The Shortest Interview Ever!

I was called to an interview a few days ago just one day after I applied for the position! It's not a top position but better than being unemployed or doing a labour job. At least it's in my own area of expertise. I had the phone somewhere that I didn't know where it was. So I couldn't pick up on time. The guy, who would interview me left a message. I called him back when I found the phone and told him that I was driving! He set up the time.

This is a sort of factory, of course in the industrial part of the city and it's not too far. I reached there a little early and the old lady, who was at a desk, called the guy. His office was just at the back and seemed shared a few others because there were 2 or 3 others in the room when we sat but they left shortly. When he introduced him to me on the phone his name definitely sounded Hispanic. When I met him he looked Oriental! I know that was the same person. I just don't know why he was called himself that name!

The interview didn't take long. When I sat I noticed there are a few other resumes on his desk! He pulled mine out and started asking question. He pointed at the job that I had mentioned doing in the old country before my last job in Canada! That was the only part of my resume I was able to mention the thing he wanted to read, as a direct experience with the work which is a manufacturing process. He didn't say anything about the salary because it had already been indicated in the job posting. When I told him that I had been laid off from that job, I guess I made a mistake by telling him that I had been contacted by sort of my supervisor, The Mumbling Guy, and let know that there's a chance that I would be hired for a project. I added that I prefer a more stable job. He said that they would select the person by next week and that was it. Sweet and short!

(Photo: This cartoon doesn't have anything to do with my interview but I used it here for this post. It's interesting!)

Problem With the Desktop Again!

I bought this desktop from a Future Shop in Surrey, I think, back in 2009 and it was working fine mostly except for the times that I screwed with it and had to take to a Future Shop (before it is sold) and Best Buy, at least two times. It's a Gateway machine with a big HP monitor.

There were numerous unknown (to me) issues with the machine. I was not even able to update the maps of my Garmin GPS. And then one day adds started popping up in the middle of a website or the machine would kick me out of YAHOO when I was sighed in to read my e-mail.

The first thing I did was downloading, installing and using a sort of software which had been introduced to me by The Brave. Since he's a cheap guy always trying to pay as less as possible, that didn't quite worked! Then I bought a new version ESET NOD anti-virus. I don't even remember when I had bought or downloaded the older version but I paid some $20 and upgraded the system. That helped a bit but not with the popping adds.

The final solution was to reset the computer back to factory setting and I did that! Now the system is fine. I bet the Best Buy guy did the same thing. I have all of my files intact and the system works with no problem at all. You should try the same if your problem's similar to mine. The system is still good after 8 years although not many people use desktops these days. I do have a laptop which I bought in last Jan. and that's wonderful. I will have a separate post for that.

(Photo: One of the Future Shops in Calgary, on MacLeod Tr. shortly after being closed down permanently. This store was actually new. They just had moved from two or three block north of this location! Mr. Hassan Khosroshahi, the Iranian investor, sold Future Shop to Best Buy in 2015)

First Call after the Return

I received a call from a recruiting agency last week in regards to the position I had applied. That was my first call after I returned home from the damn prison! I was quite optimist although it was a temporary position. The guy asked regular questions such as:
1. Are you currently working?
2. Would you be OK with the nature of the job being temporary?
3. How much are you expecting to be paid?
4. What was your salary on the last job?
I answered them honestly and politically. My answer to the third one was Whatever the norm of the industry is. To the last one I told him the truth. He then told me that he would send me the detail of the job and would expect me to answer the next day. I agreed. The bastard never did!
The next day I send an e-mail to their general e-mail address. They said they had forwarded my e-mail (and the same resume because I had attached it) to the guy and he would contact me. He, of course never did. I assume he simply found someone with less expectations although I never specified my desired salary.

So it means my resume is not bad but there are many people out there. I've come across many positions, many good positions to be exact, in the past two week and I applied for as many as 10 maybe but that was the only answer I received. Tough out there and I have to keep trying. My experience with recruiting agencies has never been good. This, in fact was one of a few that I had been contacted from.

