Government's Good Plan to Assist the Flood Victims

There are still arguments and allegations more than one month after the flood in Calgary and it will be much longer in High River, I am sure. The thing I like about the Government's, and I think it is the Provincial Government, handling this disaster is the way they paid people to compensate for their losses. The Government did not issue cheques to the claimants. They gave them Debit Cards(!) which is absolutely smart. Considering there are lots of crooks out there, especially among young Canadians, teenagers, university, college and high school, who are desperately looking for such easy cash to spend it on booze and weed, go to the bars and nightclubs at 06:00 PM, coming out totally wasted at 04:00 AM the next day, it should be a total disappointment for them. Now with this so called Debit Card whatever they spend will be shown on the statement and there is no chance in hell to have fun with it!
(Photo: A familiar scene in Calgary in flood days. Everything is now almost back to normal) 

Pervez Musharraf's Comment

Many in the West do not know who Pervez Musharraf is, even in the East. I first came to know him in 1999 when he took the power after a coup in Pakistan. It was the headline of the papers in the old country and I clearly remember a photo showing his soldiers climbing up the presidential palace, probably in Islam-Abad.
But what does this have to do with The Other Side of the Globe, here? A few years back when I was resided in British Columbia there was this vegetable store in 100th Ave., Surrey where we used to visit often to get fresh vegetables and fruits. Once I picked up a East Indian or some called South Asian magazine and in there I saw an advertisement about Pervez Musharraf's speech somewhere in Surrey which you could only go by invitation. I was no dying to go but was just curious to see what he had to say. I didn't know how had left the power, was he ousted out like his successor or he had resigned. I don't even know to this date but I know he used to live in London and went back to Pakistan a few weeks ago and I guess he got arrested on several allegations. I asked the Mumbling Guy why someone like Musharraf would go to Pakistan while he knows he would be incarcerated or assassinated just like Binazir Bhutto? And he being an Indian, a true rival said that was the greed for power! And I think he is absolutely right! When I told another colleague who is originally from Pakistan about Musharraf's speech a few years ago in British Columbia and if he would have gone, had he haired this on time. He said he would beat him with his shoe if he had the chance!
So it seems that the retired general is not anybody's favorite. He is hated by Indians and Pakistanis and he is hated by the Pakistani government as well. So what is that I like about him?
In an interview that I watched a few years ago he was talking about fundamentalism, Taliban, Islam and so on and he pointed at a very good fact: He said the former Shah (king) of Iran started modernization and westernization of Iran too early, when the society was not ready. He practically started that almost perhaps more than 50 years ago when people were so stuck to their cultural restrictions and fundamental beliefs and he failed. I don't know what he was talking at the moment which made him to give this example but he was right. Even to this date that many people are turned their faces from Islam in that country, you will find the majority who believe in that religion. That, in fact was not the only mistake of the Shah but we are not discussing this here.
(Photo: The young Musharraf and his wife and the child when he was a low rank officer in Pakistani army. Pakistan is the country, like Turkey, that the Army has a big role  in running the country) 

Dinosaur Provincial Park

There had been places in Canada that I wanted to go and Dinosaur Park was one of them until yesterday that I eventually went. Dinosaur Park is an interesting place to see but it could be a bit tiring if you make it a one day trip like we did. There is a camping place but I'm not a big fan of it with people coming and going and making noise and insects sticking to you all the time! Not to mention the luxury of bathrooms! In my view for someone to make the best of this trip is staying overnight in Brooks which is the closest town. We also saw a B&B at the corner of Highway 36 and Road 544 which could be a better place because you do not have to travel long.

Anyways Dinosaur Park is at a road which is dead-end! All around that area is cattle farms and miles and miles of grain fields. If you have a G. P. S. that would definitely help. If you don't make sure you write down everything from a map or you take one because there are not many signs until you really get close to the park. The park is a unique place to see that are not many similar to it in the world. I do not think there are many similar to it in Canada. On your way to Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, you will see a similar land, Horseshoe Canyon,  but for an unknown reason it has not been turned to a park. It of course is not as big as the park and no river goes through it.

Speaking of river I wanted to know if there was a way to cross the river, Red Deer River, and see the other side but I was told in the information center that there was no bridge. We could get to the river's bank by going through Cottonwood Flats Trial but we backed off because of the numerous number of mosquitoes! The insects were actually everywhere but the windy areas and I got bitten a few times and my hands and feet are swollen and very itchy although I had pants and long sleeved jacket on! We were lucky that it was not very hot. Food and beverages are available there but we had our own food. Insects replant and sun screen is recommended and of course you need a cam-corder and good camera with tripod. I'm a photo-guy so I enjoyed as much as I could. The only dark part was the damn trail that I mentioned earlier and no-one I saw going there probably because there were there for the hills and rocks not for the river but that trail is good for bid and wildlife watching. I know we might not go there again but if I go again in a few years I will make sure that I go to the river's bank and I will have a Canoe to cross, of course after notifying the authorities. One thing that I forgot to mention is guided tours that we missed. We were late for registration and it could add something to our fun but we didn't miss big. 

