Wasting Water Like everything else

The Chef lived in this rundown apartment building in Bridgeland for a few years. It's a building on a main busy road. So, in summer you have not much chance of a good sleep because of the road traffic. The main Calgary homeless shelter, called D. I. (short for Drop-in!) is nearby. So, you have the pleasure of being visited by a drunkard, a drug-addict or if you're lucky enough, a double-feature, once in a while! I remember once I was there visiting him and were going to leave. We went to the underground parking which has access from the street without a gate or door. We saw fresh business(!) at a wall, just next to the car! 

But why this story comes to mind now is because I visited him a few times in a row years ago and I heard a stream of water from inside the apartment! When I asked him what it was, he took me to the bathroom and showed me the faucet in the tube. Water was flowing to the drain like Niagara Falls! It was not only the few minutes I was there or the day before or after. It was like that for weeks, if not more than a month! I don't know exactly. This shows how full of shit this laying bastards of The City of Calgary are! Just a bunch of greedy, nasty assholes who think of nothing but their paycheques, their year-end-bonus and what the next lie is that they can sell to the public! All of them, from the top to the bottom. How is it that the so-called one of the most livable cities in the world(!!) has no monitoring system to realize that water is excessively being used and wasted for days! Is is not because they're incompetent and ignorant lairs? I have no doubt that is the reason. 

(Photo: Consolidation Bridge over Bow River provides the people of Bridgeland and other nearby neighbourhoods to access to Calgary D. I. What a great privilege)

Inflations and Groceries

 

You've probably heard all these discussions about how high inflation is and how the giant grocery chains are benefiting and no one can stop them. They were posting pictures of a product from The Real Canadian Superasshole and would compare it to, say, Dollarama! You see this is called a G7 nation, one of the seven wealthy industrialized countries in the world and there're more discount grocery store here than Bangladesh and Liberia! Stop fooling yourselves fellas. You're nowhere near G2? The country that the majority of its population goes to fast food places for a $5 sandwich and purchases Killed In Action east Asian made cars, what does have to do with a wealthy Industrialized nation?! 

The funny thing is some of them tries to show some action. So they go to these so-called social medias and request boycott?! What a joke! They wanted to prevent people from buying groceries from The Real Canadian Superasshole?! The fact is there's no certain groceries these days that you could say they are responsible for the overpriced food. I go to three different places and at times I see some places are cheaper than the one which always has been considered cheap or reasonable. I think the main reason why people are angry with the Superasshole is that the chain were always considered cheaper than Safeway and now seems like they have realized that they also could benefit from overpricing and they do so! But why not going after Wal-Mart or Costco. I have no membership for the latter but if you don't like the prices of the Superassholes, go to Wal-Mart. They're usually cheaper and that's because, number one, they buy in bigger numbers from producers and number two, the majority of the brands and products they carry, has lower quality. Boycotting doesn't work, particularly when it's not well-organized and orchestrated by a guy who all of a sudden has realized that he doesn't have enough money to get his bag of Chips and bottle of Coke while getting his weed! You're never going to achieve anything! I'm not with giant multi-million dollar grocery chain companies. I just have reduced my consumption and have changed my eating habits slightly to adjust myself to the new prices which would never go back down again! For example I haven't purchased any Beef since January. I can easily live without that but can a Canadian? I have limited my meat intake to once or in very rare cases, twice a week. Can you live like that? I don't buy bags of Potato Chips and bottles of Coke. I don't buy Ice Creams or Liquorish! I don't have to buy artificially grown Strawberries! They're the worst! 

The other thing here is you can say to a company how to price what they sell, even if their role in the existence of that product is buying, storing and then reselling it. You can't tell Mercedes Benz why they're not pricing their vehicle the same as Ford's? It might not be exactly the same process but it's a private company and they have the right to price what they're selling the way they want. People either buy or don't. Do you have any idea how much products of different kind these grocery stores dump every month? Who do you think shall pay for all the rotten and molded products? That's how they balance their books. You also need to consider the worker wages which has gone up recently, maintenance, logistics, office staff salaries, you name it. So suck it up guys. Perhaps you can come up with another way to resolve this issue for yourself and many others. 

(Photo: I've seen at times people avenge grocery stores in this way! They get somethin, like a meat and leave it on a shelf to go bad! This one, looks like processed meat like Pastrami or something. They actually decided not to spoil it but the stores usually dump it because it is considered touched. Once a few months ago I was in a coffee shop and ordered a Chicken Sub and the girl made me a Chicken Sandwich She was about to wrap it and preserve it. I don't know who would order it but I asked it back. Smaller business like that are different)

The Pisser

They say not is certain but uncertainty. That's one of the common sayings in North America. When there's uncertainty, people's spending habits, majority of people's spending habits, I should say, changes. Now it's mostly sellers market, if you have money. You have to pay over the asking price or the MSRP to get what you like. An example of that is getting my deposit back. I just walked right in and no questions asked! These people, in certain dealerships, have so many customers that they don't even look at you! 

