Persistence (2)

The Chef has been in a battle with his partner, law office, bank, insurance and other over the house they bought nearly two years ago for 3 months now. It's so confusing that I think even they don't know what's going on! The law office's letter indicated that they had until the end of February to vacant the property. The first week of March is gone and he still live there!

He told me he wanted to make Kebab in his backyard, the backyard he never was able to use since the house was purchased! He had a Latino tenant in the basement who used the backyard all the time, he said. So we got some Beef and a few few Chicken Drumsticks and marinated them. The stupid asked me to go to his place at around 17:00 and that was the previous weekend and cold. So by the time we got out to the backyard it was dark, the wind was blowing and the snow was falling! I didn't know he selected that time of the day while he had nothing to do the entire day. 

We had bought a pack of Charcoal from Safeway. He emptied that in a pit that the tenant had made and started the fire but it was not that easy due to the weather. It was like the weekend we went to the park and ruined most of the meat(!) but not that bad. He was blowing the fire, adding papers and wood and was doing everything possible to get the fire going. I picked a book from a pile of stuff that the asshole tenant had left and added that to the fire to help him after I took the covers off. He asked me if it was Bible and I jokingly said it was but then let him know that it was not! 

He was sweating like a pig and was so tired! I couldn't help myself laughing and told him if we had been persistence like this on every aspects of his life, he would have had a much better one today! He kept going until finally got the pieces ignited but eventually the Kebab didn't went so well. We went from the back yard to the basement and from the basement to the main floor maybe 20 times during the whole process of making the food and the temperature difference between the tree places was overwhelming. We clearly didn't enjoy the food as it was not cooked well and we were very tired(!) but it was fun. Just being with The Chef and doing something was fun!
(Photo; I made some Zucchini before moving to making Kebab. Since I have no photo of the ruined [again!] Kebab, I post this here although I know I have had such photo earlier in a previous post)

The Rock of The Chef

The Chef just narrated me one his numerous amazing stories one night that I was having dinner at his place again. This one: The Rock! It's not about the movie or even this silly guy who thinks he's another Schwarzenegger! This is about a drug with the street name of Rock! However we don't know what he actually consumed which led to this story. Was that Cocaine which is called Rock on the street or what he thinks it was, Crystal Meth?! 

According to him he got a little of that stuff from his colleagues at work. People of East Asian background. He consumed some one day and made him be up all day and night! He wouldn't sleep or eat. Only a sip of water every few hours! He said he would put food in microwave oven on the stove and forgot about it until the fire alarm would go off and the kitchen was full of thick smoke! He then would open all of the windows and use a stool to reach the smoke alarm to turn it off!

He says he had lost so much weight that when he went to his part-time job of the weekend, his colleges were shocked by just looking at him. One lady asked him what had happened and he said that he was the same person as he always had been and nothing had changed! 

The whole process took about a week, I guess, and that is according to him, who has a memory like a sieve! He adds that one of his friends, a person who spends a lot of time on the streets(!) has told him that this drug was invented during the WWII to keep German soldiers alert when fighting! I don't know how true that could be but certainly a person who doesn't have to eat and sleep for a week and stays vigilant, is a good fighter/defender, particularly when, again according to him, he becomes very agitated and violent! The story with some detail is much more interesting when he narrates it and I couldn't stop laughing! He again survived one of many stupid things he has done(!) but how lucky someone could really be?! I hope stays lucky the way he is for many years and does not sink!  

(Photo: For this post I selected a photo of White Rock, a rock that the indigenous people of British Columbia, the Semiahamo Nation, consider it sacred and have a story for it. The small town of now 20,000 people near the US border is named after this rock. We lived in there for probably a year or so and I worked there as well. I used this photo just to show how big The Chef's problem is or was!) 

Bizarre Encounter of the First Kind(!)

When The Chef moved some stuff to The Brave's basement as his new tenant, we got a chance to have a few chats with him. As usual he talked about business, religion, this and that and we quietly listened and mostly nodded! During his speeches(!) he referred to one of his nighbours whom he had problems with earlier. He referred to the guy as ... bastard several time and told us stories about how big of an asshole the guy was. I thought he was exaggerating as usual. 

