The Feeling of Walking in -25 ℃

I went out this morning and it was really cold but it seemed that the extreme cold doesn't stop people from getting out. They go out but not on foot, mostly! They drive! And these days majority of people either drive an SUV or a van! There's barely anyone who drives  sedan unless he's broke or he has a modern sedan with good winter tires on. There are some in between. 

I wasn't out for a long time. I wanted to do a quick shopping and then spent an hour or two near the store in a McDonald's and worked on my volunteer job. 

In the evening though, after hours of sitting at the damn desk I decided to get some Olives for my salad. So I walked to a local grocery store for about 15 min. and bought some. It was not so bad. Then I decided to have a longer walk. That was not bad either. I was out in -25 ℃ (without wind-chill) for nearly 45 minutes! 

This picture is not clear but you can see the Owl almost in the centre

While walking on the sidewalk before getting myself to Bow River Pathway, I was about to pass a pillar and immediately after I passed, and looked at the corner, as this is my usual habit, I was taken aback! There was an Owl just sitting at that corner! It was looking at me and I was looking back while I couldn't get my eyes off its! I then stopped to take a photo of it but I was afraid to get close. If it had been injured or just simply sick of the extreme cold, it could have gouge my eyes out! So I took a photo from distance and the result (as you see here) is not great! 

I continued the walk and saw a few Snow Rabbits which is normal in the city even in other seasons. I wonder how they survive the winter as there's barely anything to eat. There was barely any cars on the roads. Let alone pedestrians! I was fine in trunk and arms and even feet and legs. The only part of my body which was feeling cold was my face. I didn't put my Balaklava on. The walk took between 21:35 and 22:20 which is probably not a very good time in this temperature, for an evening walk but it's not bad. Give it a try tomorrow night because that would be your last chance for a while. The temperature will be going up, according to Environment Canada (that you their forecast in the main photo of the post). I will have a walk again tomorrow and most definitely on Mon. There will even be a chance of jogging or skating on Mon. 

(Photo, top: Environment Canada's website shows tonight's temperature as well as the forecast for the next 4 days)

Is This the Coldest Christmas Ever?!

I'm sitting here at the desk and doing nothing but wasting time, mostly! I decided to have a walk in the afternoon and got around 14:00. It was brutal! I guess I was out for nearly 50 min. and I was about to be frozen. There was barely anyone out. I went to Bow Trail Pathway and there was a girl running(!) and a couple walking! That was it! Then a few more, maybe. The roads was empty too. I guess it was around -17 ℃ but if you consider the damn wind, it's much worse.

My memory is not really good these days but either I don't remember such cold or my brain cells are dying one after another!

Weather Network has a full detail about the local weather including the forecast. Here you only see the latest data.

 I know we are getting old. The Chef who usually does not show signs of weakness, complained about cold last night and even didn't want to go for a 10 min. walk. He refused to get together for the same reason today. It's hard to stay home even if you're with someone. I'm by myself and I can get myself busy but again it's mostly a waste. I need to plan for something for the next Christmas! That's why many people book hotels and tickets months in advance! I have never been on a trip during Christmas time and it never had anything to do with having or not having money. It never occurred to me. besides I hate waiting in long lines of airports. So perhaps if I'm going somewhere next Christmas that I would be driving a reliable car! 

(Photo, top: Bow River and part of Downtown Calgary from Mewata Bridge. I never knew what the steam is. This was taken around 14:35 today with the temperature of what I said above. It's of course colder now)

Christmas Eve Besides the Rivers!

I came back after eating at Five Rivers Restaurant with The Chef. We started going back to the place last week but last week their buffet cost us $10.5 each while this week went up to $13.65! We were told that it was because they had added meat items to the menu! The Chef tried some of those. I didn't. 

I went to a Mark's Warehouse in the west part of the city and came out empty handed because what I was looking for. I later though I had it at home(!) instead took this photo with the pile of snow in the parking lot. The photo also shows the slippery ground. Alberta's winter finally came after a week of disappointment

Anyways it was extremely cold in a way that The Chef wanted to go back home after the dinner. We walked to Apna Punjab grocery store (we didn't but anything and that was because we both were so full that we couldn't even think of any type of food) and then we wanted to go to McDonald's and hang out and have a hot beverage. He first refused but I told him I would drive although it was only 10 min. walk. He them agreed to go. He basically did not have enough on. Not for -17 ℃ cold, of course not considering the wind chill! We hung out there for perhaps 2 hours! 

The roads were quite and uncrowded on the way back but a little bit slippery. And now I'm sitting here and writing these while listening to some music. Such an exiting night!

