Checking Village Brewery

The Chef and I were in the city and he suggested to check Village Brewery out. It's a small bistro and brewery, of course, in a commercial/industrial part of the city, about 10 minutes drive to Downtown. It was his suggestion/his money, so I didn't object. The only thing that one should consider in cases like this to be careful with him not drinking too much! 

Village Brewery has a nice and clean environment and at the time we were there it was almost full for a weekday night. We ordered two Blacksmith, I think 20 Oz. beer and two small bowls of nuts, each cost a total of $16! I had not had any alcohol for nearly 14 months but was not too impressed by it. Then I realized something else: The glass stuck! I think this guys try to save money by not washing the glasses and dishes and only rinse them or wipe them with a piece of cloth! I didn't say anything but the smell was overwhelming! The Chef didn't notice that and I didn't want to ruin his fun, especially because he was about to get drunk after half of the glass was done! The bowl of nuts was good, despite the fact that we know they have no respect for the customers' well being and do not follow health and sanitation regulations! In fact one could be full for the night with that beer and nuts. The waiter approach when I had the first glass and The Chef asked him to bring the second round. It was the second glass that screwed him up! He was already drunk at the beginning of it. So was I but not to that extent. The interesting thing is the effect of alcohol on someone who drinks every night (The Chef) and someone who only drinks socially! We finished the second round and the place was getting empty but there were still a few customers. The Chef asked me to order food! Now he was out of his conscious, I would say! I took him to bathroom and ordered two Brisket Sandwiches for us and the third beer for him.  

He was so drunk that when he was going to the restroom, he left his wallet open on the table! The sandwich tasted good but who knows what they had done in the back! It was time to good but was not easy to make him understand we need to get the hell out and I didn't want to get to the point of dragging him out! The entire visit cost $65 plus the tips, in two separate bills, as there's yet no tax but the tips was high! I think he paid 15% on the first and 30% on the second! So the total charge was $79.7 which was too much! I could each for two whole week with that amount! 

Now we're in the car and ready to go and I have to rush to the Safeway pharmacy in downtown to get my medicine and he says he wants to get a bottle of wine! We go back in and the girl says their wine costs $30 and convince us to buy one from a liquor store. We get the hell out, and I drive to the pharmacy. Luckily the pharmacy is open and I get the medicine. The funny thing is the pills are for my gout and the only reason I could drink those two tall glasses of beer is they serve a bottle of water with that! The doctor has told me as long as I drink two glasses of water after ever glass of beer, I can drink that. This, obviously is to dilute the alcoholic beverage. I survived that because I do not drink regularly or I would not have been able to sleep throughout the night! 

I drove him to a Co-op liquor store on our way back to his place and he got two bottles of booze and we finished our night. 

(Photo: The brewery has a very nice atmosphere. You can see the bottles of water and cans of beer in the cooler. I blurred the face of the staff in case they want to play games! This was shortly before we left so most of the customer's had already left but there were still a few, behind us and one couple in the picture, of course)

The Embarrassing Audit

 
We had been scheduled for an audit, by a third party, for about two months, a few weeks ago. I had been invited as optional although I had a major role! So I said to myself: I have enough to do. Why do I bother? Then I went to the genius(!) and told him that our Q. M. was not yet ready and I was working on it. He said the audit would be for welding shop only. I said okay and left. 

Then the audit days comes and the idiot (of course I was sarcastic when I said the genius!) comes to me and asks me to join! I go and sit, without any introduction or something! I don't remember if that guy was the same as last year's but he starts to ask questions about the ways things are said are done in the Q. M. but we do it differently, because we are in the process of updating that document! I try to find a proper answer but I do not have any simply because I was updating the Q. M.! Now we look like idiots! 

Then he asks another question, this one about a key part of the document which involves the top management but they have done nothing, as usual! So my answer is that they did probably not have time! 

The whole session is nothing but embarrassment! Simplest things that we could do but these bunch of retard , lazy, idiots had not done anything!  

The third party, under circumstances, could sustain the company's certificate but this was not one. In most cases they work with the companies but the bad thing is we had at least 7 more findings in comparison with the last year's and it shows nothing but incompetence, laziness, stupidity and carelessness of most the staff from top to the bottom, in this shithole! 

(Photo: Our auditor did not look as professional as this one and even if he did, he wouldn't do much! He didn't even bother looking at, at least, 6 or 7 other sections of the Q. M. which has complete different base from what we did in the company! Fool! You're all nothing but a joke! A silly and stupid joke that does not even bring a smile to anyone's face!) 

