Walking in -21 C

I woke up at 09:00 AM today when my telephone rang. There was a guy at the other side from a moving company. Gave me an estimate. Then I decided to go for a little breakfast to a local McDonald's. It was -21°C, not considering the wind-chill of course and a 30 cm snow on the ground. I guess I had to walk for at least 20 minutes plus stopping at a light and a crosswalk. When I finally got there my face was almost frozen and could not feel my ears! I have a good Columbia jacket but don't like hats and gloves. So I got there and ordered a breakfast and sat for about an hour. Felt much better after that. Then there was a little shopping at the local Safeway and same story but the sun was out and a wind was down.

In the afternoon I decided to get an earmuff as I don't like hats. I got one from SportChek for $30 something and was fine on the way back home. The temperature dropped down to almost -24 °C when I was home.

Studying or Job Search?

With this stupid temporary job of mine and the shitty situation of the country especially its job market, I wonder what I should do now: Take courses or do self studies, get part time jobs beside this or do the entire job search process, or may be both!

I also have to start my daily exercises. That would be lots of work to do but I guess I will have time with a little planning and wasting less time!

Language Barrier

I have probably amongst a few foreigners who rarely have a language problem. I, most of the time, have been able to communicate with people effectively both verbally and if I have to write. This has barely helped me so far. Of course I've passed interviews, purchased items, rented places and done so many other things but now after years I realize that this has never been a privilege!

All these assholes and elbows who have these huge salaries, stupid Blackberries and iPods, pressed pants and other show offs, look really silly and dumb when open their mouths!

What has been defined as language barrier and I passed that years ago successfully, of course after years of hard work, has a new meaning: I work with people who is not proficient in English so my ability bothers them and causes me problems! I'm just being pushed aside and might not be seen and then kicked out because the guy simply thinks that I might take over soon.

I e-mailed the HR person before coming to work and asked if he needs any documents but he said no. This guy, the asshole requests education documents and when I take them to him, he questions their validity. Looks like that I won't fit in here as well! I don't know how long more I can take this.

The Company of Over-rated Pirates(!)

There's this Calgary Co-Op which I name it Calgary Company of Overrated Pirates(!) close to where I work and I tried it for lunch a few times and found it unreasonably expensive. Everyone balmes Safeway while I think Co-Op is no better than that and at times even worse. I wanted to try a sandwich and I found nothing less than $6 which actually could fill part of my stomach out! Then the other time I wanted to get just some bread but found barely any bread that could match up with my eating habits or the quality of Safeway bakery. Well some of the pies are not bad in taste and price but pies are not generally good for you because they are full of sugar, artificial flavours and other types of chemicals and additives.

Anyways after a few times unsuccessful attempts I decided give the soups a try. Not to mention that I tried its breakfast sandwich once and it was no where close to being edible. So I got myself a vegetable soup and considering that we eat best soups at home very often, which F. F. makes them perfectly, It didn't take so long to me to realize that buying that soup was no different from flushing my money down the toilet! The vegetables were not even cooked properly and were floated on the top most of them. So I said enough is enough. I, now, just buy stuff from Safeway and make my own sandwich. I might have to walk or even starve but I'm not goin, to the pirates any more!

My Mobile Pillow!

I'm in just such a fucked up situation now that I don't even have a pillow. So what I do every night when I'm getting ready to hit the bed is I bring my laptop case, put it in the pillow case and sleep! Then in the morning I take it out again and carry it to work. I don't take my laptop, just a few documents and references.

Cursing Myself!

As every day passes I hate what I've done to myself, more and more! I curse myself while I'm walking! I was at work today, talking to this smart gentleman, the head of the company(!) who barely talks! For a moment I thought that I was not able to take it any more and wanted to step off but controlled myself. It was not only the way he talked. It was the disgusting smell from his mouth too! I feel bad for the guy but is this my fault? Yes! if you find the root cause, it's me! I have to curse myself for being careless, immature and stupid. If I was not, I didn't have to deal with this bunch of morons today!

I'm hoping I, at least, learn something and will be able to find a better job when I get kicked out or it's the time. Well one thing I learned today is all those year, those stupid idiots used the term Hydraulic Test instead of Hydrostatic Test and of course I read the test procedure and purposes. I learnt a bunch more. Right now I stand out because I speak better than many people but I have to show them that I'm a professional too.

The First Week of the Work

I finished the first week at work and there were so many issues:

1- First of all I realized how I wasted my time all these years. Luck is a major factor. I'm unlucky but lazy and not concerned about my future too. I always thought that there would be another opportunity if I lose this one. Never actually pursued anything seriously. I did but may be I didn't exert enough energy and effort. I'm not saying that I'm lucky that I have this job now because it's just a temporary shit. All these assholes and elbows in there care about nothing but the fucking birthdays and Friday and barely speak!

2- This moron that I work with has a hard time explaining himself every time he opens his mouth and each and every sentence of him ends by me. He has done something for this company of course that why they kept him but what he has done is not significant. He feels very important, may be one of the pillars of the company!

3- I had to move three times! Hodani, the asshole drunkard told me that his roommate who the lease is on his name and he was concerned. So I first moved to D. H. place and at his ex's!

4- I didn't get enough during the week and looked tired at work. The guy was concerned and kept telling me that it was a huge job and this and that!

5- etc. I don't wanna talk about it any more!