(Photo: The rocks in the park consist of 3% iron. That is because when they formed millions of years ago, the lower layers were rich in Iron and then they were transferred to the top. That is why you see this red-brownish colour on the rocks)

The Second Interview of 2013

I had an interview last week with a Client company. Two people interviewed me, obviously one from H. R. and one from the related department that I would have reported to. It was a sort of interview that the questions are shared between the two and they both take notes for each one. I was confident and made a good start but although the other one most of the time confirming(!) my answers I kind of lost it in the middle and then grabbed a hold later. They seemed not to be impressed but the fella said that he would be in touch and the H. R. person gave me the business card of herself. These are not bad signs but if I was the person of interest, I should have been contacted by know, although I know big companies like this are slow and sceptical in their hiring process. 

I had the same situation a few years back when the interviewer took me to H. R. department after the interview and introduced me to her asking to explain the benefit package to me. There is no doubt in my mind that one of the people he was interviewed after me, was hired. He or she was simply better. 

This new position could change my future completely and I was dreaming(!) about going to this certain area after a few years of working for them but the bubbles seems to be blown! I will give it another week and then will send a message. 

Canada Day 2013

This year July the 1st was hot as hell. For that matter we stayed the hell out of streets and were indoor most of the day and late evening. 

In the morning we heard choppers circling around the town in low altitude but then in a few hours something like a thunder was heard. With the sky all clear and high temperature I knew it was not mother's nature so I got my camera handy and when the R. C. A. F. jets appeared in the sky and roared over our head I got a snap shot.

The closest Canadian Air Force Base is located in Cold Lake which is around 600 KM north east side of Calgary. If we assume they had been CF-18 Jets, they would have been landed there in their base in less than 20 min. from the time that I pushed the shutter! Cold Lake is where I wanted to go last year for this ultimate race called Race the Base, a competition between the fighter jets and fast cars like Lamborghini and so on but couldn't. I'm just hoping the same event is happening this year so maybe I can go although I know it will be extremely hard.

In the evening we we wanted too see the firework around Centre Street Bridge. So I drove and parked in Downtown in 10th Ave. and we walked but we were late and could only hear the sound of it. That was awkward! 

(Photo: This is all I could get from the fighter jets going so fast above us, I would say the almost broke the sound barrier. I could have been sited in with my camera mounted on the tripod and zooming to the sky and as soon as I had head the thunder, I would have jumped, aimed and clicked but didn't happen because I didn't even know they would come back that way. Breaking sound barrier in war days in the old country always was a way of intimidation by enemy pilots. I don't know if I ever witnessed that because years have passed and even the normal sound of a fighter jet which is flying low is too high but It happened a lot in the cities and towns close to the border, I heard several times on the news, I hope you can see them. They are as small as green peas in this photo but look a lot alike CF-18 when I zoomed)

Eagle Lake

There are thousands of lakes across Canada and each have names. Some of the names are given by the Native people, some by the European settlers. Many of them have no connection by the name given to them! I once was told that Ontario in fact is a Native word meaning the Land of Sparkling and Shining Water! That could be true. The name is used for Lake Ontario as well you know.

Anyways We went to this lake in the east side of Calgary just after Town of Strathmore yesterday, called Eagle Lake. While on the road to the lake we saw a big bird similar to an Eagle sitting on the fence with a corpse of a little animal in its claws! We distributed the poor bird and didn't let him have its snack. So it flew away and sat somewhere else. So was that really an Eagle? I couldn't tell because all of the Eagles I've seen so far either in the Zoos or in Squamish had white head. But I'm no biologist. 

So got to the lake and then drove by the lake and apparently there was nothing by a few guys with their fishing rods and a few others with their small boats. There are houses around the lake but not everywhere. There are barely any tree so it was not very pleasant to F. F. so we took off shortly after.
On the way back I was slowly driving and looking for photography opportunities. There were many beautiful bird around but I only had my digital camera. Then birds' noise caught our attention: one or two small birds were flying around a nest which looked the big bird's the Eagle-like one. Seemed some kind of find was going on. I never knew that the small bird could be a threat to the big ones. The scenario could be this: The big bird caught, killed and ate a small bird, may be a chicken and then the small birds found its nest, with a chicken inside and attacked him! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the tiny bird chasing the big one!

Nevertheless if you are a fisher or someone who enjoys any type of boating then Eagle Lake is a place for you. Rather than that, you won't enjoy that much.
(Photo: I couldn't get a better shot of the birds in the sky. They are very fast and my camera is not good but you can clearly see that the big bird is being chased by the small one)