A Very Different Interview

I was scheduled for the second interview, this one a face-to-face, in one of the towns of Alberta last week. This was as the second part of a job application with one of the major manufacturers in North America which I had a telephone interview with nearly three weeks ago. However I have started this job which I have started two weeks ago (not that anyone cares!) and I had to make up a story to sell them to be able to leave for the interview on time. 

This guy that I work with, or I'd say I work for, is a fruitcake (whom I will write about later) and I told him that I had to see a doctor. The nut-job agreed to let me go at 13:00 but kept forgetting and when I told him I was leaving, almost 1 hour and half before the time said that he had forgotten! I was going to say: Why the hell don't you fucking forget the bullshit you say to me every day and when I forget something you get mad! But I didn't. I hope I get a chance to give him shit one day before I go! 

Anyways I left at 13:00 and that was the worst time due to traffic. I hit a few red lights as well and by the time reached The Chef's where I was supposed to change based on our appointment, it was already late. I left quickly and followed the damn GPS but that was a mistake! 

The damn machine took me through Metis Tr. where the speed limit is 60 and 70 Km/h! I eventually got myself to QEII, of course after wasting so much time and drove to the said town but it was a very bad time for driving and I was already 30 min. behind the schedule! I was going over the posted limit at times and I have to say that while I admit it was a mistake, everyone does that! I didn't see even one single cruiser and if there had been, there would have been barely any car without ticket on that highway that afternoon! 

I decided to pull over and call the recruiting lady and ask her to call the interviewers and let them know that I would be late. I called but she didn't pick up and I don't think she even bothered checking the voice message I left. Pulling to the side of highway, where the shoulder is narrow, could be a fatal mistake because you're not supposed to do that and I even think there might be a penalty for it and then the drivers don't care, most of them. They speed off by you and miss you with 1 feet! Some drive so fast that the wind they create pushes you aside! 

I continued the trip to the town but I realized that there was a road construction on the way and then I was diverted into the town where the speed limit is 50 Km/h! I was so mad at myself, the freaking stupid supervisor and the damn company which selected the worst time of the week for this interview that my head was about to explode! I finally reached my destination with 20 min. delay and I was admitted in. I have to add this that I had already postponed this interview once because the recruiting lady called me once at about 16:45 and wanted me to go there the next morning! I could go but I was worried about the current job, especially because it is through a recruiting agency. I told myself: What if I don't get hired by them and lose this freaking stupid job too? How many more weeks or months I would have to wait to get something? 

I made an excuse and sold it to the lady, I hoped! The other reason that I postponed the interview was that I checked the interview panel people's profiles in Linkedin and I didn't like any of them! Actually there were only three of them had profile but I liked none! I think regardless of the fact that I have tried different jobs here in Canada and the old country and mostly worked with everyone easily, I'm not generally a type of person who can work with others easily at the beginning. I either have problems with people right at the beginning or when I leave the job! That's a different topic which I might cover later. 

Only two out of the four interviewers were available. It certainly was in my favour. Unlike what I had expected the main person who interviewed me and would be my manager if I get the position was a very nice guy. The other one was not a bad one, at least in the first encounter. He seemed less impressed and he mostly listened and asked a few questions only. That was because he was much younger and almost a recent graduate. Plus he was from here while the older gentleman was a foreigner like me. The interview took about 01:30 hour with the second person, the sidekick(!) leaving 15 min. before the end. I was told that there would be another interview if I'm successful in this one! 

I understand that completely. This is a hard job in a very successful company which offers good salary and benefit and perhaps lasts for years. They want to make sure that they have the right person for it. 

I and The Chef were supposed to go to a local bar that he had been to once and liked it after the interview but I felt a very bad pain in my right foot and I know it was because I hadn't have any water for nearly 5 hours. The drive back to the city was a very irritating and disturbing one. Not just because the pain I had in my right foot but also because the highway was almost packed with big trucks, 18-wheelers and SUVs which all were being driven like crazy and all, without exception, were over the speed limit. I called The Chef to see if he's ready to go to that bar when I reached the city limit (to avoid long distance call!). He didn't pick up the first time and then when he picked up the second time he sounded sleepy and drunk, both and said that he didn't want to go!

That added more to my miserable day and I missed an exit when I was going home. When I finally reached the nasty apartment building I was just looking for someone to break his jaw with a kick or punch! Fortunately that opportunity didn't present itself and the day ended peacefully!
(Photo: Fortunately I didn't experience such a craziness on my way to the interview but in this image from a dash camera clip you see a crazy stupid driver trying to pass two cars from in between them! This was handed over to CTV, I guess and I hope they don't mind me using them here now that I mention their name. However what baffles me is lack of police presence during the entire trip)

A Disappointing Visit/Interview

The strange recruiting company sent me to a company for work about two weeks ago. It was a small food company in SE Calgary where many of the small industries are located. A lady, I guess one of the supervisors welcomed me. I am not a freaking pervert or anything like that but I can't compliment a beautiful lady when I'm writing about a job opportunity, particularly now that I'm freaking single and in continuous torture! She was a tall, blue-eyed, blond lady, taller than an average woman and taller than me, with a nice smile and charming character. This is absolutely right that they say THE FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE BEST IMPRESSION. I would love to work with or for such a woman even if she's married and have kids over 20 years of age! There's nothing more important than having a good colleague and boss at work and I barely have experienced that for years! 

