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!)

Cursed (I don't believe in it!)

Have you seen the people who bring excuses for everything they mess up?! I have! I was on Highway #22 again this past weekend on my way to Bob Creek to bag Thrift Peak and was listening to the news. I learnt that Toronto Maple Leafs just had lost to Boston Bruins in gave 7 and was eliminated. There was this guy who was saying: We are cursed! 

What kind of stupid nonsense is that?! Why don't you simply admit that the opponent played better and kicked your ass?! Then you can focus on the next season and perhaps come up with a plan to beat them or simply play as hard as you can despite the fact that you most likely cannot beat them! 

Now going back to my the second trip to Bob Creek in the current year, so far: I can say that I was quite confident. I rented a Frod F-150 to be sure that I won't get stock in the gravel road and woke up quite early. This trip was filled with weird things! First of all when I pulled into the trailhead's parking lot, I think, I saw the same two trucks that I had seen the previous week! I thought to myself: How could that happen?! The guys have been lost in the woods for a week and no one has come for them?! 

Then I started my hike under the cloudy sky. One usually reaches a set of short rocks after a little more than one hour. This time I saw someone from distance. A guy in hoody. What came to my mind was the stories of the hikers who had been killed in the US, at that moment! I thought to myself what if this guy has a gun and shoots me while I was closing! Nothing! I'll be done and there's nothing I can do and the knife is not even useful! I usually carry this long knife and I don't know why! Probably because I've paid for it! I'm just waiting for a morning that I walk into a coffee shop on my way to a trailhead with this thing hanging from my side and someone says something to me or call the police! So I kept going and I think the guy either didn't notice me or simply ignored me. 

I continued and passed the creek twice and got myself on the trail going up the hill at this point I saw a few White Tail Deer but they noticed me even I could get my camera ready. They disappeared in the woods. Then I saw a big house-like tent on my left or perhaps I shall say at the west side of the trail. This was not there last year I was going up with Stout. I decided to sneak by before triggering anyone to come out and shoot me in the middle of nowhere! 

It looked like bears or one bear, I don't know how many of them are there, were active in the area. This paws print a few more was seen on the fresh snow, possibly, from the day before. I also saw a leg, a deer's leg perhaps. The rest had been used as a meal, most likely

The trail took a strange turn at that point when I went a few meters higher and I found it difficult to follow. Not only because there was no sign of it anywhere but on my GPS but also because of the snow on the ground. I was hoping that I could see the damn lookout but looking around the foggy mountains showed nothing. I decided go back to the trail and that was when I realized the pair of boots I had on, instead of the heavy work boots of the last week, were not good either! The snow started at that moment and I decided to go back down! 

When I got back to the main trail in the valley the snow had turned to rain when I reached the rock, I realized the guy or guys had left. I walked the rest of the trail in the rain. It was a little passed 06:00 hours by the time I reached the parking lot. The two trucks were gone! So it's possible that the tent-rock guys were the owners of the trucks. 

(Photo, top: This hut/tent in the middle of the woods freaks me out! Who the hell builds a home in the middle of nowhere and how do they live there?! I didn't dare closing and passed by quietly. The closest community to this area is Pincher Creek. It would take someone at least 1 hour to get there in a normal day)

Advanced to the Second Round

The Flames has advanced to the second round of playoff and everyone knows that. This is not a news-blog so it doesn't matter how late this is posted. They have to play The Ducks and the first two games would be played in Anaheim, California. 

The Ducks seems to be a much stronger competitor for The Flames. Here you see the American guy Kesler who used to play for Vancouver with No. 8 of Calgary. This is one advantage of being a professional hockey of basketball player. You get a chance to live in different cities!

I checked 17th Ave., SW after The Flames beat the Canucks 7-4 (I don't have any photos though because first of all it was very late and dark. Second of all the majority of the guys and gals where drunk and crazy and I didn't want to risk it!) which was unbelievable. They lost the first period 1-3 but won eventually. People went crazy on 17th which was predictable. Police was there but they cleaned the street from the parked cars and let these morons to do whatever they want to do. 

