Is this a Good Course?

What really is a good course? Perhaps most of the people would say the one with not many quiz and an easy final examination. How about a course without any quiz and no final examination! Sounds like a dream to students! That is the course that I had in the past two days!

The first day was really tough. Not because I had difficulty following the subject. I had difficulty concentrating. I had a gout flare which became fatal(!) in the morning of Monday. It was so bad that I left work early to be able to reach the clinic and bit the crowd. The difference was significant: Nearly 3 hours(!), in comparison to the time I was there in March! It was not mainly because I was early! It was because there were not many patient. This is not the subject of this post but I want to write about it a bit.

There were three women who had cut themselves in hand and another one who had been bitten by a dog! Imagine how earlier I would have been released, if there people were careful! Not much! There were treated somewhere different in the facility. 

Yesterday and today gave me the chance to rest and get my medicine as well as doing the course that I will simply just submit the receipt of the amount I paid. Should I say it was lame? Perhaps. The lamest courses I have taken they always had examinations. This one was just beyond that. For that I keep the name of the organization to myself. I had a questions which were answered although not as well as I expected but realized some good points that will help me with my job. Can I say that the month is just ending well? I really do not consider these things but this is an exemption. I stayed home for two days. Drove 0 km to work, had a free course and finished around 14:00 today. Shall there be any complains? Perhaps nothing after I get my certificate, my money and the course material! 

Update, 04.Aug.2024: I realized then that in order to get the certificate, I not only had to review the entire course and answer the quiz questions, but I also had to participate in an online final examination with 50 questions and get at least 70%. I did and I got over 88%!

(Photo: This was the first time that I had an online course and I must admit: I did not dislike it. The only difference was that everyone's face was concealed but the instructor! You could read the names and hear everyone's voice. It reminded me of Taliban who ask women to cover their faces!)

Gondek the Donkey

If you have lived most of your life or are a new generation young fella, you most likely have never heard of Catherine the Great. She ruled the Russian Empire in the 18th century for more than 30 years. She is known as one of the Russian rulers who led the country to become European. But we're not going to talk about her here but we barrow part of her title to assign a new to this idiot who has become the mayor of Calgary, Gondek the Donkey! 

Some people wanted to oust her out of her throne a few months but did not succeeded, mainly because they didn't have enough number of people to support them. They were not even close which I could have seen that. In the country that people are either busy with Alcohol, Marijuana, gambling, their stupid social media profile, who pays attention to an asshole who runs the city the way she wants?! They have enough things to be busy with! Then it came the incident of a main water feeder of the city rapture and water became scarce. Businesses were affected and people were worried about their lawn and little gardens in the backyard. However, I don't think many were worried about the drinking water because not many drink water here! Coffee, Soda, different alcoholic beverages, mainly Beer in summer, disgusting and nasty sugary and caffeine and chemical loaded beverages such as Gatorade and Red Bull-shit(!), are amongst the favorites that people drink on regular bases but that still does not give this stupid, ugly, donkey to tell people to drink Beer instead of water! 

What this pile of stinking crap doesn't understand is apart from religious reasons, many do not and cannot drink Beer! For example I cannot drink this beverage because I suffer from Gout! Many foreigners and elderly as well as kids and infants don't drink Beer and again that doesn't have religious reasons, let alone Muslims and some other cultures followers. The interesting thing is that Muslims who always object to the things that they do not like were all quiet and said nothing to this ugly idiot!

(Photo: The stupid mayor of Calgary poses for a photo in her backyard! Many have fallen in love with her by simply having a glimpse at this Gondek the Donkey's picture!)

Stegosaurus Mountain

The weekend before the last one's failure in Abraham Mountain did not discourage me. It was very hot and I had started started late. This past weekend, I made some changes to my plan which although did not result in summiting a mountain I had planned but made significant improvements. My failure in reaching the summit had other reasons which I will explain but first what I did to help myself to have a better hike, although it was barely a hike. It was a scramble 90% of the route! This mountain is called Dolomite Peak, and is located in Icefield Parkway I would like to call it Stegosaurus Mountain:

1) I started earlier. It was not because I left home earlier! It was because it was closer! In fact I had a hard time getting out of the damn bed when the clock went off but I did it anyway and after a long drive, shorter than the previous one, I started the hike at almost 08:20.

2) Left almost every damn heavy and annoying thing at home: It was including the mobile charging device, this is very heavy, bottles of water, crampons, I knew I wouldn't need them,  the very useless Valard backpack with its stupid straps. I made sure I left it at one of these donation boxes at the side of the street! 

Stegosaurus fossil. 

3) Took enough water! One might ask how I managed to do that while I was not carrying any bottles! I used my Coleman backpack which worked great. Light. distributes the weight on your back evenly and has three adjustable straps. 