We sat for a few minutes and he asked a few simple questions and obviously he was satisfied with all. We then dressed up for the working environment and went to the production floor. I always wanted to work in food industry and I worked for three food-related companies in Canada with the first one could have been my first and last job in the country, the second one a good opportunity to grow and the third one perhaps not that good and blowing them all! 

She took me to the part of the warehouse and asked me to operate a machine which I shortly operated that back in 2010. I got on it and I was not comfortable at all. I tried to perform the task she had assigned to me, while two bastards were watching, and realized I was not able to. So instead of doing something that I would regret later, I told her that I could not do that and we left the floor. 

We went back to the office and it sounded to me that she was as disappointed as I was but for sure not as humiliated as I was because she said that she would offer me other jobs but she had to talk to talk to managers! I don't know why someone would say something like that in that situation! I screwed up and I was not a good candidate for that job. That's all. I moved on. So should she. 

Food Poisoning

I felt really sick one night after supper about 3 weeks ago. I could feel that the food had remained in my stomach. My body was able to neither digest it nor to reject it. I guess I had too much and too mixed! I passed the night without a major problem but in the morning I felt sick in my stomach and I was able to to say that the mixture(!) was still in my stomach. I went to work because every hour would have been deducted from my pay-stub.

My stomach reacted to the undigested mixture(!) a few times and I threw up, once in one of the isles and twice in the bathroom. That was when I decided to talk to the supervisor and told him that I needed to leave. I was out at about 10:30 (which later led to losing 5 hours, I guess!) and as soon as I stepped out of the main entrance my stomach reacted. Not once, but I think at least 5 or 6 times. I felt a little better and drove away!

I still am trying to figure out what the cause of the sickness was. I originally thought that Kashk, which is a dairy product used in Iranian and a number of other cuisines, was the cause. Mom thinks that I ate, or better to say, usually eat too mixed. I don't think the latter is the reason why I got sick because that's what I always do: I eat my meal, then usually a half of an Astro Balkan Yogurt and then some Peanuts! However Mom could be right in this specific case. I might have overate and too mixed! 

That was the second time in the past 20 years that I became sick that bad. I had a similar situation once back in 2006 and that was due to, I believe, old fish we bought from a Co-op but I could be wrong.  The same thing happened to Far a few days after that! That proved that Kashk could not be cause. After all I have heard Kashk poisoning could be fatal! I don't think it's that bad because Kashk a dairy product and being poisoned by a dairy product could not be as bad but I don't know. I actually have never experienced that.

Astro Balkan Yogurt is the only yogurt I eat because, and I hope it's not a lie, the only yogurt that all other disgusting crap, including the nasty Corn Starch, is not added to it.

Nevertheless I think the incident could be one of the reasons that they asked me to leave. I had good performance but I made a few mistakes too. I had a foot injury once and told the supervisor about that although I didn't miss an hour. This might have been added to the other things and they considered me unreliable. That's only mu assumption. The bastards of the recruiting agency never gave me any feedback! All they said was that the employer had indicated that their business was slow!

(Photo: I am not conveying a wrong message, I hope! This is Kashk Bademjan, an Iranian cuisine which is not used as a main course and uses Kashsk, as a garnish but the sauce, if I can call it, adds flavour to the food and without it the dish is not the dish!)

Nightmares of a Voluntary Job

I was away from the voluntary job that I believe I'm good at for nearly 6 months. When I came back and checked the website (which I have to use to submit my work), I realized that a large portion of my work has been sent back for rework! 

This is not the first time that I see the reviewers of my work, send parts of my submission back and want me to rework and resend it. However at times I see stupid comments and silly and disgusting reactions to my work that pisses me off. 

An example of that would be a work that I corrected it based on their stupid comments once and now I see it back again. Some of them seem so fucking mean and disrespectful in their disgusting messages that I have to be careful not to say something back because I certainly don't want to lose this job for the sake of my resume. There's a disgusting fucking East Indian amongst them, who I'm not sure weather is the same person that I met in the last year's dinner. He has mostly stupid and meaningless comments. In fact I'm even ready to take courses to help me perform better on this job that I like it very much. 

The problem, that I realized probably a long time ago, is that we people have a very little capacity when we're criticized or questioned! In fact we have no tolerance in that area. ±0 is what we consider when we're in any relationship: Work, business, life, fun, you name it. There's absolutely room for that. So when someone says something against my work, that I believe I've spent a lot of time on it to have it completed, it's very difficult for me to accept it. However I'm working on this bad feature of mine and have been trying to improve myself. It's very hard mentally. Many people use alcohol here but I can't do it. I neither have money, nor the guts for that. Not to mention the place to drink and habit of that! My problem is I haven't done any exercise (jogging, weight-lifting, cycling, hiking, etc.) of any kind. That always helped me to relax. I need to do one of the above as long as it doesn't interact with any job that I have or going to get. The stupid, disgusting job that I had for 7 weeks, completely threw me away. 

