Deutche Telecom: A Brutal System

One of the problems I had during my trip to Bavaria was making telephone calls, either nationally, to my cousin whom I couldn't visit eventually and internationally to my family. It's rather stupid that there is no telephone in rooms of Bold Hotel! It means the hotels is designed for locals who have mobile phones only while I saw foreigners in the hotel as well. It is obvious that foreigners could simply get a SIM card or local mobile phone but that would be an extra cost which normally you do not want to pay if there's a telephone in the room. So every time I needed to make a phone call, I would go down to the reception desk and made it from their phone! Good thing is they had two sets!

Once I tried to make a phone call from a telephone booth of Deutsche Telecom, as soon as I picked up the receiver a message on the display asked for 20 cents and by 20 cents I mean 20 cents of Euro. I guess that was how much it asked and then I dialed the number and started speaking and that was when the machine started asking for more money almost every 15 seconds! I guess I talked for only 2 minutes and paid around 80 cents and the second I was late to insert the damn coin, the system would cut off the call! 

I guess here in Canada if you put 30 or at most 50 cents you can talk for half an hour or maybe more. At least this is what I experienced last time in May this year. It is obvious that big telecommunication companies are trying on daily basis to empty the accounts and pockets of their customers by all the possible tricks they can use but at least have a decent service. 

The other problem with the damn Deutsche Telecom booth was the messages you saw on the screen. There was an instruction in English in the booth but I had no idea what the numbers and abbreviations showing on the screen meant and there was no instruction for them!

So if you're travelling to Germany make sure you have your mobile phone with you and get a SIM card or service the moment you land or you end up using the reception desk's phone like I did or paying countless in the stupid booths! 

(Photo: A Deutsche Telecom telephone booth close to my hotel in Geising area of Munich. I barely saw anybody go in there, maybe once. There was another one close to the station with a note of Out of Order, of course in German. I didn't see it fixed the entire 8 days I was there!)

Awakenings

The 80th and 90th, I believe, was when the good movie era was about to end. Nowadays you barely find any movie that you go to and come out satisfied. I have had terrible experiences in the past few months; regretted wasting money and time on trashes such as Monument Men, Godzilla 2014, Fury, Elysium and such. The good thing is there are lots of movies from those days and before that I haven't seen them and now I can purchase their DVD in a reasonable price. 

Awakenings is one of them where Robert De Niro and late Robin Williams work together to make this magnificent movie in 1990. De Niro has been always one of my favorites. His performance in Goodfellas and Cape Fear is unreachable. Williams, on the other hand, has never caught mu attention. The only good movie that I had seen from him was Mrs. Doubtfire prior to Awakenings. His abnormal and psychotic behaviour in his stand up comedy using too much profanity, jumping up and down and screaming and screeching was a turn off for me but I have to say that he delivers a good performance in this movie. I guess it was years before he started going down and break mentally. That is the only explanation. 

Awakenings was apparently introduced for Academy Awards in 1991 but De Niro who had a major role in Goodfellas lost it to Jeremy Irons, the actor whom I barely know and I don't recall I've ever seen him in a movie that I liked. There hasn't been much about him in the news in the past few years though. I had a look at a list of movies that he had roles in the past few year and didn't find a single outstanding one. Nevertheless he could have had a good acting in that movie. De Niro's is very natural and realistic and at the same time sad to see someone suffering from a harsh disease such as that. But why the movie has never been a big success? The answer is clear: Movies in North America are mostly an escape from reality for people who have to deal with a harsh life. Movies is like cigarette, alcohol and drugs, only less dose! That's why trashes such as Captain America, Dark Night and all other similar garbage have good earning. people tend to skip reality by watching movies not to go back to the troubles of their daily life! 

(Photo: Robin William as a research physician is helping De Niro a patient who suffers from a chronic disease to use Ouija Board to communicate with him)

Workplace Stories (15): A Blast to the Mumbling Guy

This fucking stupid stingy animal, The Mumbling Guy, has gone too far recently. I hate him so much and I'm just looking for an opportunity to give him a good lesson. Something just happened last week that made him a bit disappointed and I got happy! We were sitting and talking in his disgusting office and Newlywed, his protege I would like to call him was there as well. A New Message reminder popped up meaning that he had just received an e-mail. He looks and goes: Idiots!

I didn't know what it was but by looking at him holding his head in his hand I realised something not pleasant had happened and couldn't help with smiling! He had been scheduled to spend 4 days down in the US for a sort of meeting and the cheap, stingy, fucking bastard was so happy that he would enjoy free food and accommodation for 4 fucking days as well as being away from the office. The new message apparently had changed the venue to somewhere in Canada not too far from the office and reduced the number of the days to 2 only! He was very displeased and I could not get the grim off my face! This fucking piece of shit earns so much and still lives like he need to go to food bank every day. That made me really happy that day. Be a human motherfucker. You help no one and always beg for free food. You entire disgusting nasty lunch doesn't cost more than 2 bucks. You do all of your shopping in Wal-Mart. What the fuck else do you want, you piece of stinking crap? A hard kick in the balls which lays you unconscious?! You guys have no shame.

