Why do some brag about their way Past?!

Everyone brags. East Indians are the experts on the subject. It is part of Iranians culture too but when it comes to Canadians they brag strangely, if I may say! They do not usually brag, or at least I have not experienced it or they brag they feel inferior to a foreigner! 

I was talking about hiking with this guy who is in his late 30's, younger than me, of course, and is completely bald, not that there's anything wrong with that, and he shows me pictures of 9-10 years ago when he still had hair and was hiking somewhere far away in another country!! Why? Just to say that you're a hiker?! Yes. I visited Newfoundland in 2013. I don't bring it up now and then! 

One day I was accompanying an inspector in the facility and somehow the discussion went toward traveling and he said that he had been to India, China and Japan. I think it probably was one he saw my G-Shock and I told him that I had purchased that in Tokyo. He was the one who started the conversation. I also told him that I had paid nearly ￥14,000 (~CAN$ 129) for it and I had traveled nearly 4,000 Km. It appeared that he was in China many years ago and used a weekend or something and flew to Tokyo for a couple of days or more! That was his trip to China and Japan! When I asked him what month he had been to India and he either hesitated to say or couldn't remember!! How could you not remember the month that you traveled to somewhere! I still remember my flight and then the start of the road trip from St. John's was in September. He then told me that the trip was 10 years ago or so and I don't know, and don't care whether that was part of the China-Japan work trip or not! 

The fact is once you're married and have kids you can't travel easily. Cost is a factor although I saw many Caucasians in Japan who have traveled with their kids as young as 10 or 11. So if you're not traveling any more there's no pint bragging about it. Just stick with your family life!  

Another example of this was the silly salesperson who told me about his hikes in Jamaica! I think I've written about it but this guy is in his early to mid 60's and told me about the trip he had when he was a teenager! Stop being stupid and quit bragging. 

(Photo: Not bragging but this building is a wedding venue and is located in Nagasaki. That night I was trying to reach Megami Bridge, which can be seen on the top left corner of the picture, unclear, though! It actually is embarrassing to say that I was walking beside a road which could be considered a highway in Japan, until I realized there was no sidewalk or the cars were too close and I turned back!)

Chaos and Disorganization

I finished the first month of my new job and have mixed feelings about it. It's close by. In the morning it usually takes me about 25 minutes on a highway to reach there. Only one set of traffic lights! People are all nice, respectful and helpful and no one bugs me. On the way home, in the afternoon, depending on the time and the route I take, It usually takes between 00:45 and 01:00 hour to reach home. There are many things to learn which will help me in the last years of my career, later, if I stay alive! The job is yet not very difficult but it's mostly shit! Doing stupid things in a very chaotic and disorganized environment! 

It's a pleasant weather now, there have been rainy days but they were not too bad. It will be a major issue during the cold season! The highway will be a death trap and the shop will freeze and become the best place to suffer from the extreme Albertan winter! It looks like the shop is not covered by a roof completely! I know it sounds stupid and impossible but that's how it looks like now unless the roof could be extended and put on at the time of cold! The people I directly work with, as I said, are mostly okay. My direct supervisor, if I could call him, is okay too but what can I expect!? Hell is Other People!I drove a minimum of 01:05 hours, in one way, at the previous job and paid nearly $450 a month for just gasoline! I think here I can reduce it to $120 a month and have a longer interval between my oil changes.

The reality is I'm tired of moving around and I'd like to stay in a workplace and retire there and enjoy the benefits. Every time a job is changed, there's a lot of stress and waste of time: Prepare tens of resumes and send all of them. Spend lots of time on each and expect the call to come and then go to a damn interview. Write the thank you letter and see their reaction. Lie! Yes! Lying is part of resume preparation and interviewing! You should've seen The Mumbling Guy's resume! Some of the things he has written there, and for that he's been given this high-paid salary, is beyond belief! 

What can I do? I have a challenging nature! I've contained myself so far and haven't said much in this new place and am planning not to do so! I don't want to induce people! Many of these people will be retired soon, not from my department, unfortunately(!) so I'm going to leave them alone! How can you change someone in his mid-60's and teach him new methods?! They say You can't teach an old dog new tricks! The company has had an attempt to obtain an ISO 9001:2015 Standard certificate and then decided not to go forward with that! Smart decision! From what I know about this company in such a short time, combined with my knowledge about that standard and also knowing the fact that many companies and auditors fake records and their audits, it would've been very difficult to deceit and defeat everyone to get the damn certificate and for what?!  