(Photo: I hope this person doesn't mind that I'm using his picture for this post but at times I really feel like this and once even considered e-mailing the manager, telling him to consider me out of this work!)

CFLRS Notes (40): Sergeant P (P for Psychopath!)

CFLRS has a big group of instructors who have come from different elements and trades. They are needed to train the continuous flow of recruits, arriving in the school on weekly basis, particularly in summer. The flow increases in the summer and I will explain why in a separate post later. It's not hard to become an instructor because for theory stuff, they all read the material from their notes or a PowerPoint file! At times they even don't bother reading. They ask the recruits to do that! Sometimes when a question is asked they might even give you the wrong answer because of language barrier! This one rarely happens. However it's at times hard to remain an instructor because as an instructor you have to deal with lots of people and some of them are really slow. Some others, like me, are simply resistant to orders although they eventually follow it because they have to. The second number is very small. Refusing an order could result in a charge although I don't know the detail because I never refused one. I was once considered, if I may say, disobedient and then I was revealed from that order. That is a separate story.

Most of the instructors I had were good people. A few of them were disgusting. Just a few! There was this Sergeant that started going on me the minute I stepped in the platoon's office! I call him Sergeant P here because if I wrote his name and someone read this and told him, he would go after me, although everything is true.

This guy was a good instructor but for whatever reason he didn't like me. So I tried to stay away from him but it was not sufficient! I had a word exchange with a freaking idiot, who misunderstood me and that become a reason for Sergeant P to be tougher on me. He said that he would dot every I and cross every T to make sure that I would not get away from that! This actually was a refresher for my English because I had not heard that expression for years! Then there was a time that I made a joke in the class about a guy and although he didn't have a problem with that, the Sergeant made a case out of it and despite my apology, I got a Note to File for that as well! 

Up to this point things were bad, obviously! However my performance was not so bad. I finished 8 Km March successfully with no issue while some had problems. He didn't like that either and on the way back to the rooms, while I was going to help my fire team partner with his duffel bag, he got mad, for no reason and used F bomb as usual! Generally I had not seen someone like that amongst instructors and I guess because of his rank, experience and age, others could not say much. Even the Platoon Commander was silent in front of him. I even remember that he farted just near the commander without seeing a reaction! Generally he was a nasty person but you should see why. 

This guy similar to many other staff in CFLRS had been deployed to Afghanistan and over there, I heard, either from him or other recruits, that their LAV was attacked and shot by rocket or something like that and he got knocked out unconscious. He was transferred then to a medical center and was treated for his injuries but I don't know anything about the detail. He said that when he came back, shortly after his return or later, I don't recall and it's not important, his wife left him for an Officer! Divorce is not so uncommon in Canada but the rate is high in CAF, it's said. Even staff told us that if anyone thinks of having a family life, he or she should consider not having one after joining CAF although many staff are married. That didn't surprise me. In a society that only 49% of the population lives as family, having a high rate of divorce, in an organization which requires its members to travel and displace a lot, is not such a big deal. 

I even heard, from another person that his second wife had left him too! So a person with such history cannot function normally and always looks for something to defuse his anger! 

I saw him once after I had already left the platoon. The thing I told him the second I saw him was: Sergeant It's so good to see you again! He had a very short pause, as he probably didn't expect that, and replied by saying: It's good to see you too! He then asked me how it was going. I told him that I was waiting to be released. He asked me if I had considered other opportunities within CAF, to name becoming an NCM. I was going to say: Are you freaking nuts!? Of course I didn't! If I'm not good to become an Officer, which is not much different from becoming an NCM in terms of the course, how would I be successful in becoming an NCM where the living conditions is harsher and the number of assholes in the platoon is much higher!? I simply told him that it had not been recommended by the members of PRB. He told me I could request that and I, in order to end the stupid conversation, with the one who repeatedly had told me to f... off(!), thanked him and he left! 

Nobody ever told me that I was not good and I should leave the school. He was the only one who said that several times and on different occasions. Now he wants me to become an NCM and says the pension is the same! He also yelled at me in the office, in presence of all the other instructors of the platoon and another platoon that I was there for pay-stub and the money comes from the tax he and other instructors pay! I didn't tell this sick idiot that I used to receive the same amount from the Government as my EI benefit and just by sitting at home! And I didn't say that I paid my taxes every year since I came to Canada as an immigrant and all these years that he had been paid, it was because of me and other hard-working people who paid their taxes that he could be paid! What would be the point of talking to an asshole like that. I hope he or one of the people who were in the room reads this.
Everything I indicated here is truth and nothing else, in case someone wants to use it against me. once when we were in Farnham one of the insane girls kicked me in the leg and I was limping for a while after that. When a staff asked me about the way I walked I told him and then the Platoon Commander had a little talk to everyone about that and asking people not to touch others unnecessarily. This aggressive psycho stepped forward right after that and said: If you are such a person who don't like to be kicked, get the f... out of here! And the Platoon Commander was just silent! meaning powerless. I'm sure if it had been me kicking a girl, I would have been in a prison cell awaiting my trail now!
This ignorant freak, when we were in Farnham as part of the training, referred to a scene from this stupid movie Starship Troopers where women and men are seen naked in the locker room! What he was trying to say was that we, the recruits who had been arranged to stay in three big rooms, males and females together, should be OK with that fact. There was actually no complain about it. I don't know what type of massage he was trying to convey but that was wired!
I easily can forget this maniac and I have already moved on but I'm sure he will have his issues with him to the day he dies and he suffers from them. I just feel bad for the other ones who might get the same treatment from him!
(Photo: A scene from the 90's cheap, stupid ridicules science-friction movie Starship Troopers. This was referred to by Sergeant P just to show what kind of ignorant fuck he is!)

