The Quickest Hiring Ever!

Canadians, mostly, when it comes to labour job, they all become nice and friendly to you because they want you to do that. They don't like to see you in suit and tie and nice dress shoes, clean shaven with a nice hair cut, driving a shiny car. They want to see you below them: Shabby cloths, hard labour job which doesn't give you any opportunity to do anything else rather than eating a shit meal and going to bed for the next day's work, wrinkly and sad face, you name it. That's how Canadians like to see you in this country and I've written about that before. 

With that in mind I had applied for a job of that nature a little more than a week ago and I received a call from a lady in regards to that, last week. She invited me to an interview to a town near Calgary. I always wanted to live in a town at least 30 minutes outside the city limits and I thought that would be a good opportunity to start a job and then buy a nice and comfortable property there and get rid of this nasty city!

I was there on time and it was a huge facility. I was greeted by the receptionists and it didn't take a long time that the lady showed up. She asked a number of question and soon realized that she didn't have to ask the rest! She then took me for a quick tour. The job looked horrible, quite similar to what I did a few weeks before but the facility was ten times bigger! She then introduced me to a big guy with a chain and a pair of cold blue eyes! We had a little chat and passed me back to the lady. She then asked me to do a drug test and that was quick! There was a device and I didn't even have to go to a laboratory or something! I had to do the test twice because the first time it did not come out and even though I did that two times, it didn't take more than 20 minutes and done! I was drug free. I was let go after that and in less than half an hour I received a telephone call from the lady and I was told that I had been hired! 

It seems to me that they need people for their busy season which is coming up soon. They hire a herd and then kick them out, most of them, one after another and keep the favorite ones. You may wonder who the favorite ones are. I tell you. First of all they keep Caucasians for their key and easy jobs such as supervisors and lead-hands as well as lift-truck operators and maintenance and repair guys. Then there will be the turn for Africans. They work like a horse and they even eat less than a horse! They need no shoes, no PPE and even no cloths! All you have to do is just to show them what to do and they imitate until you tell them to stop! The third place belongs to Punjabi Indians. These people are the favorite of all, but of course fall one step below Africans. A Punjabi is quick similar to Africans with a few minor differences: They need no haircut, no shaving, no shaving cream and razor, no soap and shampoo, they only eat a small bowl of Lentils or Chickpeas and they are happy like they are eating in Gordon Ramsey's restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada!  

Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Los Vegas Boulevard. I've been to the city but not to the restaurant but I will go to the city again and I will for sure visit the restaurant if it is still up and running  

I still have a few days to decide if I want to work in that miserable place or I prefer to work in the miserable place that I am at the moment! I also have an upcoming interview, again for the same type of shit job but what can I do? After more than 2 months all I have had so far was two interviews for my own field and both led to nothing. I have to get settled and earn some dollars to get back to regular life. 

(Photo: I selected this cartoon, courtesy of the artists, because the interviewer asked me if I had to deal with a difficult customer. I told her that I had to deal with a difficult co-worker and pointed at The Farm Boy story)

Interviewed by a Weird Guy

I received a call from a company shortly after I applied for a job yesterday. She provided a little explanation about the job and then invited me for an interview the next day. I left home early but silly me I didn't take the damn address! For a moment I was going to change my mind and leave the area but I thought and remembered from looking at the map that their office/facility should be behind the buildings that are facing the main road and there they were! 

Fortunately I was able to be there on time because there's nothing that I hate the most is being late for an interview, an appointment, a date or simply just meeting with a friend for a coffee. I waited and shortly after my arrival this guy opened the door and entered and asked me if I was __ and shock hands with me. He truly did not look like what I had imagined about the interviewer because the lady who had called named a Caucasian guy but this guy looked Oriental. I know that many people change their name here but still he didn't look like him because the surname of the interviewer was Caucasian. 

