Arizona Road Trip (1): Lost Dutchman State Park

I finally started my Arizona trip in the early morning of Sun. Unlike what I was thinking, A TSA agent stamped my passport just after a few questions.The plane was shit. Small seat and no roam for arms and legs. The entire time of the trip they served two beverages which had been predicted. Food was available for purchase but there was no entertainment system. I guess that's because you can do whatever you want to do with your computer during a certain time of the trip, In fact you could rent an iPad for $10! I have to mention that I'm referring to Air Canada. Last time I flew with this airline it was Oct. of last year and the entertainment system was still available.Nevertheless the real shit happened when we finally landed. I was very tired and frustrated both because of the damn seat (I was in between, the bastards as soon as they saw my name and realized I was not Caucasian did that) and I was bored and hungry. We landed and it appeared that we had parked in the wrong spot! The pilot was a very polite guy and apologized a few times but I know that's their protocol. After a few shitty minutes, the plane was towed and parked at the original spot! I think Phoenix airport messed that up.

It was not hard to find where the rental car place was but I had to ask a couple of guys who happen to be very friendly, polite and helpful. You get a shuttle to go to the car rental place which is about 10 minutes drive. So I'm there and there's this huge line. A guy from the neighbouring rental places calls me and tells me that he would match the price. Obviously I don't want any time wasted so I accept. After a few minutes of talking finally I realized what M. C. was talking about renting cars being expensive. I then go down a huge escalator to rental car parking and get the car. Coming out of the parking I realize how could the desert be. You can barely open your eyes. I head east because I know that's where Lost Dutchman State Park is located and on the way stop somewhere and find the place on the GPS which is now set to miles. The park is some half an hour east of Phoenix. Admission in $7 which I didn't expect but I have to pay since I have flown and driven this much! I change quickly and hit the trail.The goal here is Flatiron as part of Superstition Mountain which is not a very tall peak. The trail seems easy but after almost 1 hour I realize I'm on a loop not the path which goes to the top! Stupid me had a map given by the crew people and I paid no attention as usual.The park is amazing with all sorts of wildlife, plants, flowers and giant cactus. I head back and get myself on the trail which goes to a basin first and then the peak. The trail is very steep and I'm very tired and hot. Most of the people I see on the trail are in shorts and girls of course with a top. Time is some 14:00 and extremely hot. I climb up the rocks and struggle I'm constipated too! I haven't had anything but a cup of stupid coffee and small glass of water since last night. It's more than 16 hours! I'm not hungry but very thirsty and my digestion system is bothering me. At one spot I sit to take a break and that's where I'm certain that I'm on the track. A guy with a big jar of water comes and he sits a few meters away from me. He cannot secure the jar and it goes a few feet down, breaks it sealed cap and spills half of it! I tell him jokingly that I would pay $20 for whatever was left! I only have a little water and there's a long way up. He grabs the jar and offers it to me stating that he is tired and cannot go up. He has been there 5 times he adds. I fill up one of my bottles and drank the rest and start going up. The damn heat, exhaustion from lack of enough sleep in the past few days and constipation all help each other to drag me down and prevent me from going up. It's very frustrating and embarrassing I have been to many hikes and passed people 10 to 15 years younger than me and never got tired like this. Here of course I passed a few but not many. Even taking my shirt off does not help much. The damn pants is too hot to but I can't walk up in underwear! I then think to myself that it was getting late and I have to go to Sedona which is at least 2 hours from here. I give up eventually and head down.Going down is not that bad. I pass the basin and get myself to a flat area. On the way back I find a banana which someone probably has put there and I eat most of it. Too late to help. By the time I get to the parking lot, the sun has gone down below Downtown Phoenix. Very beautiful place and I enjoyed a lot but not satisfied completely.
(Photo: Superstition Mountain in the park. Even if you have impaired vision you can see this from anywhere in Phoenix)

Workplace Stories (18): Newlywed At Large(!)