Contradictory Feedbacks

I worked for these disgusting people through a freaking recruiting company. It was the exact example of TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. It was given to me quickly and they said there would be possibilities of a permanent job. I didn't want to work there permanently but just having a job to pay the bills while I'm looking for work is very helpful. 

I received positive feedbacks from the supervisor but I had mistakes too which eventually was faded away. I had an argument with an asshole as well but it was not serious but him and the two other fucking disgusting East Indians could be the reason why I'm not working there anymore. The last day of work I had a serious injury which was not the direct result of work and I was thinking of applying for one position which didn't require physical job but that was for a night shift position and I changed my mind in the last minute. I had to get he manager's signature for the application form and now I wonder that asshole, who gave me positive feedbacks and then asked the recruiting company to stop my service, would have said. 

It's over now and I have to get over it. It was a disgusting job, in a disgusting shift and far away from home but brought me a few hundred dollars and I felt secure for a few weeks. Now I'm back to job searching and have been trying to find something like that at least until the time I get a real job. Sucks!
(Photo: Private Joker, played by Matthew Modine, with his helmet and peace symbol button which is also asked by a higher ranking officer in the movie, is a good example of contradictory comments. I couldn't think o anything better and more popular than this for this post's picture)

A Briliant Work: Bowling for Columbine

It is an interesting coincidence that I found this movie, a documentary, called Bowling for Columbine at the same time that a maniac opened fire from his hotel in Las Vegas on innocent people who were attending a music festival. As soon as I saw Michael Moore on the DVD in Value Village, where we went to get something for The Chef, a few weeks ago, as I mentioned earlier, I garbed it because I was sure that Michael Moore doesn't make something which doesn't make sense. It's got to be good! And after watching the documentary I have to say that it really is good. It's a briliant documentary.

This movie actually show how wrong Americans are. This was made back in 2002 and who knows how many innocent people have been killed in the past 15 years because by maniac simply because stupid Americans do not accept the fact of gun control. I am not following the news these days to the same level I used to. First of all it's because I don't have a TV. Secondly it's because I don't live in a comfortable place that I can move around freely and do what I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I'm sharing a small apartment with others and it's like living in hell but what can I do while I don't have a stable and reliable work? It's the subject of another of another post later.

So the Americans, I found out after a little study, that they have different amendments to their constitution which is basically the Basic Law.

The fact is the US Constitution was created in Sep. of 1787, originally and then ratified less than a year after that. The constitution has 27 amendments! It seems that when they were writing the damn thing, they all of a sudden or during a period, they remembered they had forgotten a number of key subjects and then decided to add them to the document!

The second amendment, which by its placement seems to have a high priority in Americans' list, refers to firearm possession. It protects the right of people to keep and bear arms which was adopted in Dec. of 1791, three years after the constitution was ratified.

The reason for having such right has been described as the natural right of self-defense(!),  resistance to oppression(!), and the civic duty in concert (agreement it means here. Don't mix it up with the meaning of the concert in Las Vegas that poor spectators where mascaraed!) in defense of the state!

All the above reason, when they were included in the silly amendment, made sense more than 225 years ago but they all seem stupid and ridiculous at the same time, today. Is this so hard for Americans to understand that the law which was enacted more than 200 years ago, could not work today?! Apparently it is! It's the same fact with Muslims who want to include Sharia Law to Canadian and other countries' laws! A law which was probably good 200 or more than 1000 years ago, now belongs to garbage can! 

Let's look at the reasons that they refer to in order to keep the damn, stupid Second Amendment acceptable and enforceable:

1- Natural right of self-defence! That's what the police is for. Especially in a country like the US that there's no shortage of them: local police, FBI and many other law enforcement agencies. Maybe more than 200 years ago that would make sense but not now. Besides you have to find the root cause of crime and resolve that permanently. as much as possible, instead of giving everyone a gun and tell them to shoot when they file they should.

2- Resistance to oppression! This is the funniest amongst the three. What type of oppression are we talking about in the 21 century?!  Oppression that Black people use to be under? Or oppression that a woman might feel from her abusive partner? Either one, in today's world cannot remove that oppression buy using a firearm. If they conquer the oppressor, that would be only temporary. That does not the other oppressors from doing the same thing. 

3- And the last one, as stupid and ridiculous as the first two, indicates the time that people have to defend the state! Maybe not 220 something years ago but now the US has enough armed forces in different shapes and types that can engage in fight at five corners of the globe without being short on military staff.

So if that's why you people think you should stick to the second amendment, I have to say, that's stupid and has caused innocent people to die every years in big numbers. 

Michael Moore tries to analysis the situation and come up with this answer as why the number of people who are killed in similar incidents are more than anywhere else in the world and evaluates different hypothesis. But none of them answers the question. 