Sony's Lithium Battery

I took two extra Sony Lithium Batteries with me when I was going to Quebec with the hope that when I needed to take a photo, I would simply exchange the discharged one but when we went to Chambly Canal National Historic Site, I realized that was a mistake! Or perhaps I can call a trick by Sony! None of the other two batteries work on the camera! The camera would turn on and then the screen would go blank and this message would appear on the screen:

I don't know know what kind of funny game is this that Sony is playing! I have to keep the battery charged until it's ruined and should be thrown out or recycled and so does the camera! 

It's obvious that big companies always try to screw customers to make money. Sony is not the only one. Sony actually has lost a huge market in the past few years. It had Sony stores all around the city and now none of them exist. In Calgary there was a huge Store in 8th St. SW that I was shopped in there and got my Sony Card as well. That big store has been divided to three and none of them sells Sony products. In Market Mall and Chinook Center as well they had stores. I don't know what happened to the fist one but the one in Chinook is part of Shopper's Drug Mart now. 

I normally take my big Canon camera with me when I'm travelling but this trip was unusual and not for fun. So I only took my small Sony camera. I will check with an electronic store soon to see whether they know anything about that or not.

(Photo: Sony Lithium Battery used in small digital cameras)

CFLRS Notes (36): CAC-PAR

The recruits who are to be released from the Forces, without being graduated, are transferred to this section of the school called CAC-PAR. CAC is for the people who have done something against the school rules or are awaiting their situation to be changed and PAR is for the ones who are simply awaiting their release. Some attempt to come back. Some leave for good. PAR stands for People Awaiting Release.

What is that people do during the day? A typical day in the section starts from 08:00 until 11:30 when people leave for lunch. They need to be back to the room by 12:30 hours. Then there is normally another 3 hours. Normally at 15:30 and sometimes wait could be as long as up to 16:00. Then they are on their own. 

I spent quite a long time in this freaking section awaiting my release. However any chance I got, I tried to get the hell out. That would have happened only if someone had been moving to CAC-PAR or going to any sections of the school for his or her release process. I would be volunteer. One major problem in this section is that the PAR candidates are not allowed to participate in PT. So in order to do that I would do squats, push-ups and other simple exercises once in a while. People stay in CAC-PAR for different periods, depending their situation. There are Normal, Immediate and Accelerated release. Mine was Normal. So they kept me there for three freaking weeks! Most of the people make up a story to get the hell out as fast as possible. One example of that is my Fire Team Partner. I saw him once in TRP and asked him what had happened. He said that he had gotten pneumonia and had to leave training. Then he told me one day that he had filed for VR because he had a job offer! They released him quickly! When I called him to ask about VR process he said he wanted to come back and advised me to stay there! I said to myself: What the hell! You said you had a job offer and for that you released yourself immediately! When I asked him about the job he said the pay was not good and the hours were long! That's what every job is here in Canada, especially military jobs!
There were others who claimed that a member of their family was sick. Mostly grandparents! There was no one to ask why everyone's grandma and grandpa is sick or dying at this specific part of training and particular part of the year, all at once! There were freaking idiots who after 1 week and even 2 days had filed for VR! This clearly shows the lack of system in CAF! The recruiting centers just pour people to CFLRS without caring about them and the school as well.
The day I got released was so pleasant and I've already written about it. I think everyone else has the same feeling, with some differences. I also saw people who had been awaiting their release for over a year! It was unbelievable! I never listen to their stories but I knew an old lady from Atlantic Canada who was in TRP for 9 months because an injury! Poor people! However some don't care because they get paid! The money they had never seen in their lives!
(Photo: For this post I've chosen a map of Canada which shows Atlantic provinces where a large number of CAF candidates come from due to poor economy in the region)

CFLRS Notes (35): The Sword of Allah(!)