The Shocking Housing Market

 

I never paid attention to all these news about the housing market and how difficult it is to rent a decent place or buy one until yesterday that I opened my place's assessment. I was shocked. It's been always said that the municipality's assessment is lower than the market. This time it is more, according to my realtor because although I received it in Feb., the evaluation has been done in Jul. of last year. Here's what we have:

1) Purchased price (Aug. 2020): $285,000

2) Assessment (Jul. 2024): $478,000

3) Minimum Market Price (Feb. 2025): $430,000

The difference, based on the minimum sale price and the original cost is approximately: $145,000.

If I sell the place, based on what I owe the bank, which is apparent, I will have at least $238,000 in my account.

It would be good for someone at retirement age and a good pension. He could simply rent a place and live but I'm not there yet. If the situation was good in the old country, I could go there but it does not look so promising. The Chef now receives his CPP and unfortunately it's not much. He made a lot of money throughout the years but spent a lot on booze and shit and sent a lot to the old country. He says his family has build a house and rented it out but he lives on a $898 pension, in an old and gloomy basement and washes dishes in a restaurant which he has to walk to and from in -25 ℃ (-13 ℉) because he doesn't have a car! He probably has some money saved here but he's not spending it but even if he wanted to purchase a car to protect him from the frigid cold and bring some convenience to his life, let's say something around $2000, it would be very difficult considering the insurance he had to pay. I got a quote for him nearly 7 years ago and it was around $5000 for an old car. It was, I think because of the claims and his incidents.

Going back to my shitty(!) situation, I was hoping to pay the home off in the next three years, which would have been a little more than 2 years after the first five years, if I kept my job but now I'm out and need to start over! How annoying that is? I first thought of purchasing a place back in 2008 when I was in British Columbia but never stepped forward and then in 2012 I was married and had a good job, economy was good and everything was reasonably priced. I and my spouse went to the bank and requested a loan but the silly thing is she started asking questions about what happens if the couple split! I'm not going to say the rest of what happened but we ended up buying nothing and she left me as part of a long plan later which she regretted and want to come back(!) but I was in CFLRS and told her that I could not leave! I didn't finish the program and she never called me after that. We both sustained heavy losses both emotionally and financially but that's in the past. She has recovered by marrying the guy whom she used to see before me! I'm in shit and thinking what would happened, had he purchased that home back in 2012 and moved on with our lives?! It's useless to think about the past but it's good for readers to learn and avoid the mistakes. 

(Picture: this might not show but this neighbourhood is only 10 minutes drive to Downtown Calgary and has some of very nice houses and beautiful trees in late spring, early summer and there're good businesses around. I, of course, don't live here but just want to show it. It's, of course, is not the only nice neighbourhood in Calgary. There're many more but I had this picture and decided to use it. I don't believe one could find any house less than, at least $700,000 in this area and that's only based on my assumptions and what I've learnt from the market)

Back into deep shit!

Here I am again, sitting in front of the screen looking for jobs and sending resumes! I'm in deep shit again! I was asked top leave, I assume, I was too hard on them but it doesn't matter know. All I need to do is to dust myself off and start the beginning. One of the nice gays were helping me with my stuff when I was leaving and I told him " it was my nature ". He could be one of the people how complained about me but he shock my hand and said he was sorry! I was going to ask if he was sorry because he was a disgusting, incompetent ass or was he sorry for something else, but I let it go! 

The good news is, as everyone knows, the tariffs are postponed now! At least there's a light at the end of the tunnel! I applied for E. I. yesterday but I'll have to see when it starts. I also have started sending resumes but I realized I made a few mistake so I'm going to use these tips, that I found out after sending, perhaps, nearly hundred resumes(!):

1) Adjust your resume to what the employer needs but:

• Shuffle everything they want you to do.
• Change the wording.
• Add one or two more things. 

2) Be mindful of the start and finish dates. Do not leave long gaps. make up stories, if you need to.

3) Do not rush sending the resume out. Read as many times as you need to be sure everything is right. 

Now I'm not posting for making money or I could've done that 20 years ago but the above is helpful and effective. There're a couple more that I may right later but that'd be after I get an offer.

The interesting thing is I could sense this just a few days before this happened because this fella is such a phony but I don't care anymore. I just wanted to say that these guys were, majority of them lazy and incompetent but I'm not going to go there. 

(Photo: I thought I shall use this photo not because it shows a sunset but because it is nice or at least I like it!)

