Demanding Cheapskates!

A sort of gathering took place at work a few days ago. At the same time managers had a meeting. My assumption was that their meeting was to find a solution to the mess they are in, now! A major supplier has announced that they would not provide their products to the company any more. That probably means the loss of a number of customers although they are saying that they would replace the product with similar and better ones.

Anyways the company is nice enough to provide food to the employees when such occasions takes place but the employees want more! What happened was that everyone was fed on the meeting/presentation day. That must have cost a lot to the company. The food was just low quality food that you mostly find in restaurants in Canada, everywhere! To start Caesar Salad is the most common type of salad in Canada because it's very easy to make and it's cheap(!) and it's not good for you, as a salad is supposed to be, it's actually bad for your health! The only good thing it has is Romaine Lettuce! Then it has shredded cheese, which is not actually Cheese (supposed to be Parmesan Cheese)! It's a combination of different things, including Corn starch(!) and a sort of flavoring which makes it taste like cheese! Then Croutons come to play which are the worst! Just lump of cooked White Refined Flour dough with additives and preservatives which who know what it does to your body! And of course some dressing which most of the time is Ranch. One could only imagine how they make that dressing! So I had a little Caesar Salad but carefully separated the Croutons and got rid of them! Then there was another very easy food: Mashed Potato! All you have to do is to boil the damn potato and add some milk or butter, I think. They don't even bother skinning the potatoes! But it was delicious. And last but not least was Barbecued Chicken, one of the worst that I've ever had anywhere in the world! It was dry, bland and even hard to cut!

With that in mind you should have seen how people attacked the damn food! The Japo had a pile of Mashed Potato and 4 pieces of chicken on the top of that! This disgusting as*hole is a disgrace to every real Japanese, Canadian and human being, in general! The other ones didn't know how to eat(!) ,with their mouth or nose! They were just stuffing themselves with the items! I guess that's what happens when people have no clue what a good food is. If they are accustomed to this type of food their whole life, what can you expect? The thing is they never attempt to cook or try something different. 

At the end of the day, although scavengers ate a lot(!) there were still two trays of chicken and probably a few plates of mashed potato. I know people had plans for that. Many didn't bring lunch the next day. I had my regular home-made salad. At noon The Japo. went to the kitchen to get food. I saw him being approached by one of the managers and was asked to leave! That was awesome! These as*hole always acts like a disgusting cheapskate, trying to get free food from anywhere possible! At the age of 55, aren't you ashamed of this disgusting behaviour of yours? I saw him coming out of the kitchen with a handful of full cans in the early morning and he's sick! Soda is not good for even a healthy average person. You're sick and you're filling yourself with Pop?!

Then it was The Farm Boy's turn! He was furious because he had been told what happened to The Japo! He said that he becomes cranky when he doesn't eat when he's supposed to and I couldn't stop laughing(!) but not in front of him of course. He was cursing and I made sure I'm not anywhere near him because he could do something really stupid! He stared going at the managers and called them f*cking cheap bastards(!) while in my opinion he was the cheap one! The company has already fed you once and now they're negotiating an issue which could easily affect your future and for that they're asking you to stay away and that's the reaction from you?! I suggested him to grab an Oatmeal Cookie which was left from the occasion but he said that he couldn't eat cookie for lunch! Eventually The Japo saved the day by saying that sandwiches were provided and people could go and eat! But I guess it was little late because most of them were gone and I don't know by whom! The Farm Boy came out of the kitchen with a sandwich in his hands and insisted that I should take half! I refused and he insisted! I eventually decided to take half because he almost was out of control! It was chicken and bacon and it was delicious but obviously not good for me but it was not much. I looked at The Farm Boy and he was sitting on a table and not really unhappy! Fortunately I didn't have to deal with him for the rest of the day because I had an appointment and I got the hell out of there! It's very hard for me to understand these type of people at time. It seems that they have no dignity and no pride. 

(Photo: For this post I have no picture of my own because I never made Caesar Salad at home. So I'm using someone else's and I hope he or she doesn't mind!)

Feb. '19 Demonstrates the Real Canadian Winter

It's now proven that this winter is what a real Canadian winter is supposed to be: Really cold, strong wind, off and on snow, temperature barely going up -15 ℃ (5 ℉), slushy, icy and slippery roads, lots of accidents on roads, you name it! This has started in the last week of Jan. and is still going on.

What's interesting is the people who are born here or have been living here for years! They still get themselves into accidents! How don't you understand the winter driving condition after living your whole life here?! That baffles me!