He also interviews different people in the film. From the parents of victims of Columbine High School to famous actors such as Charlton Heston and popular singers such as Marlin Manson. 

Moore in Heston's home interviewing him in a short part of the movie. Heston died 6 years after that at the age of 84 in his home in Beverly Hills, California, of course. Where else his residence would have been?!

The film is so great and you don't want to leave it until it's done but the short interview with the late actor Heston is very interesting. I knew from a Jim Carry clip, which was released, I guess 3 years ago, that Heston was one of the supporters of the Second Amendment and condemners of gun control. He was in the town that the high school shooting occurred in the State of Colorado just one day after the massacre, rose a rifle and said: I'll give you my gun when you take it from my cold dead hand! I always liked Heston movies and in fact two of them Soylent Green and Planet of the Apes are amongst my all time favourites but you should be an idiot to go to the town, where people have just lost their children to two maniacs and shout a stupid slogan like that. Moore asked him if he thought he should apologize to the people of Columbine. He left!

So this is the movie and of course I'm not going to narrate the whole story here. You've got to see it for yourself. 4.7 out of 5 and I deducted 0.3 because I would want him to have a longer discussion over the subject so the movie would be longer. Don't miss it.

(Photo, top: Moore's interviewing Marlin Manson in this scene of the movie. Manson was blamed to encourage violence in his songs! He answers the questions wisely)

Strange Experience with a Recruiting Agency

I don't know what the hell happened that the bastards at the freaking labour job I had called the damn recruiting agency and told them that they no longer would need me. I had a good performance and the supervisor was appreciative but I had a few faults too. However I didn't expect them to stop using my service. When I asked the agency for feedback they said that the company had indicated the slow work as the only reason while the last week everyone was told that they could register for overtime and of course I didn't because I didn't want to hurt myself. 

Anyways just a less than 2 hours after that I received another telephone call, this time from another recruiting company which I had applied for a similar position. I was scheduled for a face-to-face interview after a few minutes of talk on the phone. 

I went to their damn office the next day and it didn't start well. At the beginning I waited for about 10 to 15 minutes and then an ugly woman asked for my ID!! I didn't know what the hell they would need the ID but showed it to her despite my strong opposing feel from inside! Then I was given three stupid pages of test!! This was new. I had never had such experience despite the fact that my experiences with recruiting agencies are very limited and all bad! The previous one also tested me but that was only limited to some safety tips. This one even asked a number of stupid Mathematics questions that kids in primary school study them! 

I was really pissed and frustrated and wanted to leave everything and get the hell out but something kept me inside: Lack of job! They also had asked me to provide some information through their online system so that was why I really didn't like it. 

I finally finished all of the damn questions and this time the same routine questions, in a dace-to-face interview sort of conversation started. She was putting everything in the system while talking to me. 

The other thing which was strange to me was that they never asked me bank information but they asked for SIN and signing Federal Government and Provincial Government tax forms!! 

I still am trying to figure out whether there's a sort of scam or not because why the hell they would need that kind of information. The past recruiting agency asked for bank information and SIN and that was it. 

I finally left their office after almost 1.5 hours! Am I optimist about this? I don't know. I saw many positions posted by them but the woman said she would contact my references. The only thing left about this strange experience is I realized that while I was driving to their office I had received a telephone call but because I had turned the volume off I did not the ringing. It appeared that it was from a very well known company in North America that I had applied a good position from them. I called the number as soon as I sat in the car. I was told that I had been scheduled for a telephone screening the next day. Great! The rest of the story is subject of another post.
To complete this post I should add that while I was on the phone with the interviewer the next morning, I noticed that I had a message from those guys. When I checked it later it said that they had an opportunity for me. So I called them, As soon as I introduced myself, a woman said that she had assigned the job to someone else!! This, I never knew that would happen!! Totally insane and stupid but whatever it is, I'll forget about it and focus on other opportunities.

(Photo: I've never had a good experience with any recruiting agency. Every single job that I had, kept it for a long time and benefitted from it was inquired and obtained by myself but this time I thought perhaps I should give them a try. The result has been terrible so far! This is the form that I was asked to sign, among the other one. I think it was too soon for that)

A Great Opportunity

I was given an opportunity to present myself for a very good engineering position in the province this morning. It was a phone interview or as some call it, phone screening which took more than 1 hour. They, at times, don't bother continuing if they are not satisfied with primary answers but this one was probably one of the longest telephone interviews I've had so far. The call was dropped two times during the conversation and the person had to call me back.

I was told that I would be notified by the end of the next week. This was quite understandable for a permanent position in a somehow stable company but we'll see. I was a little surprised when I was called at the beginning considering the nature of the job but I assume I presented myself well enough in the resume. I hope my presentation during the screening was as well as my resume because no one would want to miss such an opportunity.

There's Always Fun with the Bum!

The Chef called me on Fri. evening and the minute I picked up and listened to him I realized he was drunk, as he usually is on Fridays! This actually is not a surprise to me. Many people work the whole week to get drunk on Fri. and Sat. This is part of the culture. We talked for a bit and that was it. I later found out that he had to leave his friend's, the one who they spend their weekends together drinking together in the public, for some reason.

