The 4th Anniversary

Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of my weblog’s being up and running but I was too tired to write. Beside nothing special has happened recently in life to write about and not much in the country. But the reason that I was too tired is the job I normally do. That’s not something which makes me so tired that I’m not able to drop a few lines. What’s the cause is a telephone I received at about 01:30 AM. That was a girl whom has been introduced to me almost 4 months ago by Aunt I. She’s the nicest girl amongst all that I’ve met so far and I’m planning to see her soon. F. F. is almost 10 years younger than me, petite, beautiful with long brunette hair, a real craftswoman, a graduate of nursing school and someone who runs everything for the family. I’m quite optimist now and I hope I can marry her, partially because I’m sick of this lonely life.
Anyhow we’re in touch through e-mail but she wants me to call her every often. Last time I e-mailed her and she didn’t answer me for a long time until I called her. I got cut out after just two min. but according to Aunt I. She was happy with the phone call and then she e-mailed me back after a long time and I called her as an answer. The phone call I received after the mid-night was the one in response to my call.
So starting the 5th year of blogging is with a hope of marring a nice, decent, understanding, loving girl called F. F. and put a permanent end to single life.

Devastating Punch

Mike started framing the house in Zenith Road in mid. March and for different reasons he most of the times horsed around. His initial agreement was $36,000 for the whole framing and then once A. J. increased it to $38,000 just as a boost but even that didn't help. He was either late or absent and never able to gather enough people to do the job. He went up all the way to the second floor, though. I reported every day to A. J. and sent him photos of the progress. It has really not been good in past few days.
I was the only one who helped Mike in Wed. and Thu. and he didn’t work Fri., Sat. and Sun. I told him yesterday that he had already crossed the red line but he said that he didn’t care and he would walk away any time he wanted. A. J. came up with a new guy today after I said that nobody was working. The guy, after reviewing the plans and negotiations, accepted the job for a reasonable price that would satisfy A. J.. So we went to Mike’s place to tell him what had happened and he wasn’t there and finally we met at the job site. He wasn’t expecting this and that almost tore him down. I think he thought that A. J. had to go with him as that would cost him a lot more if someone else takes over. But A. J. finally found the one he wanted and that was like a shock to Mike. Although he apologized to A. J. and shock his hand and accepted the full responsibility for the project delay and that’s what I like about these people but obviously he was acting like a complete idiot. He not only lost this job but also any chance to get a job with the other project of A. J. in the town or anywhere else. Some people just don’t have that kind of capability to finish something that they started and are not able to assess before they start. Mike is one of them and so is A. J.! He’s in a deep trouble, trying to sell one of the two big expensive houses. He talked to one realtor today in the afternoon and she would list it for three months while at the same time the other guys are working on the other one. We went to their small office and A. J. was goin’ to cancel his contract with them but they convinced him that they are on the track and doin’ fine. They needed more time and said that there are 42 other houses $700,000 or above in the town listed! Enjoy, you unorganized and mismanaged man! After all I don’t feel good about it. I know how it feels when someone loses his or her job. Regardless of the fact that whose fault that is, what’s important is you lost your job and you have to start over. Mike can do a job fast though and I know he’s in debt! Fuck this shitty life!

(Photo: Mike and Brian are looking down on the road shortly after we erected the wall. I took this photo almost 10 days ago)

Close to Garibaldi Park

As I had decided last week I went for a ride today but couldn’t start sooner than 03:40 PM. I started in Valley Cliff and instead of taking the same road I took the road at left, the one which has a warning about the logging trucks.
My plan was taking the trial which takes you eventually after a long ride to Britannia Beach, the place I was goin’ to have a post about it but that one starts at right and goes to the east while the one I took goes to the left. I confronted a few guys of a contractor company who were climbing up one of the power line. None of them told me that the road is dead end but it was just after few meters from them! Then I returned and took another route and after crossing a bridge saw a three cyclist and found out that I’m at the University Heights. Those guys pulled over after a few meters as their vehicle was parked there and I continued on my own. That was a wide and easy road but uphill all the way up. I didn’t see any other cyclist. Surprisingly when I almost approached to the point that was actually my point of return, I found a few houses, big houses and that was where I saw a sign indicating the road goin’ to Garibaldi Provincial Park.

I saw two guys from Alberta right at the corner of the road and one of them told me that it’s 20 min. to half an hour to the boundary of the said park. That was late and I decided to go back home, with this thought in my mind that next time I can start early and get to the park around noon as I know where to go now. It was almost 06:45 PM when I got back and I should say that was a 3-hour good ride. I took another way to get home. I went down the hills of the University and got into Mamquam road and then taking Highway 99 and Clarke took me to my suite.
(Photo: Mamquam River over the bridge next to the Power House)

Ghost

Ghost is a kind of police who works undercover. He drives a car which looks, at first, exactly the same as a regular vehicle and of course dresses like a regular person. But you look a little more carefully, you'll can see his (as a Ghost is usually a male cop) laptop or the lights inside the car which start flashing when he persuades a suspect. In Calgary all the Ghosts I saw drove Crown Victoria, one of my all time favourites. I sensed a few of them around but never have been caught by any. All the 5 or 6 times that I was stopped by the cops, it was by regular city polices.