He then took me to a dark(!) room and started the so-called interview. He asked me what my background was, a question that you're not allowed to ask the candidates here but I didn't mind it at the time. He told me that he was from one of a former Soviet Union republics in the Asian part and said something in Dari! For those ones who don't know Dari is a language spoken in parts of Afghanistan and has similarities with Persian. For those one who don't care, sorry that I brought it up! He then started questions about my previous job and indicated that we were from the same background and it will be better to work together! He asked me where I worked in the old country and as always I had an answer in my mind and then he asked how long I was with them! I immediately invented(!) a number! He said that he knew the company as he had been to the country a few times. I don't know what those question have to do with this job but I answered them all politely! 

The he showed me around. The whole office and warehouse was as big as a family house! I doubt they even have a lunch room or something even close to that. I guess the whole company is ran but a total of perhaps 8 to 10 people! 

We then went back to the same room and he continued giving me speeches about how hard I would have to work, how he fired the people who had not fitted in the company and bullshit like that(!) and he kept repeating himself! He then started asking more strange questions such as how old I was, if I drank alcohol, did I have any allergies(!) and other wired things but I ignored him again. Then he, again repeated the very same things that he had said 15 minutes prior and before our tour of the facility until he got tired, I guess! He said that he had 20 more candidates that he would have to interview and then he added that would have to talk to his boss, the guy that I originally had to be interviewed by. Then he asked if I could start tomorrow? I told him that I would have to see a physician but I will give the clinic a call to see if I can postpone that. He agreed and asked me to call him after contacting the clinic. We shock hands again and I left. 

At home I was talking to my damn service provider about my plan and he appeared on the screen because I had added his number immediately after getting it! I told him that I was about to call him because the clinic had postponed my appointment. He said that he had talked with the " big boss "(!) and I could start tomorrow! He congratulate me and asked me to bring cloths and everything I needed. I accepted while he never mentioned anything about the wage or contract. He, however, indicated that it was their busy season as they serve some specific businesses (He told me what it was but I prefer not to reveal here as all these writings are posted with minimum detail about the persons, businesses and industries). I think he was lying to me that there would be an opportunity to work for a long time there. I think he had to work himself and now he is trying to find someone to do the job and then get rid of him but I don't mind it. I keep looking for work and in fact I just had another call for another interview and this one is a huge company. I will go and work there until something better is found.

(Photo: The Asian part of the former Soviet Union which is now part of The Russian Federation is seen in red in this map. There are small and big countries there and they mostly have good relationship with Russia. The majority have Turkic-family language but of course speak Russian as well) 

All the Missing Opportunities

I decided to have a ride today in the afternoon. So I went to MEC and checked my bike. It had just been deflated. There was a nice girl there who inflated both tires and didn't even charge me for that. The past few days have all been very nice and best parts of the year for hiking but I'm stuck at home due to unemployment and having just a little saving to survive. I thought a like cycling would be better than staying home all day long. I also thought of all the job opportunities that I have missed so far and how they could have changed my life but at the same time I didn't think too much because it's not helpful. 

The pedestrian overpass close to 32nd Avenue NE. The camera did a good job

I took a pathway and first went parallel to Bow River and then parallel to Deerfoot. I also tried my new phone and I really liked it. I got Blackberry KeyOne from Staples and its awesome! I wanted to try it camera. It really shows that's a good one. Now that I need to send my camera to Canon in Ontario, at least there's something in addition to my little Sony that I can rely on, in case I need to take a good photo. 

(Photo, top: Deerfoor Tr. close to 32nd Avenue NE)

Messing With My Friend

I decided to try a trick on The Brave after his speech(!) was provided but he didn't buy it! My telephone died right after his long talk and first I couldn't turn it back on and then took the battery out and restarted it! What I realized after that is that my telephone call to him had not been listed! It is something completely strange! The problem with the damn telephone being turned off by itself, is not very uncommon but a call not being listed, I don not believe, is normal. 

