Chicken on the Way (Stay Away!)

This business at the corner of 14th St. and Kensington Rd., NW has been around for 10 years, I know. Its history goes way back, according to newspaper cuts that they have on the walls. I remember it from that the time I use to ride my bike back and forth to SAIT but never had tried it until last week.

The business is ran by all Caucasian guys and gals and you expect it to be cleaner and more organized than a side road cafe in a third world country but in fact it is worse! in Chicken, Stay Away, that's what I would like to call it, the quality of food is something way below average. We got 4 small pieces including one wing for $7, GST included. The pieces were so small and salty that you actually needed 4 litres of distilled water to clear that much salt out of your body! The place is a complete mess. Stack of boxes, piles of potato, you name it! The true meaning of dump! The first time we got in, there was a line. So I said screw it! Who, the idiot, is going to stay in a freaking line for a few pieces of chicken!? And on that time I even had not tasted the pieces. Now even if I'm starving and you take me there and buy me pieces, I will not eat them. I always had thought it must have been something better than KFC but then I realized that KFC with all the allegations, is healthier food compare to this!

So in a nutshell don't waste your time and money there. Get something else to eat, unless you're some kind of loser who can't cook something for him/herself or get it from another place!
Overall Rating: Not recommended at all. Not even to try once. Not joking.
(Photo: The notorious Chicken Stay Away(!), name changed by me, in 14th Ave., SW)

Workplace Stories (2): The Mumbling Guy and the Back Up

There was a meeting today at work and I and my partner from our department and the person who was technically responsible for the item, as well as another one, all participated. The last one was a sort of backup for the technical guy; a kind of mentor. 

At the other side, the supplier and his team had been lined up. And one representative from the Client. We sat and listened and talked a bit. At the end a sort of argument broke out between The Backup and my buddy, who's named The Mumbling Guy. Why I am calling him the Mumbling Guy is actually because it is very hard for him to speak English and has very bad grammar and silly accent. The Backup started on him and called the meeting a waste of time, which it really was but I didn't care because I was being paid! The most important part of the meeting actually was the question that I asked and had no answer! The Client's representative tried to throw the ball in our court and we passed it back to him!

Eventually the issue was decided to be cleared up later on! That was the cause of argument. The Backup asked why  this meeting had been called in the first place and my answer was I had not asked for that. The Backup wanted the process of manufacturing to be started and go forward. The Mumbling Guy said that he would not authorize that. I don't know what the hell The Backup's problem was because that was none of her business. I remained calm but The Mumbling Guy did not really like it! He obviously felt insulted and seemed furious.
I really enjoyed the moment that how incompetent that moron was! I went to The Mumbling Guy and put as many pieces of firewood as possible in his fireplace! The fire blazed! I said things like the behaviour was very unprofessional, that was not the first time I witnessed that, you should e-mail the Project Manager and stuff like that! He went to the Project Manager's office to talk to him but apparently he was not there. Then I told him that I would find out. I did check and realized that he had left for the day. I encourages him to e-mail and put words in his mouth! Even suggested to write the e-mail for him with referring the part of the Code of Ethics which was applicable there. The Mumbling Guy bought it and wrote the e-mail but didn't add anything from the Code. Then during the day whenever I had to talk to him, I would add something like I still can not get it out of my mind and such! I have to wait to see what the Project Manager's reaction would be.

(Photo: This cartoon, however simple, reminds me of The Mumbling Guy! People mostly have difficulty understanding him!) 

Plotting an OC Curve

I had been struggling with MS Excel to plot a damn OC Curve for about a week, until now. After spending considerable amount of time I realized that I should not choose a Line Chart but a Scatter Chart. I am not plotting a Scatter Chart but this is as close as you can get.

If anybody knows a better way, please let me know but the issue with selecting the Line Chart is that MS Excel draws two curves separately while the Scatter Charts correlate the two based on its definition and shows what we need. The only issues remaining is that the result is not a curve! It's a series of dots coming together and if you try to apply a Trend Line that really does not work because none of then have been actually are designed for this purpose. I guess the only software which could actually draw an OC Curve would be Minitab. I had an old copy from early 2000(!) which I used to use in the old country and brought it here. Have no idea where it is now. The newer versions must have the capability of drawing the Operating Characteristic Curve.