One weekend The Chef called me and said he would move stuff in there with my help, if I was available. I went there and parked the car right in front of one of The Brave's car which he parks there just to prevent The ... Bastard (I use this to refer to the guy as of now! That's why you see bastard is started with capital B!). I basically stuck The Chef's car to the front of that car, just to leave enough room for anyone who might wanted to move around as it's a Cul-de-sac. 

It was not even two minutes that we were in that I heard someone knocking on the door! Surprised as who it could be in that time of the day, an evening of Fri. I saw a big brown guy of East Indian decent with big strange earrings! He said he wanted to leave and we had to move the car and make him to do that!!

I tried to understand what he meant by that. Not because of his language or accent. What he said didn't make any sense. There was enough room even for an eighteen-wheeler to back up and get the hell of the spot! I started explaining to him and at the same time understanding why he was doing that but it was just useless! Everything I said he answered with a bullshit! I finally after two or three minutes realized that the guy was a nut-job and The Brave was not exaggerated when describing him! 

I had never had a bizarre interaction with someone in my whole life! There's no doubt that in a society like Canada's there are plenty fucked-up individuals live at every corner of the country! People who never had enough food in their life, people of slums, survivors of genocide, professional criminals who simply ran away from the law of their own country, many more but I never expected something like that. Quite experience! Even The Chef who normally sympathizes with everyone was surprised! When I wrote the story to The Brave his reaction was interesting! It was an string of swears in the e-mail response with asterisks (*) in place of a number of alphabets in them!
(Photo: I tried to depict the situation in this little sketch just to show how crazy that numb-nuts was! To better understand the scenario the vehicles are marked accordingly:
A: The Chef's. It's just parked temporarily as we were moving stuff in the house.
B: The Brave's demo car, I would call it. This car barely moves. It's parked there just to prevent The ... Bastard from park in there!
C: The ... Bastard's. As you clearly see there's plenty room for this shit-head to back up and leave!
D: Another neighbour's. He's just an extra in this scenario and has no role but I depicted that as well just to show the location of vehicles around. 
The empty spot is where The Brave's son parks who was not there at that moment. We left it vacant in case he shows up)

Norman (1)

I first was introduced to Norman, a mid-age married man with a teenage daughter, about a year ago. We never met until I asked Mom to tell him that I would like to meet and talk about the job market. This guy is from a small town in one of the provinces which borders Caspian Sea, a typical villager/peasant  person who went to a large city, studied, got a degree and joined the job market. Then like many Iranians in early 21st century decided to go to Canada and experience life of excellence! 

Norman worked for about a year or so in the field that he's been educated and is experienced in. He then got kicked out like many others, including me, but I assume it was much earlier because I used to see him in the neighbourhood with a briefcase which is a sign of having a great position(!) in the old country. People tend to keep the tradition here! 

I then saw him twice and since he had been told that I was interested in meeting him we greeted, shook hands (a custom from the old country!) and had a little chat. He now, months after being laid off, had been working for a major retailer in the city. His job is either in-call or part-time as he goes there, which is only a few minutes drive from his place, only a few days a week. This job has been provided to him, like the previous one he had, by his friends of the small town. Lucky him! 

I talked to him once over the phone and briefly referred to my challenges in getting a job. I told him that I might start one in March. His reaction was: I wonder when would my turn be?! 

I don't see such a bright future for us foreigners in Alberta or generally in Canada. With all the conflicts south of the border, overpopulation and number of people who come to the country every year, now getting a job, even one as Norman's would be difficult. I was listening to the news today and it was said that the unemployment will stay between 9% and 10% throughout 2017 and employers might consider hiring more in the second half of the year! Everyone should grab whatever he or she has with both hands and never let it go, or there will be sever consequences! 