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson wearing The Flames Jersey after losing the bet to his viral! 

Calgary's mayor Nenshi  won a bet with Vancouver's mayor Robertson. The bet was that whoever team's loses the series he has to wear the winner's jersey! And he did! I'm going to send a message to the guy who sold me a couple of tickets last year to see a game if he has something or not. I know it would be expensive but I would like to see how much he's asking for.

(Photo, top: The Flames banners are put everywhere in the city including the Core Shopping Center in Downtown. This might not be a clear shot but that's all I got)

NHL Playoff Fever

The Calgary Flames were able to clinch playoff for the first time since 2009 and the city is excited for that. I was not here in 2009 and I don't think I was even following much of the NHL back then. I was in Surrey struggling with life! Their first home game would be held today in Scotiabank Saddledome. The first two games were played against Canucks in Vancouver and the teams are tied at 1-1. 

My thinking is it will be a chaos tonight in Downtown if the Flames win. Will be the same even if the Flames do not win because there are always people who hate quiet and peace (!) but we'll see. The playoffs I remember goes back to 2004 when they went all the way to the finals and eventually lost to Tampa Bay! 

The Flames were quite a strong team back then comprised of skaters such as Iginla, Conroy, Leopold, Commodore, Kiprusoff and Turek. Today's team is comprised of young players that I barely know any but experts are very optimist about them and to my surprise they beat the Canucks in the first game in their home 2-1!

(Photo: A Flames Fan has hoisted a flag with the teams logo in Calgary. I hope he doesn't mind that I have used his property's photo for this post without his or her consent) 

Canada's Next Game: Fighting for Gold

It has been mostly a three days of boring stuff. Rather than once that we went to Olympic Plaza for a little practice and was fun and today that I went for jogging, we didn't do anything special but doing some home chores and me watching some Olympics games.

In the last part I got the chance to watch Canadian women fighting against the Swiss. I started watching in the second intermission when the score was 3-1 for Canada. The game was mainly played in Swiss's half and there was not a minute passing that the Canadians didn't have the puck shot at the Swiss net but they were all stopped by their goalie a all-smiling girl called Schelling. 

I guess the most relaxed player in the game was Canada's goalie at the other side. She only received one serious shot against her net which she stopped using her glove.

Canada scored a goal in the last intermission but the referees called it disallowed after reviewing the videos. I guess it was called an interference although it could be seen clearly in the clips that the Canadian attacker had been pushed toward the net by the Swiss defencewoman but the score remained 3-1 to the end and now Canada will face the US for Gold in Thu. at 10:00 AM which I will not get the chance to watch.

(Photo: This picture selected from YAHOO shows a moment before both the Swiss goalie and the Canadian winger go in to the net, of course after the puck. The goal was later cancelled despite all the celebration by the Canadians)

Canada-Finland @ Sochi

I started watching Canada-Finland almost halfway through the first period while Canada was ahead with one goal only. Then in the second period the game was mostly played in Finland's half but there were not many effective shots on the net. Whatever the Canadians deposited was simply either deflected or grabbed by the Finish goalie.

In the third the Finns show their power and the game played in both half with Finland finally scoring the tie. It was not a significant team or individual effort. The guy switched with his teammate, coming out of Finland's seat and shot from distance. It was deflected by a teammate and passed Price and the game was a tie.

Then the first overtime started and soon after the Canadian deferenceman, Doughty shot and the puke passed the Finish goalie from underneath his left pad!

In general the Canadians were struggling with having an effective shot on the net. Crosby and the other guy who play for Blackhawks were both paralyzed(!) and I don't even remember they ever got a chance to shoot the puck but Canada now has three straight wins and is looking for its next game.