Then later I received a call from an unknown number when I was in the bed, because I had to go to work the next morning. I didn't pick up but when I checked the message I found out that was him again! He had lost his phone again for the second time in the past two months! He gets drunk and he loses his telephone. I'm surprised that he has not lost his wallet. That would have been a disaster.

Anyways there was no word from him until Mon. morning that I received a call from an unknown caller. It was him calling me from a public phone!

Glass splinters are still seen inside the front light of the vehicle after 2 days passed the collision!

I knew he had lost his phone but I didn't know it was the only problem that he had been going through. Apparently he had an accident too, a sort that had made his car almost useless. So I met with him somewhere close to his place, considering he didn't have an operable vehicle. He also had asked me to bring him jackets I have. He wanted to get ready for the winter. After our lunch we went to his place, The Brave's basement and he tried both of the jackets on and like the cheaper one because, according to him, the other one, had very long sleeves which exceeded his tip of finger! He actually is right. Most of the jackets and shirts that I've purchased here in Canada have the same feature. I guess that's how they're designed to fit North American men!

Anyways after that I had a look at the vehicle. It was quite a conundrum! I still wonder how he managed to do that but I guess considering the factors of his impaired vision, particularly at night, his bad driving habits and his exhaustion from 10 hours of work, it's not very plausible (if I can use adverb Very before adjective Plausible[!!] which doesn't sound right grammatically, please correct me if you're sure!) to manage to do that. The front left fender is smashed, scratched and dented. The front bumper is twisted and pulled bellow the car, under the engine!! He said after he hit the car he continued driving because he was very tired (although he later went to the driver of the car and apologized and told him what he had done, although it's hard to believe how he found the neighbourhood unless it is on his usual route from work to home, which makes sense) and he was hiring this noise of something(!!) is being dragged underneath the car!

The Chef was trying to cut the bumper with this pair of garden scissors! Even now that I'm looking at this picture and remember the day, I can't stop smiling! Bumpers are usually made of a very strong plastic to be able to absorb the impact of hit without breaking and preventing more damage to the vehicle's front or back. It's impossible to cut them with such a lousy tool which is designed to prune the shrubs and cut thin branches!

I asked him to drive the car next to the curb and bring the front on the sidewalk so I can see underneath. The funny part at this stage of the story is that he brought the car up on the sidewalk exactly in front of a neighbour's house. I laid down on their lawn to be able to see underneath the car and that coincided with the arrival of the said neighbour! So when they stopped to see what was going on in front of their property they saw a car almost on their lawn and a man laying in front of it! It seemed that I was hit and thrown to their front yard! I don't know what other people's reaction could have been but this family comprises of dad and two young boys of East Indian origin, while looking at at the scene with wide open eyes said nothing after I stood up and told them there was an accident! They just looked and went inside without a word!

 I realized that the easiest way to solve this problem is to cut the bumper from where it was attached to the body. It was only ⅕ of the bumper. He, at this point, went inside and came back with a pair of Garden Scissors!! It might be hard to understand for some readers as how someone do not understand that a hard plastic bumper cannot be cut using a pair of Garden Scissors but if you read more stories of him, you appreciate that years of drinking alcohol and occasional consumption of narcotics have killed many cells in his brain and he is not able to function normally. Many things which make sense to normal people, must be explained to him extensively and at the end he still refuses that! In this case I told him that he would not be able to cut the damn bumper with the damn Garden Scissors but he not only rejected my idea but also started stomping on the tool to flatten it(!) as you know Garden Scissors are build with a inclination to them to make the job easier. 

The next plan was to tie a rope to the bumper at one end and a street sign(!) at the other end and back up slowly with the hope that the bumper is taken off. This plan would work if we had good and strong rope and nice and tight ties were provided but we lacked the first item. The Chef, instead used one of those elastic bands used for luggage, called Luggage Strap(!) and the result of disappointing, of course. At this point The Chef asked me if he should asked a couple neighbours couple who were smoking outside their door and occasionally giving us a look. I confirmed and he approached them and asked them if they had a saw. The guy had a look at the problem and indicated that he could cut it off using his Grinder. That was a great idea. He went inside to get his Grinder and Extension Cord and I turned around and put the car in a position that it was easy for him to access the bumper. He managed to cut ⅘ of the bumper. We thanked him a lot and I told The Chef that he would have to appreciate him somehow later by probably buying him something because if it was not because of him, we would have had to either tow the car to  mechanic shop to fix it or buy a Reciprocating Saw for some $150. 

That was the end of our exciting day! The Chef paid for the jacket and I left him to get ready to hit the sack as he had to wake up in 6 hours to go to work!

(Photo, top: I haven't been able to figure out how he hit the other car that caused the bumper to be folded inside and below the vehicle(!) and the fender to have such damage! Perhaps vehicle accident experts of CPS or NASCAR would be able to answer the question after extensive analysis!)

A Decision in 11 Minutes!

I received a phone call from a well-known company in Canada for the position I had applied for about a month ago. I was not very hopeful for that but I thought my resume was not too bad. There was a short interview for the $14.5 job although the original advertisement posted it as $14! You see? I'm in a situation that even a job with minimum wage, which was hiked a little more than a week ago to $13.6, would attract me(!) considering that my first job in Canada which I obtained in 02-Jan-2002, more than 17 years ago paid me $12.30! 