Housing and renting market is even worse. It was a wise decision to by a property during the pandemic. That's what I did. There were so many properties and not many buyers. Quiet. Easy. No after 3.5 the price of the damn place has gone up nearly $150,000! Who would have thought that? 

The uncertainty has kept me back from buying a vehicle despite the fact that I have a job that it's okay and seems secure but you never know. It's the commute which bothers me. It's long, tiring, costs a lot and has a toll on the old car but if I'm moving close to the work to avoid the commute and I think I shall use that extra $150,000 and buy a place. So how can I buy a car? Financing? It'd not be a very good idea with 6.9% interest rate or similar for a good vehicle. At the same time it's not really comfortable and at times, not even safe, to drive this old car. Drivers gets pissed off and give me dirty looks on the highway, even though they have the other lane to them. Truck drivers are worse. If you've driven a truck, you know what I'm saying. This is what my buddy told me a few years ago when we were coming back from Bugaboo. Trucks usually have as many as 12 gears to give them enough power to get their loads. When they're cruising on a highway, it'd be extremely annoying and uncomfortable to change their speed significantly because that might require them to go from gear 10, for example to gear 3. That's why they don't like a sudden change in their speed. If you're in lane 1 and they see you're driving slow and they have enough time to slow down or speed up to change their lane, it'd be no issue but if lane 2 is busy and they need to slow down to change the lane, that becomes a disaster! This rarely happens but if happens that's not a very desirable situation for the driver and despite the fact that they know they have the other lane to themselves and they need to keep a safe distance to be able to change the lane, they get pissed off and use their high beam. One driver, for a well known company, which I don't recall know, was really annoyed a few days ago and honked! In the middle of the highway! And then when he got the chance to catch up with me and pass, kept honking and left me in his dust! I tried to get close to him and I think he was mad enough to change the lane to block me but I let it go as I'm not a a road ragger! I saw him pulling into a resting area a few kilometers down the road! I ignored him and passed. This shows what kind of a person he was. If you're going to take a break in a few kilometers from where you're in hurry, why don't you simply slow down and calm yourself down?

(Photo: I was not trying to get this guy's plate number or any other information of his truck. Just wanted to record him as he has been the only one who ever used his honk on a major highway, I think!)

The Fornicator

 Fornication is defined as sexual relationship between two unmarried individuals. This is the story of a colleague who has been working for the company for nearly 20 years and now his wife works there as well. No further explanation is required! This is usually the case, especially in small towns and private companies. A short while back I realized there's a young employee in another department with the same family name as his and it was obvious to me that he was his relative. Either his son, young brother or his brother's son. They are not look alike. So my perception was that he looks like his Mom. There was a question for me: Why do they not ever talk to each other. Or at least I have not seen it even once. Then I told myself that they have enough time together at home, if he is his son! Then something else hit me and that was the time that his wife started or I shall say restarted in the company: The boy did not look like his presumably Mom either! I didn't pay much attention until a few days later when I had to go to his work station and it was there when I saw an old picture of the guy with his Dad, probably from the time that he was only 3 or in that age range! That was when I realized that he was his son from another woman who longer is with him! It's not that I was surprised much or anything like that as I had come across something like that but it was interesting after every bit of puzzle is put together. When I work as a Bylaw Officer in a town of British Columbia, I had a fella colleague who had just been married. He had moved from northern Alberta and told me that he had an 18-year-old daughter from an early relationship! Perhaps that was why he had left the little town! Legally there is no problem with something like that in Canada as long as the guy pays for the child, I think and I believe that is until the mother gets married. This is how they have fixed the issue, if we can call it an issue in the old country: Men can have up to 4 wives and have to support them. So, this is for the people who can. Or perhaps I shall say it was like this. These days people can barely afford one wife. So fornication is more common but hidden. I remember I was involved with this horny girl who just had divorced and was looking for someone to cheer her up as well as fill her in! I was quite successful but not so much in the second part, as usual! 

(Photo: I think this picture just wants to point out that fornication is mechanical and emotionless)

The Consultant

Something really interesting happened today that I can't refrain from writing although it's a short story. I hope you find it interesting as much as I did. The company I've been working for has decided to purse a certificate to boot the business and be able to enter a bigger market. I suggest to do that internally but I was told that we shall use a consulting company. Fair enough. I did a little search and was able to find a few companies. Three of them eventually replied. The second one is the subject of this story. 