(Photo: As much as I understand the cold, I was quite surprised to see these two magpies sheltering under an arch while walking by an apartment complex) 

The Course

In order to start this position that I have been after for more than a year(!) now, I needed to pass a sort of course which was not hard but included assignments that must have been submitted based on a schedule. I missed a few and that was due to tiredness, not that they were hard to do or anything similar to do that. The instructors, then came after me and asked me what the hell was going on. I told them about this stupid job of mine but he didn't buy it.

I finished the course with not a very bad result. They even asked me to write a test and I did that too. No problem. Now I'm at this stage that have to go to the training center and a handbook has given to me to prepare myself. That includes the items that I have to purchase to be able to do my training there in the academy. I'm not even going to spend a Dime until I get the final green light which I haven't received it. With all this shit job and ridiculous salary, not to mention the as*holes that I have to deal with, at times, nothing makes me happier than going to a training for a stable, permanent and quite well-paid job but it's not going to be easy. I know.

(Photo: It was not a difficult course what I had to do through a website. The website itself did not made it easy to navigate around at the beginning but then got better)

The Farm Boy

A new guy joined us in late 2018. A crazy one! And when I say crazy, I really mean it. I didn't realize that at the beginning. I ignored a few stupid jokes of him and then a unreasonable complaints and inappropriate behaviors. Until I came to the point that one day he gave me finger after almost charged at me. I went to the supervisor and told him the story. Not that I wanted to do that but I had to, especially in this situation that I'm in, and I will write about it later, perhaps in the next week, I can't afford to go through anything as stupid as a psycho Farm Boy! The supervisor asked me if I wanted to have a three-way conversation and I said no. I for no reason wanted to be in a room with that idiot and listening to his nonsense! I had listened enough! 

The supervisor, unwillingly, then called The Farm boy and he, while approaching yelled: This guy doesn't follow any work-place rules! Why I said the supervisor was reluctant to call the guy is because they're both Caucasian and that guy basically works like a horse! In a society that money is of the utmost importance no matter what kind of personality and behaviour you have. As long as you get the job done, no one cares about anything else. I'm good at what I do but not to the level he is. He has worked like this since he was a teenager and it's nothing new for him. I, on the contrary, had many issues when I stated this job, physically and mentally. Most of them are gone now but I still make mistake and that's because I'm not 100% focused. 

They talked and the supervisor didn't give me any feedback. The next working day or so he called me to his office and said that The Farm Boy had handed him a written statement indicating that I have made inappropriate remarks in regards to a new employee who looks to be African! It was of course a lie and a desperate attempt to ruin my reputation! This in fact is a joke! I have been subject of racism myself throughout all these years! Now I'm making racist comments!! 

I told him that it was a false statement and he seemed to be convinced that The Farm Boy had lied to him. I suggested to provide him with what had happened between us so far and he agreed as he had asked me for that previously. So I went and wrote a report of what this psycho has done so far. I was almost 3 pages! When I handed that to him the next morning, he was taken aback! But what's more interesting than that is before he came to work on that day The Farm Boy approached me while I was working and extended his arm and apologized to me! I accepted that because I'm not a shit-pump∗(!) especially in this situation and I told him that we were cool and that's water under the bridge. So when I told that to the supervisor he was surprised as well but after reading my report, in the afternoon of that day, he told me that he considered those things seriously and if anything like that happened again I should go talk to him or the manager. 

It might be a surprise to a reader as why The Farm Boy stepped forward and apologized. All I can say is that the first working day of the week after the incident when I saw him first at worked I said good morning to him and he said that back to me. We had just a few words exchanged that day and those were all work related and that was the day that the supervisor told me about his (false) statement. The next morning he said good morning to me and I replied and then he came and apologized. 

Everything has been good since then but I talks and behaves the same towards others. It hasn't come to the point that someone complains about his but I'm sure it will. For me if everything works well, I will be out of that work-place in less than a month and of course I haven't told them yet but that would probably be a surprise to them. I'm being careful with him and avoid him as much as possible. For example I used to have my lunch in the lunch room. Now I sit somewhere else just to avoid him! That's the best method to handle crazy psychos!

 ∗ A term used in CAF and it refers to the people who cause more trouble of an already troubled situation by extending that. 

(Photo: For this post I decided to use a picture of a farm not in Canada, in case there are people who like to use a photo, for absolutely no reason, against me! Enjoy!)

The Second Week of Extreme Cold

The extreme Arctic cold in Calgary, and most of Alberta, has entered its second week now. I, most of the time didn't have any problem. Nor with my clothing, neither with the car. Yesterday was really bad though! I went out early and it was -29℃ without windchill (-20.2 ℉). I started the engine. Boom! One twist and that was it. The car made a bad sound but started without any issue but I was really cold! Then in the damn coffee shop I was cold as well and even two large cups of coffee didn't help. Walking outside was just out of question unless you had at least three layers of thick cloths. 

