20 Years Now

Yesterday, the 29th of November was the 20th anniversary of my immigration. No celebration. No regret either. I wanted to go to the cafe that I sent my first messages home to tell them I was safe but was too tired as a result of the trip. 
There won't be any celebration at all, not even this weekend because I have not achieved my goals in these past 20 years. My past 20 years have been mostly full of failures. One after another. Big and small. costly and cheap, in terms of money, of course. A failure is a lack of success, lack of accomplishment, reaching something that you had planned for. It's always costly because you have lost the most valuable thing: Time! 
My marriage fell apart and I'm single for nearly 6 years now! Not that my marriage was so good when we were together but I know we loved it each other and now that we're not together, I miss her a lot and I know I won't be able to find someone like her again. The women I have met in the past 6 years, I can't even call them date because I never liked any of them. Today I was going to talk the Blue-eyed Lady but I couldn't. Her door was shut and I didn't want to wait the entire afternoon there to see when she has time. 
Almost everything else has been a failure as well. There's no point to name them all here. Someone by simply going back to what I have written so far will find how big of a loser I am! A few accomplishments that I have are not even worth counting! So I'm going to leave now as there's no pint to waste other's time with the failure stories. I do have some good New Year's Resolution which I will post time when it is the time. 

(Photo: Rubles in Afghanistan. People are  getting sleeping stuff up. This is Afghanistan after 20 years, when the Americans left and their forces gave up, for the reasons beyond my understanding. My life has not been much better than Afghanistan's! A total failure. Just hope youngsters learn from my mistakes. Select a goal and aim for it. Don't divert or you'll end up a loser like me)

Austin to IAH and the Return

I reached home last night and I was so tired that I barely could walk! I think it was almost 22:20 when I got home and dragged myself up. I'm still tired and my right ankle and right knee hurts like crazy! I think it's the result of sitting still for hours. The drivbe from Austin to IAH and then the flight from IAH to YYC. 

What I did was I left early because I didn't want to take any risk when I was flying back to YYC. I left around 07:45, got some gas from a nearby Shell and headed east on InterState 71. The road was not bad, in terms of usuall crazy American drivers(!) and I only made a very few short stops, although I should've made more for a number of good photo opportunities, untill I reached Houston area and basically after Katy, TX where I stopped for the last gasoline and it became really crazy! I must add that instead of my GPS, I used my phones GPS which looked more accurate and more updated but still I was nervous and uncomfrotable on the road! I swear that I barely saw anyone on Texas Highway # 8! I had to be very carefull to not get killed in the last hour of the trip!

I finally delivered the car without any issue and I'm sure I will receive more invoices, because part of the road was Toll Road and went to Terminal A. It was there where I realized most of the passengers of WestJet to YYC had arrived before me! The WestJet guys opened the Check-In counter shortly after my arrival but I didn't move until 14:30 because I simply didn't want to stand on my feet! I was so lucky that I received a message from CVS Pharmacy in Austin, TX where I had gone to for Covid-19 Test, indicating that I had been seen negative. Later during cheking I realized that I would not have been able to get on the plane without the test result and that was way different from the time that I flew to IAH, first.

To my surprise tripadvisor has a shop in IAH right next to gate A11

Here's what happened with that test. While I was driving out of Austin last Tue., I saw an advertisement for free and rapid Covid-19 Test but didn't stop. I thought I'd have time. When I came back I checked a Walgreen and I was told I would have to book online but when I booked and then went to the pharmacy I was told that would not be accepted by " airliners ". " You'd need a PCR Test ", I was told. They difected me to CVS Pharmacy just 2 minutes drive from there but I had to book online. I went back to the hotel and I booked for 12:50 while the Chromebook's clocked showed 11:30 or something. Then I thought I should go a bit early. On the way to the phramacy I realized that it actually was 12:45 not 11:45 because I had not adjusted the Chromebook's clock to the local time! While I was cursing at myself, I sped and I'm hopping that I had not been detected by any camera(!) but right when I needed to turn left I saw a fire truck! Apparently there was an incident. I was very nervous because losing my appointment might have meant that I should have gone back to the hotel and rebook! Fortunately I reached there and I went to the drive-thru, the service that we don't have it here in any pharmacy. A young girl greeted me and after I told her that I had an appointment, she put a test kit in the drawer and pushed it toward me. The dawer is like what I have seen in The Silence of The Lambs when Agent Starling visits Hannibal the Cannibal for the second time! She walked me through the test and the diiference between that and the one I had done in Shopper's Drug Mart was the sample taking. In the latter it was from throat. CVS wanted it from the nostrils. I then put the test package in a box installed next to the window and left. 