From 12 C to -18 C

I flew to Calgary last night just to try this new job. And I did. It was raining lightly in B. C. and was almost 12 C and when I landed in Calgary International Airport it was almost -18 C! A 30 C difference!
Then I went to work today. Had to walk a few blocks and was about to get frozen, especially my ears were really hurt although I'm used to this kind of weather.
Anyways I started this job today and I was quite surprised. Looked like that the gay had been expecting me. He took me to every single person in the company, introduced me and explained a bit about the department and our interactions. The project manger was the last person I met and he gave me warnings! Like work hard and don't zig zag! I'll take that into consideration!

Pissed Off

I got really furious today after coming home. I checked my e-mail and realized that those assholes had failed me again! This is really unfair. That's the true meaning of discrimination. I believe that I did well and there's no question about the way handled the situation. It was not I could move to the next step if I had passed. That was the second one. I also didn't care much about the job. I'm pissed off because that is not fair.I guess I'm goin' to do that job in Calgary. It's a big risk and I'm not the same guy any more. I have no balls to take risks like that anymore and I don't think many people do. These are not those days any more. You have to grab whatever you have with both hands and teeth!

Eating Habits

I usually go to a McDonald's to get a coffee and muffin for my breakfast because that's the healthiest you can get. The other day I stopped by the one close to work, the one I usually go to and surprisingly all the interior lights were off. Looked liked the place was closed. So I went to the Tim Horton's nearby regardless of the fact that I don't like it. I needed a coffee really bad because I hadn't slept enough the night before.

So I went there and I ordered a cup of coffee, fruit muffin and an egg sandwich: They all tasted like crap! And who knows how that egg had been prepared! So I said to me that I should never went to a place where I don't like it's taste although I was starving or falling sleep. I thought it was because I got myself accustomed to McDonald's coffee. That's why I disliked that coffee so much, I thought.

Then me and A. F. went to a Boston Pizza where we just wanted to drink something and have a little chat. He ordered beer and I had a cup of coffee and surprisingly the coffee was good. Then I realized it is not just eating habits that refrains you from foods and drinks. It's the quality. Tim Horton's coffee has no quality and I don't care how many people drink it here forcibly with stupid sugary, greasy doughnuts!

In the nutshell eating habits can force you to have too much and gain weight while they could hold you back from eating certain foods. But none of these two where involved here!

(Photo: You get 6 teaspoon of sugar for every glazed doughnut you eat! That's horrible and does too much harm to the body)

The Unlucky Person

I received a telephone call from a lady in regards to a job that I had applied and was invited to the second step of the position with the Government of B. C. I might still have a good chance. This step shouldn't be hard now because I've done it once and failed! But the Calgary job is still there and although F. F. is not happy about it (because of the school and weather) I still consider that. F. F. said that there was a saying in their culture which goes: The Unlucky Person Is Invited To Two Different Places!

Anyways I agreed to appear in the second step of that job which will be held this Wed. and didn't go to Calgary! Yes. It's hard to believe that I turned down a $72,000 annual salary while having more than $4,000 unpaid balance only on the credit cards but the abnormality of the offer threw me away. Not to mention it's term and the issues with F. F., laziness(!), getting used to B. C.'s milder weather and uncertainty of the future. So the guy from QA called me today and asked me why I hadn't shown up! I made a lame excuse saying that there were ambiguities in the offer, which actually is true. He said that he would get in touch with the HR guy and hopes that he gets back to me. OK!

Unusual Employment Offer

I eventually received an employment offer from the company that I had the interview with and have to start this Mon. but have not made my mind yet. It's just because everything sounds unusual in this offer:

1- I only had a telephone interview and although they said I should to meet the management, it hasn't happened yet to the moment!

2- I was told that the project had been defined for a period of 2 to 3 years but the employment offer only mentioned 11 months. Then I e-mailed the so called management and asked about the difference. He renewed the offer and changed it to 20 months with the possibility of extension for a few months! (End of the project of course)

3- I was supposed to start this Thu. but when I said that I needed a few more days, the offer was quickly changed again with the coming Mon. as the start day.

4- I e-mailed the boss again and asked a few questions but didn't get the answers. That makes me more suspicious. Or may be I shouldn't have asked those ones.

I had such another situation once in 2006. It was not completely the same but just suspicious made me ignore the whole employment possibility. I still have a few job applications but none of them are even close to this one in terms of remuneration and job satisfaction.

Birthday

I was outside last Mon. when my telephone rang. It was one of the supervisors asking me to work the day after. I quickly accepted as usual. So I started at 06:30 AM and finished at about 05:15 PM! Almost 11 hours! I guess that was the company's birthdays gift to me which actually was not that bad! I mean I can't expect more from them.

Then when I went home I was made really happy by a special birthday cake and gifts! F. F. made it really special for me. I wasn't expecting that and thought that she had forgotten it. But she had not!

(Photo: A Cheesecake specially decorated by fruit was presented as my birthday cake. Forget about the candles!)

New Year's Day

All the major stores and supermarkets were always closed on New Year's Day as far as I remember up to 2009. I guess the companies have decided to make more money even on the most important days of the year. Some say New Year's Day is not as important as Christmas Day and that's the major reason why everybody is off and everywhere is closed on that specific day but not the New Year's Day.

Canadian Tire, PriceSmart Foods and others were open today. We did a little shopping. They perhaps said that they would not pay their employees a lot anyways so why not make a few thousands more?

We also decided to do a little walk although it was a bit cold. It was a cold sunny day around 0 degrees Centigrade. It became sunny for the second day in a row and completely clear probably after 3 months! We went to an Urban Forest called Timber in east of Lower Mainland. There was nothing special about it but a little jungle in the middle of the city with a small frozen, at the time pond.