First of all, he said that he would only be available at a specific time of the day! That was the first sign. If someone wants to hire me, I wouldn't make rules regarding the time that an interview shall take place! First Warning! The time comes and I join my colleague who is supposed to call the guy. He picks up and he sounds an old fella, which is fine. He asks a few questions and says he's taking notes. Fine. Then it comes to introducing himself. He offered that. Not that any of us asked it. He started from the time he was in the damn kindergarten to the current Stanley Cup finals! He was going on and on to the point that my colleague looked at me and he was going to say: Who the hell is this idiot?! Then he started looking at his screen and tries to use his time for something positive and I start making some notes about the things I'm trying not to forget to do! At this point he's at his conditions stage. He says how he works and how he charges. And then he says that he adds the cost of gasoline and mileage (either one! I don't know how it work!) and he charges for lunch and breakfast! 

This is the climax of the story(!) and makes my colleague to jump into cut him off! I wanted to do that but I thought he would call me rude but we made him stop after that! I was happy that I had the same perception as my colleague because he said that the guy just crossed himself from the list of candidates! 

(Photo: Fans of Edmonton Oilers were very hopeful after their team Beat Dallas Stars and stepped into the Stanley Cup Finals after 18 years but their dreams were ruined after their team lost the first three games. I followed the Oilers back in 2006 when they were battling against the Hurricanes and I liked their goalie, Dwayne Roloson, a lot. These days I neither have a TV set nor the cable to watch. Not to mention the mode for a good game or anything for that matter! I just work!)

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

 I rarely write here these days mainly because there's no much going on and I'm lazy and most of the time tired, mentally and physically but I would like to keep this 20-year notes alive. For that I'm going to write about a very good movie that I've recently watched.

People who lived the 90's never forget The Silence of The Lambs, one of the best movies of that decade and perhaps one of the best of all times. The movie won 5 OSCARS and despite the fact that I believe an OSCARS does not always indicate the movie is a good one, I truly believe that every single one given was worth it. I watched it on VHS(!) shortly after it came out in the old country and barely understood anything! For the ones who might wonder why I did not go to a movie theater to watch it, let me explain to you why. You might find it interesting: The culture of the country was immensely affected after the so-called Islamic Revolution in 1979, in so many different ways. To name praising Western culture. I don't want to go to too much details because it would be boring and hard to understand but in short, American movies were not shown in theaters and television, generally, although they were always exemptions. To name Dances with Wolves, Capricorn 7 and Southern Comfort were all shown. The first one in movie theater, indicating it was made in England(!) and some parts were cut. I don't know much about the second one as that is not a good movie, anyway and the last one was shown under a new title(!) and a completely different story! I've written about itabout it. 

Going back to that movie, the book which the movie is based on, was published, illegally of course, as well(!) and people read it which helped them to understand the story, assuming the translation was good! Not me! I didn't read it. Years after when I came to Canada, I got the movie and enjoyed it. 

Antony Hopkins' and Jodi Foster's performance was extraordinarily superb in that well-deserved award movie. Some, however, believe Foster's performance in Taxi Driver was very good. No way. She was alright but because the movie had De Niro and Martin S., it gets praised a lot.

I, strongly believe that Foster was amazing in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. So are the other actors but since it's a sad movie, that's probably why, many do not find it interesting to watch but I highly recommend it unless you're too sensitive! 

(Photo: Foster in the final minutes of the movie. She has stated that she had to wear that wig but it doesn't deduct any score from her beauty!)

I've become George!

This recent helicopter crash of the former " Murderer " so-called President of The Islamic Republic Murderers of Iran, has created some ambiguity for the stupid people around the world, which I believe is nearly 99% of the population! Assholes who don't even know their asses from their elbows now are political analysts and each try to interpret the cause of the crash and the effect of that on the country and the region! Some try to show sympathy with Iranian people. Here is my short answer to these toilet-eater: You, including this nasty stray, syphilitic donkey, yes, nasty disgusting stupid syphilitic donkey, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, is: Shut your filthy mouth and go die in a mudslide. I truly do not know how this person was elected or appointed to this position but what I do know is he is a nasty toilet aster and motherfucker disgusting male whore. 

There's no doubt that the UN is nothing but a stupid and silly joke and this recent even proved that hundred percent! Have they ever been able to do something worthwhile?! No! They are just bunch of disgusting losers whom their best achievement in their pathetic life is leaving the stinking toilet where their mothers gave birth to them and live in New York City on other people's expenses!