Back to IAH, the other issue that I faced was this App that CBSA wants youto install on your phone, so you can submit your information to then to review, before your arrival and it's called ArriveCan. I knew about that for a long time and even received a message that it would be required and partially installed that, but didn't finish it. There was a very nice girl who told me that I would need it and helped me to install it. I was able to pass the security check at about 15:35. The flight had been scheduled for 16:30 but there was a bit of delay. So I want't late.

The flight back was not as good as the one I had from YYC. There was a very limited leg room but the stewardesses were very nice and helpful. I got as much water as I needed. That in fact was the only thing worth drinking or eating on the plane! I had purchased some Guava from H. E. B. and enjoyed a number of them and that was the flight. 

I was barely able to walk when the plane finally landed. My right ankle hurt a lot but I dragged myself to security check and eventually the casserole and waited for my backpack, which had cost me more than US $30 to checked it in! I had to do that because I had purchased some jam and Salsa from this nice little town called Frederickburg. After that it was walking to the parking and get the vehcile. My 6-day stay in Economy Parking cost $68 which was not bad considering the proximity and the charge of a cab, if I had gotten one. I reached home around 10:30 and was so tired that after a little supper and shower went to bed and had a good sleep until 09:30, this morning.

(Photo, top: I got gasoline on this gas station clsoe to my hotel on Sun. morning. The price of gas has become the center of attention in the US and I will have a post for that soon)

Stress in Austin

I'm back in Austin and I'm going to settle down here until I fly out of the US because this processes of getting a room, checking in and checking out and carrying your stuff, is stressful and exhausting. When I first arrived in the vicinity of the city, I decided to find a place. The useless, stupid GPS directed me to two wrong addresses! I think I'd need to update the damn thing when I get back. Then I found a hotel and tried to book for Covid-19 Test because I apparently need that to go back. I tried Target and Wal-Mart pharmacy and both said they didn't have. An urgent care center, close to the hotel offered the test for $300! I then went to a Walgreen and there I was told that I had to book online. 
Booking online, after I got the room was a disaster because the online questionnaire is designed for a resident of the US not a Canadian! I eventually was able to register by going around some parts or altering answers(!), with the hope that I'd not affect the result. The stupid website didn't even send me a confirmation! I guess we'll see tomorrow.

(Photo: Downtown Austin at Colorado River. This actually is a nice city and should be visited in summer to enjoy the most of it. On the other hand this river, Colorado River doesn't look to be the very one that I saw when I went to Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park!) 

Guadalupe Peak, TX

I'm heading back east again after doing the hike of Guadalupe Peak. I'm staying in Fort Stockton, TX, tonight. Very tired and both of my knees hurt! It was an easy hike overall for a summit which only stands 2667 m. and the elevation gain is roughly 914 m. but what happened was I, first, when I got there, I had a little difficulty finding the trail-head and the visitor center was closed. So I referred to my phone and the GPX format file that I had downloaded and I found it. Then I realized that there's a campground just at the trail-head where many people are about to start their journey(!) from there. I head up the trail and I passed 3 or 4 parties when I realized a fella is approaching really fast. I turned back twice and he was shoulder to shoulder with me. A taller man with all white beard but he was very comfortable and relaxed. We started talking and going up together which was very good for me but I think perhaps that's why I have painful knees now because I had to pace up to catch up with him!
We reached the summit in about 02:17 (2 hours and 17 minutes!) which I think is a good time but it was so windy and cold that I, who usually stays at any summit for at least 15 minutes to take many photos, had to head down after 7 or 8 minutes! It was cold and I took my gloves out to be able to take photos and my both hands were numb! My left hand was swollen so badly for hours, which I had never experienced that but now is fine. We were back to the parking lot at about 12:45 which makes the entire hike something around 05:15, which is considered a good time. I will write more later as I'm dead tired now. I've got to take shower and hit the bed.

