Saturday, November 23

A Pakistani Asshole in a Gas Station

I went to a Petro-Canada gas station the other night after work. I was really low. I realized there was a vehicle at every pump. So pulled up behind an SUV and went inside to see if they have gasoline! It's because this location, unlike anywhere else, writes Diesel on every pump, when you look from the street. There was a very polite and nice Punjabi Sikh guy in the store and he said that they had gasoline. I sighed! Then I went outside and there was still a car at the pump with no driver. I waited a little while and went back inside. A guy who was standing at the counter and said " What? " while I was walking to the clerk! I was really surprised because I hadn't said anything to him. He, by the way was behaving, I later on realized was the driver of the vehicle at the pump. I said: I didn't say anything! The Punjabi clerk was looking at him in shock as well! I don't know what his problem was but he said something like I had to wait. I said: " OK. Do you want me to buy you a candy?! " That brought an smile to the Punjabi guy's face and the driver, who I realize was a Pakistani, said: " That would be great ".
Here's the thing in Canada: You can tell who'e from where by the way they talk, they dress and most importantly behave! 
Here's this rube who's wearing a gold ring and a golden bangles(!) with greased black hair, short, aggressive and rude and a real asshole. They say you need to avoid stereotyping but that's usually a Pakistani! Even an educated one! We used to have a guy from Jammu in my previous guy and you couldn't barely talk to the guy or it'd lead to an argument in a few min. He eventually got fired from work and I think I've told his story of calling me and asking to find him a job after almost 3 years that I hadn't seen him! 
Anyways this very vane guy now starts a conversation with the clerk about the car-wash to make me wait more! I'm just standing there patiently, saying nothing because although I'm very tired but I'm in now rush. Besides I don't want to get into an argument or a fight with a miserable creature like that. Meanwhile a Caucasian lady is waiting behind me and the clerk is answering his question while giving me a look and smile in between. The guy eventually decides to leave and while walking to the door. I go: " It was very nice to meet you! " This bring another simile to the clerk's face and the Pakistani guy leaves without saying anything! The clerk quickly processes my purchase and now the woman steps up. She's curious what happened and the clerk tells her that he had asked the Pakistani guy to move his vehicle from the pump and he not only refused but also wanted to start to fight with me! I liked the Punjabi fella very much as he was polite and understating. Unfortunately here I had to used a sort of profanity and told them: " Some people're born assholes and will die assholes! " Then thanked the clerk and left! 
(Photo: A scene from movie JFK where the DA, played by Kevin Costner, takes two of his team member for a tour in Downtown New Orleans and talks to them about the intelligence community of the city. There he uses the expression " Once an ONI, always an ONI "which inspired me[!] to tell what I told the clerk and the woman customer, about the Pakistani fella, before stepping out of the store!)

Wednesday, November 20

A Fool and his Money are Soon Parted

It's now 2 weeks that I started this new job and I screwed up a few times already! I was late half an hour because I had forgotten to set the alarm! I blamed it on the snow and road condition. On the 2nd day a Filipino girl asked me something and I said the idea was stupid. The bitch complained about me and said that I called her stupid! That's the problem when you have to work with ignorant fucks! The Loyal used to call them peasant! I don't look down on anyone but if someone is stupid enough not to understand I mean all I can do is just not to talk to them unless it's absolutely necessary.
Then there was, according to the trainer, a number of errors in the last order that we had picked up and I said " we " because it was me and King J., a nickname I gave to a fella worker, who worked on the order together. For that I was not the only one who was criticized. I hope I can work for these asshole as long as I want because the job market is really f*cked up and also I'm tired of going here and there.
With that being said I explain a bit about my new workplace, not that anyone cares and will go to the point of this post. The place's workforce comprises of office people, operations people and floor people. The office people are obviously Caucasians but ... there's a big but here ... there are a number of Orientals alongside them because the owners of the company are Orientals! The operations office is a little bit more diverse but the head is again an Oriental. On the floor, same story, the supervisors and team leads are Oriental and the crew is diverse but the Orientals from the country of the owners have all dominance over other Orientals! 
Tesla Model 3 interior. Everything is done through that screen
Here's where the story begins! There are a number of Filipinos on the floor and I'm not saying this to degrade them or anything. They are all nice and helpful people and I personally as someone who has recently started this job, benefited from their help a lot but there's this young guy who seems to be a little slow. He told me that he had purchased a brand new Toyota Camry in cash! He said that he had paid $47,000! I don't know the price of Camry but I don't think it's that expensive. I didn't mention it to him though. Then I asked him how much he was paying for the vehicle's insurance every one. He told me not to ask him but then said it was something over $450 per month! 
The poor guy comes from a poor country which basically has nothing! I think the main source of The Philippines revenue is the people who work outside the country. Many Filipinos work in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other oil rich countries of Persian Gulf. Many of them here in Canada and I'm not sure about the US. What I'm sure about is the guy had nothing in his life and now that he probably is making up to $2000 a month is so excited and want it all! He also told me that he was planning to buy a house but I guess he also mentioned that he already had purchased two houses(!) for his mother and sister but it sounded so ridiculous that I didn't ask more questions!
This, however, gave me a good idea that I had not considered that: Why don't I purchase my next car in cash?! I mean my current car is good and running. I'm thinking of either a Prius or Tesla. I'm looking for something that I can reduce my fuel car. So why don't I save enough and drive my current vehicle until I have enough to pay for the next car? In that case I wouldn't have to pay interest. I would only be worried about the insurance.
(Photo, top: The interior of a Toyota Prius or Prius Prime. These days most of the new cars you see on the road have a big screen on their dash. Compare it with the other photo which shows Tesla 3's)     

Thursday, November 7

Switched to Another Job!