(Photo, top: Whether Network shows Calgary's temperature around -20 ℃ around 23:00 tonight. It is forecasted that the temperature would not be so different the next coming days)

A Long Hiring Process With No Result

I called the company that has interviewed me twice, a few weeks ago and asked about the status of the position. I was told that no decision had been made and there were two more candidates who would be interviewed in the coming weeks. The lady who interviewed me over the phone said that. She also added that there was another position that she thought it would fit my qualifications better. She said she would forward my resume. That was more attractive to me considering it would be in Calgary. 

I sent an e-mail to her later regarding the position. No response. I then applied for the position directly, mentioning the discussion in the Cover Letter. No response again. I now am disappointed and hopeless. I guess I have to work harder. For that I have registered for a course which I'm taking it online. That is because the classroom version of that would take 2 weeks and I'm not in position to quit my job and attend the course. I'm hoping to finish that as soon as I can and then add it to my resume. I then need to go to another course, either online or in person but in the meantime two other things has come up. The guys that I'm working for, would like to keep me but I need to get certified to be able to use a tool and then I received an e-mail from a Federal Government agency requesting a document. I sent the document to them the very same day and their response the next day was that I would be invited to an interview but they have not mentioned any date. I talked to my buddy, A. F. who works for that agency and he said that it was not unusual for them to not mention the interview date and I would have to wait. I will while I'm working, I'm doing my certificate and I'm working my volunteer job!

Home Poor

The ultimate goal of every one in life is buying a property and enjoy the possession of that. Although it's much harder now but people still have the same mindset. I remember volunteering for this organization when I overheard a young girl, probably not older than 24 or 25, telling someone that she had purchased a condominium. I never thought of buying a property until recently and that was mainly because I never liked the job I was doing. I always thought if I don't like the job and one day had to quit, what would I do with the damn property!? Many may say sell it! But it's not always as easy as that. If you lose your job and the market is down and there are no buyers, you end up on  streets! I am also very conservative when it comes to purchases of big items. An example of that would be selling my brand new car back in 2006. I had a brand new Toyota which somehow I decided not to buy insurance for it for nearly 2.5 years!! Of course I got caught eventually and had to pay for it but I got scared and sold the car for $5000!. It only had  36,000 Km on it!

With that in mind I was listening to a lady at work who was talking to others and she used the tem home-poor, a term which I had not heard before that and what a great expression! It refers to the people who buy expensive houses, of course to show off, while they don't need it and that takes the majority of their income. Then they won't have anything left to spend on other aspects of life.
For me if one day I'm able to purchase the property, it will be in a fashion that I pay the majority of it in advance as down payment or I won't buy at all. Why the hell would I become a slave to a bank?! I'm already slave in this society, to many major companies and so on. That's enough for the rest of my life. After all living as a tenant doesn't bother me either as long as crackheads and assholes are not too many in the building and neighbourhood!

(Photo: A typical house in Calgary, in a neighbourhood which is considered good, somewhere in Northwestern quadrant. There is at least 30 min. drive to Downtown. It's either the price plunge or the distance from the city center because it is priced at nearly $600,000 while it has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths. I hope neither the owner nor the realtor get upset that I used this photo although some might consider that free advertisement!)

A Nice Catch

I and The Chef were in a Safeway supermarket a few weeks ago when I saw a guy jumped out of the door and grabbed a basket which was being carried out by a man! It was obvious that the man was steeling the food but I don't know what he was thinking taking the basket out! They would stop you even if you paid for the grocery and were walking out with the basket in your hand. I was looking and the thief (or shoplifter) smiled when the Loss Prevention guy caught him! He then simply walked away in bright day light and the catcher did not! I only grasped the story when the Loss Prevention guy walked backed into the store with the basket and I asked him what had happened. The thing is he did nothing after that. I guess this is common practice that when a person is caught shoplifting, they would let him or her ago as long as the item(s) is (are) available. The basket then was delivered to the Customer Service desk and I saw him explaining to the staff. 

However the climax of the story is here: When the basket was grabbed, a few pieces of cooked Chicken Wing was dropped on the ground. The guy collected them and put them back in their container! I bet the person who has bought that basket of food enjoyed that very much!
(Photo: This picture, taken later of course, shows where, approximately, the shoplifter was caught outside the door. It was somewhere near that white square. There still might be signs of that oily Chicken Wing on the ground! For those who may wonder, this photo is uploaded only because I believe a post has better meaning when it comes with a photo. At least for myself!)

Alien: Covenant, Not as Bad as It's Said

I finally got the chance to watch Aline: Covenant. I borrowed the DVD from the library. I was in CFLRS when the movie came out and never got a chance to catch it until this past weekend. The movie is not as bad as it's said. In fact it has new things which were not provided in the previous stories. There are other versions of Xenomorph and they are much scarier! Two synthetic persons, one from the previous story, Prometheus and one a member of terraforming group headed toward a specified destination face each other and eventually got in to physical altercation! That is the unexpected and interesting part but not the physicality of it. What is interesting is what the first robot, David from Prometheus, has done in the past 10 years, prior to the arrival of Covenant and what he has in mind and how he handles the new robot, Walter. 

