Buying a Property: Right or Wrong?

After more than a decade living in Canada now I realize how important owing a property is and what big of role it can play in someone's life. At this time which the economy is devastated and people are being laid off on daily basis, it might not seem a very good idea to purchase a dwelling. The people who have done it in the past 2 years or so, some regret that now because they are in the verge of losing it. For me it was possible to buy an apartment or even a small house years ago but I was slacking and was not thinking of future. That's why I'm in such a shit now!

I remember clearly once back in last 2006 I received a call from a lady the bank I have all my accounts with, offering me home loan. I don't know whether I was employed at the time or not because I was unemployed during the last few months of 2006 but I turned down the offer. I have a little saving now and if it's not wasted in the next 10 months of 2016 and if I get a job, I will definitely purchase a house.

Rent of mortgage is the biggest expense of families here in Canada. For someone like me I could have paid as much as $1500, 10 years ago and probably a big chunk of that mortgage have been finished or I might have sold the house and bought another one. But it is in the past. I wasted so much money and I was being stupid. But look at it from this perspective: The ones who were not stupid and were watching what they were doing are in shit now. The time doesn't distinguish between smart and stupid. Everyone's being treated the same. Everyone's now equally worthless unless they can prove in their resume and get a job. But again: It's not being smart that gets you ahead of others. It's also being an ass-kisser and having a good network. The last two are probably more important!

Disappointing Winter's Ending

I went for a little walk last Sun. on Bow River Pathway. Walking toward west and after Crowchild you could still see some ice and snow on the path but generally this winter was just a joke! I remember last year and the year before you could go to the designated place, to outdoor rinks and skate. This year it was warm and all the outdoor rinks, except for a few times that we went and enjoyed, were a mess! Here is the thing though: When it's too cold, you really don't want to go skating but when it's not cold you wish it was so you could go skating! 

(Photo: This part of Bow River Pathway at the south bank is so frozen that I decided to turn back. This is where you're getting close to Edworthy Park)

Lack of Morals and Decency in the Society

Two piece of shit got wasted a few weeks ago in C. O. P. because the crooks had broken in to the park to use the facilities for free after hours and people called this tragedy!!!! What kind of disgusting, piece of shit you have to be, to break and enter??!! If they had entered to someone's property for any reason and fallen and broken their fucking necks and died, would that also have been considered a tragedy???! They were burglars and landed on a wrong spot and got killed. They deserved that. Same there. The guys were so disgusting and cheap to pay for the facility and I don't care whether others including the staff had done that, and fucking killed themselves! 

Why don't you accept that there is no moral and decency in this society of Canada within the youth any more!!?? The young people think of nothing but drinking alcohol and getting wasted, smoking weed, having sex with multiple partners and from different genders, playing with their stupid phones and all similar stupid acts and these are all encouraged in this society and all the named deeds are considered value!!

New Help for Aboriginals?

I probably have written this earlier but Aboriginal people of Canada, the majority of them, don't live in a good condition. Apart from a small number of them who have good jobs either in private sector or governments, including their own assembly, the rest live in Third World conditions:

rundown houses on Reserves, wandering around the cities looking for change, bottles and cans, intoxicated, getting in to fights and often getting stabbed and killed, you name it. All bad things that you can imagine happens to these poor people.

Aboriginals have been in fight with the Federal Government over land, for decades. And these fights are over certain areas. Parliament Hill in Ottawa where the House of Commons is located is one of them! Can you imagine? This country has been established or confederated more than 148 years ago and they are still in fight with original settlers over land! And wasn't all the land belong to Aboriginal people? Why then they have claim over some?! Shouldn't they say: Hey! This is all my land. Get the hell out!

One of their claims have been over Castle Mountain area in Banff National Park. I have been in the area. Once I and The Lady did the wonderful hike of Rockbound Lake. The lake is actually located behind the Castle Mountain. The other time I had a walk in Johnston Canyon and then drove by and took a few photos. This claim has apparently settled recently. The Native people of area, the Siksika Nation agreed to receive $123 million to give up the claim they had over the land! So money resolved the problem but what percentage of this money is going to improve the standards of living of these people? And what percentage is going to be invested? There has been several stories of chiefs driving luxury trucks and living in mansions while their own people are deprived of the basics of living. This is in addition to violence towards Aboriginal women which has led to disappearance and murder or several of them. It is not the topic of this discussion though. These people have suffered a lot since the European settlers have stepped their foot on their sole. At one stage their children were separated from then put in special schools to learn the modern European lifestyle and language! 

Anyways money tempts everyone and this $123 million is lot of money. Considering the number of voter, 3444, I assume each person receives a share of over $35000 which is not bad for the families who are considered low-income, mostly. 