But why I am writing about this now with that title and so much anger, might be interesting to some. I normally do not write about the past or the life in the old country. Not because it has been years. It's mainly because these notes are about this side of the globe but there are times that what happens at this side has something to do with the other side and it's interconnected and tied. That's when I write about it. 

With that I tell the story of my dear departed aunt and I'll connect it to my current situation at this side of the globe. My lovely aunt, from my father's side, was single as long as I could remember. I never knew and to this day I don't know what happened to her marriage but I know that her husband left her with two little kids shortly after their birth and my aunt was then supported by my Dad. She had two other sisters but they had their own family and despite their help and support, the majority of the time she got helped from my father. We lived in a two story building, nothing like what we have here in North America. My aunt lived in the first floor with her kids and we in the second. The two stories were completely separate and independent and had everything that a single-family house has but since this kind of house is not common here, you might have difficulty imagining how it could happen! To make it easy for everyone, imagine a duplex but in a two-story building instead of side-by-side.

This black and white picture show a member of The People's Mujahidin of Iran Organization killed during Merdad Operation with a number of their vehicles destroyed and burnt at the side of the road.

It was very difficult for my aunt to control these kids. So when the so-called Islamic Revolution was in play(!) in the early 80's, her daughter, my cousin, who is much older than me, became a supporter of The People's Mujahidin of Iran Organization, and got arrested in  safehouse and thrown in the jail! I think she was in her mid 20's or something but I cannot be sure. Then her son, the coward, ran away like a filthy mouse, illegally,  of course by crossing into Turkey! Why? It was the time that Iran and Iraq were in an intense fight and the asshole was afraid that he might be killed! So her Mom paid smugglers, by selling their vehicle(!) so this pile of stinking shit could run away! He later left Turkey, as the country is the hub for this type of creatures, and settled down in Denmark where he has been living for over 30 years now! That was the hard time for my aunt as she became lonely. So now the only thing that would give her hope and cause for living was top visit her daughter in the jail and receive a letter from her son, as there was no Internet available in those years. I don't know if my aunt developed the habit of talking to herself in those years but it had been started earlier when the husband had gone and she was left alone with two kids but I noticed that years after. Then it came the time that the UN Resolution # 598 was accepted by Iran and the 8-year-old war winded down. The so-called People's Mujahidin of Iran Organization used the opportunity and crossed into Iran from their bases, many Camp Ashraf and captured a few villages and towns. Iranians were surprised and angry but regrouped their troops and mascaraed them on their way to a major city, Kermanshah, by surrounded them in a mountainous strait called Chahar-zebar, which later was renamed to Mersad. The surprise attack got the Supreme Leader so angry that he ordered the political prisoners to be excused, even the ones who were spending their time and were supposed to be freed in a year or few months, unless they admit they were wrong. The exact number of the people who were executed is not know but it is estimated between 3000 and 5000. My cousin, my aunt's daughter was miraculously survived, I thought later because no one knew about the mass execution at the time! I found out that she was amongst the few who admitted that she was guilty and wrong and signed the paper that they had asked her to do. Basically she turned her back to her comrades and saved herself! 

Iranian troops inspected the remains of The People's Mujahidin of Iran burnt vehicles after Mersad Operation

Now with that in mind, this bastard who was killed in the helicopter crash was amongst the people who organized and conducted the mass execution! Not only that, in the period that he served as the President he ordered to shoot demonstrations on sight. No you can see why I'm angry and want that toilet-face Portuguese animal to apologize to people of Iran for holding a memorial for a murderer. 

And last we reach to the point where I'm telling you how I have become George! This is a line from the greatest sitcom of all time, Seinfeld! In this episode called The Opposite, George who have several issues from job, residence and being lonely, dates a woman whom not only help him to get a job at the New York Yankees organization but also becomes a very companion for him. While George's quality of life increases significantly as a result of this relationship, Elaine faces a few issues which leads to her losing her apartment and her job! So, in this scene she's sitting in front of Jerry in Monk's Coffee House and they're talking and Elaine goes: I've become George which now that I've said the story is obvious what in means! As per my situation, while is not quite similar to the Elaine's, is somehow reminds me of my aunt's. I must have to add that my aunt was such a lovely lady that she was the only person who called me from the old country, in addition to my mom, until she was alive. I have asked several women out and all I got was a negative answer. So I spend most of my time at home and at time I talk to myself(!) which it reminds me of my dear departed aunt. There's no friend. I cut all of them of! With my car being not is such a good shape, hiking is so far fetched these days! So, I'm going to work tomorrow! I'm not disappointed and without prospects, just like my aunt was not. I have lots of projects lined up for me but in a way I've become George and that's in my aunt's way.

(Photo, top: Elaine is sitting in front of Jerry, telling him what has recently happened to her)