The Meltdown

I watched Ice Age : The Meltdown today in Chinook. That's incredibly funny and entertaining although the story is just good for kids. I haven't watched the first part but might get that through the net and take a look. It's amazing that the crew could make a movie out of a simple story of migration of group of animals from a valley to another place and lengthen it for 90 min.!
During the movie I noticed that one of the voices are very familiar to me and that was the voice of the male mammoth. I couldn't figure it out and then I checked YAHOO Movies when I got home and found out it's Ray Romano, the guy in the hilarious TV show, Everybody Loves Raymond. That's one of the best shows I've ever seen and it was when we and Resurrect used to live together and had cable TV. Not anymore!
Anyhow the movie is good and not boring. But worth watching only once and in a movie theatre only. Even me who watches most of the movies more than 10 times, am not interested to watch this again. I'm not saying it's bad. Simply put it's a kids movie and very amusing for them.
The destination was, in the movie, somewhere not really far to protect them from a flood which would happen as a result of meltdown and global warming. And as the male mammoth was trying to learn if he's the last of his species, I thought may be the director wants to kind of tell the story of Noah and his Ark. But the rest of the movie didn't go that way especially when they found themselves on the ground shorty after the flood and a flock of mammoths appeared.
(Photo: Ray Romano the star of TV series Everybody loves Raymond, the very interesting and funny TV Show which I like very much, voices a giant mammoth in the movie)

Message Trade

Nicole called me after month and half regarding the Quality Engineer position I applied in Tri Ocean Engineering and the interview I attended in Feb.21. She left a message asking if I was available or not. That was last Mon. I called her 3 times in the afternoon of that day but couldn't get her on the phone. Then I consulted my friend, Kamix and he indicated that I should not beg for the job. That three rings are enough.

So I didn't call her yesterday until I got home and found her message saying she was busy and couldn't return my call! I left a message as well saying that I would be available the coming Mon. or Tue. but that was it. I didn't get anything from her today. I only got tomorrow and the day after. If I receive a call from them, it means there's a chance. If not, it's gone.

Flashback (6): Brother Moe

When I decided to move out from the townhouse I used to share with Resurrect, the king of idiots, he tried to help me finding a new place. But as he’s a complete asshole he messed up like everything else he does. He told me that he knew somewhere nice in the neighborhood which is close to everything. Then one day he drove me there: An old filthy place where an old Egyptian guy named Brother Moe (Moe for Mohammad) resides.
The house was a mess and the guy was a mess, a drunkard in his early 50s. Cans of beer were all over the place and you could smell poverty in the house. There was also an Oldsmobile parked in front of the house lacking driver’s side window. The window was covered by a plastic sheet.
I didn’t say anything ‘cause I know Resurrect. He told me that Brother Moe used to live in a luxury house with his family and then one day his son got killed by the cops and his wife filed divorce and got the house from him! He turned to an alcoholic after that. Resurrect told him that he had to find a job. He said: " Brother Moe you gotta find a job. Go to people’s house and tell you do everything: You mow their lawn, you clean their yard, you suck their dick! You … " The old guy then jumped in: " No! I don’t suck their dick! "
The neighborhood is where poor street whores hang out usually. I didn’t say a thing and we left after a few minutes. Obviously Resurrect had sympathy for that guy and was trying to help. But as he doesn’t know how to behave in almost every situation, he screws up! Why the hell he took me to that nuthouse? Only because he’s an asshole, without a shadow of doubt.

Depressing Trade

I sold my car today and that made me so depressed and sad. I have it only until the coming Wed. and have to leave it at buyer's yard. I sold it to the same dealer I bought it from 2.5 years ago. The car has less than 30,000 Km on it which is phenomenal in Canada and I've never been involved in an accident. I guess the guy was very happy but didn't show it. He makes at least $3000 from it. I financed it in Sep. of 03 and have still 21 months to go. I and Hojam went there and after that I was so down that didn't even go for my regular work out. It's a downgrade for me and have to buy a very cheep used car as soon as I can because it would be difficult having no car here. Selling it will save me about $450 every month.
Also Alphonse called me today from MA. His situation is not good either. His visa is expired and he's in debt and has no job. His story is a bit long but I know his main problem is he's very bad at English after doing a Masters Degree and spending 3 years down in the US! He has a deadline for himself and is going back if that doesn't work for him.
(Photo: I took this photo from my Echo in the winter of 04 when I used to share a townhouse with Resurrect)