This reminds me of an episode of Seinfeld called Chinese Restaurant where all of the characters except Kramer (Who later complained about being excluded from the story) are in a Chinese restaurant, waiting to be seated. Jerry turns to Elaine and tells her that she goes to a group's table who are eating and picks an Egg Roll, eats it and walks away without saying anything, there would be $50 for her here! Elaine asks George weather she should do it. George goes: For $50? I would put my face in the soup bowl and blow!! 

So this resembles my story. I once had a job with $5000 monthly income and now am ready to do every freaking, nasty, stupid, labour job for a wage of as low as $15!!

Nevertheless I believe I answered all of the questioned honestly and very satisfactorily. My only mistake perhaps was telling the interviewer that I had a part-time job, not knowing that the job would be canceled with a telephone call within nearly 1.5 hours! Her responses were positive as well and at the end she said that I would receive an e-mail if I'm not selected for the position. 

Now that I think about it I believe maybe it was just a formality interview because the interviewer indicated that fact probably more than once and then when I later checked my e-mail I realized that I had been sent a message only after 11 minutes from the telephone call indicating that I was not being considered a candidate any more! The interesting thing is the message, from a very reputable company that everyone, I repeat everyone,, knows it in Canada was found in Spam folder! 

One good opportunity is gone because despite its low wage I'm sure there would have been other opportunities in near future or at least I could kept myself afloat for as long as I found a better job somewhere else. Bastards! 

(Photo: The scene from episode Chinese Restaurant of Seinfeld sitcom where Elaine portrait by Julia Louis-Dreyfus [who recently announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer] approaches the table of a bunch of elderly who are enjoying their dinner and is trying to pick an Egg Roll and leave without a word but can't. Hilarious episode like most of Seinfeld's one of the best comedies of the all time)

Inglewood Wildlands

I spent a little time today on my volunteer work. Now that I have to do this stupid and disgusting job, I need something to keep my brain active. It was a beautiful, although a little bit cold, day: Blue sky of Calgary and puffy white clouds! The scene that I never get tired of watching!

Then I thought I should take a break by going out (I was in a McDonald's) and see if I can take a few pictures. I found myself near Inglewood Wildlands after a few minutes. Such a gem in Calgary. 

I have been to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary twice and this is just next to it. I decided to go there instead of the sanctuary when I saw the sign. Although much smaller area but it still worth walking into. 

Apparently this place was the site of another refinery and then was turned to a so-called wildland, after the refinery was shut down, of course, by different organizations. 

This apparently had a significant impact on the neighbourhood. There is a row of houses just where the wildland is located. Imagine a tank farm in front of your house and tankers continuously commuting! That would have been a disaster! Now the neighbourhood is probably one of the nicest in the city. 

This is an areal photo of Gulf Refinery which used to be located in where Inglewood Wildlands are now. Gulf Oil Co. was a major global oil company between 60's and 80's which later was merged to Standard Oil of California which in turn, today, is what is known as Chevron in the business. Photo curtesy of Inglewoodwildlands.ca

This must have same story as The Old Refinery Park but I didn't find much on the net, not that I spent a day or something like that. I didn't spent a long time there as it's a small area, like I mentioned above. Besides I didn't have comfortable cloths and shoes on and a cold wind was blowing. Not to mention my pain in the left foot! Nevertheless I will go there again with my big camera soon to take more photos. It's recommended for anyone who like walking and light exercise. 

(Photo, top: This picture shows that the so-called wildlands is not to far away from the Downtown. Bing early October and a dry summer has turned the place to a red-orange-yellow festival of colours which is hard to picture using such a simple camera. It's hard to ignore the beautiful deep blue sky above)

The Amazing Story of District 9

There has been nothing work (like a horse!), job searching and occasional meeting with buddies (whom are not many at this stage of life as everyone is married and busy with the family or far away). This disgusting recent job of mine is killing me and there's nothing that I can do but resting, eating and some web surfing when I come home, before I hit the sack between, usually, 20:30 and 21:00! There's one more thing that at times, I make myself busy with: Movies.

I and The Chef visited a Value Village store in the city because he wanted to purchase a winter jacket and a pair of winter boots. I don't know why someone who has been working for one of the most stable industries in the country for the past 10 years, making $20 an hour, I assume, would be shopping at such a horrible place but that's the subject of another post. I happened to find a few cheap good movies in there, including District 9. I had heard about it several times and I and The Lady wanted to go and see it but it never happened. Now I have to say that it's an amazing movie and I'm glad that I finally watched it. I wish I had the opportunity to catch it on the big screen.

The important thing about the movie is originality of its story. The movie benefits from a very strong screenplay in a manner that it is unpredictable and to me is the most important feature of a movie. Apparently the movie is based on events which happened once in South Africa during Apartheid era but since I don't know much about that, the originality of the story is preserved for me, automatically. Blomkamp, the director is originally from South Africa but resides in Vancouver. So it makes sense for him to make a movie about his original country although he's Caucasian and we all know that Apartheid regime was a minority Caucasian ruling majority Blacks in the country which now is a chaos! Government of Canada Travel Advisory website considers South Africa a country which requires high degree caution to be exercised there during a trip. 