I wrote how we got embarrassed in the previous about work. Newlywed was completely vanished from the face of Earth after that. I didn't see he until after two days one of the other guys, whom I would like to use the Mirchi for him, told him that he had presumably left for his native land because his father was in critical condition. He added that he didn't completely the story although he had been told by the Engineering Manager. He simply stated that an emergency trip would have been not been planned for more than a week while this guy is gone for three!

Mirchi is a rival of Newlywed although they show friendly faces to each other. They talk behind each others back. Newlywed mocks Mirchi and says he once went to his native Pakistan and married a girl in a week! The whole dating, engagement and wedding took a week he says! While I'm not surprised and these things are common in East, he could have been exaggerating! 

Anyways I tried Newlywed's number the very same day I heard the story and got the voice message without any ring. So he could be away but it could be a play too. He could simply has turned his telephone off. On the same day that we were going to the fabrication shop he told me that he liked American culture because if the couple don't like each other, they don't have to stay married for ever while it's not mostly like that in East. I totally agree with him although the time has changed many things. These days couples don't remain married if they are not comfortable around each other. We'll see if any noise is coming off this immature idiot. The Mumbling Guy would be a good source to see what happened to Newlywed but he's away now. 

Workplace Stories (17): Pathetic Losers

We had this visit to one fabricator a few days ago, planned for us 1 week ahead. I was happy that I could get the fuck out of the damn office and experience something. Our schedule stated clearly 16:00 as the time of meeting so we got there 5 min. earlier. We realized upon arrival that the bastards from the Client side had ditched us! According to the fabricator guys they had met them more than 5 hours earlier, had done all of the documentation and left. 

We were both so upset and pissed off! They treated us like crap and basically said indirectly that we didn't exist! I couldn't help it and said a few nasty thing about the fucking assholes and we left after half an hour.

We got back to the office and told the story to The Screamer and of course added more and more and exaggerated but not very much! He happily agreed and promised to discuss that with the fucking Client. Newlywed as well was upset and frustrated and I pilled on. We didn't talk after we returned because he was mad as me as well. He believed I had overreacted. He might have been right. I hate it when someone treats me like I don't exist. 

Anyways The Screamer wrote to the Client explaining the situation and basically complained. The interesting thing is the guy didn't even give a shit and came back with a bigger punch. He stated in his response that he had never seen such a compliant and since going to the facility early was a better idea, they had done it! 

Here was where I felt that The Screamer and all of us are nothing but pathetic losers! We can't even complain to the Client when they treat us like crap because our existence depends on them. If they do not select us to do their job, we are doomed! They are the Master and we are the Servant! Just Pathetic! I don't want to say anything about the ethnicity of the motherfucker who wrote that bouncing response to The Screamer but I can say that she is nothing but a piece of shit bastard! 

(Photo: I found this picture of a painting showing a master and his servant in a Blogger blog by accident. I hope the owner does not mind me using it here. My intention is just to depict the relationship between the company I work for [the kneeling guy] and our Client!)

Another Skating Course Finished

I would have attended the last session of our Skating course next Thu.. If I have not had this trip planned. So today was my last. It was a very fun time and we both enjoyed a lot and we learnt a lot as well. Our instructor, as usual was a Caucasian young girl and she was good, but not as good as the previous level's. No complaint though. This sport requires lots of practice similar to other ones and it is much harder to keep the practice going because its facilities are limited and expensive but this year we were quite active. 

We went to Olympic Plaza several times as well Crowchild Twin Arenas. I even went to Carburn Park and Bowness Park each once at least and we had a very fun day in the Oval on Family Day. If everything goes well I would either register for Level 3 or Speed Skating. The later requires a suit and different skates but I'll see how everything goes.