In order to see if I can pull this sort of trick, I called him and told him what had happened! He indicated that everyone's telephone call is being recorded but added that we had not done anything and he was just expressing himself based on available facts! Was he scared? I can't tell. Perhaps not but here as long as you don;y say certain thing and just criticize the government or say unheard news or similar, no one gives a damn. Then he went on and on for another 15 minutes on the same topic. Luckily he switched to the topic of needing help for his place's renovation and the conversation ended soon! Too bad that I couldn't scare him a bit!
(Photo: Indian security forces in Srinagar. The recent conflict in Kashmir has been the topic of discussion. Note the stick holding by the fella in the middle of the picture. The Chef tasted something similar to this years ago!) 

Was Interviewed by Sexist Bastards!

There was a position posted in a website about two weeks ago which looked like a perfect match for me and I applied for it, like many others. I didn't hear anything from the guys and after a week saw the position was posted again. Considering that the name of the company, their HR person and their telephone number was available, I called to see if they have hired anyone. A man answered the phone and said that no one had been hired. I asked if the HR fella was available and he said that he would be available after the meeting that he was attending at that moment. I told him I would be there in the afternoon.

The company is located in the industrial part of the city. I waited a few minutes and then the guy showed. He acted nicely and politely and asked me to wait, sitting in a room for a minute. He came back with another guy, both holding a copy of my resume. They both were in the same age range, late 50's, early 60's. Questions started and they were both very nice and friendly, smiling and taking short notes. The conversation somehow then was directed to the point that the first guy, the HR fella said that the other one didn't want to hire any woman! That was when I realized why a man had answered my telephone call! I was quite surprised that in a country which they talk about diversity and homosexuals and other " different " sort of people, these two talk like this and the company in fact doesn't have any female employee! I understand that they are both old and still live in the 60's and also understand that most of these nonsense that the government and organizations are saying are just for the show but I still had difficulty to believe that! It doesn't have anything to do with my interview but the other thing that the guy said was that the first time that he had seen my resume, he considered me over-qualified and all then many of the questions he asked was somehow to see what my background was and prove that he was right! He asked me what I had done before I started working that warehouse job and then he told me that their wages were not too high! In the meantime he added that there were many people in the company who were ready to retire and the guy in charge of the position that I had applied for, was willing to move to another department. They told me they would contact me as they had to talk to other people in the company and I left. It's a weekend now and I was hoping them to call me on Fri. and tell me to start on Mon. but seems that they went with " Overqualified " conclusion that they had. 

(Photo: The issue of sexism is ordinary in male dominant societies such as Iran, Afghanistan, most of Arabic-speaking countries and many southeastern Asian countries. Canada and Western countries, have made some progresses in that area bu they still have many issues)

The Brave Offers a Job!

The Brave called me the other day and asked me how job searching was going. I immediately realized that he needed something because he only calls when he is in need of something, most of the time! If he needs his driveway to be shoveled, new items that he has purchased to be moved or his pets to be fed! But it's OK. He's a nice guy. I told him that job searching was not going well and I still was looking.

He said that he had a job for me and that was taking care of his sick kid. He had offered me the same job when I just had come back from the CFLRS but I refused at the time. This time, I'm in a much worse shape. I didn't get paid basically anything during the failed training and it has been over a month and a half that I have been looking for a job but nothing has been found. However I decided not to accept the position. Not because it's only two days a week. It's because it's very difficult to deal with that boy. If anything happens to him and it's possible, my ass would be on the line. Therefore when he called I told him that I needed to think about it and my excuse was the online course I'm taking.

I have seen how this poor young man behaves in the public. It could be difficult to control him especially now that he has grown and became heavier. He eats like a pig at times and does not have much activity. Once we were at a restaurant and he started acting crazy. He kept called the waiter and asking for 7 Up! The guy was going to get a can and The Brave told him that it was not good for him! And the boy kept saying! He would jump up the seat and would yell: 7 Up! And the poor waiter would come back. The Brave eventually lost his cool and threw a kick at the boy from underneath the table! The boy, in return, and he's smart in this part, shouted and pulled his legs back to avoid the hit! Then he was calm for a bit and we finished the meal and went to the counter to pay the bill. The Brave let him loose(!) and I looked back and the boy was at a family's table gazing at them with a big grin on his face! They were wondering what was going on and what he wanted. The Brave went and got him! I think he even explained what it was and what the problem was with the poor boy but it was like talking to the wall! We were in an ethnic restaurant that people are amongst the most ignorant in the world! So I don't even know why he bothered with explaining the boy's problem!