Blomkamp has considered both a sequel and prequel and I think both of them would be great ideas. The prequel would be the story of how alien are stuck to earth and the sequel obviously about the promise of the main character Prawn (that is what aliens are called in the movie as their outer skin looks like a prawn's) who said he would return in three years to save the mutated human being, the lead role of the movie. It must not be forgotten that the movie has won a Ray Bradbury Award, although by looking at the list of the winners in the past few years I got a little disappointed! 

District 9 is a movie which highly recommended for Si-fi moviegoers and probably others. I would give 4 out of 5 to the movie and will watch it again as I own the DVD now. 

(Photo: A sign next to the border of District 9 which states unity. It clearly addresses Apartheid in South Africa and looks like the movie is filmed in actual slums of a city in that country) 

Hard to Do Policing in Canada

I've applied for 4 police forces, yes four(!) throughout the country and have failed all of them at different stages! Here there are:

Province of British Columbia:

Two municipalities (of course I'm not going to name them to protect my identity)

- I failed Memory Test for and they rejected me.

- They indicated that they were not hiring at that moment! 

Another one which I'm not even going to name the jurisdiction: 

- I had a credit problem at the time and that resulted in my application to be rejected despite the fact that I had passed their main written test.

A Prairie province(!):

- I failed the written test(s) once and then passed the second time. I was interviewed before even being evaluated physically, which still sounds strange to me. I failed the interview and never pursued that career since. 

Now with that in mind, I guess I'm somehow lucky that I haven't been selected by any of the above to do policing business because all you read or hear in the news these days is officers being suspended, put on leave or administrative duties after they do something, during their daily work, which sounds a little too much especially if it involves firearms. 

Two police officers from CPS were just put on leave last week after one of them had to shoot a crazy man who had started fire in a 7-Eleven store and had threatened people with a knife! The officers used every other alternatives including talking and Taser. 

If the police is not supposed to use a firearm then why the hell you give it to them in the first place?! The firearm is for the members to use when they are in danger or a member of the public is, or a partner of them is, as well. The officers are trained and trusted to use them and I'm sure no officer would use that unless he or she is absolutely have to. So what the hell is the big deal that the media and some authorities make every time an officer discharges his or in rare cases her firearm?! 

Indian police is getting ready to serve the public with their long sticks! Even The Chef should me a story about them that I should probably post it here. That would be interesting to read! Perhaps the ones who criticize officers should will be happy if the police's firearm is replaced with Bamboo sticks! 

Just give CPS officers a long stick, like Indian Police and ask them to use that when a situation escalates! I'm sure the crime will go down! In the society that the crime is going up, and that's due to high unemployment rate and uncontrolled entrance of refugees, the police should be equipped and ready more than any time. Not crippled and paralyzed, like it almost is at the moment. CPS is in need of at least 50 more officer, the chief has just said and these idiots criticize officers who put their life in danger to protect the public and bring peace to the neighbourhoods of the City! 

Policing in Canada, I must say, is even different from the US. Forget about Third World countries! I had two encounters, in my entire life before immigration with police:

1- A VCR, and possibly a few other items once was stolen from my aunt's house (the crazy Aunt from my Dad's side! This just reminds me of who she was if I read this post years from now and can't remember her!). I don't know how I ended up being there to see what has happened! Was I with Dad or someone else? I can't recall! It must have been Dad. We went to the Aunt's house as they were on vacation, I guess, to see what had happened. The police was there and we were asked to go to the station to provide them with an statement on the actual owner's behalf. This part I remember clearly that as soon as we sat in the backseat, the driver turned so fast and erratically that I thought, for a second, that we would either hit something or turn on our side! He didn't have to do that because we were not pursuing any suspect or were in rush for any other reason. It's just the way police drives there! if they do that here, it will be all over the news and probably more than 50 clips would be downloaded to YouTube! We later on found out that it was the boyfriend of my aunt's adopted daughter who had stolen the VCR, on those days that having a VCR was something like having a Mercedes now! Not everyone can afford one! The guy was never arrested and of course the adopted girl moved on!

2- Our below neighbour's house was broken into. The police questioned everyone in the building, especially me, as I was the only young male there. They took me to the station and questions stated raining upon me! I remember that I was standing and there was a guy in front of me and another one at the side, sitting on a chair. While I was answering the guy in front, I felt something was stoke my butt! I turned back and that was the asshole who was sitting on the chair! These guys were obviously  both detectives because they were in plain cloths but I don't think their method was very advanced! I don't remember much about the rest of the session but I remember only that they released me because they knew it was a silly questioning from the beginning. They had no evidence. I guess if the police does the same here to a young boy during questioning or interrogation (or whatever fancy name should be given to it) it will be considered assault and the officer would be charged! 

I'm not saying the police should be more rough. They should only serious enough based on the law and the public should let them to do their job. They are all trained and swore an oath. And everyone makes a mistake, including the police. Just don't exaggerate. 

(Photo, top: A 7-Eleven store in Calgary, near Mount Royal University which was set on fire from inside by a maniac! The fire crew and the police car are seen)