I finally get a chance to leave The Weird Guy and his(!) workplace to start another one. It was a mistake from beginning going there but I used the best of it in the 10 weeks period that I worked there or at least I think that way! Honestly there were so many issues with that job (some might have already been mentioned, not that anyone cares!):
1- One of the most disorganized companies that I've ever seen in my life, anywhere.
2- Certainly the filthiest and nastiest place I've seen, everywhere. No exaggeration at all. There was a thick layer of dust on almost everywhere except the spots which were accessed on daily basis! The damn bathroom had only one tap and was always dirty. In the meantime there was a nice and clean bathroom for the rest of the people who, I quote, worked in the office! So the policy in this company is that the office people deserve a clean and nice bathroom but the floor people don't! Shame on you. 
3- The so-called lunchroom was filled with garbage and old used items. Not to mention that the floor was covered in garbage. Anything from bottle cap, food, used napkin and old newspaper to cloths and shoes of the employees! I never ate there!
4- There were lots of returns everyday and by return I mean the returned items by the delivery drivers who, for whatever reason, did not deliver the picked products! One employee told me once that these assholes are lazy(!) and also because they're on salary, they tend to come back to the office so they don't stay more than their regular hours because they wouldn't be paid for overtime! 
5- There were a few assholes, of course like any other workplace, that I couldn't stand them, more specifically there were a Caucasian bitch who though she was such a hotshot, with love handles and belly sticking out of every each where! She was in her early 30's. And then a pile of shit driver of the same background, an animal that you wouldn't even want to look at his face: Always dirty, always unshaven, always wearing a disgusting hat to hide his dirty and not-combed and trimmed hair, although he never succeeded(!) and always aggressive, like wants to jump on you and rip you apart! 
6- I never had any contract while working there! I had never seen something like this before but I needed money. So worked there for as long as I needed despite all of the problems mentioned above.
I practically gave up 3 jobs and stuck to this one because I either thought this would get better in future or missed the other one, somehow. There was a Quality Technician position that I eventually got the chance to be interviewed after about 1.5 months! The thing was that their review was really disappointing and once their HR person was sick, the other time I postponed the interview and they accepted and once they said that their Quality Manager was not available and eventually when I had the chance to be interviewed, and I know this is stupid, I couldn't find the place and went back to work! The real reason is I was not so optimist about this company for several reasons:
1- Poor review of the company by former employees
2- The nationality of the employees. Honestly, and in most cases, if you see a company has mostly foreign nationals as its employees, and I'm not talking about a factory job, a supermarket cashier or a fast-food worker, you have to rethink before joining. The companies tend to save a few thousand dollars on the annual salary they pay, in professional work, should be avoided in the first place. In this damn company the HR person is Russian who by the way is educated, partially, in the US! The Quality Manager is an Arab(!), one might think where did that come from and the office person, who answers the phone and of course does other administrative stuff has a strong accent that I can't even say where she is from! I'm not a racist and I, too, am a foreigner here. This is based on experience and true.
3- The length of time they waited for me to be interviewed is unusual! From the time I sent my resume to the time that was set up for interview was nearly a month and a half! In this market that thousands and thousands of people are out of job, they either had found someone and he or she left shortly after employment or no one ever showed any interest in such a lousy company!
The other job was the one that I've already mentioned it in another post. I chose that because first of all it's a very significant and big company and secondly it's located outside Calgary and I was hoping I could move out of the city after being hired by them but what happened is explained in that post.
The other one was the encounter I had with an Ape! Yes! There was this f*cking asshole who even refused to interview me and I should probably tell his story here as well but I'm too tired now! 
The first day at the new job was good though. Everything slid(!) smoothly. I saw the Chinese girl again, once in the morning, of course, when I started, as I had to do paperwork and give her documents for my employment. Then at lunch time, by accident, I realized that we are having our break at the same time. She talked a few words to me and was curious as what I had for lunch! I had nothing! and I was quite surprised as why an office beautiful, petite girl should talk to newly-hired floor guy! She looked amazing again. She had a sort of dress which was mini-skirt in front and midi in the back and she had black nylon socks on. She looked so sexy. When she sat at a table, I realized that she was looking at me! I, again, was thinking why a pretty, petite, Chinese young girl should even be interested in a guy like me. So I didn't have any reaction to that. Besides there was someone sitting in front of her. So what would be the point to bug a girl in the first day of work?! It's not that I never wanted to talk to her. Who wouldn't want to just sit at the same table as a girl that I just explained her features here? I just don't want to be rejected at the workplace that I just started my new job! Nevertheless I will take a shot at her when the opportunity presents itself although I know I wouldn't have a good chance! 
(Photo: These reasons are listed as why someone would change his/her job. This, I believe, applies to professional jobs but could, somehow, be used in other job evaluations as well. For me Items 1 to 4 and 10 definitely were reasons. Items 5 to 9, no that much but still were considered factors)

Monday, November 4

What Should be the Punishment for a Spy?