(Photo: This sort of sculpture is erected by Olympic Oval and I had not seen it clearly until today(!) because we always get there when it's dark! Today with Daylight Saving and being almost in the middle of March I got the chance to get a shot of this nice gesture of a skater. He or she is at the starting line ready for the shot)

No to Fitbit Charge

We know that the giant companies in West continuously are thinking of different ways to see how they can make money by introducing new products and services that the majority of people do not necessarily need them. A good example of it is Apple which introduces a new handset every six month or so. Not that I ever have purchased or will ever posses one!

That being said, I checked the Windows Store in Chinook Center a few days ago and realized they have this promotion for Fitbit products which you can get up to $50 when you replace your device with a new one. I wanted to change my Flex and get a Charge considering that Charge calculates the elevation and related consumed energy. So I checked with one of the guys and he said if I had brought the charging cable, he would have given me $15 discount on the new device, a Charge that I had wanted to buy.

A few days passed and this time I went there with the wristband and charging cable, both. First they were not very willing to help due to the timing which was close to closure. Eventually a horrible girl came out of her hole and after a few minutes of so-called observation and calculation she came up with $7.5! I realized that she was trying to screw me up. Some people do not like certain others. There's nothing that I can do about that. I gave it up not just because she intended to deprive me from the promotion but also because that is not a big deal that I should pay more than $100 for. 

I keep doing my exercises and keep checking the results in my PC.
(Photo: Microsoft Store in Chinook Center, Calgary)

Easy Hike to Kananaskis Ice Cave

I had this Ice Cave in Kananaskis in my schedule, the unwritten one(!) for a bit of a time and wanted to go in the last week of Feb. but a snowfall warning stopped me. I knew the hike would be easy but considering the steepness of the path and considerable plunge of the temperature I postponed it until this weekend. I was still not sure whether or not I wanted to go last night but finally set my Fitbit's silent alarm on 05:55 and woke up on time. 

I felt beaten and I sat on the chair in the living room for about 10 min. I knew I would have gone back to sleep, had I headed to the bedroom but at the same time I knew I needed exercise. I eventually headed out at about 06:30 or something but not being mentally ready for the trip I missed my coffee stop and had to go back to get one. Then I thought maybe I should go to the south of the city and just do a little walking in a park but that sounded boring to me so I turned back and before hitting Highway 8 I felt I needed something so I go a bagel sandwich from a Tim Horton's and that way I guess I wasted some 1 hour and a half! I managed to get myself to Canyon Creek Road eventually and started the hike at almost 09:00. Some have said that the road to the trail-head of Ice Cave should be biked but I found that silly and unnecessary The road was so beautiful and although I was not there were early there was not a soul on the way. 

The road is marked by milestones and according to my information I should have reached the trail-head after 7 km but I didn't see any sign after the 4th! 

Ice column is shaped inside the cave. There were many of them but not a big one close to the entrance where I saw them

Shell Canada have facilities and equipment all around the road and in fact I guess there are the ones that I saw last year when I was going to Moose Mountain. Nevertheless the road ends at a Shell Canada facility which Authorized Persons Only sign could be seen but I though I saw the entrance to the cave from distance so I crossed to the lot and went over concrete blocks which go around the equipment area and found another sign for hikers. The sign does not indicate anything in regards to the hike but it's for fishers. I found footsteps and a narrow path going up and I was sure it led to the cave. I just didn't understand what happened to other 3 km! The path was icy and steep so I put my spikes on and continued to the top. Yes! That was the cave. The view of the valley from the top was beautiful but the bummer was that I realized had forgotten a good flashlight and my headlight does not have enough battery! So I didn't go deep enough in the cave. I found a few pieces of ice on the ground which had been obviously shaped by the droplets coming off the top of the cave. They were nice but I had come for me. No choice. I had to head back. 

I saw a few fellas on foot or on bikes on my way back and could find myself at the parking lot at almost 12:30. Very easy hike but not bad for a mild winter day. 

(Photo, top: Canyon Creek is seen from the entrance of Ice Cave. I like its blue colour)