This time I'm going to write about a guy whom easily can be called a dickhead! I apologize to any reader if he or she is offended but that what he really is. This fella who is introduced here as Sword of Allah and that is the translation of his name, literally, had issues with almost everyone during the training, even me! He once sees me eating Pork Sausage for breakfast and he goes: This is Pork! And I reply: So?! He goes: This is not Halal, referring to Muslim's restriction for eating any Pig product. I go: It's OK! We later got into an argument in the break room. I didn't want to disappoint him. So I fist said that the other meats he eats are not slaughtered based on Islamic laws. So they are not Halal as well and he should not eat them! The idiot didn't have any answer for that and said something nonsense such as " they are not banned meat! ". I told him that his sin was as bad as mine as long as he eats that kind of meat. Then in the fasting month of Ramadan I saw him eating all three meals of the day! I asked him why he was no fasting. He said that he needed energy! I said to him that it didn't matter if he needed energy or something else. I should have fasted! The freaking hypocrite was not able to provide an answer for that either! Then I brought another point up by saying that there are more important issues within world of Islam which must be focused on instead of eating this or that. I pointed at the problem with extremism, more specifically Taliban which we all know CAF has contributed a lot to eliminate them, dispite being unsuccessful. I asked him whether he believes that Taliban has destroyed the reputation of Islam and must be stopped and eventually eliminated. He responded that he was not sure of that and for that he needed to see their action(!) in Afghanistan to learn for himself and he doesn't have time for that! This is where I decided to talk to someone in charge so he could give a good piece of advice to this piece of shit but unfortunately I never did that and I regret it to this day! I couldn't believe that someone who does not believe that Taliban is enemy, is becoming a member of CAF! I even talked to The Cheater and he confirmed that I should talk to padre and go from there.

We had a few other awkward conversations and he stayed away from me as much as he did from anyone else. Then he came to me once, and this one I understood that he needed help but he was too proud to ask for that, and told me that he had problem with girls! He added that he could not mix up with these White guy(!), I'm quoting and he added to his previously considered thought that he should quit. There are quite a number of South Asian or East Indian families in the country that they are doing well. I think he was from a well-to-do family and being in CFLRS and hanging out with the people who mostly had problem making their end's meat or pay their basic bills was a problem for him. Anyways he said that a couple of girls had complaint about him and he would have PRB. I gave him a few pieces of advice and answered a few questions of him. The next time I saw the fucking bastard I realized that he not only was a hypocrite but was a big freaking lair! He, this time, said that he had a problem with Sergeant P (Whose story will be told later) over a bottle of water that he kept in his room for using in washroom! Many people with Islamic background do that. So the short version of it is that he got a Serious incident in his profile and told them that they were picking on him because of his origin! I don't know what parts of his story was right and what parts were made up but he threatened them that he would file for VR and since that's not good for a platoon's instructors, they tried to stop him. He eventually finished the course. However still had it in his mind that he should quit.
So one day he came to me, and surprisingly, sat at the table! He had a big smile on his face and said that he had finished the course and now he's so happy and relieved! He added that he wouldn't have to march anymore! I told him that he was wrong! His trade training would be soon started and it would be even harder than the basic training. Besides, I added, that now he's under the total control of military! They would tell him where to go, they would tell him what to wear, they would tell him what to eat and they would tell him where to live! He didn't like that, of course, and said that the military would prepare Halal food for him because they had to! I wasn't trying to make him quit. I just wanted to open his eyes because he's so stupid, proud (of nothing that he has) and immature! He said this was his country and he was Canadian and they had to provide to him whatever he wants! Here I went: No! You're not! I know that he had been born here from Pakistani parents but since he's such an asshole that even does not believe that Taliban is an extremist group who kills even their own people, I said that to him! He got mad and he said he would not talk anymore! Then he stood up and went and sat in the nearby desk. There he opened his mouth to say something and as soon as he did that, said: You said you wouldn't want to talk anymore! Didn't you?! Stop! I don't want to hear anything! He shut up and said nothing. Sat there and then left after a few minutes. That was the last time I saw him!
(Photo: A cartoon I found in the web. It's not intended to offend anyone. I just am trying to depict the guy. An angry and not-understanding, immature fella who would do anything wrong, if he was asked to. The Swiss Knife in his belt is funny!)