebrities (!) are probably members of Nation of Islam as well, driving to Allah and his beloved heaven!

Ultimate Stupidity

I’ve been living in this part of the sphere for almost 5 years now and what I have been trying to do so far and will keep doing it, is discovering the Canadian culture and society as much as I could. In order to do that I stay away from my native people so far that I only know a few of them, not even more than 5. I haven't left the country since but I still don’t understand this stupid people of here! The people who were born and grown in this country.
Anyway It has been fucking so hot in past few days. Something between 20˚ C and 25˚ C and that’s what I hate the most, esp. in the fall while these stupid assholes say, everyday on the fucking radio or TV “… It was beautiful today”!
What the fuck is really beautiful? September is over and I don’t remember many rainy days except the Fri. I was driving to the airport to fly to B. C.
Don’t you fucking animals understand that this is one of the many disadvantages of global warming? Are you just fucking stupid animals who only think of filling up their fucking stomach and feeding their genitals or humans?
It was cold for only a few days and that made me go to buy a blanket from Sears. Fortunately sometimes you find nice people here. When I went to the store there was a colour guy, told me then he was from Trinidad, who helped me to find a warm but thin and affordable blanket for almost $48.
So you guys if you like this whether why the fuck don’t you fucking go to live in fucking Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan or any other nut house like that where people bump each other in the public places as it’s so crowded?!
Canadian economy is based on agriculture and dependent industries and if it’s warm like it’s now and there’s no rain what the fuck you morons are you goin’ to do? Begging Americans to send you food up here? You’ll prob. do that ‘cause you’ve been doin’ this for years. So may be that’s fucking why you don’t fucking care. But I suggest you, dickheads, to open your fucking eyes and see the fucking truth. See what you’re doin’ to yourselves. See that you’re turning this country, which used to be the best place in the world to live, to a big shit hole! And you’ll regret. But that would be late. The day you realize what you’ve done to yourselves is the day of point of no return. And that’s not only that. Global warming is not the only issue you’re facing now. You’ve spent $2 Billion on Afghanistan mission so far!!! Do you ever think? That’s just like when you say “… It was beautiful today” And do you know why? Because you only see today. You dickheads and scums are sending your troops to Afghanistan and get them killed over there to prove to Americans that you’re good servants of them! So they keep buying your beef, lumber and grain. You’re so desperate and cheep!