Young Iranian soldier at Iranian-Pakistani border pointing his Avtomat Kalashnikov at an unseen target. The two countries have had conflicts but it has never been very bad. It appears that they have gotten closer and friendlier recently. 

With that in mind, I would never go for a job like that even if I'm paid $100 per day which I think he said was for only 4 hours. It always is like that. It is 4 hours and every day there's something that extends your hour and you get stock and you don't get paid for the extra hours. This is in addition to the problem that the boy has. 

I made my story and called him yesterday to let him know that I do not accept the job. To my surprise he was calm and accepted my rejection! I said that I appreciated he was trying to help me but I had registered for this course and paid more than $2300 (which is true) and only have a little to finish it. He was OK with it but then he started his delusional stories! First he said that I should join Iranian Army! I, first thought that he was joking but he was dead serious! I didn't get why he was saying that. He was mentioning the recent conflict between India and Pakistan and connected that to Jews and then Saudi Arabia and Israel and Bangladesh and finally said that there will be soon a nuclear war! 

He was going on and on and I occasionally would confirm by simply saying " Yeah " or laughing as he was laughing or showing signs of sympathy! I try to stop him a few times but it was not easy. I finally managed to say goodbye. He invited me to his place again, and I know that is genuine but I told him that I don't feel right to go there and disturb his family. I think he likes that I agree with him and listen to him as not many people do. Sometime I like to go there but both his stories and his sick boy could be a nuisance! 

(Photo, top: This map shows the conflicted area between Pakistan and India. The two countries, which used to be one, by the way, have fought wars to gain control over this region, a number of time in the past 50 years or so)

$15.5 an Hour after 18 Years!

I decided to try one of the recruiting companies which I actually had not had a good experience with after sending numerous resumes out and getting only two non-resultant interviews!
The outcome was even worse this time! I was introduced to a nice company by them 2 years ago but despite my efforts I was asked not to continue because according to the company guy, I was different from anyone else! This time the start time and the shift sounded good but the wage was only $15.5! Considering that minimum wage in the province is $15, it was really stupid and cruel but I wanted to give it a try. So I was there on time and it was a rundown and old building. I compare it to the past job. That company supplies to a major American retailer and can't even be compared with this one which mostly the broke and deadbeat go to!
What I had to do was simply unloading trucks from numerous boxes they carry. It was a very tiring, repetitive job with no scheduled break and mandatory unscheduled overtime! I was supposed to finish at 15:30 but I finally left at 17:00. The guy, a short Punjabi with a half-wrapped(!) turban wanted me to stay and clean first but then let me go! The supervisor/manager was obviously a Caucasian guy who barely showed on the floor. I guess only twice. He asked me if everything was OK before he left and I said it was. He said he would see me on Mon. They were in need of people because Christmas is approaching and most of the retailers are getting ready for the season. So I guess it was not very pleasant for them when I didn't show up on Mon. although I had called the night before. The problem with this disgusting companies and the trashy recruiting company is that they hire people with minimum possible wage and make them work for Christmas and then kick them out.
I was so tired that I barely could move after 10 hours of working. So I decided to deprive them from having the pleasure of my work. At least the asshole, greedy, bastards had to work understaffed for one day, I'm sure. The funny thing is on the day I worked, the supervisor, the old Caucasian fella held a so-called meeting and told the guys that they had to work faster! He said that it didn't make sense that they stayed overtime every day! Not sure if that helped or not but I doubt it did. I'm just getting a bit better today. My back was hurting the most because of bending so many times. One guy, an asshole, from the recruiting company called me and asked me why I had not gone to work. That was not the guy who hired me. I realized that he had gone when I e-mailed him because an auto reply indicated that he would be away. I explained to the guy that I had called both them and the damn company but he said that was not enough(!) and he terminated(!) my job at the distribution center and added that no more work would be given to me by them! The first part I didn't understand because if I indicate that I'm not willing to work for a client, what does cancelling y agreement for working for them means! The second part I understand but I don't just give a rat's ass! I should've told me but I'm conservative.  Perhaps one day I need them again but first I have to be crossed out from their Black List!
(Photo: Ever wonder why Canadians love Black people so much? Because they're good labourers. They work hard, like a horse, with minimum wage, in worst condition and with no compliant. No offence but if you're intelligent and try to get something that Caucasian Canadians do, it's not so easy. One of the main guys over there, beside a few others, was a Black fella who worked like a robot. I could never be like him. Refer to my post in regards to when Canadians will like you!)