(Photo: The visitor Center at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It's a very nice place where you can see many things and they have nice gifts as well)

766 Km (476 Mi) in one Day!

I'm in Carlsbad, NM now and back to Mountain Time! It was a very tiring day because I decided instead of flying to Albuquerque and coming down NM and reaching Pine Springs, TX, approach from west! That was because there's no direct flight from Calgary to Albuquerque. WestJest goes to L. A. and then passes you to an American airliner and they fly you to that city. Air Canada flies to Denver, CO and then pushes you further south. The latter is more expensive. I realized that the second option was better now that I have driven 776 km in less than 9 hours! Between the tiredness, road safety and cost of gasoline and food, it'd much better to take Air Canada option but that's lesson learnt too late! 

The drive was actually not bad because Texas Inter-State 10 West is wide and there was not much traffic. The problem started when I hit 289 North which is under construction and particularly the last 40 minutes which got dark and the road was reduced to 1 lane only! All the area around 289, all the way to NM is oil facilities and camps. I gotta get ready for tomorrow. I will write more later.

(Photo: Oil pump jack at the side of Highway 289 N in Texas which connects Fort Stockton, TX to Carlsbad, NM) 

Crazy Driving Day!

I'm writing from the second reserved hotel in Texas, in Downtown Austin now but I made a bad mistake! I thought I'd be okay to drive a long distance but I was wrong! I'm not a US driver! Some of these guys are really crazy and they have no respect for speed the posted speed. Besides there's not much enforcement on the roads! After checking out of Staybridge in NW Houston, I grabbed a breakfast, as they had nothing and then headed to Downtown Houston. Driving to any downtown in North America is not a wise thing because you either would not find a parking or the available space is usually unreasonably expensive. I parked on the street close to Toyota Center and went to the visitor information which was quiet and no one was there but the two fellas who were working there. Toyota Center, on the other hand, had a long line of youngsters all around it! Apparently a concert had been planned for the night.

Here's the crazy thing I did: I drove all the way to Galveston which took more than an hour but was very tiring. I parked on Seawall Boulevard and went for a short walk. Then started heading to Austin! It was crazy! Just when I was leaving the Gulf Freeway a crazy and stupid pick up driver with a trailer attached to it, missed me by a few feet only but hit a SUV just after 200 minutes and trow it down the road, just before me! The SUV was lucky that didn't roll and I was lucky that I reduced my speed. Otherwise it would've been a worse accident than what it was.

I'm too tired now and that's because of lack of enough sleep last night. So I'm going to prepare to sleep and will post more later.

Not such a good start for a Trip

I'm writing from a hotel in Houston, TX and I gotta say, it hasn't been such a pleasant trip so far! YYC was fine. No problem at all. At the CBP counter I had a chat with a Black officer who was very friendly and nice. No issues at all. I don't even see a stamp on my passport. Then WestJet flight was a usual. enough legroom, couple of cheap drinks(!) as usual and nothing else.
My stress started at George Bush Intercontinental. No check or nothing at the airport and I went to the designated spot for the Rental Car Center shuttle. It must have been at least 20 shuttles and buses passing by and none stopping, which made me nervous that I would miss my reservation! A bus eventually came and I got on! The car renting process was easy with this difference that firstly they gave me a Camry, instead of Corolla and then the guy asked for coverage which would cost another $130! I declined that and said that I would come back a few days before the actual return day and would obtain it. 