(Photo: This is the moment after the puck passed the Finish goalie, Rask and Canada gained its thrid victory in Sochi 2014 Olympics)

Deep in the Hole

I was looking at the NHL results yesterday and Calgary seemed to be one to the last deep in the bottom of the standing table! A few key figures of the team have left in the past few years and all new guys are ruining it now. Iginla joined the Penguins last year. Kiprusoff got retired and possibly left for home. Phaneuf, way before the two joined the Leafs and I guess he's a Captain there now. 

Nevertheless I had a glimpsed at the Sportsnet last night before going to sleep and realized that the Flames had beaten the Kings 2-1! The highlights were shown and it was quite interesting. In the last minute of the 3rd period Calgary had an random shot towards L. A.'s net just to get the puck away, I guess. The Kings' goalie, Scrivens fell somehow(!), maybe tripped, I don't know how to say it and gave the Calgary guys to take a chance. By the time the Flames guys got the control of the puck in presence of a few Kings' guy, he was back in the net, almost, but that didn't help and Cammalleri, while laying on the ice, passed it on to Jones and and that was it! Beautiful Goal!  

(Photo: Calgary Flames has a new goaltender, Ramo. He is from Finland, just like the previous long-served goalie, Kiprusoff. He managed to help Calgary last night to win over the Kings in California)

Dallas at Calgary: A Fun Night

We went to an NHL game for the first time last night. As I earlier posted, It had been such a long time that I wanted to do that and then with the lock out it was postponed for the third time until last night. How it happened is interesting: I went to one of the guys to talk to him about some issue at work and happened to realize that he was talking to someone else about the NHL tickets he had. He wanted to sell them but the guy was not sure if he could go. I asked him to let me know if he didn't want it and he said that he had another pair that he would sell them if I was interested. I said to myself what would be easier than this?! Especially because he was going $20 below the official price. I was not sure if The Lady would like it but when I called her she welcomed the idea.

Anyways we left home at about 06:40 PM because the game was supposed to be started at 07:30 PM. I drove and parked a few blocks away the entrance from BMO Centre and we walked. The place was already packed and for us who had not been there during an NHL game it was interesting. Everyone was there: From a 3-year-old kid to a 70 year old man. We found our seats with the help of security guy and I was not able to do that without his or somebody else's help. Surprisingly and contrary to what we had expected it was not a very bad seat. We were right on the top of Dallas' net so we saw the first 3 scores of Calgary in the first period.

The game as I had seen several times on TV started with the national anthems and then as I said Calgary scored three times in the first period. During the first break people rushed to the washrooms and food stands! There were long lines in front of every eatery and both men and women's washrooms. The second period when Calgary was at our side we got more into the game and the time just flew by. The last period was when that Dallas tried to catch up with Calgary and they had at least 10 more shots on the Flames net. They got as close as 4-6 and then they pulled out their goalie in 01:50 min. to the end but it cost them another score and they eventually lost 4-7. Kiprusoff was not playing due to an injury and at the beginning when the Stars accepted three goal I though they would be an easy win for the Flames because Dallas just had beaten Edmonton 4-1 the night before. So they were tired from the last night's game. Overall it was a lot of fun but I did not expect Dallas to lose with this score. When I checked the overall Western Conference standing I realized that Dallas is at the 8th place and Calgary at 12th! but I guess sometimes you could beat a strong team in your home!

(Photo: I took this photo from where I was sitting and it does not show much but this is one of the Dallas' attacks on Calgary in the second period)

Amazing Photo

Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup surprisingly last night. I didn't watch game seven but watched a few others. Detroit looked so determined and as strong as last season at the beginning and I was a bit shocked when I read Pittsburgh's victory today.

I just picked this amazing photo of the game seven and as this blog in no way a news blog I refer you to NHL's website and other related sites for the news. Just enjoy the art of photography.