Here in B. C. I have seen Ghost driving around with different brands of vehicles. Last Mon. I saw one who had stopped a driver in Highway # 1. It was on my way to Coquitlam. Surprisingly I saw him again chasing another driver in HOV and stopped him immediately! Some drivers are just assholes. HOV is the lane which is designated for the vehicles with 2 or more passengers.
So that means I must drive with more caution here in this province. I don’t think anything happens as long as I drive this old van, as it’s slow and I can’t manoeuvre a lot with that. It’s a 1999 E-250 Ford, ¾ Ton Cargo van (Do you also need the plate to track me down?!)

(Photo: An asshole is stopped by a Ghost in Highway # 1 in B. C., somewhere between Burnaby and Coquitlam. The cop's vehicle is my all time favorite, Crown Victoria as I mentioned earlier)

Dr. S. (Dr. Ass!)

I met Dr. S. last Mon. after a few e-mails we exchanged. Dr. S. teaches in SFU and is a graduate from London School of Economy and Political Sciences. His wife is A. J.’s sister. I’ve known her since A. J.’s wedding. She used to be a very sociable and nice girl, full of energy, a great dancer and just a lovely girl, a few years older than me. But she’s a mess now, looks much older than her age, depressed and home sick. She had unsuccessful marriage years before coming to Canada and that’s probably why she’s stuck to Dr. S. ever since although he’s just a pain in the ass, as he’s actually Dr. Ass! They have to girls. The girls are so shy at the ages of early high school and you don’t hear a word of them in 5 hours! Their mother believes that’s because the way her husband socializes which actually means he doesn’t!
Dr. S. was sent to a university in Montreal, PQ by the university he used to teach in back in his home country and then applied for a permanent visa and was accepted (like everybody else who does. Canada is a big trash can! Why don’t you join us here?) and they moved to this part of the country after a while because she (The Dr. S.’s wife) wanted to be close to her brother. She hoped that helps her with her solitude. It did a little bit but she’s gone and will never come back. She takes different medications and looks much older than A. J.’s wife who’s at least 6 years older than her, I think!
I wanted to talk to him to see what he says about the current situation and if he recommends anything.
First of all what I noticed is he’s not a sociable guy and likes to spend most of his free time on his own, reading and writing. But that’s fine and that’s actually why I chose him to have a chat with but he was not in the picture. I was expecting much more from him. I thought he knows what’s goin’ on around him but he doesn’t! We went for a walk in the park and when we were back, his wife offered dinner but he was pushing me out! After all he’s from Isfahan. For the ones who might not know, Isfahani fellas have the same reputation as Scot! He and A. J. don’t get along with. I think he doesn’t get along with anyone! A. J. accuses him of being lazy and someone who spends his most of the time in bed! He said that he offered helped and asked Dr. S. a good deal if he let him, A. J., to use his money for investment but the Dr. refused and said that he would use it in a better way and finally used up all the money they had which was around $150,000.
No! I didn’t like him and might not meet with him again but the good thing about him, may be the only one is that he admits most of the things I’m writing here about him!

Sea to Sky

I went to North Vancouver to renew the insurance of the van today in the afternoon of Mon. I could to that anywhere in Squamish but A. J. said that he wanted it done with the same company which does his all insurance needs.
So I went there and they sent me to the ICBC, three streets down, close to the water front. Happily, for A. J., I got a 10% discount based on my insurance history of Alberta. Then I drove all the way to Coquitlam to meet with Dr. S. and consult him about graduate studies (That`s a different story) when I was on my way back to Squamish it was late and Kiewit crew, the company who is the major contractor for the Sea to Sky Highway were working and they stopped all the vehicles in two spots, the second one in Britannia Beach (will be another post soon!)
Sea to Sky Highway is connecting the lower mainland to Whistler, where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be held. Scheduled to be completed in fall ’09, the highway starts from the district of West Vancouver. So in order to be able to be on time and deliver the quality project, Kiewit crew sometimes work during night as well. For example the highway is usually closed between Lions Bays and Squamish from 03:00 AM to 05:00 AM. Connecting Vancouver International Airport to the Sky Train line is another project which estimated B $2. I will write about that later but what I know is SNC Lavalin is one of the major contractors of the project.
(Photo: Abandoned Kiewit machines in Sea to Sky Highway. Some other crew are working at the other spots of the project. A flashing light of a pick up truck is seen in the back)