(Photo: For this post I am using Sir Norman Wisdom's picture. Although unrelated but I believe he was a great comedian and actor. His movies, many of them, were dubbed in the first years of the fake revolution in the old country and shown in theaters. They were all disappeared when more restrictions were introduced to cinema industry. The key to success of his movies in the old country was great dubbing although one must know that due to poor English and many other reasons including laziness, lack of respect and loyalty, foreign movies generally have been shown differently from what they really are in that country! A good example of that would be Southern Comfort which was shown with a completely different story and even the title was changed to Operation Lagoon [!!]. I should have a separate post for that)

Enrollment Ceremony

I finally attended the Enrollment Ceremony today. It's interesting that everyone in that recruitment center spells it Enrolment Ceremony but I never mentioned to any of them although I later found out that in some dictionaries Enrolment is considered correct as well! I don't want them to get a bad impression and know I'm a Troublemaker! I guess from the time I applied for the position to the day it took about 1 year and 4 months! It's my own fault. If I had accepted to go to the interview when they called me first in 2011, I would have had at least 5 years of service now but it's in the past and must be forgotten. I need to focus on the Basic Training which will start shortly.

Unlike they have indicated in their e-mail I and one other guy where the only ones who were dressed properly. The other ones (5 others) were dressed either casually or like a hobo! 

The whole ceremony was well organized and with the least amount of wasted time, I would say. A Navy lady distributed the final forms and walked us through them, which were very straightforward and self-explanatory but we had to sign sections. There were 2 Caucasians, 3 Orientals, me and a bearded guy who could be an Arab or East Indian of Muslim heritage. He seemed OK but barely spoke and never asked any questions. I hope he's not offended if he is reading it! I, him and an Oriental guy will all go to the same trade. I don't know how it works though! Are we competing against each other or the CAF would need us all, after we successfully pass the training?! 

Anyways then a Captain from Air force led the Oath Ceremony which was short and productive. No nonsense, no bullshit. I was the only one who had no family members or friends attended but I asked my future comrade to take a picture and he did. It was quite similar to my Citizenship Ceremony years ago where I didn't have anyone accompanying me. At least this time a photo was taken! 

We will be flying to the training center soon and I will not be able to write for a while, particularly in the first 4 weeks but I will post the first chance I get. Now the most important thing is to pack my stuff, rest for the week, put some of my stuff in the bank, think of the things I will have to do with the vehicle and in a nutshell get ready for a big challenge. 

(Photo: This is where the future members of CAF would stand, rise their right hand and repeat after the Oath after the officer. I have a photo here) 

Love This Winter!

After the disgusting and disappointing winter of 2015-16 now we are enjoying the true beautiful winter of Alberta. It's March.08 and it was around -16 ℃ when I went for jogging beside Bow River but that's not all. Windchill made it even colder. It was around -24℃ when I was approaching home. There was an unusually heavy traffic for that time of the day. When I was heading to Bow River Pathway it was around 08:15 and the streets were congested. On the way back around 09:05 still there was a bit of traffic. I ran for almost 22 min. The only problem is that my knees hurt a little bit after running and it appears after I come out of shower or after I finish my breakfast.

Now that I'm scheduled to leave soon, I eat whatever I have and try not to buy any food. Avoiding outside food, although it's hard, I had Boiled Egg, Quinoa and Coffee for my breakfast. It's very filling but it could be felt bland if you don't know how to make it.

(Photo: Kids have made snowmen in a park. A perfect for them to enjoy doing this, skating and tubing. Took this last week near a library)

The Liberal's Plan for Marijuana

One of the promises of Trudeau when running against Harper in late 2015 was that he would legalize Marijuana. Of course bunch of stupid, idiot, useless, assholes who have nothing to do but  drinking, smoking or sniffing drugs and fucking around were very happy! I'm not saying that it was the main reason he won but generally people go for the one who's easier on them not the one who enforces more laws and restrictions! Nevertheless his approval rate, it's said, that has gone down significantly. 

Marijuana, when it's legalized, according to the PM, would be available to the interested people and the money which is in the hands of criminals, he says, becomes the Government's revenue and is used for good purposes. 