The US Government just increased the reward for any information regarding the former FBI and CIA agent, Robert Levinson who got disappeared in Kish Island, in Persian Gulf back in 2007. His case is probably one of the most complex disappearance cases in the history, at least to my knowledge. 
This guy first traveled to Kish Island  because the island, part of Iran, is considered a visa free zone. He went there as a private investigator. I'm not saying that he would not have been able to get into Iran just simply because he's American. It would have just taken longer, perhaps, to get there. So he goes there as a former FBI agent and, as I said, and a private investigator and later it's known that he met the convicted criminal Dawud Salahuddin! Salahuddin is an African American junkie like many others in the US who somehow got in touch with anti-Shah Iranians in late 70's. His birth name is Davis Theodore Belfield. He changed his name after either being brain-washed by the Islamic fanatics or just for the benefits! They got him under their wings and eventually asked him to do a few hits for them! He killed an embassy attache named Ali Akbar Tabatabai and ran away from the US the same night in 1980. He then flee to Iran and has been living there ever since! I guess there were words that he wanted to get out of the country several times but Iranian authorities did not let him. So why the hell Levinson should meet this disgusting killer in Kish Island? No one knows rather than themselves and probably Levinson's boss. Was Salahuddin supposed to get assistance from Americans to flee Iran in exchange for information?! Dis Americans promise him to turn their eyes to his conviction in exchange for some information?! 
Levinson with his daugther
Levinson's contact with his family got disconnected after that but it was revealed shortly after disappearance that he had been sent to Persian Gulf by CIA! The US Government also paid $2.5 million to his family to prevent them from suing them(!) but the person who was found responsible for his departure to Iran, a woman named Anna Jablonski, lost her job, or maybe in the eyes of the public and media(!) ans still works there(!) because who can tell? The issue was that Levinston's expertise, again according to the available information was in Russian organized crime and he was sent to Iran! Then his family, or to be specific, his wife and son, started their investigation and even traveled to Iran but the Iranian Government denied any involvement. Levinson then appeared in videos and begged for help and story has been going on now for its 12 freaking years now.
Rudof Abel, an originally British citizen, whose real name was William G. Fisher is seen in this photo with KGB staff. He told his lawyer to ask the judge to be easy on him! He said: You probably have somebody in the USSR who is doing the same thing that was doing here! The public wanted him dead! The story is well said in Bridge of Spies
Here's the question now: What should be the punishment for a spy? It's now clear that he was working for CIA and no matter what his mission was, I wonder why the Iranian Government never announced that and put him on trail?! There are words that he might be in the hands of Taliban or other similar groups in Afghanistan but I wonder why the US with all its intelligence hasn't been able to find him yet? I mean they found Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden and recently Abu-Bakr Al-Baghdadi! They should have been able to find Levinson by now!! That set aside, I believe the sentence for a spy should at least be a long-term jail such as 20 years. It reminds me of the scene of that great movie of Spielberg, Bridge of Spies. The movie is based on true evens and I already had known most of it but the short version which is that a Rudolf Abel is captured in the State of New York and is charged with espionage for the Soviets. The public wants him to be sent to electrical chair but he eventually is sentenced to 30 years in prison and that is with the help of his lawyer (played by T. Hanks).
Robert Levinson's disapperance poster. Note that it doesn't say Missing! The term Kidnapped is used. The US as well as Iranian Government have both used terms in their announcements which appeared not true later! Photo courtesy of Associated Press
The lawyer believes that he might be useful in future, in case an American is held by the Soviets and that's what exactly happens! Francis Gary Powers is shot down over USSR while navigating a U-2 plane and after negotiations is exchanged with Abel. Iran has done similar exchanges with the US and other Western countries such as France and the UK. Why this was not the case for Levinson, is again a question. That is why I think Iran does not have any hand in his disappearance or if they had, it was at the beginning and they exchanged it with something valuable which was held by Taliban or other rivals! This is the thing that his family must understand as well. The other thing that they must understand is he was a spy and this job has its advantages and disadvantages! They might have enjoyed years of prosperity and now it comes the hard part! You might leave home and you might never come back! Deal with it, Levinson's family! He got what he deserved. 
(Photo, top: A scene from the beautiful Kish Island in Persian Gulf where Levinson landed in 2007 and never seen after that)