An old East Indian lady was sitting next to me at the isle seat. She didn't do anything in the entire flight but sitting. No computer, no cellphone, no books, no nothing! Perhaps because she couldn't use any of them but surprisingly she was neat and clean and without any unpleasant odor. At one or two points during the flight she took a Wal-Mart(!) chocolate bar, took a small piece and put it back in her purse! I assume she would have it for the next month, if not longer! At one point, I guess she was really bored she started clapping! Fortunately she ended that soon because it would've been really annoying! Then she started praying! I think she was praying for the trip to end soon, probably and that is the time, that you see in the picture, that she's about to finish her prayers! I figured that out by just looking at her hands! I guess she was counting something. Perhaps the number of times that the prayer had been said or the number of people whom the prayer was for!  

The drive to the hotel was not so bad except for the fact that I was getting away(!) from Houston. I mean I was going to the outskirts! And there was traffic but actually in the highway just parallel to the road I was driving on, mostly which was a toll road! I then reached the hotel which looked like a ghost house! Not many people around and just one guy at the counter! A few cars in the parking lot, meaning not many guests. I tried to call home and tell Mom that I had arrived safe and sound as I had called her earlier from YYC. No damn signal! I couldn't believe this shit! My plan includes unlimited call and text to the US and Canada and this is the shit I have to deal with! I then decided to get something to eat. So I asked the front desk about a nearby grocery store but after what he told me I decided to check the GPS and find a place for myself! Bad idea! The first place that the damn GPS directed me to was just a dark place with no lights at all! Then I selected a nearby Wal-Mart. Wrong again! I ended up at a place called Sam's Club and I knew that before even entering but went in anyway: It's a store similar to Cosco which you need to be a member to shop! The closet place, on foot was a gas station. I grabbed a small bottle of milk and was going to pay but I was told that they could not break my $100! I put the milk back and went to the hotel.

The room is actually a small nice suite but the problem, like most of the hotels is its proximity to a major road: TX 249! A major road which runs north of Houston. When I first saw earplugs in the bathroom I was a bit surprised because I have never seen any hotel offering that. Now I know why it is there!

I had made a Peanut Butter & Date Sandwich at home and although I wan't very hungry I ate that and then I made some Decaffeinated Coffee and drank it. I then decided to get something from the hotel's pantry! Yes the hotel, Staybridge Suites, has a pantry and to my surprise a 42 g(!) Kit Kat candy bar was $2! But what do I care?! I have US change which have been sitting in a bag for too long. So I bought one. Then I thought: How the hell I am going to inform Mom about my well-being. She'll be so worried. 
I decided to call The Mumbling Guy, using WhatsApp and asked him to call Mom! I told him that I was in a place which there's no signal but WiFi is available! The guy accepted but I'm sure he was not happy doing this! He barely left a message and said he had called! It was so difficult for her to call me back! Most of the places that I have been to, I have not seen many people wearing masks. The most frustrating part is nobody, nowhere, I repeat nobody, nowhere has even asked for proof of vaccination or the damn PCR Test result! The latter cost me $150, plus I had to switch one working day which was not convenient at all. So the question is: Would this trip worth all the cost and agony(!) that I've been through so far?!

(Photo: The main floor of YYC looks deserted! No soul! Not one!)

The Chinese-Vietnamese in Canada

 

Canada has developed itself to be the garbage can of the world(!) for decades now. Everyone who has an issue finds their way to this country and is accepted easily. Why? Because the country needs more people. More cheap labour, more population to consume the junk food and buy cheap houses and more people to bring revenue to the government!

Therefore it's not a surprise to find:

• Child molesters
• Corrupt cops and military officers (even engaged in genocide and war crime) 
• Slum prostitutes and drug dealers
• Professional thieves
• Sex offenders 
• Fundamentalists and extremists
• Wife Abusers

And other sorts of evils in this country. Do the government and society care? No! The Government knows and doesn't care and the society looks at all of the foreigners with the same eye! They dislike them all! To them it doesn't matter if a person like me came as an immigrant after 5 years of sending documents, doing medical tests and such or a filthy pig who comes from slums of The Philippines! In fact they like the latter more because they know they would never be at the same level of them while I can be anything that a Canadian has been and better.