There's no doubt that the Government needs money but that is the only intention. He said nothing about the stuff being bad and harmful and said nothing about controlling the access of people to that. As per the so-called criminals, I don't think they mind that very much. They invest on another crapy substance and move on! And then the people would go with them. Why? Because mostly would say: Everyone can smoke Marijuana now. It's accessible by everyone. It's like a normal cigarette! I'd like to try something better, stronger, newer and after all something which is not achieved easily by everyone because I want to be better, cooler and more significant than any normal person. So Marijuana would lose its market and the dream of making millions and billions by the Government would die! 

This is quite similar to driving a BMW. The majority of people drive regular and crapy cars. When you drive a BMW, which the cheapest model of it costs at least $40,000 (for a brand new one) you are different than someone who drives a shity, disgusting $18,000 Honda! 

I remember the time that playing chess was forbidden in the old country! Yes it was but people played whenever they got the chance at their homes like many other things which were forbidden and people did. One day, out of the blue sky, a new rule was thrown out: Chess is no longer forbidden as long as people don't play that with the purpose of gambling. Fine! A friend of mine said that he would never play chess just for spite! He said he didn't like the stupid idea that the game had been declared forbidden to play and now doesn't like the idea that it's allowed to be played again! 

Trudeau then promised that he would not go further by legalizing any other similar substance! Is he going to keep his promise?! He has been accused of breaking a few of his election promises.

(Photo: The PM visited CFB Esquimalt in Vancouver Island, British Columbia alongside the Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan where he explained the Marijuana legalization process and indicated that would take place this summer)

Vacant Offices of Downtown

In a society which money has the utmost importance, people do whatever it takes to make some, even a Penny! The Kevin P. told me once a short story which he had heard from The Spring Maker. This is about disgusting Vietnamese in Standens a manufacturer in Calgary. According The Springs Maker, labourers would receive $0.25 bonus for every item they make over the designated number they are planned to make in their shift. Some cheap workers, and according to him, mostly the Vietnamese, would stay longer to make as many extra as they could even if they had to pee! The Spring Maker indicates that he has seen with his own eyes that these people would we their pants but didn't want to leave their working station! 

This is only one example out of thousands that I can tell about the greed of people, whether a Vietnamese or an East Indian!

This is at the poor side, the side of people who come from slums of the Third World. At the other side these Westerners are as greedy as hell! It was in the news the other day that the vacant offices of Downtown Calgary should be rented out! This means two things:

1) The job market will not improve any time soon! Not for the next few years or perhaps never to the same level it was in 2012-13. Otherwise they would not consider turning the offices to residential building! 

2) These guys have been benefiting from these offices for years not decades. It's very hard for them to see that now they have a big horn in their ass which bothers them a lot! 

Greed, lust and individualism are the three corners of Western society triangle!

(Photo: Downtown Calgary from its eastern side. Calgary Tower and The Bow are clearly seen. On left you see residential buildings are under construction. I took this picture in Feb. of last which there was not much winter from Tom Campbell's Hill Natural Park)

From Southern Comfort to Operation Lagoon!

I've been a big movie buff for years. I now have a collection of more than 300 titles. One of the movies which was the topic of discussion years ago as well as being controversial, in the old country, was Southern Comfort. This was shown in there under Operation Lagoon and the entire story had been changed!! I know it's crazy and I don't think it has probably never happened in the history of cinema. If it has happened it should have happened in that country or similar place as they are very good at stuff like that. 

In Southern Comfort a unit of Louisiana National Guard goes to Louisiana Swamp for a military training. They do a silly thing over there and get themselves in trouble with the locals, the Cajuns. Seven out of the group of 9 are killed by the Cajuns, each differently while the last two get themselves to a small town and after a series of adventures in there, survive.  The movie is accompanied by the amazing work of Ry Cooder and is very unpredictive during the story. 

