Disappointing Game

I didn't watch none of the first three games of western conference finals between the Oilers and the Ducks but today I decided to watch game #4 as it could be the last game of the series. Edmonton won all three games and was just one win away from the finals but there were disappointing. Anaheim won the game 6-3 and that was the first win for them in last 7 years! I watched the first period completely and then the second period partially but couldn't handle the last one! The Ducks won the first period with a score of 3-0 and also outshooted Edmonton 25-3! I didn't have much hope for the Oilers to be able to beat the Ducks and that happened. Now they have to go all the way to Anaheim this Sat. And the Ducks are strong. They are not going to give up easily.
(Photo: Anaheim goalie, Giguere, came back to the rink today after a long time. He hasn't had played since the Ducks defeated the Flames)

Flashback (9): Expensive Recruiters

I remember when I first started job haunting, and that was before I attended SAIT, once I encountered an advertisement in Calgary Herald indicating that the company provides kind of service to people to be employed. So I wrote them but I don’t remember if I sent my resume or not and shortly after I received a call from them and an appointment was set. They had a very nice office in a tower in downtown. I guess it was 1st St. If I go there I can find the tower easily. There are four of them together. I went there and I met a lady called Heather.
She explained to me that it was a company who help people finding careers through making them ready for interviews, preparing their resumes and get them connected with companies through the network they have. She then showed me a letter that she claimed it was written by a customer who had have a job from them and appreciated them. She then left the office and wanted me to read the letter. I didn’t get much from the letter, firstly because of the handwriting and second because my English proficiency was poor at the time. But for reason unknown which can’t be recalled, I tried to make notes of the letter! I also remember that the lady claimed that the guy had a good position somewhere, making $90K annually. When she came back to the office and asked me about the letter, I obviously didn’t tell her that I was not able to understand it. I said: It doesn’t make sense! She gazed at me with strange look and got the letter back. She then told me that their service would cost me $5000! And that included the services I mentioned earlier. She also said that if I pay the whole amount at once, I would be eligible for a $500 discount and my total bill comes to $4500. I told her that I have to think about it as that’s a little more than what I expected and she said not to forget to contact her in case I made my mind. I never went there or call her but used to see their advertisement in the paper and then they were gone. Once I was to another company like that and it was in 8th Ave. SW., they were supposed to help me to have a better resume for a $600. They guy told me that there were many complaints against them. I never went to them too, although they sent me letters and contacted me a few times.
The last one I was in, was a company in, I guess, 4th Ave. SW and I remember there was a Canadian guy in his mid. 40s looking at my resume in his office. He was asking for a $3000 to find me a career that fits my education and experience. He mentioned something about APEGGA saying that it could be cheaper if I had the certificate from them. I never went back there.

The Code

I watched The Da Vinci Code (why it's written in its Italian syntax, I have no idea! because in Italian c is pronounced as ch in English) today and honestly didn't understand much. It's not because of the dialogues which is basically the movie is founded on. It's because I know nothing about Christianity and its history. The movie is banned by some Christians and even some Muslims support them and condemn the way Jesus is portrayed in the movie. The whole story started a while ago when the novel was released. And then the movie now.
Obviously it's a fiction. The movie is saying that Jesus was married to a lady called Maria Magdalena, one of his apostles and the actor and actress finally find out that the descendant of the actress goes to Jesus and she's his granddaughter! That's all the movie is about. It's all figured out after a series of investigation and travels in Europe. I might buy the book to understand the whole idea of the story. Of course after I finished the ones I've bought and not done with them or they haven't been started!
(Photo: Tom Hanks and the French actress, Audrey Tautou [Jesus's grand daughter!] in the last minutes of the movie)

Freaky Gauge

Hojam came over in the afternoon (I'm writing this while the time's passed 12:00 AM and is Sun.) for a chat and a movie. We watched The Driver. I picked the movie for him as I know he likes cars and driving. Then we take a look at the Chevy. We opened the hood and did a little cleaning and checks. He changed driver’s side wiper blade with the other side's as it is broken and had a look at the central lock switch, engine oil and air filter. Then we decided to go to junk yard next week and get a few things for the car. Here’s the list:

1- A pair of hubcaps for front tires.
2- Wiper blade.
3- Battery (I guess all batteries are 12 V. specially for a big car like this).
4- Central lock switch, driver’s side.
5- Sealing rubber ribbon for driver’s door.

Then after Hojam left I drove to Talisman for exercises and work out and something really funny and a little bit scary happened. I just exited Deerfoot Trail and as soon as I turned left to Heritage Meadows Drive I had a look at the fuel gauge and Oh my God! I’m out of gas! The needle was in the red zone not very far from the end! I was expecting the car to stop in a few meters but after that turn the needle went back to the blue zone! I was so scared. My guess is the gauge is kind of broken at the junctions when I turn or make a loop!

(Photo: I took this photo of the fuel gauge using P. M.'s digital camera while the car was parked)

Fish Creek

I spent a few hours this morning in Fish Creek Provincial Park for walking and photography. It was nice and mild and mostly cloudy and not many people were seen around. Fish Creek is one of the largest parks in Calgary and you can see a wide range of wild life in it, if you look around carefully. There were still signs of last year's flood everywhere. It was not sunny enough for perfect photos but I took a few. I met a Canadian guy in, I'd say, his early 40s and we had a chat for a few min. When he learnt my nationality, he mentioned the new dress code which is believed is going to be confirmed by Iranian Parliament. The rule says that non-Muslims must be easily identifiable from Muslims by the way they dress! A colour ribbon must be worn by them! I guess the news has no reliability and that's the way they try to ruin Iran more and more but foreigner, I mean people in North America and Europe believe it easily and quick. The news firstly was posted by National Post but has been denied by Iranian officials all over, including the embassy. I know that's crazy but no matter what's said about Iran, people all here and in the US believe it. Iran is being compared with German Nazi back in 40s when Jews had to wear something (like a David Star) which made them identifiable easily from other people. Iran has done so much to the world in past 26 years that make him so vulnerable. Even people don't care about Iraqis invasion to Iran which led to an 8 year devastating war. Poor us!

(Photo: I took this photo from Fish Creek in a cloudy day and is not good but shows the natural beauty of the park. You also see the results of last year's flood)

The Sharks Were Drawned in Oil

Hockey is really a complex sport specially for someone like me who is not patient enough to watch the whole game and listens to commentators and also is new to it. The commentators were discussing about the face-offs and what is the chance of a right-handed player against a left-handed one and I didn't get much! So what's I'm gonna do next time (prob. next season!) is being a good listener in addition to being a good audience.
Anyhow I missed most of the game tonight because I thought it starts at 08:00 PM while that was 08:00 ET! So I just watched the last period and missed the second goal of the Oilers too! I just went to the kitchen for something and Boom! They scored. Regardless of all that even the few minutes I watched were so exciting and worth watching. The Oilers never gave up and were fighting to the last min. They beat the Sharks 2-0 and advanced to western conference finals after 14 years! The first game will be in Anaheim this Fri. against the team who eliminated the Flames and Colorado and the second team was beaten really bad: 4-0!
(Photo: Dwayne Roloson who is seen here losing his helmet was tremendous tonight and was selected star number one of the game by Mastercard. He had 25 saves and his first shoot-out in the playoffs)