In this scene from the movie, a new form of Xenomorph (which literally means something with unusual form) has attacked one of Covenant's crew

The movie has its issues too. The story is quite similar to Alien. Covenant is distracted by an unknown message just the way Nostormo did on its way back to Earth and they get themselves all in trouble. The crew, again, touch and smell suspicious things and get infected, just the way they did in previous movies. The way the story ends, it shows that there will another movie after that. I also have to mention that the end of the story is quite interesting but in order not to spoil it for others, I won't say what happens. This movie should be watched in theater but it is still good on big screen. I watched it on my PC which has a good monitor but it's not as big.  There is also lots of blood and gore and guts pulling out, probably more than previous movies. So if someone has any issue with that, he or she must be aware. I, myself, fast forward that cesarean scene in Prometheus but watch it the first time in a theater, of course! I would recommend the movie but I wouldn't give very high rating. The acting is just OK. I didn't see anyone as sharp as Sigourney Weaver, of course but Michael Fassbender performance is really good and he has two characters as I mentioned above. I would say the movie gets 3.5 out of 5 but I would definitely purchase its DVD. Maybe one day I get the chance to buy a big nice TV and could sit comfortably by my own and enjoy the movie!  

(Photo: Michael Fassbender and the brunet version(!) of Kristin Stewart, Callie Hernandez behind the scene of the movie. The lather has a small role in the film but she's beautiful. That's why this picture is selected for the post!)

Strange Latino Fella

There was this guy in the building gymnasium whom I saw during work-out a few times, last year. We eventually got to talking and exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers to become buddies. Something that rarely happens in Canada or perhaps I'm the one who had not experienced that. He, surprisingly, sounded a very nice guy. In fact too good to be true. We met for a coffee once and then he invited me to his apartment once. We remained friends until I went to Quebec for my training and that was where he helped me with my car issue.

We met once again after I failed finishing(!) the training. I was somehow deterred by his behaviour then. He said he wanted to do some religious program, something that I hate the most and then he had comments in regards to my career indicating that it was dead(!) and then the way he dresses is very displeasing and he goes to Starbucks! Fix your damn cloths and don't dress like a freaking hobo, then go to Starbucks and spend $3 on a coffee! In fact I paid for his coffee the first time we went to that damn unreasonably-priced place and then the second time he just bought himself a beverage and I sat there and watched him drinking it! What a cheap idiot! We talked about having a hike together and then he stated that waking up early and going at 05:00 AM would be hard on him, the same thing that The Hope had said, and that was when I decided to cut him off! I erased his telephone number from my telephone and his profile from LinkedIn and never called him! It might sound a little harsh but that's how I am! 

I bumped to him a few days ago while leaving a local supermarket! I knew he had moved out of the building but he had also told me that he had gotten another apartment in the neighbourhood. So chances that we cross each other is quite large and it happened! He, surprisingly approached me and gave me a hug! We stood there and talked for maybe 15 minutes! It proved to me that I needed him as a friend! I could have said goodbye and ran away quickly but I found that rude. We are supposed to meet again and when I told him that I've lost his number (which is a lie) due to a malfunction to my telephone, he called me on the spot and asked me to save his number! Is there anything wrong with me?! Maybe he's not strange at all. Maybe I'm the strange one!

A Beautiful Attack!

I came back to the vehicle of mine which I park near work one day around noon and I saw that someone had thrown a cup of coffee at it! The coffee was over the side door and part of the window and the cup was resting on the ground, next to the car, a Tim Horton's! 

No vehicle was parked in the stall next to mine. There was usually a Toyota Rav and I had seen the guy a few times and I even had a little chat with him once. I guess that was him because I never saw him after that day! 

I guess he either didn't like me parking next to him or didn't like my comment about him smoking! I sarcastically told him that he should have smoked more once! 

I still have that coffee splash at the side of my car and I will most likely won't clean it soon or maybe never! I have no covered parking and parking on the street no only exposes the vehicle to theft (which happened once) but also make it vulnerable for anything else from being scratched or having a part being broken, let alone constant dirtiness from rain, wind, dirt, snow, slush and so on. 

One other theory about this incident (as it's so important to analyse) is perhaps someone forgot his or her coffee on the roof and drove away. The cup then fell and made that mess. It's plausible because the coffee cup (as seen in the picture) is intact. The question remains as: Why the hell that guy has not been seen after the attack?!

(Photo: The cup, from this photo, seems to be full at the time the incident happened. Most of it is on the ground and partially on the front side door but as you can see the cup is solid and strong!)