With that in mind I'm going to introduce a sort of scum here in Canada who are amongst the nastiest that you could find in this country and possibly the entire world: The Chinese-Vietnamese. How did the Chinese ended up in Vietnam? That might be the question. China became a Communist nation during the period of 1945-1950, shortly after the WWII (in fact the Second European War which was extended to the other parts of the world!) was ended. At the time the Chinese who were not in favour of the new system, tried to leave the country and some crossed into Vietnam in south. Amongst them is the father of this fella whom I know from work: A young Chinese guy who was born in Canada but is more Chinese than some of the peasants in China who come from west to east to work in major manufacturing industries of the country! He says that his father illegally entered Vietnam after the Chinese Communist Revolution and undoubtedly entered Canada illegally, again, years ago, probably a few years after Communists took over Vietnam in 1975! 

You look at this animal and you want to puke in his ugly face and shit in his bold head at the same time: Cheap, nasty human-like creature who have lived like a worm in mud for years. Still cannot talk like a normal human being after years and steals everything that he can and cheats whoever he is able to! His son, the guy who worked at the same place as I do, always wears shabby cloths and his sweatpants are hanging off his waist(!) but has two houses! He lives with his grandparents(!) in one and the other one is rented! He is addicted to gambling but the rummer around the work is that he has once won a big chunk in a casino and has used it as his mortgage down-payment for his second house! He claimed to be a graduate of ... from The University of Calgary (a Bachelor's degree) and has worked as a professional but has never tried to go back to his field after he was laid off! He claimed that his fella former classmates face uncertainty at their professional job and that is why he prefers this shitty job, working besides the slum residents of the Philippines! He claims that his wife works for a high-end designer shop and makes good money and they're doing well the way they're doing! A true pig who enjoys nasty food on daily basis! I guess that's true when they say: Like Father, like son!

(Photo: Chinese-Vietnamese border, of course in south of China. This was where people skip and enter Vietnam and also the Chinese would send ammunition and weapons to NVA during Vietnam War, of course. The role of former USSR cannot be denied but that is a different story)

The Signs

I haven't written anything here for a long time because there's nothing to write! It's just the disgusting work and then coming back home. Work at the side of the former nasty residents of slums and then coming home, eat, do a few things and go to sleep and again the same! Over and over. The only difference is that now I work 5 days a week which is much better. Less torture! Almost the same money.

My plan to date the Blue-eyed Lady hasn't materialized, though! I tried to go to her office several time and she seemed to have a visitor every time! I eventually had an opportunity to have a little chat with her and she was very nice and smiling all the time! I think something very good had just happened to her because she usually is not that way. She said that I could go to her on Fri. afternoon and I thanked her. 

I dropped by on the day and she was on a sort of telephone conference. She even didn't here me knocking twice and finally a few minutes before going home I knocked on her door for the third time. She asked me to wait a second and then opened the door. I told her that I had been there and she said she had been busy. She apologized and I said it was okay and stepped out! 

I think she realized that I was upset, not that she gave a sh*t! She just said she was sorry but maybe I read the signs incorrectly because she had waved at me a couple of times before that and the very day that I had that pleasant(!) chat with her, she said that " she was late to see her friends " meaning that she doesn't have a bf! I have known her for almost 2 years now and never asked her out! Now I don't even think that I am a sort of person who is interested in her! Otherwise why I had not asked her out for such a long time?! 

I doubt that he answer would be positive but I will talk to her hopefully this Mon.

(Photo: There're quotes about loveless life but unfortunately I have none on the time of my mind at the moment! I never thought of love seriously before the last years of my marriage and after she left! It's always like that. Once you have something, you don't appreciate! When it's gone, you realize what you've missed and you regret!)