Johnston Canyon's -24° C Walk

It has been exactly 1 month since I had a hike today. Unlike my hike to Kehlsteinhaus as as it is said in English-language countries Eagle's Nest, although that is not its literal meaning, hike to Johnston Canyon near town of Banff felt like my morning walk to work, in another word a child's play! I truly have no idea why in the hell Johnston Canyon has been given this much credit! My guess is the trail is a perfect hike for kids age 4-10, seniors 67+ and of course the wimp, puss and not to forget the pretentious! 

So in order to give the hike a little meaning I woke up at 05:30 AM this morning, grabbed my gear and walked to the car. Ignited the engine and did a little scrapping to have it ready for a ride. I wanted to purchase gasoline. Therefore I checked the gas stations on my way to Highway No. 1 and saw a few of them showing ¢99.9 per liter which is the result of new drop of crude. Happily I drove to the last Shell gas station in the town where I saw ¢107.9! I grabbed a Latte from the nearby McDonald's, purchased the gasoline and headed west. The road was OK both in terms of traffic and ice & snow but Johnston Canyon is at least 01:40 hour drive from the city and for me who most of the time drives within the limits, it usually takes even longer. 

On my way to Johnston Canyon on Highway A1 I saw a herd of Elk grazing on the flats

There was not a single car in the parking lot when I pulled in. I had a pullover and two layers over that but they for sure didn't help much with the extreme cold of -24 degrees C! I had my earmuffs, a monkey hat,a sort of fur hat and my pair of gloves all on but they were not very helpful. The most affected parts were my soles. I tried to walk fast so I could beat the cold and it helped. The stream was frozen on the upper layer and the area looked nice. There was only a few minutes to the first fall which is called Lower Falls and then a few more gets you to the Upper Falls. I could go higher to get to the so called Ink Pots and see them and the Upper Falls from the top but there was not that much of motivation in me. I took a few photos and headed back. The entire walk didn't take more than 01:30 hours including all the stops for reading the information boards and taking photographs. I realized shortly after I started that the big camera's battery was near dying! The small camera didn't even turn on! It had lost all of its energy from the night I had gone gone to East Village! 

There was no one at the parking lot again when I went back. I guess this arctic cold had most of the hikers at home. I might make another trip[ to this location in a summer morning and of course very early before kids and seniors finish their serial and get out, just to see the area unfrozen(!) and go up the Ink Pots and maybe even further. Overall Johnston Canyon could be considered only a photography opportunity or a warm up for a real hike/scramble in the region. If you intend just to see Johnston Canyon and you are stationed in Calgary, it would be a mistake unless you combine it with another program such as a lunch in the area around (Banff, Canmore, etc.) or a picnic in the area itself. Driving for almost 03:30 hours back and forth just to see the canyon does not seem to be a good idea. 

For me it became satisfactory as I tested myself in an extremely cold condition. Apart from that I had three photography opportunities with wildlife that I used them. Otherwise it would be very disappointing trip!

(Photo, top: Even the extreme cold didn't stop the stream from running but the question is how cold the water should be to prevent it from moving completely or is that even possible? Icicle are seen at the sides)

Conquering the Cold

I finally overcame the cold and my feat today and went for a run. It was as cold as last night but the good thing was that the wind was not strong and I was able to run with a good speed for 22 min. on the Bow River Pathway! Although it was around -17 degrees C, I was relaxed and running comfortably. However I had to wait in the damn car for about 7 min. to warm its engine up and defrost the windshield! It was frozen from inside because of my exhales of last night and I had to scrape the ice! 

After shower and dinner I went to a local Safeway to buy a little food as the refrigerator was and still is mostly empty. There was barely anything in produce and fresh vegetable section that you could buy! Tomatoes were horrible which mostly are at this time of the year and I guess $2.29 for a Lb or something. The were only two Iceberg Lettuces left and each $2.99!! Grapefruits looked old and the rest were not so appealing so I quickly bought what was available and got out! 

One Hour of Walk in -14 °C

Today was a little bit better than yesterday so I promised myself to go for running. I washed the cloths after work and while the exercise room was available I felt that I could not stay inside so I put my cloths on and went out but this time I went to the east side of the Downtown when they are going to have the luxury East Village. The temperature was around -14° C and wind was blowing off and on. I soon realized that I would not be able to run! Therefore I just decided to walk around and see what has happened in the east side of the Downtown. I was hoping not to see Vancouver's Downtown East Side although the rehabilitation is right there. There were barely anybody out but I saw two runners and one homeless who was wandering around. The pathway and all the surrounding is impressive. They have reconstructed the St. Patrick's Bridge and are in the process of building high-rises in that part of the town, I believe. 

I intended two spend more time out but the cold was unbearable. I took my right hand's glove off a few times to be able to operate the camera but it was brutal! 

All the luxury is good and I think they will be expensive residence but what will they be doing with the rehabilitation center?! I don't think anyone wants to look out the window in a nice June day of Calgary and see a homeless guy with shabby cloths pissing in front of the main entrance! I have nothing against homeless people but I personally wouldn't like to see a shopping cart full of cans and bottles on my sidewalk every day or people offering each other grass cigarette or someone laying down in his blood with a knife in his back, scenes are very normal around that neighbourhood. 

I'm getting off the subject a bit and I will have to have a separate post about homelessness and who these people are but what's important here now is to keep up the exercise at least to an acceptable level in this weather.  

(Photo: This is taken from the newly reconstructed St. Patrick's Bridge looking to the west at Bow River and Downtown Calgary. The Bow is the tallest high rise almost at the center)