(Photo: Castle Mountain in Banff National Park. I took this photo in November of 2014 after my short walk in Johnston Canyon. I never had trouble with any Aboriginal when hiked in the area)

Used Stuff Market In Canada

Used and second-hand as some might call it, have a huge market in Canada. I never bought anything used before my immigration. Here neither but I sold many. A large population here prefers used items before that saves them plenty. Used cars, used cloths, shoes, furniture, you name it. In fact the only used item I've bought so far have been a few DVD movies and maybe a few books that all and that was mainly because I was not able to find them new. It's very displeasing fro me to wear someone else's shoes or pants or sleep on a mattress which has been used by other for years!

Anyway I said that I've sold many things and I'm going to tell the story of the last one here: I had an IKEA sofa-bed that we bought with the intention of sleeping together in it but we couldn't. Between me turning, tossing and moving a lot during sleep and being a little heavy (some 190 lbs.) and The Lady being very fragile and petite, it was almost impossible to enjoy a good night sleep. So we only used it as a sofa. After more than 2 weeks being advertised, I finally received a call when the price was cut a little bit. When the person came to our apartment, it appeared to an Oriental guy but he spoke well for an Oriental. The guy didn't know his ass from elbow. I helped him to disassemble to item as he was not even able to use an Alan Key properly! Then it was the time to put it in his Audi Coupe!! Can you imagine that! Someone pays for an nice car and even it is used, which he said it was, but hesitate to buy a comfortable bed for his and her girlfriend! Of course being Oriental, you're very light and small, mostly. So you wouldn't have a problem sleeping on a sofa-bed, I assume! He was not small. He in fact was even a little taller than me but much lighter! Anyways we disassembled the item in to two major pieces and took it down. However because of the length, it wouldn't fit in. So we had to disassemble that part to other parts on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance of the building! In fact I did that part too and he was just watching! Then what was left was the mattress, the covers and the cushins. I asked him to give me some money and then I would go and garb the rest. He didn't trust me and said that he would come with me inside! I said OK and we went back in but I told myself that I would give him a good lesson. After helping him this much he refused to give me a portion of that money and he didn't trust me. So although I knew we had 2 pairs of screws, nuts and washers on the floor, I didn't tell him!

I put the cover, cushins and mattress in my car, secured his trunk lid with a rope and followed him to his place. I don't think anyone ever has sold anything like this in Canada. He gave me that portion before we left my apartment and the rest when in his building's underground parking. I stopped in a Safeway to get a few pieces of fruit and that was when the telephone rang! He had realized that a few of the screws were missing. I told him to call me tomorrow and he'd get them because I was on my way to work. He agreed. He called at the specified time but he said he would not be able to make it by the evening. Fine by me. Then he called and said he would be there by 13:00. I said OK. He called me at 13:30 and said either he was there or he would come. I said that I was sorry and I could not see him because he was half an hour late! I told him to call the next day and then he could come to get the damn screws. He agreed after sighing but later that day he sent me a text message saying that he had gone to IKEA and had obtained the screws and didn't need them anymore! You see? The idiot preferred to drive at least half an hour longer to get there, at least another half and hour, pay for the screws and pay for the gasoline simply because he was too shy to admit he was an idiot! Good for me I didn't have to deal with him no longer!

Camera Out and In

I bought this EOS Rebel T5 in June of 2014 and was working fine for a period of 13 months. Exactly 1 month after the warranty was expired! I took it on every hiking and scrambling trip and took wonderful pictures. In my hike to Floe Lake in Kootenay National Park just shortly before I reach the lake, the camera got disabled! I mean it was totally off and wouldn't work! You imagine how disappointing it is that you walk for hours and when you reach your destination, you don't have a camera to take your favorite photos. 

I checked it back by the lake and on the way back and a silly message appeared on the screen. I don't know if it was the extreme heat or something else that had caused the problem but the camera was useless. I contacted Canon Canada and I was told that I should send the camera to their office in Ontario for repair using their designated courier company. The total charge for sending the camera and repair went up to some $300 or more and when It came back, it was not fixed! 

I was furious and contacted them again. They wanted me to send it back, this time using their account. They promised that if I did nothing, there would be no charge this time. The camera traveled to Ontario for the second time and came back. This time the screen would not turned on!! 

That was the stupidest thing I had seen. I sent it again and for the third time. It came back shortly before Christmas. I tried it and it looked fine and finally I had the chance to try it once after all these long trips, for the first time in my hike to Burstall Pass last week. It seems the problem is gone but I was very disappointed by the way Canon handled this issue. I was not expecting it to be required to be sent to the repair service 3 times. I don't think it is the same reliable camera anymore but what can I do? I have to stick to it until the situation gets better and I get the chance to buy a more advanced model, maybe a different brand.

(Photo: Canon EOS Rebel T5 is among the least expensive cameras of Rebel series in the market)