(Photo: Not taken from my workplace, of course, but not much different, in most places, from what I see every day. One of the reasons is that it's a very old place and many tools and machines look old and run down but still work. This has nothing to do with being neat, clean and organized but, again, what can you expect from a bunch of old timers!)

Reducing the Three

A long time ago I wrote about the three unpredictable things in life, particularly in Canada: Work, Whether and Women. This time I'm going to write about another three which I have been trying to reduce most of my life. If you do, you'll be happy as well! Here they are:

1) Responsibilities: We all have many responsibilities our lives but most of us don't take the majority of them seriously. Our responsibilities start from the time we wake up and then continues while we are on the road, until we get to work and then drive or ride back home. When we reach home, we sigh and relax but we still are accountable and responsible for our acts. We're just not responsible for what we normally are toward our employer! On the road you're responsible to other drivers and have to obey the traffic law or you'll be fined. Many of us challenge them on daily basis and some of us get fined. At work we are responsible toward our managers and in general our employer or we get written up and disciplined and eventually if it is too bad, canned. At home we are responsible for our families: Provide a safe shelter, provide good food, teach the kids the values of the society and train them to be good citizens, neighbours, students, friends and siblings. Our responsibilities are endless. Some not as important, some very critical which if we take them lithely, we will see the outcome later. By not having a child and spouse, I've reduced my biggest and most important responsibilities and could focus on others. That's my choice. Many cannot avoid this but I, majority of the time, sleep worry-free because I'm only responsible for me. 

2) Risks: We all face risks in our lives on daily bases but I'm the one who has taken many risks and have narrow escapes. However my constant effort for reducing and mitigating risk is never ending! The biggest risk in my life was buying a one-way ticket after getting my Permanent Residency Visa and coming to Canada. Many people do that these days but they all have people who give them guidance and a place to stay when they come. I stayed at Motel 8 during the first two days of my immigration! 

One of the biggest that we all face is the risk of unknown circumstances when we travel for vacation when we go to the countries which are notorious for trouble and issues. The country which Canadians WASTE and I would like to repeat and stress, WASTE their money is Mexico! One of the filthiest, nastiest most stinking toilets in the world. Every now and then there's news about explosions, kidnapping, mugging and other such incidents about the tourists in Mexico or the losers who move to live there but people never learn their lesson. I've been living in Canada for almost 25 years and never set foot on Mexican soil, the country where its people shove drugs up their own ass to smuggle them and make money!  

In the meantime I have taken risks every time I travel to the mountains. That's the type of risk which I'm willing to take because I have control over it. It's not like I'm walking on the street and someone's attacking me to rob me.

3) Cost: There are costs which you barely can reduce. There are some that you can do. You need to focus on the latter. I personally believe that there are many controllable costs. You only need to accept the fact that you cannot afford everything and know your limits. Don't say I'm hungry and get a small sandwich a can of Soda for $11 and stay half-hungry for the rest of the day trying to convince yourself that you had enough and it was a good lunch! It's not okay to go to a bar every other night and spend $20 on booze and think of how to pay for the credit card at the end of the month. If a piece of Stake is $21, you don't have to eat one every day. If you're not a contractor or mover, why would you need a big ass truck?! There are practically hundreds of ways to reduce your expenses and live an easier life but the question is whether you want it!

(Photo: Pick up trucks are very popular in Canada and many people who do not need them, drive them on a daily basis for commuting to work and back or even buying their daily needs. In fact the Ford F-150 pick up truck was the most sold vehicle in the Province of Alberta, last year. Imagine the amount of gasoline and consequently harmful gases which would not have been consumed and emitted, had these people simply driven a normal sedan)

Good but not Enough

Not much has been going on since I started this new position less than a month ago. I might have a few posts about that later but for now, there's nothing. Go to work. Come home. Do home chores. Exercise a little bit, if not too tired and again the same the next day and the days after!
What I wanted to write is what I saw in a nearby Sobeys today. I had seen that before but didn't have time to write about it: A Health Canada warning. This is really good but not enough. The warning label is placed on a pack of pastry and we all know how pastries and baked items are made here in Canada: Loaded with sugar and preservatives! I used to buy this stuff but I don't and it's not just because of the health concerns! It's the price too! The fact is if the pack is consumed within a family and gradually, in little pieces, it's not that bad but when I buy it, I eat them all and quickly! The question is can or should a government order to stop making a product or alter it in a way that it is healthier? My answer is yes. The same way that a government can ban consumption of certain drugs or criminalize prostitution, they shall be able to order a sort of food to be either stop or increase.

(Photo: Pastry pack in a Sobeys supermarket in Alberta. I think this one is sold for $7.99, if I'm not mistaken)