I spent the rest of the day at home! I guess that's what most of the people did. Today morning though was not as bad. It's amazing how a few degrees of Celsius make a difference. I got out at about 08:55 and the roads were so quiet! Even the disgusting McDonald's which is a hangout for homeless, drug addicts, mentally challenged poor people and similar was not busy! The coffee, must be mentioned, is good!
(Photo: I've used my car's thermometer as a picture for the blog, I think. This always shows 2 degrees about the actual temperature. It doesn't need any more explanation)

The New Canada Food Guide

The new Canada Food Guide was released in Jan. and the first reaction to that was a fuss from parts of agriculture industry(!), a usual Canadian reaction to an event, I would call it! Canadians, the majority of them, from what I have experienced in the past 15 years or so, get excited very quickly for the things that my reaction to them would be NOTHING! An example of that would be my friend's. A. F., reaction to me passing an interview with a Provincial Government subsidiary organization a few years ago. He thought I would be going all the way and would get the job. He asked me if I was excited?!! I answered why I would have been to be excited!! It was not that I was in the back of a truck behind a Dshk (ДШК) waiting to shoot at ISIS positions!! I knew that more steps needed to be passed to get to the position. I only had passed 2 stages at the moment. I later were thrown out from the list of the candidates simply because a reference had not confirmed me to be a good candidate for the job which by the way a fact. I knew that myself but being desperate and out of job for a long time had driven me to that application. Nevertheless that was just an example.

The new guide focuses on fruits and vegetables as well as whole grain and indicates that protein should be obtained from, mostly, plant based sources. This for a country that only one province of it, Alberta, has nearly 16,000,000 cows, cannot be a good news but the fact is nobody cares. In fact the number of people who know that Government of Canada even have issued something called Food Guide is not big! There're people who go to McDonald's and other fast food joints every simple day. 

For a Filipino who had to eat dogs to survive or for an African who had not even seen Hamburger in his life before coming to Canada or for a Vietnamese who, if had ever eaten meat, it would have been Pig, going to a McDonald's and similar and eat the nasty, disgusting crap that this joint and others provide is not only pleasing but also a sign of pride! They in fact take pictures of themselves and send it to their people of their village to show how modern, Westernize and happy they are! 

The fact is food is only a factor that affects longevity and health. There're other factors to consider: Genetics, stress, you name it. I personally do not think that the guide is bad. It has its flaws but certainly have good point. I assure the beef producers and fast food joints in Canada that they should not be worried about their sells and profit. No one cares about the food guide and anything similar, including Canadians. Everyone just want to dump something in their belly and that's it. As long as something is available, who cares what it does to the body! And many of those things are available at every corner, shopping mall, airport, school, you name it. 

(Photo: A shelf contain processed food in a popular grocery store in Canada. With foods that cheap and ready to eat who would cook or check to see what Government of Canada says about eating?!)

This Cold is no Joke!

After spending a little time outside yesterday, just for shopping and grabbing a coffee, I decided to have a walk outside today in the afternoon. I hate wearing anything underneath my jeans but a pair of underwear but this time I wore a pair of running pants as well! I put on my Heated Jacket, two pairs of gloves, a toque and a hat over it and I thought I would be fine.

Wrong!

I couldn't stay out for more than, probably 10 minutes and waling didn't help either! I got the hell back in the car and drove back to home! Temperature in the afternoon was around -27 ℃ and considering windchill about -34℃ (-16.6 ℉ and -29.2 ℉respectively!). It was no joke! Frostbite occurs in the matter of a minute they say. Gotta be really careful.

(Photo: The valley that Bow River is going through in western part of Calgary with the sky jump of Canada Olympic Park in the back. I intended to have a walk in the area. It was finished only after 10 minutes!)

The Beautiful Winter of Alberta

The adorable winter of Alberta finally arrived this week. The temperature is going down significantly and now it's near -20 ℃ (for Americans I should say it's -4℉). It started in east and now it's arrived here. I was out in the morning as I had a physiotherapy appointment and it was intense but not so bad if you have enough. I'm going out for a little shopping and would like to see what the reaction of people is.

This is what the forecast says. It's going to be a beautiful week. All the temperatures are in Centigrade

Alphonse e-mailed me a few days ago from California and asked me to be careful! What a nice fella!

Mon. would be interesting! I have to be at work fairly early, as usual, and I wonder how the traffic as well as the business would be. 

(Photo: A row of snow-covered threes at the banks of Elbow River cannot say how cold it is but certainly shows the beauty of the winter. Unfortunately I'm busy these days and do not have much chance to go out for photography or anything else. Maybe later)