(Photo: Fleury, the net minder of Pittsburgh blocks a shot in game seven of 2008-2009 NHL season. The penguins won the game 2-1 and as well as the Stanley Cup in Detroit)

Canucks Out!

I went to do a little shopping last night and it was like walking in a cemetery during the week! Yes! It was shortly after the professional hockey team of Brit"Shit" Columbia had lost to Chicago and had been eliminated! Everybody was shut up! They lost in Vancouver while having ice advantage! Now there's a good solution for the homeless people of this province, specially the Downtown Eastside: Just vacant the GM Place and make it a big shelter for the poor people! Send those twin assholes back to Sweden, Luongo to Florida and the bald guy to Toronto 'cause this team is just a shame!

(Photo: Checkmate! Luongo is frozen solid after the Chicago's win! He's thinking of going back to FL!)

(Correction: That was not the last game, actually. The asshole Canucks got eliminated the day after the game. They lost 2-4 to Chicago)

Good Kick

I watched part of the game of assholes of Vancouver and the guys of Chicago Blackhawks and must admit I enjoy a lot. A team which uses bunch of Swedish pricks deserves a 3-6 loss in his hometown. I really wanted to be in Downtown and look at the faces of those jerks who wear that stupid Jersey of Vancouver! That old scum, what's his name? another Swedish twat who's playing his last games where supposed to help these losers but he passed out!

Anyways enough of showing hatred! I hope the "Shit"couver loses the next two games in Chicago and then they are out of Playoffs.
(Photo: Roberto Loser watches the puck going in to the net in the disgraceful loss to Chicago)

The Worst Place on Earth

Moving to Brit"shit" Columbia (B. C.) has probably been the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life. B. C. is for sure the most hatred province of Canada in my view. It’s a nice place to see, for vacation but the most stupid place to live. There’re just not jobs but the filthy surviving ones, mostly: Cashier, security guard, waiter, waitress, labourer, driver and so on. And how much do you really think you make?
It’s said anything less than $16.75 (or so) is considered below line of poverty. The other guys have not better life than that; Looks at the higher-paid jobs: firefighters, cops, nurses and other service sector employees. They work long shifts and have to deal with different kind of mentally and physically sick people and face every different type of hazard every day of their life. Firefighters’ shift is 4 days of 12 hours a week! Nearly all of the nurses I’ve seen here are addicted to nicotine or other substances. I don’t know what percentage but a large number of police officers are alcoholic. It was just less than two weeks ago when a drunk RCMP officer killed someone in a car accident.
Obviously the same problems exist for the same jobs in the other provinces but what makes this province different is its fucking disgusting weather. It’s hot in summer and it’s pissing on you all the fall and winter. So if you really are thinking of goin’ to Canada, just forget the worst place on earth. I’m moving out next year, goin’ back to Alberta. So whatever bad happens in Brit”shit” Columbia, makes me happy ‘cause I hate this place with all my heart and mind. Vancouver Canucks, their only professional hockey team is the one I hate the most in the entire league. Their lost their fucking net minder last night as a result of injury and it’s known when he will be able to come back. That made me happy a lot. Fuck Brit”shit” Columbia, the most stupid place on earth.

(Photo: The asshole, the shithead goalie of Canucks is fucked up so bad and hopefully will miss so many games and the representatives of Brit"shit" Columbia lose all the games during his absence and most of them after that)