Holy Cross Mountain Hike/Scramble

I made a number of bad mistakes for this last hike of mine; The hike/scramble/sliding down(!) of Holy Cross Mountain, in Kananaskis, Alberta (in case someone from outside the province is reading this, and wonders where it is located which is very rare and even they do, they might not care much!). First of all I decided to go on a weekday mainly because at times it could be very busy, both the road and trail, during a weekend. There was absolutely no one on the trail during the 10 hours that I was there! Had something happened, there would have been no chance that I come alive out of that area!
Then I didn't read all the available ascend reports and relied solely on the GPX downloaded from Matt's site. I must clarify here that I call this fella here in this post by his name not that because we're hiking buddies or anything similar to that. It's just that he's a good hiker and nice enough to provide information but my mistake was not paying attention to the date that he had saved that file. It was 4 years ago and much of the trail had been faded in that time period!
In addition to the two bad mistakes I also didn't have any stick although I found a couple on my way up and they both broke! I put my trusty stick on the ground on the way back from Mt. Tyrwhitt to take a photo and forgot it.
I started my hike at around 07:30 hours, thanks to Matt's information both for the GPX, as I mentioned and the coordination of where I parked but the stupid GPS caused me problem again! The mountain is accessible through Highway # 40 and should be approached from Longview. The stupid GPS took me through a gravel roller-coaster road between farms! I was lucky that I didn't get a flat tire!
The first hour and a half of the hike is easy and with no challenge. You would start next to a stream which goes hidden after half an hour and then you would walk between beautiful flowers. The GPX is needed after that because first you go up a hill and then have to climb down to a sort of stream bed/gorge which was dry at the time.

Both sides of the trail, for a long walk, is covered with beautiful photos including this type which appears in trio here

I crossed it on my way up and it was not so pleasant because of the difficulty I had to climb up at spots but I did it anyways. Then you would get to a not such a vast meadow and this is where the major scrambling and climbing starts and there's not much of trail that can be seen. The funny thing at that moment, after more than 2 hours of hiking was that I didn't still know what mountain I had to climb up! The GPX was not very clear! Here I was there looking at tall stone walls surrounding me I finally figure it out. The next hour was not so bad. The weather was nice, no rain, not hot and no other damn disturbing thing. The good thing about this trip was that I had enough water with me and it helped a lot. I'm usually very lazy with hauling things up, even the water but this time I had an old, metallic, telescopic tripod in my backpack, which had given to me by The Lady and it was heavy! I was hoping to take a shot of myself at the summit but it was never used!

I stopped at a stream to drink some water on my way back and took this photo to show how steep the damn trail is. It takes between 8 and 10 freaking hours to reach the summit

Then after that the disaster started! I was only 300 horizontal meters away from the damn summit but it was all scree and at time I would simply slide down when I put my foot on a rock, no matter how big or small it was! I think I traversed at least 8 times to be able to both stay on the damn trail shown by the phone and avoid loose rock and be able to go up without sliding, falling or injuring myself! I was so tired and there was no sign of anyone! Usually when you see one or two people on the trial it's not only encouraging but also gives you the sense of competition. I was about to give up at least 3 times while I only had a little more to the summit. I eventually was able to get myself to the damn ridge and be able to see the other side of the mountain but that was it! I had a little more than 80 horizontal meters to the summit this time but I was a very dangerous spot. I climbed down about 2 to 3 meters to get myself to the summit from below of it after taking a number of photos but I realized I was too damn tired to finish it and started going back down!