Otto

I went to my neighbourhood's Safeway for weekly grocery shopping and in the meat department I ran to Otto, the Vietnamese guy. He has been born here. He was wearing an earring and had a punkish-blond hair style! He used to be my supervisor for a period of time. A nice guy but to run his department, he had to be an asshole like most of the supervisors, sometimes. But I did the least amount of hard job under his supervision mostly because I was on light duty. But he lied to me a few times and I did something to him which led to his termination. That was not the only cause but did help. Here's the story which I think I should put here:
Once I didn't see him for a few days at work and asked the guys where he is. I was told that he has gotten injured and is resting at home. One Mon. I saw Bev in the corridor and I asked her: Do you have any idea what happened to Otto? She answered: He's sick and at home. I said: I saw him in Canada Olympic Park last Sat., skiing and he waved at me! She looked like she didn't believe me but we talked for a few more seconds and we left.
Shortly after that they called me upstairs in the office and asked me to write my statement. I did that and signed the paper. I didn't see him until today. But last week I was talking to a Lao pretty, petite girl and I asked her if she's Otto's ex-gf and she said no and mentioned that she was married. Then I asked if she knows where Otto is. She said that he owned a nail shop in NW quartile of the city and is married and got two kids. Otto himself said today that he manages that meat department and does a computer-related job. I don't know why he's there 'cause Mark once told me he lives in Forest Lawn and the young Lao lady said he lives in AppleWood which is not very far from the said neighbourhood and that's where usually Oriental people from South East Asia live. That's too far from my neighbourhood and I wonder if he has moved or travels that long for money. Laszlo once told me that company hired a private investigator to find out his story. The guy learnt that he's fine, reported to the company and they dismissed him. That's what he said but he's not a very trustworthy guy in my view. Although I don't see any reason for him to make up such a story.

Drains

Here are the 10 most common money leaks in North America that it's said everyone can plug them in and save bucks. The way(s) I deal with the issue is offered beneath them:

1- Paying bills by snail mail.

Using online banking system or any other electronic media.

2- Annual payments for credit cards.

All my 6 credit cards have no annual fee.

3- Using cash to pay tolls.

Not applicable to me. It's regarding the roads, bridges and highways which the driver should pay before s/he gets in.

4- Subscribing for cable TV, Internet service and phone from three different companies.

There was no time that I have all the said three services together. Even when I used to share a townhouse with Resurrect I didn't pay for the phone and used to use only my mobile phone but he had a good deal from a company which I don't remember the name. (I guess it's Telus) He had a considerable amount of time calling inside Canada for only $20 as he used to call his brother-in-law in North Vancouver and let me to use that service for free. So I used that to call my friends in Toronto and Edmonton! But I believe that you'll be qualified for some sort of discount when you get different services from only a company and you'll save bucks.

5- Letting the water run.

As clear as crystal. Never happened to me even with a guy like Resurrect!

6- Keeping six months’ worth of salary in a savings account as an emergency fund.

I've no idea about this one but know if anyone leaves his or her account inactive in Canada (At least with RBC) they'll withdrawal bucks as a charge! It happened to my US account and thay've charged me $15! I called them and explained the reason I left that much money untouched and they promised me to be retrieved!

7- A cell-phone plan that doesn’t match your needs.

That's very true and has happened to me several times so far! I've changed my plan at least 4 times in past year! But my situation is a bit different. I sometimes need to talk a lot and sometimes don't!

8- Taking your time to redeem gift cards.

Have no experience regarding this one

9- Eating out on vacations.

That's definitely true. Happens to me every week even when I'm not on vacation! Damn Safeway charges you $3.99 for a bagel sandwich! But sometimes I doubt they make good money and afford paying their employees though! That huge building has gigantic bills: electricity for numerous lights, coolers, fridges and freezes, employees salaries, security expenses, transportation, gas for 10 months of year which is really cold and you have to warm up the whole building and many other possible expenses that I'm not aware of!

10- Thinking that “all-inclusive” means “all-inclusive.”

This one applies to vacation packages and I haven't tried them. Never. But sounds to be true. When I read their add, I hardly believe them.