NHL in the Last Days of Regular

We’re goin’ to know the teams who’ll fight for ’07-’08 Stanley Cup soon. I didn’t spend time on NHL this in this season, mostly because I have Cable TV now and not stuck on CBC and its Hockey Night in Canada. I’m not saying it’s not good. It’s my favourite but I mostly watch comedies, especially Seinfeld. That’s my new discovery. Although the show is old, ended in 97 but still attracts audience.
Anyway there are a few teams in West fighting for Playoffs, as usual. Vancouver, who had a good start in the season, now is in the verge of losing the Playoffs. Good! I always hated Canucks especially that asshole, the fucking goalie. The stupid guy had a trip to Florida where his wife lives. The woman gave birth to their first child and he then flew to Minnesota to play against the Wild. That’s where they got fucked in right in the ass! They lost 0-4 to Minnesota and now are standing in 9th position in Western Conference. There are four games left to be played by them, 2 of them against Calgary including the last game of March, the 30th day of the month, in their home.
The other interesting thing is Todd Bertuzzi who punched Steve Moore in March of 2004 and broke his neck, which was an end to Moore’s NHL career, now blaming the former Canucks coach for his brutal act. He alleges that Crawford urged the players, including Todd, to beat the shit of Moore in revenge of what he had already done to the then captain, Jovanovski! Isn’t that absurd? You almost kill someone, make him paralyzed and hospitalized, push him toward early retirement and your only excuse is you just followed the orders of your coach?!
Anyways there’s not much doubt that neither Moore get anything nor Bertuzzi is innocent. The fact is violence is part of NHL and will be until the officials put a permanent end to it. It was just last week in Quebec Junior Hockey League where son of the hockey legend Patrick Roy got suspended for 7 games. Not to mention that his father received the same kind of punishment, longer or shorter for not be able to controlling his players! The young Roy punched the opponent’s goalie really bad after the two teams got into a brawl and then gave fingers to the crowd!
So I’ll wait to see what will happen and who makes to playoff, Edmonton or Vancouver?

(Photo: The former Colorado player, Moore in a press conference)

Beautiful Shootout

It has been a long time that I have not watched a full game of NHL. In fact I never did. It always seems tiring while at the same time interesting and exciting. The problem is not NHL or anything. The problem is in me. That, actually, prevents me from focusing on anything.
So when I turned the TV on today and Hockey Night in Canada was on, I couldn’t watch even one single period and switched continuously from CBC and the other stations. Vancouver was playing in Edmonton. The game finally was even in regulation and OT. Thus based on the new NHL rule (New in last 2 or 3 seasons obviously!) the teams started the shootout and that’s where I started watching!
None of the main net minder of the teams were playing tonight, Luongo is injured and Roloson was out for whatever reason and Garon was taking care of the net. The teams were still even in shootout and then Shawn Horcoff scored a very beautiful shot. Then that was the Vancouver guy who lost his chance over Garon. Pisani was the last one who skated in rink and that was against Sanford. Luango’s injury has given Sanford a chance to star but Pisani passed the puck between the legs of him and scored the game winning. That made Sanford so upset which not only made him to push the puck out after it passed the score line but also broke his stick while leaving the rink!

(Photo: This alternative logo of Edmonton Oilers is my favorite one)

Charity Begins At Home

 I see TV commercials that encourage people to adopt a child from Africa or South America, off and on. This type of ad usually airs in Sundays when most of the people are home while you can watch them during the week but it would not get that much audience.
A new commercial have been caught by me recently and I guess that’s aired for B. C. but I’m not sure because I can’t remember the channel. The new commercial says that only 1 out of 3 Canadian children are able to enroll in organized sport programs. It’s not clear why those stupid morons push people toward African and South American kids while there’re so many needy kids here in the country. Sometimes I go crazy because of what these idiots do.

(Photo: Nearly 500,000 Canadians play hockey at professional or semi-professional level and many play for American leagues. It is considered the national sport but these days [updated in 01.Mar.2025 when I just added the picture] it's not affordable for many Canadians anymore. In small towns kids are shifting toward what I'd call poor sports! Soccer! All you need is a cheap ball!)