Proof that I reached the ridge, almost at the same height of the summit! This photo shows the mountains on the north side of Holy Cross Mountain but don't ask me to name every each of them. I don't even know one! 

Going down was, as usual, worse than going up. I slipped and landed on my ass a few times and ripped by pants, basically! I should say that the pants were eroded because of me landing on rocks and stones. While I wasn't injured at all, I was exhausted and thirsty! Luckily there was a narrow stream there and I got some water and half of a so-called energy bar with the hope that I can continue faster and reach down before a storm starts or the night falls. Even the old Sand-Skiing method didn't help. In fact that was my worst descend. At this moment I reached the stream/gorge again and I was hopeful that I didn't have to cross it by following the GPX and I succeeded. I went from the right side of it but I noticed that I'm losing my phone's battery very fast. The nightmare of the time that I got lost in forest came to me with this difference that my chances, seemed at the time(!), much slimmer to survive! I increased my speed and I really mean increased it, in a way that I was running between the trees and looking at the screen and in front of me at the same time! I was really tired and I had about 6% on the battery at around 15:20, I guess!
I was worried about my vehicle too! The last time I got lost, I had not driven to the trail-head. This time I was worried that something might happen to it. I eventually reached the hill and took a short break there. Then I continued my hike back to the trail-head by following the damn phone.
When I eventually reached the path, the phone had only 4% charge. I was sure that I simply could follow the trail and get myself back to the car without needing the GPX but I was very slow at the time because I was very tired. I allowed myself to take a number of photos and also had to stop by the stream to drink more water. I finally reached the car at about 17:30 and ended my 10 hours hike!
When I was coming back down and falling(!) I regretted that I even had started the hike and promised myself that I would not recommend the hike to anyone but now after a little more 24 hours, I think I want to go back up there and reach the summit. You should too! It worth all the trouble and difficulty!
(Photo, top: Holy Cross Mountain. I guess I took this from the hill on the trail which is about hour and a half from the trail-head. The camera is looking at northwest at this point)

My Band

I decided to sell my wedding band a few years ago. The whole world crumbled around me after The Lady left. Everything, perhaps almost everything has been a downhill from then. I thought to myself: What's the point of having this band? The Lady's gone, Life's almost gone and I'll never be able to find someone like her. So I'd be better, if I sold it. 

Therefore I checked into a so-called gold store. The fella did a test and confirmed that it was 18K gold. I was quite happy at the time because we had purchased that in Honar Bazaar (The Market of Art) in Isfahan and there were news that some jewelers are selling kind of fake items such as jewelry which in fact has less gold that what they claim but it was not true about my band. I and The Lady purchased ours after extensive searched in that market. Honar Bazzar is a market solely for jewelry and to be specifically for gold because that is what people mostly like or care about in that part of the world. I guess she had gotten rid of hers way before she left me although she later regretted that but it was late. I regretted that too and I still regret it today but it's gone! 

She was doing wired things at times, including not wearing her wedding band but wearing her engagement ring which was diamond and I knew she liked it very much! What happened between us is not the subject of this post but I wanted to briefly refer to that as well. 

The guy said that he would pay around $330 for it! I had looked at their website and the price of gold for every gram at the time was indicated $43 but he said it was $38. I told him that I would rather to keep it and left. Same story in another store and this guy offered something around $318! I left as well! It's not that I don't need the money or can do something with the band. It's not that it reminds me of The Lady. I have memories of her that I'm thinking of her every day and night. It's just I thought they were not being honest and wanted to cheat me. 

(Photo: I like this band. It's not mine of course but mine is as thick as this one)