With that said, I started at about 08:20, as I indicated. The trailhead is located shortly after you enter Highway # 93 from High #1, going north and is located next to a bridge over Helen Creek. You won't miss it. The temperature, at the time of the start, to my surprise was only 8 ℃ (~ 46 ℉) which is great for this time of the year. I could have started earlier but made a mistake by stopping at Lake Louise for a coffee where I saw the only coffee shop in the so-called village packed! I simply turned around and kept going. That easily wasted 10 minutes, if not more. The hike starts from a very beautiful trail which is very steep and might discourage many but then becomes flat and goes down and reaches a stream or creek where you need to cross. I wasted a little time over there as well but eventually got into the water and passed! the tree trunk was not much helpful to me! I then continued basically toward north and northeast, parallel to the creek where my map said to either keep going to the north end of the mountain or try to go up from a drainage of the mountain on my right. The northern path looked easier but longer and I chose that. From the it was all up at an angle of nearly 40° but very beautiful, carpeted in wild colourful flowers. I didn't mind it and kept going up with no hiking poll and no helmet until Bow Lake, at the south side of Highway #93 N could be seen. It was almost 3 hours from the start and I knew that I had at least 1 more hour to go to reach one of the peaks but It was very exposed and I was worried that I might fall and break my life to pieces! So I turned back down from there.

Bow Lake and its beautiful blue

It was a good exercise but I still am tired after 2 days! It's considered a hard scramble/hike which cannot be done by everyone but I will give it another try hopefully before the hiking season ends because know I know what I will have to do. The question remains about the name of the mountain. Here is how this name was created! I took a coupe of panorama shots from the mountain using my mobile phone as I have decided not to take the phone any more and used one of them as my desktop background. A colleague saw that and called it a dinosaur mountain. It really looks like the back of this specific dinosaur called Stegosaurus if you look at the picture on the top! So I have this plan to change the official name when I can. 

(Photo, top: The sleeping Stegosaurus from the valley, next to the creek. My approach was from the left side of the photo)

Holly Moses, Smell the Roses!

A heat wave took over the province this past Fri. I was on Q. E. II with no Air Conditioner or even the windows down(!) and it was hot but not unbearable. I then turn the fan on and put it on cold, of course, it sucks some air in and I think the suction takes the temperature a little bit down.it felt good. A cattle driver, in the mean time was catching up. As soon as he got in front of me, although it was not very close, probably 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) the strong smell of cows sneaked in! I immediately turned the fan off. Fortunately it was not so hot that I could not take it. The guy sped off and then it was me and the fan again! The heat is supposed to be going down at the end of the week but still it's feels too far away. I think it'd be best if I cancelled any hiking plan for this weekend or I will spend another $200 without getting much out of it.

(Photo: Lot of similar trucks are seen on roads everyday. They take live stock to processing plants)

Should I Forget Hiking for Good?!

I decided to give Abraham Mountain another try after almost 2 years, yesterday. So I woke up at 04:30 and then like a lazy loser I wonder if I shall go or not! I decided to go eventually and headed north on Q. E. II. By the time I reached the outskirts of Red Deer and wanted to get a cup of coffee, it was almost 05:50(!) and had to wait until the damn McDonald's open! Then I headed east and of course it felt longer because there was nobody next to me to yap nonsense and I tried to keep myself buy with music until I reached Nordegg. I had to use the washroom and I'm sorry to say that but that happens every time I attempt a hike! I get a coffee and in half an hour I have to pull over into someplace because the coffee does its job!

I, then, was able to start the hike almost at 09:00, only 1 hours earlier than the last time, which soon I realized it was not much better! I think it was a different route this time because very soon I realized that I needed my gloves and they're not regular gloves for cold because it was not cold, of course. They were sort of gripping gloves like motorcycle gloves, perhaps I can say. The sharp surface of rock would have ripped my hands to pieces, had I not worn them. I soon realized why Alphonso opted out after only half an hour, the last time but I kept going. At that point I was quite confident that I was able to keep going but then I hit a few dead-ends and exposed areas and had to claim back down and I thought I shall take a break. Knowing that I only had a small can, I drank a few drops, adjusted the stupid backpack, which I will rid off soon, because it's useless and continued going.

Wood Lily is common in the area at low elevations

It only took another hour until I realized that I cannot carry on with the hike any more! It was really hot and the damn heavy backpack was bothering me a lot. I was sweating and breathing heavily and that was it! Coming back down was no fun either but by the time I was at the vehicle again it, almost 04:15 hours since my departure and I had finished the water!

If you really want to complete this hike avoid the mistakes I made:

1) Start as early as you can. I'd say 05:00 from the trailhead. For that you either to have the night in Nordegg or in a camp area close by or you have to drive a long distance like I did and screwed the hike! 

2) Pack as light as possible. Next time I'm going I'm taking water, a very small bag of snacks, maybe 100 g. and spare windbreaker.

3) Have enough water and good beverages ready in the vehicle for the time you're returning. 

(Photo: Abraham Lake from the 2-hour point of the hike. At this stage you have nearly one third of the hike only!)