Carolina Won

I didn't have the chance to watch the last game of 2006 Stanley Cup Finals tonight as a result of exhausting but Carolina Hurricanes won the cup after defeating Edmonton Oilers 3-1. I only watched the last 01:17 min. of the game when it was 2-1 for Carolina and Edmonton had pulled out its goalie for a man-advantage but that didn't help as usually doesn't and Carolina had an empty-neter and everything was over for the Oilers.
That was the second consecutive year which a Canadian team from Alberta was fighting for the cup in the Finals. There was Calgary in 2003-2004 which they finally lost to Tampa Bay in game 7, just like Edmonton tonight. And 2004-2005 season was locked out.
(Photo: Captain Rod Brind'Amour of the Hurricanes originally from Ottawa hoists the Stanley Cup after defeating Edmonton)

Almost a Complete Game!

Game six of 2006 NHL Finals in Edmonton is probably the only game that I spent the longest min. on it! Except a few min. of the first period that I was in the shower (and luckily the period was scoreless!) I watched the whole game.
The first thing I noticed was the Prime Minister in the crowed when Canadian national anthem was being sang by everyone in Rexall Place, including him. He had his glasses and suits on! It's OK to have a pair of glasses but why would you wear a suit in a game? Just to say you're Stephen Harper?
Anyhow Edmonton had a good start and the first intermission finished, as I said, scoreless. Markannen suddenly jumped out of the net in the period to get the puck and that was going to cost the Oilers but didn't. The first period was finished with a 10-3 shootout for Edmonton.
Piasani who made the Hurricanes to travel all the way to Edmonton for the sixth game, scored in a powerplay in the second period and that was the opening for the Oilers. That was just a mild backhand but was deflected by number 2 of the Hurricanes and went in.
They scored one more time in that period to have a 2-0 lead at the end of 40 min. Markannen did the same mistake that Ty Conklin did in the first game after Roloson was injured. He came out of the net and passed to a teammate while a Hurricane was about to get the puck and scored. But he was lucky for the second time and got away from that.
Edmonton had a 3 on 1 great chance in the third period and they scored, I believe, but the judges didn't count it. Ward, as I saw, took the puck out of the net with his glove, while it has already passed the score line. That was called a miraculous save by the commentator later. Then Smyth went all the way to the Carolina net in a powerplay, right from the middle of the rink and scored and made it 3-0. At 11:14 left to the game it was 28-8 shots for Edmonton. The Hurricanes had a few powerplays but didn't score as a good penalty killing by Edmonton. On the other side Markannen had an easy day, almost. The last score of the Oilers was on powerplay again and they blanked the Hurricanes 4-0. The last game will be played on Mon. in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Flames is Put Out

I knew it happens! Right from the beginning. The Flames lost to the Ducks and said goodbye to 2006 playoff. They're shot-out. A 0-3 defeat! I couldn't watch the game because that was disturbing and boring for me. Calgary was so dependent on Kiprusoff and he disappointed all the fans who were waiting for an easy victory and ready for celebrate.

Painful Beginning

Calgary started a road trip yesterday in Nashville which was a very bad opening. I don't know if that's their worst loss ever but I'm sure it's one of the them. They lost to Nashville 4-9! They survived the next game today in Minnesota though. A 3-2 victory. They will face Minnesota again on Tue.(!) and will have 3 more games before coming home in March.29 and play against LA. Nashville is one of the certain chances to move forward to Playoffs. So does Calgary, If they don't play like they did against the Predators!

The game I watched this week partially was Toronto at NY Rangers which ended to a 5-2 victory for the Rangers. Canadian teams were mostly awful this weekend!

(Photo: Two opponents are fighting during Calgary-Nashville game yesterday)

Upset

Canadians are very upset over what happened to men's hockey team although women won gold for the second consecutive Olympics and there's a high chance to repeat it again in Vancouver 2010. Wayne Gretzky accepted full responsibility for the loss right after they lost to Russia in their last game as Team Canada's executive director. He might not be serving the team in the next Olympics. Canada had three shoot-outs, all 0-2, in the tournament out of six games they played!

(Photo: An upset fan reacts over Team Canada's results in the recent Olympics. I don't know why he covers his face!)