In the old country though what they did is they cut the story to several pieces and when they put it back together they made sure a few small pieces are missing! But that was not the only thing they did! They deprived the movie of a number of its pieces as well as changing the story entirely by changing the dialogues when dubbing! This is how the story was changed:

A group of American militants are trapped in a lagoon and are killed by the US Government or the US Army one after another because they are critical of the US policies, particularly of Vietnam War! The state television of the old country even kills the only two survivors that Cajun people were not successful despite their efforts! What those assholes never consider when changing the plot of the movie as well as its title was that there actually was no operation in the movie! They didn't consider it! 

When I saw the DVD in a store years ago in Canada I bought it immediately and discovered how the real story is from what those bastards had made up! The question is whether any of the film staff had the right to file a complaint against the state television or not! If they did, have they done it? And last but not least or probably the most important one: How did the state television at the time purchase the right of showing the movie considering the two counties were not and still are not in good relationship. 

(Photo: This is shortly after the beginning of the movie when the squad grabs three canoes which belonged to Cajuns to cross a pond of something like that. This is where the problem starts shortly after)

Safeway's Wise Policy!

Safeway has always been my favorite supermarket. Even now that I'm not financially in a very good situation, I still shop at Safeway. This supermarket was bough by Sobeys I guess about two years ago but they still run under the original name. Their advertisements, including flyers are together, mostly and they claim they have reduced the prices of more than 2000 items significantly. 

I've seen some price drops in the past but at the same time I've seen some increases as well. One of my favorite breads was this multi-grain bun with sesame seeds on it . We used to buy them for ¢65 each only awhile ago and that was if you purchased a group of 6. We never minded that. Then they canceled that 6-piece policy and increased the price to ¢90! Less than a year after that I was just in one of the locations and realized that the price had been increased to $1.29 each! Is that how Safeway is trying to compete in the market?! I know Super-asshole has garbage bread mostly and Wal-Nasty-Mart's breads are even worse but I can't afford to pay $1.29 for a small roll. One might say Safeway is for wealthy and rich and people like me should shop at Super-asshole or any other disgusting bakery. They might be right. However I didn't expect the prices go up this much while they claim that they have reduced prices. After all the location is important too. Safeway just shut down a location in 52 St. NE, a ghetto neighbourhood where people would mostly go to local traditional stores of their countrymen or make bread in their houses! It's not going to happen to any other location may be soon but they need to stay competitive. 

(Photo: My favorite bread roll which is only made in Safeway bakery. I perhaps will be able to purchase that one day when they either increase the size or decrease the price which most likely would never happen!)

A Good Analogy

I was at The Brave's the other day. he had called me the day before and said he was a bit sick. I called him to see how he was and then I said I would bring him some tea. I went there although I think it was a mistake because his wife seemed upset about it. 

We were talking about everything and it got to The Chef who know is renting a room from The Brave in his basement. The Chef has recently had a very beautiful accident! According to him he was driving on a major rood and he rear ended a lady(!) whom was driving an SUV. His car is crippled! The bumper came off, the indicator at driver's side is broken and the hood is swollen! I could probably put the photo here but it wouldn't be nice! I met him at his place a few days after the accident and we fixed(!) the car. We took the bumper, which was sitting on the backseat and put it at the side of the house and then we forced the hood down! It looked a little bit better! It's been a week since the accident and he's been driving it since(!) but he's thinking of buying another used vehicle. 

With that in mind, when I was talking to The Brave about everything, we came to the point that The Chef was mentioned. The Brave said: He has been through so much hardship in his life which now he is in a situation like a donkey that is hauling a heavy load! If you put a small weight on the top, it wouldn't feel that! It's a great analogy! The Chef has experienced so many bad things in his life: Being homeless in India, working very physically-demanding jobs in Canada including where he works now and for Standen's as a labourer, getting beaten up and bleeding, you name it. And now losing the home that him and his stupid African buddy bought about 2 years ago. 

I guess all he's thinking about at this moment is being able to be peaceful for a bit. This probably has been on his mind every day for the past many years and he has tried to achieve that through drinking alcohol and using drugs. He might have achieved that temporarily and for a shot time! 

(Photo: This picture, randomly selected from the Internet, shows a donkey which truly resembles The Chef's life! Not that I've been much happier than him but definitely have not been as bad as this!)