A Quiet and Quick Place!

After watching the first A Quiet Place movies, which were both very entertaining, I decided to see the third or in fact the first part in a movie theatre. So I grab Farzin and we headed to a local theater. I don't know it was because it's Stampede time or simply being summer but there were no more than 15 people in there to watch the movie! As usual, the first half an hour of the time that they indicate it is part of the movie, is about commercials, which is fine but if you haven't been to any theater for more than 5.5 years and the film is only an hour and a half, then having half an hour commercial seems a bit too excessive. 

Without spoiling any part of the story, I have to say that it might not be as exciting as many expect. The acting is good, especially the African actress, Lupita, has a tremendous act. I had not seen her in any movie before but I had heard about her a lot. The story is not too bad and it shows how the disaster started but I don't know why people expected more! Perhaps some complain why it quickly reached the end! 

If you're expecting an action movie, this is not for you but if one hour of good acting and mediocre story entertains you, it's worth watching. 

(Photo: A screenshot of the actor and actress whom half of the story is about them)

Are you into the Head and Stuff?!

It might sound bizarre to some but if you think you are offended or repulsed, you don't have to read. Lamb is the most common meat in the majority of western and central Asian cuisines. It is made to stew, kabab (not kebab!), rice pilaf, it's organs are made to tasty dishes and even it's head is eaten! Lamb usually have more fat than beef but has less cholesterol, as much as I know and I hope I'm not sharing the wrong information or misinformation here!

It had been 20 years since I had sheep head. Mom visited me for the first time in 2004 and at the time I lived in a sketchy neighbourhood of Calgary which The Microbe who co-owned Shamsane Bakery, at the time I don't know how he had gotten the head but Mom made it and we enjoyed.

I found the same product, just this past month in a FreshCo. This is not a place that you want to be: Crowded, people bump to you and don't care, some there's been days since they had showered, shabby cloths and plastic cheap slippers, you name it. It's like what The Mumbling Guy said once: You don't feel you're in Canada anymore! That's how they have lived and that's how they will live the rest of their lives. But the place, at times, has good merchandise that you might not be able to get them in many other stores in the city, unless a similar store, including the sheep head. It's sold for anything between $9 and $10 and it's very filling. In fact it's not recommended just to have a head for one person, unless they have worked out really hard before the meal or have a plan to do so within an hour or so because it has so much fat and that's delicious fat which once you start eating, you can't stop. These are the parts of a sheep head that you can enjoy:

1) Eyes: You'd have to gauge them out!

2) Brain: Be careful. It's pure fat but it's very delicious. If you followed what I said above, you'd be fine. 

3) Tongue: You'd have to remove the thin skin first

4) Chicks: Simply delicious chunks of meat.

6) Ears. They're small but still edible, crunchy and delicious.  

7) Throat: Be careful with small pieces of bone which still might be there. 
The key is having a big pressure cooker like the one I do. Just put the head in with a little bit of water, salt, Black Pepper, Turmeric and a few pieces of Onion just to cut the strong smell of the sheep meat. I only keep it in there for about 2 hours but exceeding that to 2 and a half is okay. Then you're going to have to give it about an hour or so to cool then. Then you enjoy that with Flat Whole Wheat Bread, raw Red Onion, raw aromatic Vegetables and Pickles of different kind. This is the Iranian way of enjoying a sheep head and a small bowl of Yogurt, not a full of sugar simulated yogurt that is commercially made and sold in supermarkets, plain yogurt with no added sugar and shit, would be a great side.
(Photo: This head is fully cooked and is let to be cooled down. I have eaten parts of eat. It usually doesn't look empty like this!) 

Some Dog Sh*t Merchandise

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I went to this East Indian store yesterday because I thought everyone else would be closed on Canada Day and saw some crazy things and decided to share it here to see how sick minded some people are. Not to mention that later I checked and almost everyone was open until 04:00 or perhaps even after that! So here are the valuable merchandise from some really geniuses who have stolen the world's biggest markets:

1) Some sort of chips with KFC logo on the bag and perhaps the (fake) taste! I didn't check the price. There was actually no tag but I think it would've been good to see how much a fraud would make when committing logo infringement and buying himself a criminal record? Is it worth it?!

2) This one is really something! First of all There's no place for soup in East Indian cuisine and eating culture! So I really don't know what this guy was trying to say! Secondly corn has no place in Indian subcontinent cuisine as well! And then why the hell there's a picture of a mustache man with sunglasses on a bag of dry soup?! And then why did you have to use some Oriental alphabet?! Is that Japanese, Mandarin or what? It certainly isn't Korean. They use lots of circles, globes and spheres! And finally " I love Desi "?! Really? After all that crap now you love Desi?! 

Do you like to see more of this freak show? I can send you the address. It'll be quiet entertaining and one other feature of this glorious journey would be seeing extremely hideous and repulsive women! Enjoy!