The 47th

I'm so tired when I get home these days and there's not much going on. That is why there's no post, not that anyone cares! Trump's second term was something interesting to watch. I had never watched or even interested in the oath ceremony and all the related but spent more than an hour on inauguration. It was interesting. When he started his speech, Biden and Harris who were sitting next to each other and close to the podium, never clapped, every time everyone else did! I think they had to be there but because everything Trump said was actually an insult to them, it seemed very awkward. 
The other weird thing was the way Musk and the Faceless Book fella looked, especially the latter! They were both standing in the back without much reaction and I felt forgotten or ignored! It was because the announcer would call people one after another, by using prefixes and they would enter and the audience would clap. These guys were standing there and felt like a couple of extras! 
Then it was Trump's third wife who was wearing a big hat! I don't know what it meant but you could barely see her eyes. When Trump stepped in, as the last person and walked towards her, he looked like he was going to give her a kiss, at least on the chicks but his lips didn't even touch her face! 
It was obvious that Tramp was reading from a prompter, or to be specific, two but he was very clear and never stuttered. I don't know who had written his speech but it had funny and interesting parts such as Stay in Mexico policy. This was to the flow of Hispanics who walk from South America toward the US. He has decided to expel nearly 11,000,000 illegal aliens! I think Canadians were amognst a few who sighed because he said he would not impose the 25% tariffs but added that he considers them for 01.Feb.! 

(Trump in the middle and the vice president on the left. He's only 40 years old. Joe can be seen on the right with his wife in the next row, standing next to Harris's husband)

The 2025 Plan: 2) Hiking

2024 was a very bad year in regards to hiking. I had at least 4 attempts and never reached a summit. Now with low dollar, I think I shall cancel the European trip and simply focus on local hiking but the first on the list would be the failed attempts

1) Abraham Mountain

2) Stegosaurus Mountain! (Known as Dolomite Peak in Canada!)

3) Thrift Peak (This one I have tried at least 5 times so far, if not more!)

4) The Wedge (Was attempted, probably before 2017 or sometime around that year, the last!)

5) Big Sister (Tried once dangerous and hard hike)

6) Black Tusk (This one is B. C. Need more funds for that. Was tried once back in 2016, I think)  

7) Boundary Peak (Nevada. I need to get this out of my head as well)

8) Mount Burns.

I think this is enough and if I can reach the summit of all, it'd be a big accomplishment but I know it won't be easy, especially solo. While most of my good hikes have been solo, having somebody at the side creates a sense of competition and at time security in case something happens. I was all by myself in six out of eight of the above hike. 

(Photo: A small herd of Mountain Goats. This was in 2015 and the air as might be able to see, in the background, was nasty. This is happens to the world where nasty animals who only think about money, take control: Motherfucker Capitalists of Western world) 

The 2025 Plan: 1) Food

I go to one of the Lina's location for some grocery shopping, at times. I don't by any Pasta, Cheese or Pizza. I only buy Olives, Eggs and at times Olive Oil. Yesterday's list was just limited to Eggs and Tomatoes and I realized that they had increased the price of the first item. No wonder why families struggle. I'm one person and I eat a little and I have problem when I go to supermarkets. I have decided to control my eating by following these simple rules in the new year:

1) No eating outside. This is not new but we went out a few times and it was extravagant. What you pay for two meals and service equals to what I pay for almost a week of grocery! 

2) Buy meat (of any kind) twice a month, only. 

3) Avoid or limit certain foods (mostly for health reasons but the cost is a concern as well)

• Pizza. Never bought in 2024. Made at home a few times. Making is okay but not too often.

• Ice Cream. must cut it out completely. Had it a few times, last year. Making Ice Cream at home is messy and expensive and is only a little better because you need Cream and Sugar and they are both bad for you. I have my machine and just for the sake of using it, I might make some a couple of times in summer! 

• High fat diary such as fake Cheese, homogenized Milk (3.25%), and high fat Yogurt.

• Ready-to-eat food. I used to buy Rotisserie Chicken, Potato Wedges and Hummus but I stopped the fist two and will hopefully never buy the latter either. 

• No outside Coffee and reduce home-made ones. I've written how stupid it is that the cost of Coffee is bigger than gasoline! While I've reduced buying outside coffee, significantly, it must be completely cut out. Home or office Coffee needs to be reduced to 2 cups a day. 

This is another type of salad that I make at time but the problem with this is the damn cucumber are fake!

It looks like it is very possible to have higher food prices, soon, unfortunately. If the tariffs are in place or the Canadian dollar stay as low as it is, then higher food prices is expected. 

(Photo, top: I try to eat more salad than any other meal, this year)