(Photos: The OC Curve and its related table plotted using MS Excel)

The Problem with the Law in Every Level

It is always good to have a law, statute, code, by-law or whatever you like to call it but what is the point of having that if there is no enforcement? In North America there is always one of the above and the system is dynamic. It is very good but at time there is no control, no enforcement and that is due to lack of budget and lack of personnel. The CPS has grown significantly in the past 5 years, I would say and their enforcement capacity is good but at times they talk about lay offs. There was this huge facility in NE Calgary belonged to Nortel Networks which is now a CPS office and yard. There is the other one, smaller in Chinook Centre and one new behind the Stampede grounds. Why would you spend so much money and then decide to get rid of them later? Isn't there anything called planing?

The Peace Officers that these days are seen mostly in Downtown core and at times in another LRT stations did not exist the way they do now a few years ago. Seem to be good enforcement. Also Parking Enforcement of The City of Calgary has been contracted to the Commissionaires and they have a fleet but that does not seem to be enough. One thing that I forgot to mention about CPS is the growing number of careless drivers in the City. I can not even count the number of drivers that I see on daily bases who drive and talk on their mobile phone. Why is that the CPS is not able to control them? Because they do not have the measures, I believe. They simply have to force the service providers to sell their devises with hands-free only or ask the automakers to have the vehicles with built-in hands-free systems. But I doubt that the governments have this kind of power here in North America.

There is this radio show every day that I listen to when I am driving. The guy was asking a physician in Federal Government this question that why they will not ban smoking while they know it's harmful and killing. The guy's answer was that their job was increasing the knowledge of Canadians and through that they have to understand and stop smoking but the hoist gave her a good answer and told her that was because the Federal Government makes lots of money through tobacco products! I have never seen anybody enforces a smoking by-law in the city. So what is the point of having it? Just making money for the members of Legislative Assembly!?

(Photo: This by-law for recycling goods seems very strong but is there any way of enforcing it?)

Stories of the Greatest Place to Work

Today I decided to tell the stories of my work place. I am sure that there will be plenty to share but not sure if all of them worth writing. I start with a few short ones:

1- There was one person hired for off-shore activities. The guy was sent there, accompanied with a supervisor, introduced to everyone and stayed there for a few days. Then left for his first few days off. On returning, he showed up drunk at the airport and they did not let him abroad. The Client then banned him from entering the facilities permanently!

2- There's this guy who appears to be a Scheduler. There was once a Project meeting and he was amongst a few who had not been invited! I really don't know what kind of experience and education this asshole has which does not give him the impression that he needs a Scheduler for his plans. The funny thing is the guy wanted to quit a few months back but the company revised his offer, most likely better salary and kept him!

When a contractor sends its schedule, no copy go to this guy. I don't know how he's supposed to schedule for the Project while he has no access to the contractor's to see if they fit in or not but apparently he's an idiot.

3- There's a piece of stinking crap who wanted to have a presentation a short while ago. It has provided something for Slurry but was pronouncing it like it had been written Celery. Don't get me go further!

I'm so sick and tired of this stupidity but until I find another job I will have to stick to it.

Promethous: Not as Good as Expected

It had been over a month that I, like everyone else, wanted this new movie of Ridley Scott, Prometheus. It was quite disappointing. I chose IMAX 3D theatre because I wanted to enjoy the long awaiting movie. The experience was good but the movie's story ruined the experience.

Basically a ship lands on a planet and the crew go out to search and they are unarmed. They got caught by an unknown very dangerous unbeatable creature and die one after another and again there is one survivor who apparently are going to be to the sequel(!) and she is not Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver this time!

Come on Scott! This is exactly Alien screenplay with a little twist and the difference movie has with it's 1979 version is better visual effects, more advanced spaceship and loner surviving creature! Is that what Scott wanted to have? I guess if he wanted to show how Alien was evolved, then he has done well because the killing machine in this movie is different from Alien series but at the end you see that the very same one appears.

The other weak point about the movie is the role of Charlize Theron. She is a good actress and I liked her performance in Monster and In the Valley of Elah but I guess she is in Prometheus just because she wanted to help with the box office. In fact all the other actors and actresses are British and unknown to the usual movie-goer of North America and the World as well but she fails because she does nothing but throwing a few foul language during the movie!

I had planned to get the DVD and watch it again just like what I did with the other four Alien movies but I am not so sure now. I would give 2.5 out of 5 to this movie and that mainly is because of the special effects and action part of the movie, not the plays and story. There was only one role which was done quite well and that was the sole survival's!

(Photo: This is the scene that is seen at the starting minutes of Alien and ending part of Prometheus. Scott has used it to connect the prequel to his 1979 movie. This is actually the pilots cockpit, If I can name the creature that you can see at the right side of the photo is going to get into it and fly to Earth to destroy it. How and why is that going to happen, you will have to see the movie!)